goods I give to the poore c. when grace is planted in the soule when the soule hath tasted once of better things there will be a meane and base esteeme of earthly things the more the soule feeds on heavenly things the lesse respect it hath to temporall things The soule is a finite Essence and it cannot spend it selfe on all things the more it runs into severalls the more shallow it is to others as in a streame when it is cut into many channels it runs weakely in the severall whereas it runs strongly in the maine so it is with the soule when it is scattered as the poore Israelites were about the land of Aegypt to gather straw to gather these perishing earthly things it is weake to heavenly things it hath little strength to those but when the course of it is wholy bent to those there are but weake or no desires running to these earthly things when once the soule of a Christian hath had a true taste and relish of the things of Heaven it lookes with a despising eye upon whatsoever is heere below when once it hath tasted of Christ then especially it growes out of relish with poyson then away with Popery away with false doctrine away with hypocrisie and formality in religion Againe secondly wee may know that wee have tasted Christ and fed on him and on the good things that are by him when wee are strengthened by our feeding when wee are strengthened to duties strengthened against tentations and against corruptions Thou saist thou beleevest on Christ and hast made him thine own what comfort and strength feelest thou by Christ art thou able to encounter a tentation art thou able to resist a lust art thou able to performe holy services If there be no strength in thee but every tentation turnes thee over and thou yeeldest to every base lust where is Christ canst thou beleeve Christ to be thy King and yet suffer thy lusts to beare sway in thee canst thou beleeve that Christ is a Priest that died forthy sinnes and yet cherishest and lovest sinne canst thou beleeve that Christ is in Heaven and that thou art in heavenly places with Christ and yet hast no minde of heavenly things but art carried away with every earthly thing No thou hast not yet tasted how good and gracious the Lord is thou hast not yet relished the heavenly Manna the soule that feeds on Christ is strengthened from spirituall reasons and supernaturall grounds and divine principles drawne from Christ to duty so that it is enabled even with a holy violence to doe any thing for Christs sake for the soule reasons thus Christ gave himselfe to death for mee I will therefore if need be give my selfe to death for him Christ thought nothing too deare for mee I will thinke nothing too deare for him this pride this vanity that I am tempted to these were the speares that were the death of my Saviour thus the soule fetches reasons from the death of Christ to strengthen it against temptations to strengthen it to duty and so for the matter of comfort after meate hath beene received wee are refreshed if the soule be sweetly refreshed with the comforts that are to be had in Christ and in the Word of Christ it is a signe wee have tasted Christ those that have trembling and discouraging hearts and soules that cannot rest nor receive comfort it is a signe they have not rightly tasted Christ Come unto mee saith Christ all yee that are weary and heavie laden and yee shall finde rest to your soules in Christ there is rest out of Christ there is no rest and so likewise those that have corruptions bearing sway in them it is a signe they have not so much as touched Christ for if they had but touched Christ hee would stop the issue of their corruptions the poore woman in the Gospell as soon as she had touched Christ her bloudy issue was stayed so upon the least touch of Christ by faith there will be an abating of corruption Thirdly in the bodily life we know after a good meale the desire and appetite is satisfied so the soule that tastes of Christ it hath sweet satisfaction and contentment O the sweet satisfaction that a Christian soule hath above a Heathen A Christian that hath Christ need not goe out of him for any thing it hath fullnesse and satisfaction in him in all estates both in life and in death dost thou finde Christ and the priviledges and prerogatives we have by him dost thou finde the Word of Christ and the promises of the Word fully and sufficiently satisfie thee then it argues that thou hast fed on Christ for Christ being received by faith into the soule gives it fullnesse and contentment Lastly to name no more as men if they have the grace of God in their hearts will give thankes for their bodily food so it is an evidence that we have fed on Christ when our hearts and tongues are enlarged to praise God for Christ for the comforts and contentment and satisfaction that we finde in him and in religion therefore Saint Paul begins his Epistle to the Ephesians with Blessed bee God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in heavenly place in Christ. And Saâ—nt Peter being led by the same blessed Spirit his heart being full his mouth is full of thankes Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath begotten us againe to an inheritance immortall that fadeth not away reserved for you in the heavens for you that are reserved by faith to salvation so undoubtedly the soule that tasts the sweet comforts of Religion in Christ will be much in sweet inlargements of heart in thanksgiving it cannot be otherwaise it is an universall reason the more beleeving a soule is the more thankefull a soul is where there is no praise there is no faith Thus you see how we may try whether we have tasted and relished whether wee have fed upon the food that endures to everlasting life or no. Taste is the most necessary sense of all saith a wise searcher of the mysteries of Nature our life is maintained by taste Every creature sees not every creature heares not but every creature hath taste you may judge of your selves by your taste and relish and if once you have tasted and relished Christ all the world cannot perswade you to fall from him if all should say there were no sweetnesse in Religion that it were better to be a worldling c. you would defie it you would never beleeve it there is no disputing against what a man tasts if all men should say sugar were sharpe if J once tasted it I would say otherwise Labour for the meate that endures to everlasting life The Arguments enforcing this act upon the object to labour for Christ are that he is food and food that endures and food that endures to everlasting life Let me from these
hidden life that is he was not knowne what hee was that so hee might worke our salvation so let us bee content to bee hidden men A true Christian is hidden to the world till the time of manifestation comes when the time came Christ then gloriously discovered what hee was so wee shall bee discovered what wee are in the meane time let us be carefull to doe our duty that may please the Spirit of God and satisfie our owne conscience and leave all the rest to God Let us meditate in the feare of God upon these directions for the guidance of our lives in this particular FINIS GODS INQVISITION In two Sermons By the late Reverend and Learned Divine RICHARD SIBS Doctor in Divinity Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge and sometimes Preacher at GRAYES INNE GEN 18.21 I will goe downe now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know PSAL. 14.3 They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one LONDON Printed by G.M. for Nicholas Bourne and Rapha Harford MDCXXXIX GODS INQVISITION IERE 8.6 7. I hearkened and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickednesse saying what have I done every one turnâ—d to his course as the horse rusheth into the battell Yea the storke in the Heavens knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their comming but my people know not the judgement of the Lord. VPON the sinnes of people it hath beene alway Gods course to send his Prophets to warne them before hand and afterwards upon that to observe how they profit by that warning and thereupon he takes occasion to proceed answerably God usually exerciseth a great deale of patience ere he strikes he made the world in six daies but he is six thousand yeares in destroying it In this verse after the holy Prophet had menaced the judgement of God upon them there is set downe what use they made of it Alas They spake not aright no man repented him of his wickednesse saying what have I done And least they should object how doe you know this He saith here it is upon inquisition I hearkened and heard So the words containe Gods inquisition or enquiry and then Gods evidence upon that inquiry together with a complaint His enquiry I hearkened and heard For we must apply these words to God there is the same phrase Mal. 3.16 The Lord hearkned and heard and a Booke of remembrance was written before him so here I hearkened and heard here is the enquiry Then secondly the evidence upon the enquiry They spake not aright And thirdly the complaint upon that evidence set downe First positively They repented not of their wickednesse which is amplified 1. From the generality of this their impenitency No man repented him and 2. From the cause of it want of consideration they did not say what have I done If they had called themselves to account concerning what they had done certainely they would have repented 2. Comparatively They turned to their course as the horse rusheth into the battell Lastly superlatively preferring the skill of the poore Storkes and Cranes and the Turtle and Swallow before the judgement of his senselesse and stupid people The Storke in the heavens knoweth her appointed time and the Turtle the Crane and the Swallow But my people know not the judgement of the Lord. This is the summe of the words First of Gods enquiry I hearkened and heard Ere Sodome was destroyed The Lord came downe to see whether there were such cause or no. God is most just he will see cause for his judgements He hath no delight in punishing When hee judgeth it is not out of his Soveraignty but out of his justice he doth it not as a Soveraigne Lord but as a just judge Now a judge must doe all upon inquisition and evidence therefore saith he I hearkened and heard Where by the way the gods of the earth to whom he hath communicated his name should learne hence not to be rash in their judgements but to have sound evidence before they passe sentence I hearkened and heard To hearken is more then to heare to apply ones selfe with some affection to heare a thing God is all eare as he is all eye hee hath an eare every where he hath an eare in our hearts he heares what wee thinke what we desire hee sees all the secret corners of our hearts therefore when he saith here I hearkened and heard it is by way of condescending to our capacity We may learne hence briefly That God hath an eare and an eye to our carriage and dispositions to our speeches and courses If we had one alway at our backs that would enforme such a man and such a man what we say one that should booke our words and after lay them to our charge it would make us carefull of our words Now though we be nevâ—r so much alone there are two alwaies that heare us God hearkens and heares and Gods deputy in us conscience hearkens and heares God bookes it and conscience bookes it As God hath a book wherein he wrote us before all worlds and the booke of his providence for our bones and all things that concerne us So he hath a booke for our workes and words Mal. 3.16 They that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a booke of remembrance was written before him c. So here I hearkened and heard God and conscience note and observe every thing This doth impose upon us the duty of carefull and reverent walking with God Would we speake carelesly or ill of any man if hee heard us When we slight a man we say wee care not if he heard us himselfe But shall wee slight God so Shall we sweare and lye and blaspheme and say we care not though God heare us that will lay every thing to our charge not onely words but thoughts We shall give an account for every idle word and for every idle thought and shall we not regard it It is from the horrible prophanenesse of the poysonfull rebellious heart of man that men doe not consider these things God hearkens and heares hee is at our studies hee is at our windowes hee heares us in our chambers when wee are in company when we meete together when we take liberty to censure and detract when wee sweare and revile What if men heare not yet conscience heares and God heares and when God shall lay open the booke of conscience and lay before a man all his naughty speeches and wicked works what will become of him then for not making use of this principle that God hearkens and heares God sees now with what minds and affections we come about this businesse whether it bee formally to put off God to make it
in the creature for Christ must bee received with a beggars hand and it will aske much labour to deny a mans selfe for proud flesh will alwaies have somewhat to trust to either in it selfe or in the creature So that these two may well stand together labour and gift we are taught to pray Give us this day our daily bread God will give us our daily bread we must not therefore stand still and doe nothing but though God will give it yet he will give it in the use of meanes in the use of our lawfull callings so heere God will give us this spirituall food yet he will give it in labour it is his ordinance and whatsoever hee gives he gives not in idlenesse but in obedience to his ordinance he will have us to labour in the use of the meanes in reading hearing receiving the Sacrament praying meditating and the like to have a part in Christ this blessed gift Nay because he will give Christ therefore laâ—our the one enforceth the other the like reason Moses giveth the Israelites Fight saith he for the Lord hath given them into your hand â—hey might say if our enemies bee given into our hand why should we fight yes fight the rather be incouraged to fight because you shall be sure to conquer so heere Labour for the meate that endures to everlasting life for the Sonne of man will give it therefore labour because he will give it in labouring we shall bee sure to have it do that which belongs to thee and thou shalt be sure to have that which belongs to God thou shalt finde Christ and Heaven and glory and all in the use of the meanes But he gives nothing without labour there can be no good done in earthly things without labour and doe you thinke to have Heaven without labour No spirituall things are against the streame Heaven is up the hill there must be labour there must be striving against corruptions within and against temptations without and our labour it is a happy labour it is not a barren labour our labour is not in vaine in the Lord as the Apostle saith wee that labour for the food that endures to everlasting life we labour for somewhat but worldlings that beate their braines and tire their spirits and rack their consciences and weare out their bodies it is all for nothing it is for that which is vanity and vexation of spirit for that which they must leave behind them A true Christian to encourage him to take all the paines that may be hee labours for something it is a hopefull and not a barren labour And beloved blessed are we that we can have this food for our labour that since the fall wee can recover by the second Adam a better estate then wee had by the first And our blessed Saviour to the end he might distinguish true Christians from Hypocrites enjoynes this duty of labouring so much the more for we have many in the Church that thinke to have Christ and his benefits without labour as if Heaven would drop into their mouthes they can say that God is mercifull and Christ died for us but you shall in the meane time finde them carelesse of reading of hearing of praying of the Communion of Saints c. are idle in working out their salvation with feare and trembling negligent in selling all that they have for the Pearle will part with nothing for Christ I say to distinguish these Hypocrites from true Christians therefore he saith Labour to shew to us that onely they that labour for Christ in the use of all good meanes that labour for the true knowledge of him and for faith to receive him that sell all for him that take paines to grow in grace and in union with Christ that make him their best portion in the world and delight in him it is they onely that have interest in Christ onely the painefull Christian is the true Christian. Therefore I beseech you as you would have it discerned that you are not Hypocrites in the Church bee stirred up to use all sanctified meanes to know Christ to beleeve in him to know that you are in a communion with him that you belong unto him Be not discouraged you shall have rest ere long There is a rest for the people of God as the Apostle saith to the Hebrewes Indeed so long as we are heere below there is labour joyned with wearinesse for we have great conflicts with corruptions and temptations with enemies within and enemies without but be of good comfort we shall at last come to a rest to a rest perpetuall and everlasting It is true in Heaven there shall be labour for we shall be alway praising God but it shall be labour without wearinesse labour without conflict there shall bee no corruption within nor no divell without Satan could enter into Paradice below but hee shall never enter into that heavenly Paradice therfore be incouraged to labour for a while though it be tedious because of corruptions and temptations yet there is a rest for the people of God an eternall Rest. FINIS VIOLENCE VICTORIOVS In two Sermons By the late Reverend and Learned Divine RICHARD SIBS Doctor in Divinity Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge and sometimes Preacher at Grayes-Inne GEN. 32.26 I will not let thee goe except thou blesse mee 1 COR. 15.57 Thankes be unto God which giveth us the victory through Iesus Christ our Lord. LONDON Printed by G.M. for Nicholas Bourne and Rapha Harford 1639. VIOLENCE VICTORIOVS MAT. 11.12 From the daies of Iohn Baptist untill now the Kingdome of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force IOHN Baptist and our blessed Saviour gave mutuall testimonies one of another hee witnessed of Christ before hee came and our Saviour Christ gives witnesse of him here The occasion of this you have in the second verse Iohn being in prison sends two of his Disciples to Christ to know whether he were the Christ or no not that Iohn did doubt but to confirme his Disciples Christ returnes a reall and a verball answer Tell Iohn saith he what ye have seene and heard c. and then he closeth up all Blessed is he that is not offended with me Upon this occasion Christ enters into a commendation of blessed St. Iohn Baptist even unto a comparative commendation amongst them that were borne of woemen there had not yet risen a greater then Iohn the Baptist not so much in eminency of grace though that may have a truth as in regard of the dispensation of his Ministery Iohn living in more glorious times For the excellency of the Church is from Christ he doth ennoble and advance times and places and persons Bethlehem a little Citty yet not a little Citty in regard that Christ was borne there and saith Christ Happy are the eyes that see that which your eyes see every thing is advanced by Christ. So Iohn Baptist in regard of his office being
are by it are from Heaven the truth we have and grace from the truth come from Heaven yea and Christ the Author of all is from Heaven and they all leade to Heaven Which should teach us with what minds to converse in the hearing and reading of these things with heavenly affections And it shewes likewise why worldlings and base people are no more affected with the things of the Gospell because it is the Kingdome of Heaven If it were of the world we should have it sought with eagernesse enough though it were a lesse matter then a Kingdome but it is a Kingdome of Heaven remote from flesh and blood there must be a new Spirit to worke a new sight and a new taste to worke a change in the heart of man and then he shall know the things of the Kingdome of Heaven He must come out of the world that will see this Kingdome as in Reve. 18. Come out of Babylon A man must come out of Antichrists Kingdome to see the basenesse of it he cannot see it in the middest of it so we must come out of the world if we would see the glorious Kingdome of Christ it is a heavenly Kingdome Therefore the greatest potentates of the world must abase themselves there is no greatnesse in the world can helpe them to this heavenly Kingdome But why should the Gospell and the state of the Church in the New Testament bee called the Kingdome of Heaven and receive the date now was it not the Kingdome of Heaven before J answer it is the manner of the Scripture to give titles to things from the glorious manifestation of them things are said to bee when they are gloriously manifested The Mystery of Christ is said to be revealed now in the time of the Gospell it was knowne before to Adam and Abraham and the rest but now there was a more apparent glorious manifestation of it therefore now the manifestation of Christ and the good things by him they are called a Kingdome before it was kept inclosed in the pale of the Iewish Church it was vailed under Types it was hid in promises that were darke and obscure but when Christ came all was taken off and Christ was unvailed It is said in the Gospell The Holy Ghost was not given yet because Iesus was not yet glorified The Holy Ghost was given before but not so fully and plentifully So there was a state of Heaven before men were saved before the comming of Christ But it was not called the Kingdome of Heaven it was not a state of liberty and freedome from the bondage of ceremonies c. And there is reason that there should be violence offred to this state and meanes and grace wrought by it it is a Kingdome it is no great wonder that a Kingdome should suffer violence especially such a Kingdome as the Kingdome of Heaven What is in a Kingdome There is first of all freedome from slavery and danger a Kingdome is an independent state there is none above it he that is a King is free independent and supreame Then againe a Kingdome is a full state there is aboundance and plenty of people and good things in a Kingdome Againe in a Kingdome there is glory and excellency where is it to be had else all the glory and sufficiency and contentment that Earth can afford Now in that the state of the Church by reason of the glorious Gospell is called a Kingdome First it is a free state as indeed the Word doth make us free from former bondage In particular the Gospell of Christ it frees us from Jewish bondage and from all kind of bondage spirituall If the Sonne make you free yee are free indeed A Christian is above all he is over sin and Satan and the Law he is free supreame and independent all are under him A Christian as a Christian he is under none but Christ under no creature The spirituall man judgeth all things yet hee himselfe is judged of no man I speake not of civill differences But as a Christian is a member of Christ and a citizen of the Kingdome of Heaven he hath a kind of independent state his conscience is onely subject to God and Christ but all earthly things he commands they are under him And 2. the staâ—e of a Christian is a full state God is his Christ is his All things are his so much as shall serve to bring him to Heaven that which is truly good is directly his and indirectly all other things are made his by Christ who hath the authority and power and strength of a King to command all things to worke together for his good death and sinne and all that befalls him are thus his And then he hath a spirit of contentment in the want of good and of patience in the suffering of ill that he can doe all things as St. Paul saith through Christ that strengtheneth him What he wants in outward things he can fetch supply from the promises of the Gospell he can fetch supply from Christ and from the state to come and what he wants in other things he hath in grace which is better 3. It is a state likewise of glory and excellency but it is a spirituall glory and therefore it consists together with outward basenesse and meanenesse it is a glorious state to be the Sonne of God to be heires of Heaven heires of all things in Christ by the Spirit of Christ in him he rules over all How glorious is the Spirit of God in a Christian in the time of temptation and affliction when he hath a Spirit ruling in him that is stronger then the world and all oppositions whatsoever The state of a Christian is glorious even in this world in the beginnings of it What then is the glory that is to be revealed on the Sonnes of God in the day of revelation It cannot enter into our thoughts it is above our expression nay it is above our imagination and conceit Thus you see there is great cause why the Kingdome of Heaven should suffer violence When Crownes and Kingdomes are laid open to people with hope of getting them especially such a one as the Kingdome of Heaven is it is no wonder if there be violence offered to get them The next thing is the affection of those that seeke after this Kingdome it is violent The Kingdome of Heaven suffereth violence How doth the Kingdome of Heaven the Gospell and meanes of grace suffer violence First because when these good things were revealed by Iohn Baptist and then by Christ and after by the Disciples and Apostles many thronged into the Church which is the gate of the Kingdome of Heaven they all pressed to be of the Church to heare the Word of God They hung as it were upon the word of Christ upon his mouth they pressed so that they trod one upon another and it
and in Christ I can doe all things by his Spirit though in my selfe I can doe nothing And so in deadnesse and desolation of Spirit when the soule is cast downe with discomfort let us thinke with our selves the Spirit of life in Christ is a quickening Spirit if I can beleeve in Christ he hath freed me from the guilt of sinne and hee hath by his Spirit given me some little inlargement from the dominion of my corruptions why should I be cast downe I am an heire of heaven ere long Satan shall be trodden under my feet ere long I shall be free from the spirituall combate and conflict with sinne that I am now encountred with therefore I will comfort my selfe I will not be cast downe overmuch In the houre of death let us make use of this freedome of the Spirit of life in Christ Iesus from the law of sinne and death When the time comes that there must be a separation of soule and body oh let us thinke with our selves Now I must dye yet Christ hath dyed and I must dye in conformity to my head and here is my comfort the Law of the Spirit of life hath freed me from the law of death it hath freed me from spirituall and eternall death So that now through Christ death is become friendly to me death now is not the death of me but death will be the death of my misery the death of my sinnes it will be the death of my corruptions death now will be the death of all that before troubled me but death will be my birth day in regard of happinesse Better is the day of death then the day of birth When a man comes into this life he comes into misery but when he dies hee goes out of misery and comes to happinesse so that indeed wee never live till we dye wee never live eternally and happily till then for then wee are freed from all misery and sinne Blessed are they that dye in the Lord they rest from their labours they rest from the labours of toyle and misery they rest from the labours of sinne from all labours whatsoever Blessed are they that dye in the Lord and of all times then blessed more blessed then before they rest from their labours and then begins their happinesse that shall never end So you see what comfort a Christians soule sprinkled with the blood of Christ may have if it goe to God in Christ and begge of Christ to be set at liberty from all enemies to serve God in holines and righteousnesse I speake too meanely when I say the Law of the Spirit of life hath fâ—â—ed us from 〈◊〉 and death this is not all the Spirit of life not onely frees us from ill but advanceth us to the contrary good in every thing wherein this freedome is For we are not onely called out of misery but to a Kingdome wee are not onely freed from sinne but intitled to heaven in justification and in sanctification we are not onely freed from corruption but inabled by the holy Spirit of liberty to run the wayes of Gods Commandements and make them voluntary to serve God chearefully zealous of good workes wee are not onely freed from the command and condemnation of sinne and â—he rigour of the Law but we have contrary dispositions ready and willing and voluntary dispositions wrought by the Spirit of Christ to every thing thâ—â—â—s good And so wee are not onely free from death and misery for so things without life are they suffer no misery but wee are partakers of everlasting life and glory the liberty of glory Gods benefits are compleat that is not onely priuative freeing us from ill but positive implying all good because God will shew himselfe a God he will doe good things as a God fully For the Law of the Spirit of life not onely frees us from the law of sinne and of death but writes the Law of God in our hearts he not onely frees us from the law of death but advance us to everlasting life to the glorious life we have in heaven to live for ever with the Lord oâ— happy condition of a Christian if wee could know our happinesse Let us often meditate deepely of Christ and of our selves in him let us see all our ill in him and all our good in him see death overcome and sinne overcome by his death hee being made a curse for us see the Law overcome hee being made under the Law for us when the wrath of God vexeth and terrifieth us see it upon him Hee sweat water and blood in the Garden It made him crie out My God my God why â—ast thou forsaken me See all that may trouble us in him as our Surety And all the good wee hope for see it in Christ first whatsoever he hath in his naturall body it is for his mysticall body for hee gave his naturall body for his mysticall God in the world to humble us exerciseth us with troubles and calamiâ—ies as he did Christ wee must be conformable to our heâ—d but consider the poyson and sting of all ills wee need to feaâ—e is swallowed up and taken away by Christ. And as I said let us see all our good in him wee are sonnes in him raysed 〈◊〉 him blessed in him set in heavenly places with him and shall be follow-heires and Kings with him for wee are his members his Spouse the wife shall enjoy the same condition as the husband whatsoever hee hath she shall have What a comfortable estate is this I we can feare no ill nor want no good whatsoever hee hath it is for us hee was borne for us hee dyed for us hee is gone to heaven for us for us and our good hee did and suffered all these things We cannot exercise our thoughts too much in these meditations The Lords Supper is a Sacrament of union and communion hence it hath its name and by receiving the Sacrament our Communion and union with Christ is strengthned What a comfort then is it to thinke if I have fellowship with Christ it is sealed by the Sacrament when I take the Bread and Wine at the same time I have communion with the Body and Blood of Christ shed for my sinnes and as Christ himselfe was freed from my sinnes imputed to him and by his Resurrection declared that hee was freed so surely shall I be freed from my sinnes So that this Communion taking the Bread and Wine it seales to us our Communion and fellowship with Christ and thereupon our freedome from sinne and from the Law and sets us in a blessed and happy estate Wee should labour therefore by all meanes to strengthen our union and Communion with Christ and amongst the rest reverently and carefully attend upon this blessed Ordinance of God for the body of Christ broken doth quicken us because it is the body of the Sonne of God My flesh is meate indeed and my blood is drinke indeed and hee
BEAMES OF DIVINE LIGHT Breaking forth from severall places of holy Scripture as they were learnedly opened In XXI Sermons The III. first being the fore-going Sermons to that Treatise called The Bruised-Reed Preached on the precedent words By the late Reverend and Iudicious Divine RICHARD SIBS D.D. Mr. of Katharine Hall in Camb and sometimes Preacher at GRAYES INNE Published according to the Doctor his owne appointment subscribed with his hand to prevent imperfect Coppies ESAY 60 3. The Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightnesse of thy rising PSALM 84.11 For the Lord God is a Sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will be withhold from them that walke uprightly LONDON Printed by G.M. for N. Bourne at the Royal Exchange and R Harford at the guilt Bible in Queenes-head Alley in Pater Noster-Row MDCXXXIX TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE IOHN LORD ROBERTS Baron of Truro AND TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE THE LADY LVCE his pious Consort Grace and Peace from Jesus Christ. Right Honourable and truly Noble IT was not so much the Nobility of your blood as that of Grace given unto you from the divine hand which did so much interest you in the love and esteeme of that worthy Servant of Christ and Author of this worke in whom Vrim and Thummim met whose whole course being a reall and vitall sermon sweetly consonant to the tenour of his teaching made him amiable living and honourable dead in the opinion of as many as well knew him This was the thing I suppose which wrought unto him from you as well as from many others of your Noble Stock and Ranke more then an ordinary esteeme and this is that which maketh me in nothing to doubt but that his labours made publique under your names shall be very welcome unto you the worke is answering unto the man and therefore worthy you and your acceptance onely this is the disadvantage that though these Sermons had his owne toung to preach them yet they want his owne pen to commend them unto your Honours I well know that the expressions of holy truthes from a gratious heart by lively voice doe breed deeper impressions in thirsting and reverent hearers then any publishing of them in dead letters can doe yet this we finde in experience that holy and necessary truths this way comming abroad into the Churches of God doe get the advantage to continue longer and to become a more generall good they may stirre up the affections and set on-wards in the course of holinesse where the comforts are sure and the honours honouring everlasting In these ensuing Sermons you have variety the mother of delight and such notable descriptions of the person offices love and life of Christ that by them you may not only be setled in divine assurances to your further comforts but also directed and incouraged both in your inward and outward conversation to follow the example of Christ the most blessed and unerring example unto all Christians This Champion I beseech you both to follow unto your lives end make it your worke to set up Christ and his Religion both in your hearts and in your houses Acknowledge none but Christ in matter of salvation and none to Christ in point of affection let Christ be Christ with you and then if Christ and if not Christ nothing can be worth any thing he will make you worthy indeed he will proove unto you in life and death a Sun a shield even a full and an answerable good with this Christ I leave you and with you these ensuing Sermons to be read and observed for your spirituall furtherance in the enjoyment of eternall life by Iesus Christ desiring the great God of Heaven and Earth to looke upon both you and yours in much grace and mercie giving unto you all the comfort and crown of Religion here on earth and hereafter in Heaven I rest Your honours to be commanded JOHN SEDOVVICK To the Reader Christian Reader THE Word of God is given us as a most pretious treasure and that not for our selves onely but for our children after us and therefore is called Jsraels Jnheritance Deut. 33.4 Moses commanded us a Law even the Inheritance of the Congregation of Iacob All the wealth in the world is but as dirt and trash in comparison of the Word to the people of God Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever for they are the rejoycing of mine heart saith David Psal. 119.111 And therefore as they rejoyce in their owne enjoying of it so they doe what they may to assure it to their children when they are dead that it may be entailed upon them and their posterity after them Yea so they doe also with the knowledge of divine truths which they have found in the Word which is not indeed found out by men all at one time but by degrees as Gold is found in Mines as men come to search farther and farther and to dig deeper and deeper for it It was not they know imparted to them for their owne use onely but for the benefit of others the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withall 1 Cor. 12.7 and therefore as it comes to them from Heaven they hand it to others that so it may be continued in the Church the ground and pillar of truth for the good of those that shall live in future times This was I hope the chiefe aime of those that have published these Sermons of that worthy Light of our Church Dr. Sibs And surely we have great cause in this regard thankfully to acknowledge their care and paines who both tooke them so exactly from his mouth as he delivered them and then kept them so charity as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a precious thing committed to their trust and have now published them for the common good of all that will make use of them For by this meanes what was delivered to a few may now build up many to farther degrees of knowledge and grace even all the Land over and they that never saw his face may be made sharers in those his labours which only a few were so happy as to heare Being my selfe one amongst others that have found the advantage hereof I was not so hardly wonne as otherwise I should have beene to commend these Beames of divine Light to the respect of others Diverse truths of greatest consequence are exactly handled in the severall Sermons here presented to you as concerning the misery of our naturall estate and the blâ—sse and happinesse of those that are quickned by Christ concerning the necessity of the Word our spirituall Food the Zealous Violence of the Faithfull impressing after it concerning the divers both joyes and sorrowes complaints and Triumphs of Gods children here when they are blacke though comely Cant. 1.5 and concerning their happinesse in death and glory after it and many other whereof these few are onely a taste The study of the Scriptures
he was present to their Faith and present to them in Types and Sacrifices and present in Gods acceptation of him for them therefore the Prophets mount up with the wing of Prophesie and in regard of the certainty of the things to come they speake as if they were present as if they had looked on Christ present Behold my servant and Behold a Virgin c. But that is not all another use of this word Behold was to call the peoples mindes from their miseries and from other abasing objects that dejected them and might force despaire why doe you dwell upon your unworthinesse and sin raise up your mindes Behold my servant whom I have chosen c. This is an object worth beholding and admiration especially of a distressed soule that may see in Christ whatsoever may comfort it A third end of it is to raise the minde from any vulgar common base contents you looke on these things and are carried away with common triviall objects as the poore Disciples when they came to the Temple they stood wondering at the stones what wondrous stones what goodly building is here so shallow minded men they see any earthly excellencie they stand gazing Alas saith Christ doe you wonder at these things so the Prophet here raiseth up the mindes of men to looke on an object fit to be looked on Behold my servant c. So that the Holy Ghost would have them from this saving object Christ to raise satisfaction to their soules every way are you dejected here is comfort are you sinfull here is righteousnesse are you led away with present contentments here you have honours and pleasures and all in Christ Jesus you have a right to common pleasures that others have and besides them you have interest to others that are everlasting pleasures that shall never faile so that there is nothing that is dejecting and abasing in man but there is comfort for it in Christ Jesus he is a salve for every sore a remedie for every maladie therefore Behold my servant This word Behold it is a word of wonderment and indeed in Christ there are a world of wonders every thing is wonderfull in him Things new are wonderfull and things rare and things that are great that transcend our capacity are wonderfull that that stops our understanding that it cannot goe through them vulgar things we see thorow them quickly but when wee see things that stay our understandings that raise our understandings higher and that are more capacious then our understandings here is matter of admiration and wonder Now whatsoever may make wonderment is in Jesus Christ whose name is Wonderfull as it is Isaiah 9.7 therefore the Prophet saith Behold My servant Christ is called a servant first in respect of his creation because being man as a creature hee was a servant but that is not all He was a servant in respect of his condition servant implies a base and low condition Philip. 2. Christ tooke upon him the forme of a servant he emptied himselfe he was the lowest of all servants in condition for none was ever so abased as our glorious Saviour And then it it a name of office as well as of base condition There are ordinary servants and extraordinary as great Kings have their servants of state Christ besides his abasement he was a servant of state he was an Ambassador sent from the great God a Prophet a Priest and a King as we shâ—ll see afterwards an extraordinary servant to doe a peece of service that all the Angels in Heaven and all the men on the Earth joyned together could not performe this great master-piece of service was to bring God and man together againe that were at variance as it is 1. Pet. 3.18 to bring us to God we were severed and scattered from God his office was to gather us together againe to bring us all to one head againe to bring us to himselfe and so to God to reconcile us as the Scripture phrase is Now it being the greatest worke and service that ever was it required the greatest servant for no creature in the world could performe it all the Angells of Heaven would have sunke under this service to have undergone satisfaction to divine justice for the Angels themselves when they sinned they could not recover themselves but sunke under their owne sinne eternally thus wee see how he is Gods servant who set him a part and chose him to his service And then he was a servant to us for the Sonne of man came to minister not to be ministred unto he washed his Disciples feet hee was a servant to us because he did our worke and suffered our punishment we made him serve by our sinnes as the Prophet saith he is a servant that beares an other mans burthen there was a double burthen of obedience active and obedience passive he bore them both hee came under the law for us both doing what wee should have done and indeed sarre more acceptably and suffering that wee should have suffered and far more acceptably hee being our surety being a more excellent person he did beare our burthen and did our worke therfore he was Gods servant and our servant and Gods servant because he was our servant beâ—â—use he came to do a work behoovefull to us Heerein appeares the admirable love and care of God to us wretched creatures heere is matter of wonderment If we looke to him that was a servant If we looke to that in God and him that made him stoope to be a servant If we looke to the manner of the performance of this service If we look to to the fruit of that service they are all matter of wonderment If we look to the person that was this servant the Apostle in Philip. 2. will tell you he thought it not robbery to be equall with God yet he tooke upon him the shape of a servant was not this wonderfull for God to become man the glorious God to abase himselfe to bee a servant God-Man glorious God and base servant for the living God to dye for the incomprehensible God to be inclosed in the wombe of a Virgin for glory it selfe to be abased for riches to become poore what matter of wonderment is here the very Angels stand at a gaze and wonder they pry into these things his name may well be Wonderfull There are foure notable conjunctions that are especially wonderfull two in us and two above us One in us is the conjunction of so excellent a thing as the soule breathed in by God the soule of man is an admirable thing the world is not worth it in the judgement of him that gave himselfe for it that this should be joyned to a peece of earth indeed I am wonderfully made saith David in regard of his body but the conjunction of the soule and body together so excellent a substance to so base a thing as earth to a peece
accomplished when Christ at his Baptisme entred upon his office God put his Spirit upon him to set him apart to ordaine him and to qualifie him with abundance of grace for the worke for there are these three things especially meant by putting the Spirit upon him separation or setting apart and ordaining and inriching with the gifts of the Spirit When any one is called to great place there is a setting apart from others and an ordaining to that particular and a qualifying if it be a calling of God he qualifies where he ordaines alwaies But Christ had the Spirit before what doth he meane then when hee saith hee will put the Spirit upon him now I answer he had the Spirit before answerable to that condition he was in now hee received the Spirit answerable to that condition hee was to undertake he was perfect then for that condition now he was to be made perfect for that office he was to set upon he was alway perfect hee had abundance of Spirit for that estate hee was in but now he was to enter upon another condition to preach the Gospell to be a Prophet and after to be a Priest therefore he saith now especially I will put my Spirit upon him Now this putting of the Spirit it is expressed in Isaiah 61. and other places by Annointing There were three sorts of persons that were annointed before Christ Prophets Priests and Kings now Christ was to bee a Prophet a Priest and a King therefore hee was to be annointed with the Spirit to enable him to these three offices I might here take occasion to enlarge my selfe in the offices of Christ but I will onely speake of them as the Text ministreth just occasion There are three maine defects in man since the fall There is ignorance and blindnesse There is rebellion in the will and affections And in regard of his condition by reason of the sinnes of nature and life a subjection to a cursed estate to the wrath of God and eternall damnation Now answerable to these three grand ills whosoever shall bee ordained a Saviour must provide proportionable remedies for these hereupon comes a threefold office in Christ that is ordained to save man to cure this threefold mischiefe and maladie As we are ignorant and blind he is a Prophet to instruct us to convince us of the ill state we are in and then to convince us of the good hee intends us and hath wrought for us to instruct us in all things concerning our everlasting comfort he is such a Prophet as teacheth not onely the outward but the inward man hee openeth the heart he teacheth to doe the things he teacheth men teach what we should doe but they teach not the doing of them he is such a Prophet as teacheth us the very things hee teacheth us to love and to obey c. And answerable to the rebellion and sinfulnesse of our dispositions he is a King to subdue whatsoever is ill in us and likewise to subdue all opposite power without us by little and little hee will trample all enemies under his feete and under our feete too ere long Now as we are cursed by reason of our sinfull condition so hee is a Priest to satisfie the wrath of God for us he was made a curse for us he became a servant that being so hee might die and undergoe the cursed death of the crosse not onely death but a cursed death and so his blood might be an attonement as a Priest So answerable to the three fold ill in us you see here is a threefold office in Christ. Now Christ performes these three offices in this order First of all he is a Prophet when he was baptised the Spirit was put upon him as in Isaiah 61. To preach deliverance to the captives First he preached wherefore he came into the world why God sent him and discovered to the world the state they were in and when he had preached as a Prophet then as a Preist he dyed and offered himselfe a Sacrifice After death his Kingly office was most apparent For then he rose againe as a triumphant King over death and all our enemies and ascended in his triumphant chariot to Heaven and there he sits gloriously as a King in his throne at the right hand of God so that how ever at his Baptisme and before when he was sanctified in his mothers wombe he was both King Priest and Prophet yet in regard of the order of manifestation he manifested himselfe first to be a Prophet secondly a Priest and thirdly to be a King For his Kingly office brake foorth but seldome in the time of his abasement sometimes it did to shew that he was ruler and commander of Earth and Sea and Divels and all he wrought miracles but the glorious manifestation of his kingly office it was after his resurrection Now the fundamentall the chiefe office to which he was annoynted by the Spirit upon which the rest depends it was his Priestly office for wherefore was his teaching but to instruct us what he must doe and suffer for us and what benefit we have by his Sacrifice reconciliation with God and freedome from the wrath of God and right unto life everlasting by his obedience to the cursed death of the crosse And how comes he to be a King to rule over us by his holy Spirit and to have a right unto us But because as a Priest hee dyed for us first He washed us with his blood he purged us with his blood and then he made us Kings and Priests Rev 1. All other benefits came from this he washed our soules in his blood first whatsoever wee have from God is especially from the great worke of Christ as a Priest abasing himselfe and dying for us and thereupon hee comes to bee a Prophet and a King thus we see the order of Christs offices how they come to be fruitfull to us the rest especially by vertue of his priestly office Note this by the way Christs priestly office includes two branches his sacrificing himselfe for us a Priest was to offer Sacrifice and to pray for the people our Saviour Christ did both in the daies of his humiliation in his prayer in Ioh. 17. there as a Priest he commends his sacrifice to God before he died and now he is in Heaven making intercession for us to the end of the world he appeares for us there We see then to what purpose God put the Spirit upon Christ to enable him to be a Prophet a Priest and a King and thereupon to take away those mischiefes and evills that wee were subject and inthralled too so that we have a supply for all that may any way abase us and cast us downe in the all sufficiency that is in Christ Jesus who was annoyntâ—d with the Spirit for this end It may be objected Christ was God himselfe hee had the Spirit and gives the Spirit therefore how could the
a cover for our sinnefull courses after as if God were beholding to us for what we doe now and therefore mighâ— the better beare with us though we make bold with him hereafter he not onely heares what we say but sees our mindes and purposes nay hee knowes our thoughts long before they are This is the cause why godly men have alway walked so carefully and circumspectly they knew that Gods eye and eare was over them as of Enoch and Noah it is said in this regard that they walked with God and Ioseph when hee was tempted Shall I doe this saith he and sinne against God and shall not God see if I doe this Doth not hee see my waies and count all my steps saith Iob. So againe What makes wicked men so loose The Prophet tells Psal 94.7 they say the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Iacob regard it Or as it is Iob. 22.12 c. Is not God in the height of Heaven How doth God know can he judge through the darke cloud thicke cloudes are a covering to him that hee sees not and hee walketh in the circuit of the Heavens Tush he regardeth not he is immured and shut up there but to such Atheists wee see what the Prophet answers Psal. 64.8 c. Yee brutish foolish people shall he that makes others heare not heare himselfe he that planted the eare he that is all eare shall not hee heare As it makes good men walke holily and reverently to consider of this that God is present and present as an observer and a judge so the want of taking this to heart makes wicked and carnall persons doe as they doe So much briefly for these wordes I hearkned and heard No man spake aright But what evidence doth he give upon this inquisition they spake not aright which is amplified from the generality of this sinne No man spake aright the meaning is especially that they spake not aright concerning the judgements of God threatned when God had threatned judgements he hearkened and heard what use they made of them but they spake not aright In how many respects doe wee not speake aright in regard of the judgements of God First in regard of God men speake not aright when they do not see him in the judgement but looke to the creature to the second causes as now in the time of the plague to looke to the ayre and weather and this and that which is a good providence and to forget him that is the chiefe to kill doggs and cats and to let sinne alone to cry out oh what ayre there is this yeere and what weather it is to talke of the second causes altogether and to forget God this is to talke amisse of Gods judgements threatned in regard of God Againe we talke amisse in regard of others when we begin to flight them in our thoughts and speeches oh they were carelesse people they adventured into company and it was the carelessenesse of the Magistrates they were not well looked to they were unmercifull persons c. Is it not Gods hand put case there might be some oversight art thou secure from Gods arrow he that strooke them may he not strike thee this is to talke amisse of the judgement of God in regard of others when wee thinke that God hath singled them out as sinners above the rest as the Disciples thought of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifice No no saith hee thinke not they were greater sinners then the rest do not adde your bitter censure of the judgement of God on them and make it heavier there is a woe to such persons as adde afflictions to the afflicted except yee repent yee shall all likewise perish Is not the ripest corne cut first God oft times takes those away that are fittest for him and leaves others to the cruelty of men therefore by this rash judgement there may be great wrong to men and to wrong men in our censures it is to talke amisse of Gods judgements in regard of others Againe we talke amisse of Gods judgements in regard of our selves when wee murmur and fret any way against God and doe not submit our selves under his mighty hand as wee should Againe we sinne against the judgements of God abroad when we take liberty to inquire of the judgâ—ments of God abroad and never make use of them as now to be asking what number die of the plague weekely and our hearts tremble not at it wee lift not up our hearts to God God be mercâ—full to us Lord forgive our sinnes what will become of us we had need to make our accounts even this is to talke amisse of Gods judgements It is a veyne that men have naturally to enquire after newes of all sorts be it the sharpest and bitterest that may be though it be the destruction and ruine and death of other men whatsoever it be they desire to heare it if newes in the meane time there is no care to make use of it which is directly that for which these men here are said to have talked amisse No man spake aright Why no man repented him of his wickednesse c. as we shall see afterwards Wee should talke of the judgements of God to be bettered by them we should learne righteousnesse when the judgements of God are abroad and the arrowes that wound others we should make warning arrowes to our selves now when we trifelingly only inquire of these things and are not mooved our selves we talke amisse of Gods judgements Let us labour to talke of the judgements of God when they are abroad as we should Jn regard of God to raise our hearts above all second causes to see him in it Jt is the hand of God as the Scripture calls the plague whatsoever the second causes are whether it be the ayre and the divell mingling himselfe oft times to corrupt the ayre all is by Gods permission and providence We should looke to the first wheele that leades the rest and sets them going wee should see God in all and therefore speake reverently of him And in regard of our bretheren to speake charitably of them and thinke it is the goodnesse of God that hee hath not stricken us as hee hath them And when we speake of our selves when the judgements of God are on us let us humble our selves and justifie God wee may complaine but it must be of our selves and of our sinnes that have brought judgements upon us of our want of making use of the judgement of God upon others or upon our selves lesser judgements would not serve turne therefore God is faine to follow us with greater let us alway justifie God and complaine of our selves and then in regard of our selves we speake aright of the judgements of God Let us never speake of the judgements of God but with affections fit for judgements with awefull affections Shall the Lyon roare
more then any thing in the world they are then an effectuall part of divine worship But else they are flat and dead and dull if we waken them not with consideration The heart followes the judgement the braine and the heart simpathize when we see cause and reason to love and feare and worship God we must love God with all our mind that is with our best understanding we must see reason why we doe so Therefore let us labour to use our understanding more this way Is our understanding and judgement given us to plot for the world to be judicious for the things of this life onely No but to be wise for the maine end to glorifie God to save our soules to get out of the corruption of nature to maintaine our communion with God every day more and more The end of our living in the world is to beginne Heaven upon earth So to live here as that we may live for ever in Heaven whatsoever is done in order to this end is good but nothing can be done to this end but upon due consideration Let us improove our judgements for that end they are principally given us not for particular ends to get this or that mans favour to get wealth c. but to use all as they may serve the maine we know not how short a time we shall enjoy these things and further then they serve for the maine wee shall have no comfort of them ere long Our projects should be to gaine glory to God and to bring our selves and others to Heaven there is excellent use of this consideration this way it is one maine way to repentance we see here No man repented because no man said What have I done Now if we would practise this duty we must labour to avoid the hinderances The maine hindrances of this consideration are 1. The raâ—e of lusts that will not give the judgement leave to consider of a mans wayes but they are impetuous commanding and tyranous carrying men as we shall see in the next clause As the horse rusheth into the battell We see many carried to Hell that never enjoyed themselves but are alway under some base pleasure when the Divell hath filled them with one pleasure then they project for another and never take time to say What have I done Oh the tyranâ—y of originall corruption Jf wee had in our eye the vile picture of out nature that carries us to things present to profits and pleasures and gives us not liberty and leisure to bethinke our selves would wee doe as wee doe Alas wee see some men so haunted with their lusts that they cannot be alone they cannot sleepe and when they are awake they must have musicke as that King when hee had massacred a world of men hee could not be quiet a whit conscience raged so When men follow their pleasures they rob them of themselves Therefore they are said in Scripture to be mad men and fooles without wit they are so taken up with the rage of their lusts that they have not liberty to enjoy themselves they have no time for consideration And then another hinderance is too much businesse when men are distracted with the things of this life they are overloaded with cares with Martha's part and so neglect Maries part this makes men toile and droile for the vvorld and never consider vvhere they are nor whether they goe hovv it shall be with them vvhen they goe hence hovv the case stands vvith them before God whether they be gotten out of the cursed state of nature that vve are all borne in they never thinke of this but all the marrovv and strength of their soules is eaten out with the world Those that in their youth followed their lusts when they come to yeares are taken up with the world and slight religion their mindes are imployed how to get the favour of this man and that and so have not leasure to consider what will become of their soules Therefore too much distraction with the things of the world is joyned with drunkennesse Bee not overcome with the cares of this life with surfetting and drunkennesse saith Christ. Then it is a secret and hard action because it is to worke upon a mans selfe It is an easie matter to talke of others to consider other mens waies You shall have mens tongues ready to speake of other men they doe so and so and thus they feede themselves with talking of other men and in the meane time neglect the consideration of their owne state And againe it is a plausible thing hee that talkes of other mens faults gives an intimation that he is innocent and he had neede be so It is easie and plausible men glory in it it feeds corrupt nature to talke of other mens faults But to come home to a mans selfe that is a hard thing it is without ostentation or applause the world doth not applaud a man for speaking of his owne faults Men are not given to retired actions they care not for them unlesse they have sound hearts and this being a retired action that hath no glory nor credit with it men are loath to come to it Then againe it is not onely hard and secret but this returning upon a mans selfe it presents to a man a spectacle that is unwelcome If a man consider his owne waies it vvill present to him a terrible object Therefore as the Elephant troubles the vvaters that he may not see his owne visage so men trouble their soules that they may not see vvhat they are they shall see such a deale of malice and selfe-love and feare and distrust that they would not have others in the vvorld to see for any thing but it is good to see it For repentance and consideration it is physicke it is sharpe but vvholesome It is better to have the physicke a day then to have the sicknesse and disease all the yeare so this consideration and repentance though it be sharpe yet take it downe for it will prevent Gods eternall judgement as the Apostle saith If wee would judge and condemne our selves we should not be condemned with the world What an excellent thing is this that vve may keepe sessions in our owne soules and so need not be called to Gods assises Men are called to that because they slubber over and neglect this Men will not keepe this sessions in their owne hearts vvhich they might doe not onely quarterly but daily and thereby they make vvorke for God is it not better now to unrip our consciences by consideration and repentance then to have all ripped up then vvhen the Divell shal stand by to accuse us who will say this vvas done by my instigation and it is so and our owne consciences shall take part with the Divell and accuse us also It will be little for our ease to make God our judge we might save the labour by putting conscience to its office now to
God by his death and making of us friends with God there it holds there it lives and there it will continue for ever this keepes the soule alive And then againe as in meate before it can nourish us there must be an union an assimulation a turning of it into us so Christ except hee be made one with us by faith unlesse there bee an union betweene him and us hee can never nourish and comfort us savingly Againe as wee oft eate and after we have received food once yet we eate againe every day because there is a decay of strength and there are still new businesses new occasions that require new strength and therefore there is need of a continuall repairing of our strength by food Even so there is a perpetuall exigence a continuall need that the soule hath to feed upon Christ upon the promises of Christ and the prerogatives by Christ because every day we have fresh impediments fâ—esh assaults and therefore we have need to fetch fresh supplies and refreshment from Christ to have meate from Christ every day to live on Christ not onely at the first but continually that as our corruptions and temptations and infirmities returne every day so every day to feed on Christ for the repairing of our spirituall strength especially wee are to make daily use of the death of Christ for howsoever the death of Christ be transient in respect of the act of it as one of the Antients saith yet the fruit of it remaines for our daily comfort and refreshment his bloud runs every day in the Church afresh like a fountaine alwaies powred out for Iuda and Ierusalem to wash in it alwaies runs that is in regard of Gods imputation in regard of the fruit that comes to the soule and therefore we should make daily use of it for the comfort and strength of our soules upon all occasions Wee have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sinnes he is now an Intercessour in Heaven hee continually applies the fruit of his death now by his intercession in Heaven Againe as after meate received and eaten there is strength and comfort gotten for the affaires of this life so likewise after the soule hath digested and relished Christ and the benefits and prerogatives that come by him after we have made the heavenly truths of Christ our owne the soule is strengthened to holy duties it is fit to doe it is fit to suffer it is fit to resist temptations it is fit to performe all the services of Christianity In these and divers other respects Christ is the blessed meate heere mentioned not himself alone but considered with all the blessed good things which we have by him for Christ as I said before is never alone if wee have him we are sonnes in him we are heires in him we are free in him we are redeemed in him wee are Kings in him Priests in him Prophets in him we are all in him we have with him all the good things that he hath for as we have not them without him so we have not him without them those that have the field have the pearle in the field and they that have the pearle in the field have the field they that have Christ have Christ cloathed with all his blessed prerogatives and priviledges and comforts But wherein lieth the difference betweene this meate this foode of the soule and other meate In these things First of all Christ as he is from Heaven so all the graces and comforts that we have by him are all from Heaven and they carry us to Heaven all the other things are earthly Secondly all earthly food doth not give but maintaine life where it is but Christ hee is such a food as gives life he is as well life as food I am the life Againe thirdly the nourishment wee have from this outward food we turne to our selves but Christ this spirituall meate turnes us into himselfe transformes us into his owne likenesse for Christ offered to us in the Gospell being digested by Faith doth by his Spirit change us every way into his owne likenesse Lastly all other meats are consumed in the spending and there will a time come when wee shall not be able to relish any worldly thing our mouth will be out of taste with these outward things But Christ the food of the soule is never consumed but growes more and more and when wee can relish no other wee may relish this food that indures to everlasting life it alwaies satisfies the soule all earthly things are as salt water that increase the appetite but satisfie not onely Christ and grace and the comforts we have by him satisfie and that everlastingly they are as a spring that never dyes As he himselfe in his owne person endures to everlasting life so all that we have by him is everlasting grace is everlasting grace ends in glory Christ alwayes satisfies though not wholy here because there must be a continuall recourse to him yet hee will satisfie hereafter Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall be satisfied Thus you see what is meant by the food that endures to everlasting life and the reason of the resemblance and the difference that is betweene this and other meate Here are arguments enough then to enforce us to a labouring after this meate that endures to everlasting life that is so agreeable to the best part of us that is able to make us happy to labour by Faith to get them to bee our owne Now the labour required is especially to get a stomacke to this meate God requires nothing of us when we come to his delicacies but that we bring a good stomacke with us J will therfore speake a little of that what wee must doe to get an appetite to this spirituall meate A good stomacke we know is procured by sharpe things the Paschall Lamb was to be eaten with sowre hearbs if we would have an appetite after Christ labour daily to consider what a cursed estate we are in without Christ God hath left the Law as for other purposes so for this that we should feed upon the threatnings of it that it should drive us to Christ A legall faith is the way to evangelicall Labour therefore thorowly to bee convinced of the need thou standest in of Christ and then I need not bid thee to labour for the food that endures to everlasting life that will sharpen thy appetite after it And beg of God illumination to see the ill that is in thee and the ill that belongs to thee God hath left infirmities and corruptions in us on purpose for this end and likewise we have tentations without us we carry not onely a Hell within us which if God should not keepe in would carry us to despaire but there is a hell without us the tentations of Satan the accusations of the Law the anger and wrath of God thus we
should labour to be convinced of our wretched estate without Christ the danger we are in if God should take us hence on a suddaine this will force every day a fresh appetite and stomacke in the soule to feed on Christ. Secondly if we would sharpen our appetites to this foode wee must purge our stomackes which naturally surfet of earthly things purge the soule by a consideration of the vanity of all other things that draw us from Christ the reason why we have no better relish of Christ and heavenly things is because we cleave in our affections so much to earthly things we set up Idols in our hearts instead of Christ and wee cleave in an adulterous and false affection unto them Let us set before us arguments of the vanity of all things but Christ and there can be no better argument then here is set downe they are all perishing things that which the soule neglects Christ and Heaven and happinesse for and is so madly set upon alas they are all base in respect of the soule the whole world is not worth a soule they are all perishing things of lesse continuance then the soule is we should purge our soules by such considerations as these Then againe thirdly Exercise getteth a stomacke let us every day spend our spirituall strength in spirituall exercises in resisting tentations in withstanding the snares of Satan in bearing those daily crosses that God laies upon us live as Christians should live and the exercise of a Christian life will inforce us to goe unto Christ to feed on him to fetch from him spirituall strength when in our daily exercise we shall see the continuall neede wee have of pardon for daily sinnes of comfort and strength against daily corruptions and infirmities this will make us feede on Christ and on the promises made in him not onely on the promise of forgivenesse but on the promise of a supply of necessary grace on that sweet promise that he will not quench the smoaking flax nor breake the bruised reede feede on him as a King to subdue our corruptions c. the daily exercise of a Christian life will force us unto Christ. Againe to whet our appetite after Christ consider the necessity wee have of spirituall strength and comfort when a man considers that he hath a journey to take hee will eate to enable him to his journey as Elias was bid to rise up and eate because he had a journey to go we are all to take a journey as farre as Heaven and we are to travell through the wildernesse of this world and wee shall be daily assaulted besides our inward corruptions with divers tentations and therefore we had need every day to fetch strength from Christ and consider that sicknesse will come and death will surprize us and if we have not Christ we are wretched creatures without him and though we have applied Christ to our selves and made him our owne yet a time of deseition a time of tryall will come Thus the necessity of spirituall strength will force us to feede upon Christ. Againe to get us a stomacke to these things let us converse with those that are spirituall with those that are heavenly minded that have tasted of heavenly things when we see them delight in reading delight in hearing when we see them contemplate of Heaven and heavenly things on Christ and the benefits wee have by Christ on the blessed condition of a better life and of the world to come when wee see these persons that are better then our selves that have lesse cause then we take such paines for their soules we will be ashamed of our own neglect and it will be the discourse of a soule presently with it selfe surely there is some excellent strengâ—h and comfort in these things some extraordinary sweetnesse and refreshment that these men find that they so fall to them it is a great advantage to converse with those that are spirâ—tuall And lastly to put an edge to our dull appetites after this food consider we know not how soone this table that Christ hath spread these dainties that wisedome hath provided for us in the Ministry of the Word may bee taken from us therefore let us fall too while we have them We should doe as those doe that being at a feast and have neglected feeding at the latter end when they see all ready to be taken away fall too a fresh we know not how long we may enjoy these blessed opportunities therefore now with Ioseph let us lay up against a time of scarcity there will a hard winter come therefore let us imitate the wisedome of that poore creature the Ant to provide against winter Now while the Iubile is let us take out a pardon there is a time of spending to come now let us get oyle in our Lamps Now is the seed time now are the waters stirred in the poole of Bethesda Now is the acceptable time of grace wee know not how long it shall continue therefore now let us labour for the food that endureth to everlasting life I never knew any repent of the paines they had taken for their soules but many that have lamented and bewailed the precious time they have spent and that they have not beene good husbands for their soules It is one speciall point of heavenly wisedome to take advantage of our precious time to fill it up with holy exercises let us often offer this consideration to our soules wherefore was I sent hither into this world what is the end why I live heere is it to scrape together perishing things and so to perish with them or am I not rather sent hither to get out of the state of corruption wherein we all are by nature to get into Christ to make him mine own to be turned into him to feed on him to get joy and comfort and strength from him is not this the end why I live heere But to goe on and to make an use of triall whether we have as wee should doe relished and tasted Christ whether wee have fed on this meate or no. How shall we know that I answer we may easily know it For first of all if wee have relished Christ and the good things by him we disrelish all other things we begin to have a baser esteeme of all earthly things It is with the soule as it is with a Ballance when Christ is high in the soule other things are low and when other things are high Christ is low in the soule Christ was high in Pauls soule therefore he esteemed all as dung in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Christ. The poore Woman of Samaria when shee had heard Christ and tasted the sweetnesse that was in him downe goes her water-pot and shee runs to the City and tells them I have seene a man that hath told mee all things is not this the Messiah Zaccheus when he had tasted of grace and had the pardon of his sinnes by Christ halfe my
the immediate fore-runner of Christ was greater then all that were before him yet he saith the least in the Kingdome of Heaven is greater then be not in grace but in prerogative in regard of the revelation and manifestation of more things For Iohn Baptist died before he saw the death and resurrection and ascention of Christ accomplished before he was glorified Therefore in regard of these prerogatives the least in the Kingdome of Heaven that is in the Church of the New Testament is greater then he It is a rule that the least of the greater is greater then the greatest of the lesse Iohn was greater then the greatest of them that were before him but lesser then the least of those that were after him Then Christ commends Iohn from the efficacie of his Ministery From the daies of Iohn Baptist untill now the Kingdome of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force so you see how the words depend upon the former For the points wee are to consider in them First here you have the state of the Church in the New Testament It is a Kingdome and the Kingdome of Heaven together with the quality of the meanes whereby it comes to be a Kingdome the meanes of grace the Gospell The Gospell and the people that are wrought on by the Gospell in the New Testament they are both called the Kingdome of Heaven Then secondly here is set downe the affection of those people that seeke this Kingdome at that time and so forward to the end of the world the disposition of the persons is they are violent The third is the issue or successe of this eagernesse and violence though the manner be violent yet the successe is good the violent take it by force The fourth is the date or time when it begins and how long it continues it beares date from the preaching of Saint Iohn Baptist to the end of the world untill now that is to the end of the world as it was said till now in the Evangelists time so posterity may say untill now from the first comming of Christ till his second comming while there is a Gospell preached which is the Ministerie of the Spirit the Spirit will bee working and there are such glorious things in the Gospell that there will bee violence offered so while there is a people to bee gathered and a Gospell to be preached to gather them and a Spirit that workes by that Gospell there will be violence in the Church offered to the meanes of salvation First The state of the Church together with the meanes the Gospell preached it is called The Kingdome of Heaven Besides others there are three maine significations of these words The Kingdome of Heaven First the famous leading proper signification is the state and place where God himselfe and his people are most glorious The Kingdome of Heaven all the other significations end in that But secondly because all that shall come into that glorious Kingdome they must bee Kings here first in the state of the kingdome of grace which consists in righteousnesse peace and joy in the Holy Ghost in the graces and comforts of the Spirit therefore the state of grace comes to have the name too of The Kingdome of Heaven And thirdly because grace in this world cannot be attained without an order and meanes and dispensation from God hereupon the dispensation of the meanes whereby we come to have grace is also called The Kingdome The unfolding the mysteries of salvation in the Gospell is called the Kingdome of God As Christ saith The Kingdome of God shall bee taken from you that is the preaching of the Gospell therefore the Gospell is called the Gospell of the Kingdome and the Word of the Kingdome because by this Word wee come to have grace and by grace glory there is no glory without grace and no grace without the Word one makes way for another The preaching of the Gospell doth cause a Church which is the Kingdome of Christ wherein hee rules by the Scepter of his Word by which Word Christ and all his riches and glory and prerogatives are unfolded and thereby grace is wrought and grace leades to glory This connexion and subordination is to bee observed First for the conviction of those who doe not indeed belong to the Kingdome of Heaven every man is ready to talke of the Kingdome of Heaven and the glory there I but there is a subordination of grace and of the meanes of grace how standest thou affected to the meanes of salvation to the Word of the Kingdome the Word of life The Word of reconciliation for it hath the name from all the excellencies to which it brings us to shew that as we valew life a Kingdome reconciliation and all that is good so we must valew this Gospell or else it is a presumptuous confidence if the priviledges of grace and glory belong to us wee must come to them by these steps those that regard not the Gospell and meanes of salvation they have nothing to do with grace nor glory they are hereby convinced of arrogant folly Againe it is a ground to comfort weake Christians that regard the meanes of salvation and yet feare their falling away be of good comfort whosoever thou art God hath knit and linked these together all the power of earth and hell cannot breake one linke of this chaine conscionable attending upon the meanes and grace and glory will go together Therefore hold on attend upon the meanes of salvation and waite with comfort The Gospell of the Kingdome will bring thee to grace and grace though it be but an earnest but a little measure will bring thee to glory Where God hath begun a good worke he will finish it he will second one benefit with another diligent attending on the meanes with grace and grace with glory In Scripture works have their denomination from that they aime at as the Apostle saith Yee have crucified the old man and yee are crucified with Christ because yee are in doing it and ye shall do it perfectly so we are Saints because wee shall be so we are Kings now because we are in part so and we shall be so fully hereafter so grace is called the Kingdome of Heaven because it is the undoubted way to the Kingdome of Heaven and glory God would helpe our faith by the very title for wee are not elected to the beginnings onely of glory but to the perfection as it is excellently set downe Ephes. 1. We are elected to glory by meanes and beginnings therefore undoubtedly we may hope for the accomplishment when we see the beginnings Why is the state of grace and the meanes of grace and glory it selfe called the Kingdome of Heaven Answ. Because they are all of and from Heaven the one is in Heaven the Kingdome of glory and the other the Kingdome of the Word here and truth and grace which
is sleighted and men will regard that when they can spare time c. It is not regarded according to the worth and valew of it if ever wee looke to have good by the Gospell our dispositions must be violent in some proportion answerable to the excellency of it Alas we may justly turne the complaint on our selves that whilest we spend our strength in violence about the base and meane things of this life the Kingdome of Heaven it offereth violence to us and yet we will none of it How doth God beseech us in the Ministery Wee beseech you to bee reconciled and Why will yee die O house of Israel As if the Gospell and grace were commodities that God were weary off he comes and puts them upon us whether we will or no and yet we refuse them we are so farre from offering violence to the Gospell and to grace that God offers violence to us as if we should doe him a favour to receive the Gospell and to doe good to our owne soules and yet the vile proud base heart of man will not regard and receive these heavenly things How will it justifie Gods sentence at the day of judgement when hee shall alleadge there was a discovery of such things unto you and instead of violence in seeking them you sleighted and neglected them Nay there is a worse sort of men then these those that oppose the Kingdome of Heaven in the meanes of it in the persons of it what kinde of men are these thinke you Againe we see here that there is a blessed violence that may stand with judgement A man cannot be violent and wise in the things of this world because the things are meane and eagernesse is above the proportion of them A man cannot be violent after honour or riches and be as he should be these are things that he must leave behind him and they are worse then himselfe much lesse after filthy pleasures can a man be violent and wise a man must become a foole in this respect as the Scripture saith But in respect of heavenly things a man may be violent and wise for there is such a degree of excellency in the things that no violence can be too much Men talke of being too strict and too holy Can there be too much of that which wee can never have enough of in this world I speake it the rather to confound the base judgement that the world hath of a holy disposition which is carried with a sweet eager violence to tâ—ese things They are thought to be franticke to be out of their wits as they thought St. Paul was but he answers If wee be out of our wits besides our selves it is to God Christ himselfe was sometimes laid hands on as if he had beene out of himselfe and as Festus told blessed St. Paul That much learning had made him mad when he saw him eager in the cause of Christ. So many when they see a man earnest in the matters of God they thinke surely these men have lost their discretion No it is the highest discretion in the world to be eager and violent for things that are invaluable and if men be not eager for these they are fooles they know not how to prize things the most judicious men here are most violent so that it be violence that hath eyes in its head violence guided with judgement from the knowledge of the excellency of the good things in the Gospell I speake of such a violence as that Away then with base reproaches let us not be affrighted with the ill reports of idle braines and rotten hearts of people that know not the things that belong to the Kingdome of Heaven Alas they know not what they say they are to be pittied and not censured Is there any thing that a man should be earnest for if not for these things Were our foules made to pursue things that are earthly and base worse then our selves Were our wits made onely to plod in our temporall and to neglect our heavenly calling If any thing may challenge the best of our indeavours the marrow of our labours the utmost of our spirits and wits certainely it is these grace and glory that will stand by us when all things will faile us Therfore let not your owne hearts besot you nor the vaine speeches of others affright you It will be acknowledged by every one ere long that there is nothing worth a mans eagernesse but these things The worldling is violent and eager he troubleth himselfe and his house about a vaine shadow for pleasures and profit c. and what comes of all his violence He is turned naked into his grave and thence into Hell and there is an end of all the violence about all other things besides these We see then the disposition of true professors they are violent in respect of heavenly things Those therefore that are not earnest in the cause of Religion when the state of things requires it they have no Religion in them they are not in the state of grace We must be earnest first of all against our owne sinnes Violence must begin there to subdue all to the Spirit of Christ to suffer nothing else to rule there and after that violence to maintaine the cause of Christ. To contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints to contend with both hands not to suffer it to be wrested from us or to be betraied and if it be opposed to vindicate it we must be violent both to propagate the truth of God and in case of opposition to vindicate it He that is not with me saith Christ is against me If a man be not with Christ he is against him it may seeme a strange speech but Christ cannot abide luke-warme neuters he cannot abide nullifidians he cannot indure cold persons his stomacke cannot brooke them he will cast them up as he saith Reve. 3.15 16. I would thou wert hot or cold A man had better be nothing in Religion then be luke-warme The reason is if a man will have good by any Religion he must be earnest in it If Baal be God stand for him if you would have good by him if the Lord bee God stand for him be earnest in his cause if Popery be good then stand for that if you hope for good by it and if our Religion be good then stand for that if you hope for good by it There is no good received by Religion if wee be not earnest for it Religion is not a matter to be dallied in Therefore they are bitter sowre profane scoffing Atheists that trifle with Religion as if it were no great matter what it bee They will bee earnest in all things else earnest to scrape riches to satisfie their base lusts but for Religion iâ— is no matter what it be it is a thing not worthy the seeking after the old Religion or the new or both or
of breaking thorough all difficulties onely such and all such shall obtaine it by force And againe onely the violent because onely they can prize it when they have it They onely can prize grace and Heaven they know how they come by it it cost them their pleasures and profits it cost them labour and danger and losse of favour with men and this paines cost losse it indeares the state of grace and glory to them for God will never bring any man to Heaven till he have raised his affections to that pitch to value grace and glory above all things in the world Therefore onely those shall take it by violence for onely those shew that they set a right price on the best things they weigh them in the ballance of the Sanctuary they value things as God would have them valued But is not the Kingdome of Heaven and grace free therefore what needs violence to a thing that is free and freely offered I answer because it is free therefore it is violently taken for alas if it were offered to us upon condition of our exact performing of the Law it might dampe the spirits of men as indeed usually such if they be not better informed they end their daies in despaire but being freely offered The Publicans and Harlots saith Christ goe into the Kingdome of God before the proud Pharisees because it is free it is free to sinners that feele the burthen of their sins Come unto mee all yee that are weary and heavie laden c. Blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the Kingdome of Heaven Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse they shall be satisfied Thereupon he that hath a guilty conscience he makes haste and offers violence when he heares of free pardon What makes the condition of the divels so desperate There is no hope of free pardon to them what makes men so eagerly to imbrace the Gospell notwithstanding their sinnes Because it is freely offered Thereupon it was that the Gentiles were so glad of it that had beene sinners and under Satans Kingdome before and that makes miserable persons that are humbled with afflictions and abasement in the world glad of it it being so great a thing the Kingdome of Heaven the favour of God and freedome from misery and so freely offered It is so farre from hindring violence because it is free that therefore the humble afflicted soules that desire grace are the more eager after it The proud Pharisees thought the Kingdome of Heaven belonged only to them and therefore they despised Christ and despised the Gospell because it was propounded to sinners and to such meane persons that they thought were viler then themselves but now when the meaner sort of people and others that were abased with crosses in the world saw what a kinde of Gospell it was what great matters were offered and that it was offered freely they justified wisedome and the counsell of God which others despised and pressed for it with violence It is little comfort to heare of the excellency and the necessity of these heavenly things if there were not hope of them Hope stirres up diligence and indeavour in the things of this world what makes men adventure to the Indies east and west They hope for a voyage that shall inrich them all their life hope in doubtfull things stirres up industrie What makes the poore husbandman diligent to plow and to sow â—he hope that he shall have a harvest yet this is under a providence that may guide it another way But spirituall things are more certaine therfore hope in spirituall things must needs stirre up indeavour we need not call them into question And as it stirres up to diligence so it stirres up in the use of the meanes not to give over till we see our hopes accomplished Then in the third place hope of successe that wee shall not loose our labour it inables and strengtheneth us to beare the tediousnesse of the time and the incombrance of afflictions and whatsoever is betweene us and the thing wee expect though wee have not that comfort from God that we would have yet it makes us waite upon God Therefore when hee saith the violent take it by force it is to incourage us the violent eager strong indeavours of a Christian in the waies of God in the meanes of salvation they are no successelesse indeavours He labours for that he knowes he shall have his violence is not in vaine he that is violent in good things hath a promise hee that wrastleth with God shall overcome and he that overcommeth shall have a crowne here is a promise to build on therfore here is incouragement to bee earnest and violent he shall overcome hee shall enter the Castle at the last if he continue striving and give not over Hence there is a difference to be observed betweene the indeavours of a Christian and of three sorts of other men First of all if those only that offer violence to the Kingdome of Heaven that set on it with incouragement shall get it and that by force what a great difference then is betweene them and those that in a contrary way offer violence to the Kingdome of Heaven that is those that wrong Christ in his members and hinder the meanes of salvation what promise have they to speed Surely they have no promise nor hope at all onely their malice carries them amaine in spight because the Gospell reveales their hollownesse and hypocrisie to all men and forceth upon them a necessity to be other men then they list to be for the present therefore they are eager in hating the Gospell There are threatnings enough against such as are violent against the Gospell they are violent in vaine for they kicke against the prickes they run themselves against a stone wall and they shall dash themselves against it Those that have ill will to Sion shall perish there is one sits in Heaven that laughs all their attempts to scorne A Christian hath comfort in his indeavours there is hope of good successe though there be inward and outward opposition he shall prevaile Those that are enemies have nothing but discouragement they shall bee as grasse on the house top that no man blesseth but is cursed of every one no man bestowes a good word on them it is a fruitlesse indeavour they are under a curse Againe it shewes us how to judge of the courses of other men that are violent in other courses about the world A Christian he takes his Kingdome at the last and injoyes it for ever but those that are violent for the world after pleasures after baser things then themselves alas when they have it they have but a shadow and they become shadowes in imbracing it Vanity imbraceth vanity and how soone are they stripped of all If a man by violence scrape a great estate he must
leave it shortly here he found it and here he must leave it in spight of his heart ere long and all is but vanity in the censure of him that knew all things the best of any man even Salomon that had gone thorow the variety of all things And oft times they misse of that they labour for They doe not rest that they get in hunting they hunt after preferment and after riches but oft times they doe not enjoy them and if they doe they get the curse of God with them and ere long they are stripped of all but here is that that may strengthen our indeavours The Kingdome of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it it is not an indeavour that is lost Then againe this shewes that the state of true Christians is different from the state of persons that are carried to good things but not violently The violent take it he surprizeth the city at the last he laies his siege and will not remoove till death he will not give over till he have it he will have it or he will dye in the businesse and so at last he obtaines his desire The sluggish carelesse man he goes a little way As Agrippa said to Paul he was almost perswaded to be a Christian so it is with such men in some things they will be Christians but there they are at a stand they will go no farther and so all they have done is to no purpose The sluggard desireth and wisheth but his soule hath nothing A sluggish cold lazie Christian he looseth all his paines If a man be to goe ten miles and goe but nine and there sit downe he shall never come to his journies end If a man will give but 7 or 8. shillings for that which is worth 10. he shall goe without it Grace and Glory are set at this price there is required such strength of labour and indeavour and violence therefore without this a man shall never attaine it unlesse he stretch himselfe to such a pitch He shall never come to the end of his Faith the salvation of his soule to the high calling of God in Christ Iesus The sluggard wisheth and gets nothing the reason is because he is a sluggard because he will not strive but the striver gets the fort and hath all in it and is a man made for ever The sluggard thinkes himselfe wiser then many men that can give a reason The sluggish discreete Christian I warrant you he hath reasons for what he doth It is not good to be too earnest it will incurre the disfavour of such a man or such a man J shall bee accounted so and so for my paines But a wise man he seeth the excellency of the things and he knowes that his courses and his conscience will justifie him at the last and therefore he goes on what ever comes of it God is not so weary of these precious things these precious jewels of grace and glory as to force them upon us Is the Kingdome of Heaven such a sleight thing that it should be obtruded to us whether we will or no Shall we thinke to have it when our hearts tell us wee esteeme other things betâ—er No there are none ever come to Heaven but their hearts are wrought to such an admiration of grace and glory that they undervalue all things to it therefore there is no hope for any to obtaine it but he that takes it by violence We see Moses esteemed the basest thing in the Church better then the greatest excellencies in the world that men are so violent after he esteemed the very afflictions of Gods people better then the treasures and pleasures of sinne for a season nay then the pleasures of a Court. When men shall esteeme the base things of the world above all the treasures of Heaven above the state of Christianity they have no hope of comming there they may pretend God is mercifull and Christ dyed c. I but whosoever he brings to salvation he workes such a sence of misery in them and such an apprehension of grace and of the meanes of grace that there is an undervaluing of all other things God will not bring them to Heaven that shall not glorifie him when they come there and how shall they glorifie him here or there when they value the world and these base things that they must leave behind them more then the things of Heaven This is the reason that few are saved because they content themselves with easie dull and drowsie performances and never consider with what proportion they are carried to things when they had rather loose the advantage of that which will bring everlasting good to their soules then loose the petty commodities of this world and yet think themselves good Christians what a delusion is this It is the violent only that are successefull they take it by force I but what if the opposition grow more and more Then the grace of God and courage will grow and increase more and more As Luther said well the more violent the adversaries were the more free and bold was he So the more the enemies rage the more the spirit of grace growes in Gods people it inceraseth by opposition As Noahs Arke the higher the waters were the nearer still it was carried to Heaven So we are nearer to God and nearer to the Kingdome of Heaven the more opposition swells and rages True courage growes with opposition As the Palme-tree riseth up against the burden that presseth it downe so the divine spirit being a heavenly thing and all opposition below of the Divell and divellish minded men being but earthly what are they to the divine Spirit which sets us on and encourageth us They cannot quell it but the Spirit growes more and more in opposition The Apostles they ran all from Christ when he was to be crucified they had but a little measure of the Spirit but when the Holy Ghost was shed more plentifully on them they beganne to stand couragiously for the cause of Christ when there was more opposition the Spirit grew more and more till they sealed the Truth with their blood Therefore though opposition of enemies and their fury and rage grow let us know whose cause we mannage and with what assurance of successe the violent at length shall take it by force Let us meditate upon this that successe is tyed to violence therefore when you pray to God if he seeme to deny your request offer violence wrastle with him let him not goe without a blessing when he seemes to be an enemy as sometimes he doth to try our strength we must use an holy violence when we are dull and not fit to pray nor fit for holy things Let us stirre up the Spirit of God in us and labour to get our of that estate let us use violence and violence will overcome at the last A man that hath the Spirit of
God gets the victory of whatsoever opposeth him If there be snares offered from the world he withstands them if Satan come with his temptations he resists him he hath a promise for it resist the Divell and hee will flee Let us hold out and we shall get the victory and overcome even God himselfe how much more all other things Therefore when either opposition without or indisposition within sets upon us in the course of Religion and Piety let us thinke here now is time and place for violence I know if I set my selfe about it J shall have the victory and the Crowne A Christian is alway in a hopefull state and condition he hath somewhat to encourage him he hath arguments to prevaile over the state of opposition he knowes he shall winne all at last if he goe on and that makes him couragious in what estate soever he is Let us not be discouraged to heare of opposition And let us be incouraged when we heare of good things when we heare that the Kingdome of Heaven and grace is offered in the preaching of the Gospell Let us attend upon the posts of wisdomes doores and not give over till we come to peaâ—â— of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost If wee heare of comfort in the Word of God against distresse of conscience let us never give over till we finde it If we heare that God is a God hearing Prayer let us never leave knocking at Heaven Gate never leave wrastling till our prayers be heard when we heare what ill is to be avoided and what good is offered let us not cease till we avoid the one and obtaine the other The violent take it by force The last point is the date of time from whence this Kingdome of Heaven suffereth violence From the daies of Iohn Baptist untill now Was there not a Kingdome of Heaven that suffered violence before Iohn Baptists time did the Kingdome of God begin then was Christ a King and was Heaven opened onely then I answer no but now the things of God were more gloriously discovered therefore Iohn 1.51 Henceforth you shall see Heaven opened The Kingdome of Heaven was opened now by the preaching of the Gospell more gloriously then before Therefore the state of the Gospell is called the Kingdome of Heaven partly in regard of the times before and partly in regard of the times after The Law was full of servile bondage to Ceremonies it was a heavie darke state they were laden with a multitude of Ceremonies which were but cold things to the spirit of a man that desires peace though they were Ceremonies of Gods appointing yet they were but outward empty things in comparison weake and beggarly elements as the Apostle saith Gal. 4.9 They were costly and painefull and cold things that had not the efficacie of spirit in them And secondly then it was entayled to the Jewes onely Now since Christs time it is enlarged and being more large and free this blessed estate is called a Kingdome Iohn Baptist now opening Christ clearely and a better state then the Church had yet enjoyed when people saw an end of the Ceremonies and the beginning of the glorious liberty in Christ this made them violently set on them Againe Iohn Baptist made way for Christ levelling the soules of men by his powerfull preaching and his holy life he taught them in what need they stood of Christ hee was the messenger sent before Christ for that end he was as the morning Starre to the Sun hee was powerfull in his preaching and holy in his life he told every man his owne he told the Pharisees that they were a generation of vipers he shewed men their state by nature and told them of a better state that the Kingdome of Heaven was at hand and although he wrought no miracles yet himselfe was a miracle to teach such holy doctrine and to live an austere holy life in those evill daies it was no lesse then a miracle therefore this violence to the Kingdome of Heaven it hath the date from Iohn Baptists time from his preaching not from his birth he being so excellent a preacher no wonder there should be violence This shewes the reason why the Gospell in later times was imbraced so greedily when Luther began to preach alas people had beene in a worse condition then Jewish in respect of Ceremonies and otherwise foolish idle men they will set God to schole they will have some fooleries alway that they will make as much of as of the worship of God and so it had beene in the times before Luther In Saint Austins time he was pestered with many vaine ceremonies and good man he yeelded to the streame and custome in many things though he could hardly indure the slavery of those things Now when the times grew better it was no wonder that the world imbraced the Gospell with violence as in Luthers time when there was a freedome proclaimed from those beggarly rudiments and traditions Antichrist had hampered the consciences of men with an intollerable masse of foolish groundlesse ceremonies making them equall with the Word of God as wee see in the Counsell of Trent and this vexed the consciences of people like scorpions as it is Rev. 9.5 they oppressed the people with a multitude of weights and burthens which when people could not assent unto it stung their consciences No wonder then if people thronged after Luther when he opened the doctrine of free justification by faith that the consciences of men were not to be hampered with these things He taught that Gods people were only to have a few ceremonies for present order but for the rest to trouble mens consciences and to make them of equall valew with the Word of God he shewed it was an abhominable doctrine and wrote against it learnedly and sweetly and therefore it is no marvell though the truths he taught were soone and chearefully by multitudes embraced And the reason why now the Gospell begins to be so little imbraced and esteemed is because by reason of the long continuance of it we are weary of this heavenly Manna As the people in Saint Iohn Baptists time as eager as they were after Iohns preaching yet it was but for a time that they rejoyced in his light they grew weary of him we never felt the burthen of those Romish Ceremonies and therefore now grow weary of our liberty whereas in the beginning of Luthers time because they were eased from many beggarly and which is worse tyrannicall ceremonies of Rome therefore with much joy and eagernesse they embraced the truth when it came to be preached amongst them Therefore we are to praise God for the liberty of the Church at this time that we have the Word of God to rule our consciences and that other matters are not pressed on us but as matters of decencie and order Alas if wee were in bondage to those proud Popish
instruct them what their state by nature is what Kingdome they are borne in that they are liable to Hell and damnation that they are under the possession of the strong man the Divell if the stronger man bring them not out and dispossesse him and let them know withall the infinite love and mercy of God in Christ offering a better state giving the Gospell and promising his Spirit with his truth and if they belong to God this will worke upon them or else nothing will Other courses to punish men in their purse or imprison them or the like may subdue them to outward conformity but if we would bring their soules to Heaven leâ— us indeavour to enlighten their understandings to see the danger they are in and to see the riches of grace and salvation that is proffered in Christ and this will compell them to come in Luk. 14.23 there will be no need of any other compulsion no more then there can be need to bid a man escape away that sees wild beasts about him or to bid a guilty person to flee to the City of refuge and take hold of the Hornes of the Altar Let Iohn Baptist come before Christ to make way for him and presently the Kingdome of Heaven suffers violence and after Christs time when the Spirit was more aboundantly given and the Gospell more clearely opened the world stooped to the Gospell â—he Gospell at length overcame the proud Scepter of the Roman Empire they laid their Crownes downe before Christs Gospell the Crosse of Christ gat above the Crowne in the preaching of the Gospell it was so powerfull Thus if we would have the number of Heaven inlarged let us desire that Gods truth may be opened plainly and powerfully Iohn Baptist was a plaine and powerfull preacher a man of a holy life they al reverenced Iohn as a holy man thereupon his doctrine came to be so effectuall This is the way whereby God will doe good to those he delights in For others that are bitter Atheists whom God hath appointed to damnation the Gospell hardens them and makes them worse The Pharisees were the worse by the preaching of Christ when the Gospell is preached some are made worse by it and maligne and persecute it as farre as they dare as the Apostle saith God is glorified in the damnation of such bitter opposers We are not to looke to gaine all by preaching those that withstand it are sent by it with the more just damnation to Hell but those that doe belong to him are gained this way Let us labour therfore for a cleare manifestation of Christ there is the treasure of all goodnesse in Christ whatsoever is necessary to bring us to Heaven and the more he is discovered and applied the more we are inriched with grace and comfort Times of change may come and if times of opposition and persecution come not yet temptations will come and the houre of death will come when we shall have occasion to use all the strength and comfort we have and the more dangerous the times are the more sound and cleare knowledge of Christ we should labour for and that will breede this holy violence that shall break thorow all oppositions whatsoever FINIS THE CHVRCHES Complaint and Confidence In three Sermons By the late Reverend and Learned Divine RICHARD SIBS Doctor in Divinity Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge and sometimes Preacher at Grayes-Inne LAM 1.20 Behold O Lord for I am in distresse my bowells are troubled mine heart is turned within mee for I have grievously rebelled abroad the sword bereaveth at home there is as death LONDON Printed by G.M. for Nicholas Bourne and Rapha Harford 1639. THE CHVRCHES COMPLAINT AND Confidence ISAIAH 64.6 7 8. But we are all as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnâ—sse are as filthy rags and we all do fade as a leafe and our iniquities like the winde have taken us away And there is none that calleth upon thy Name that stirreth up himselfe to take hold of thee for thou hast hid thy face from us and hast consumed us because of our iniquities But now O Lord thou art our Father wee are the clay and thou our potter and wee are all the worke of thine hands THE words are part of a blessed forme of prayer prescribed to the Church long before they were in captivity It begins at the 15. verse of the former Chapter Looke downe from Heaven behold from the habitation of thy holinesse c. The blessed Prophet Isaâ—ah was carried with the wings of Propheticall spirit over many yeares and sees the time to come the time of the Captivity and God by his Spirit doth direct them a Prayer and this is part of the forme For God in mercy to his people as he foresaw before what would become of them so he vouchsafes them comfort before hand and likewise he prescribes a forme of prayer before hand It is very usefull to use formes the 102. Psalme it is a forme of powring out the soule to God when any man is in misery as you see in the Preface but that by the way These verses are a part of a forme prescribed for the powring forth an afflicted soule We are all as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse c. The words they are First an humble confession of sinne And first of the sinnes of their nature of their persons themselves Wee are all as an uncleane thing And then of the sinnes of actions all our righteousnesse is as filthy rags And then in the third place a confession of the sinne of non-proficiencie of obduration and sencelessenesse that notwithstanding the corrections of God they were little the better There is none that calleth upon thy Name or that stirres up himselfe to take hold of thee In the second place there is an humble complaint of the miserable estate they were in by their sinnes We all fade as a leafe â—ur iniquitiâ—s like the winde have taken us away them hast hid thy face from us and consumed us because of our iniquities The complaint is set forth in these foure clauses And then an humble supplication and deprecation to God in verse 8. and so forward Now Lord thou art our Father we are the clay thou art the potter we are all the worke of thy hands c. These be the parcells of this portion of Scripture But we are all as an uncleane thing c. Here is first an humble confession And first observe in generall what afflictions will doe especially afflictions sanctified that which all the Propheticall Sermons could not doe that which all the threatnings could not doe affliction now doth Now when they were in captivity and base estate they fall a humbling themselves So the Prodigall nothing could humble him but afflictions By the waters of Babilon we sate downe and wept all the denuntiations of judgements before they came to the waters of Babylon could not make them weepe One affliction will
that it may be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh For before wee come to heaven Christ must not onely be bone of our bone c. that is in his Incarnation but wee must be bone of his bone c. that is wee must have natures like Christ not onely flesh and blood for so a reprobate hath flesh and blood as Christ hath but wee must have his Spirit altering and changing our nature that instead of a proud disobedient rebellious nature now it must be a holy and humble and meeke nature together with humane frailty for that we carry about with us then the Spirit of life derived from Christ makes us bone of his bone For indeed in his humane nature being bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh hee made us bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh he became man that we might partake of the divine nature being partakers of the divine Spirit So that now the Spirit of life in Christ when we are knit to him is a Spirit of sanctification altering our natures and working in our hearts a disposition like Christs that wee judge as Christ judgeth and chuse as Christ chuseth and ayme at Gods glory as Christ did For there is the same mind in us that was in Christ Philip. 2. In our proportion growing still more and more to conformity with Christ till we be in heaven till Christ be all in all 1 Cor. 15. When he will change our nature to be holy as his owne Besides this liberty from sinne and death in this life there is a glorious liberty and freedome thaâ— we have by the Spirit of Christ when we are dead for then the Spirit of life that raised Christs dead body will raise our bodies and that Spirit of Christ that raiseth his body and raiseth our soules in this world from sinne to beleeve in him will raise our dead bodies The same vertue and power that workes in Christ workes in his members this is called The glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God Then wee shall be freed indeed not onely from the law of sinne but from sinne it selfe and not onely from the law of death but death it selfe and wee shall live forever with the Lord. Christ then shall be all in all by his Spirit Christ will never leave us till hee have brought us to that glorious freedome wee are freed already from sinne and death he hath set us in heavenly places together with himselfe now In faith we are there already but then wee shall be indeed Thus you see how we come to have the law of the Spirit of life in Christ to free us from the law of sinne and death and all the passages of it You see here that there is law against law The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ against the law of sinne and death I beseech you consider that God hath appointed law to countermand law the Spirit of Christ to overcome sinne in us not onely in justification but in sanctification oh let us therefore comfortably thinke there is a Law above this Law I have now cold dead base affections but if I have the Spirit of Christ he can quicken and enliven me hee will not onely pardon my sinne but by the Law of his Spirit direct guid and command me a contrary way to my lusts And this is an Art of spirituall prudence in heavenly things whensoever wee are beset with dangers to set â—reater then that against it The Devill is an Angell but we have a guard of Angels about us The Devill is a Serpent but we have a braâ—en Serpent that cures all the stings of that Serpent We have Principalities and Powers against but we have greater Principalities and Poâ—ers for us The Law of life against the law of sinne and death We have a law of our lusts tyrannizing over us and enthralling us it is true but then there is a Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus to overcome and subdue that law of our lusts if so be that wee use the prerogatives wee have if we use faith and goe to God and Christ in whom are all the treasures of grace Hee is the treasury of the Church of his fulnesse we receive grace for grace Are we troubled with any corruptions goe to the Spirit of liberty in Christ and desire him to set us at liberty from the bondage and thraldome of our corruptions And remember what Christ hath done for us and where hee is now in heaven let us raiâ—e our thoughts that wee may see our selves in heaven already that wee may be ashamed to defile our bodies and soules with the base drudgery of sinne and Satan that are sanctified in part in this world and shall be glorified in heaven Certainely faith would raise our soules so we betray our selves when being once in the state of grace we are inâ—hralled basely to any sinne For sinne shall not have dominion over you because you are under grace saith the Apostle Being under grace if wee doe 〈◊〉 use our reasoning and use faith and exercise the grace we have given us wee cannot be in thrall to corruptions Wee shall have remainders to trouble us put not to 〈◊〉 and reigne and domineere For sinne 〈◊〉 beares â—way but when wee betray our selves and either beleeve not what Christ hath done for us or else exercise not our faith A Christian is never overtaken basely but when hee neglects his priviledges and prerogatives and doth not stirre up the grace of God in him Learne this then when we are troubled with any thing set Law against Law set the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ against all oppositions whatsoever and let the temptation â—â—e where it will let it lie in justificatiâ—â— as when wee are tempted by Satan to despaire for sinnes for great sinnes oh but then consider the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath freed me from the law of sinne and of death Christ was made sinne to free me â—rom sinne Consider that Christ was God-man hee satisfied divine Justice the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sinne though they be as red as crimson Thus set Christ against our sinnes in justification when the guilt of them â—â—oubles our soules And so likewise when wee are set on by base lusts set against them the power of Christ in sanctification What 〈◊〉 I now a member of Christ one that professeth my selfe to be an heire of heaven there is a Spirit of life in Christ my head there is a Law of the Spirit of life in Christ that is there is a commanding power in his Spirit and that Spirit of his is not onely in the head but in the members If I goe to him for grace I may have grace answerable to the grace that is in him grace that will strengthen me with his power be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Ephes. 6.
to send us to heaven and make us partakers of that we desire most First wee desire that God will be with us here and secondly that we may be with God in heaven they make Gods children partakers of their desires by killing of them Let Tyrants and all persons that have a malignant disposition to the Church of God and are armed with power let them doe their worst the cause must stand impregnable Christ will have a Church and Kingdome in the world and their spirits will be impregnable against them they may kill them but they cannot hurt them they may kill them but they cannot kill their courage As we see in the Martyres there was the Spirit of God in them above all the dealings of of the persecutors there was a fire of Gods Spirit in them above all outward fire whatsoever You see it must be taken for granted that the Church of God and every particular Christian hath many enemies against them as it is Psal. 129. From my youth up saith the Church they have fought against me but they have not prevayled From my youth up from Abel to the last Saint that shall be in the world there will be alway some against Gods people yet their comfort is that none shall be against them to prevaile either over the Spirit of God in them or over the cause that they manage First of all you see then that the state of a Christian in this world is an impregnable state and a glorious condition Here is glory upon glory from this clause to the end of the Chapter If God be with us who shall be against us If God gave his Sonne for us shall hee not with him give us al things else there is another glorious speech Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods people another glorious triumphant speech another glorious speech Who shall separate us from the love of God founded in Christ Hee loves Christ first and us in Christ as members and as he loves him eternally so he loves us eternally too Therefore you see every way the state of a Christian is a glorious condition Who can be against us You see the state of Gods people it is an impregnable and glorious condition Then by this meanes those that are strange Paradoxes to flesh and blood yet they agree in a Christian. He is never alone when hee is alone God is with him the Father Son and Holy-Ghost are with him Angels are with him God is not only with him but his guard is with him and Gods Spirit is with him and in him victoriously both in grace and comfort Christ saith to his Disciples when they thought to leave him alone saith hee you cannot leave me alone My Father is with me and Saint Paul towards his latter end that had deserved so well of the Christian world All forsooke me saith he but the Lord forsooke me not but delivered me out of the mouth of the Lion So a Christian is not alone hee is not left to the mercy of his enemies but God is with him and who shall be against him to prevayle over him Againe though a Christian be a worme a person trampled upon for so the Church is the most afflicted part of man-kind yet Feare not thou worme Jacob. The world accounts them as wormes and they account themselves so they are trodden on as wormes they are wormes upon earth yet they have a glorious head in heaven and a glorious guard about them strange things agree in a Christian therefore let us not stumble though wee see not these things presently the life of a Christian is a mysterie Againe hence we see that a Christian profession to be a sound Christian to have true faith in Christ to be one with Christ and to be taken out of the state of nature this condition and the happinesse of it it hath the strongest foundation of any life in the world Christianity is founded upon the strongest and the greatest reasons that can bee Faith stands with the greatest reason that a thing can doe Why The comfort of a Christian is that he hath no enemy that shall prevaile over him and what is the ground of that God is with him God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Faith is that that layes hold upon that presence and promise and covenant of God and is not faith well bottomed A Christian that carries himselfe valiantly and couragiously is not his course grounded on sound reason Is not God with him God the Father is his father God the Son is his Redeemer God the Holy Ghost is his Comforter There is no other men that have strong reason for their course for that choise that they make of their Religion and of their wayes they prove but fooles in the conclusion onely the sound Christian that by the Spirit of God hath his eyes open to see the cursed estate he is in by nature and what it is to be in Christ and by a Spirit of faith is made one with Christ hee is the truely wise man in his faith and affiance that the world mockes at that hee hath no common supports in the world which hee cares not for if God be on his side hee cares not what man can doe against him as it is Psal. 118. you see on what ground it is founded God is with him and none can be against him Let us labour to lay up these principles wee worke according as our principles are Principles are the foundation of all conclusions that arise from them As our grounds are so are we in our faith and working and grace and comfort every way if wee have rotten principles if the grounds of our comfort bee rotten our course will be rotten and uncomfortable in the conclusion Let us build upon the Rocke to be well bottomed and founded that our principles and grounds bee strong and that they be so to us for what if God be with his if he be not so to us Let us labour to lay up sound grounds Grounds have influence into the whole course of our lives this one Text hath influence into all the parts of our lives in doing in suffering in all conditions I know not a more pregnant fruitfull principle in the Scripture than this If God be with us who can be against us It is like a pearle little in quantity few in words but strong in sence large in the fruit that issues from it Therefore as wee may carry pearles or precious things wheresoever we go because there is a great deale of worth in them and they be small in quantity so wee may carry this principle with us let us bee sure to lay it up and make use of it There be these two That there is a God and that God is with his children and so with his children that hee will subvert and overthrow all their enemies and all their plots and endevours a principle of wonderfull comfort If
this principle be well layd it is a ground of a Christians courage in all conditions whatsoever it is no matter how many enemies he hath for as Cyprian saith Non potest seculum c. the world cannot hurt him that in the world hath God for his protectour for the Divell hee is crushed already though hee keepe adoe and stirre up stormes he perisheth in the waves as he saith hee hurts himselfe more than any body else hee increaseth his owne torment and so doe all his children The flesh likewise it busles against the Spirit but it looseth and the spirit gaines upon every â—oyle why here is the principle God is with us there is no power can resist God for then God should withstand himselfe the power that the creature hath it is but a borrowed power and if by a borrowed power it should withstand Gods purpose God must be against himselfe his Kingdome must bee divided which is a contradiction Therefore this is the ground of the courage of a Christian in all conditions What is the reason that the Scripture hath that phrase so often Feare not I am with thee as to Paul and Ioshua and the rest because it is the ground of all courage We see weaker creatures than man a Dogge in the sight of his master hee will fight couragiously because he hath a superiour nature by him that he thinkes will backe him And shall not a Christian when he hath layd up this principle that God is with him God incarnate God in his nature when he is a member of God as it were of that person that is God shall he not be couragious when he hath him to looke upon him and to backe him And if God be with us hee is not so with us as to neglect us he is so with us as he hath interest in the cause we have and in our persons hee is with us as one with us nay as in us by his Spirit and whosoever toucheth us toucheth the apple of his eye Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Here is ground of courage in whatsoever may befall us to stand it out in all conditions whatsoever Nothing can sever Christ and a Christian this bodie will never be beheaded Christ will never bee separated from his body hee will not loose the poorest member he hath You see it is the duty of a Christian to be couragious and undaunted in the cause of God and from this ground because God is with him and who can be against him Let all the world bee against God and against the cause that a Christian professeth they doe but kicke against the prickes they dash against a rocke as the waves that breake themselves they doe not hurt the rock a whit they doe but cast stones upward that fall upon their heads againe Therefore it is a desperate cause that malicious spirits manage who have more parts then grace and arme themselves and their wits to hurt the people and Church of God and slander his cause and doe all the hurt they can It is a ground likewise of encouragement in our callings when God calls us to any thing in our places that is good hee will be with us therefore in our places and standing let us doe that that belongs to us let us not feare that we shall want that which is necessary or miscarry any way When Moses pretended he â—ould not speake Who gives a mouth saith God to him Therefore let us take courage not onely in suffering and opposition but in our places and standings God will bee with us hee gives his Angels charge to keepe us in our wayes wee have a guard over us Here is a ground likewise of all contentment in any condition in the world what can be sufficient to him that God cannot suffice God All-sufficient is with thee thou canst want nothing that is for thy good thou maist want this and that but it is for thy good that thou wantest it Those that feare God shall want nothing that is good It is a ground of all contentment God is with them to fill their souls to the utmost He is made for the soule and the soule for him for our end is to have communion with God in Iesus Christ here and everlastingly in Heaven God is fitted for us and we for him Here is fresh comfort for the soule alway hee can fill up every corner of the soule he is larger than our soules Therefore let us be content in what condition soever we are in God is with us therefore let the peace of God which passeth all understanding guard our hearts even from this very ground and conclusion God is with us who can be against us Let Moses be cast into a basket of Bul-rushes if God be with him hee shall not be drowned Let Daniel bee cast into the Den if God bee with him God will come between the Lyons teeth and him Let the three blessed men be cast into the fiery Furnace a fourth shall bee with them and keepe them from the hurt of the flame Let God be with Noah hee shall swim upon the waters and the greater the waters the more safe hee and the neerer to heaven Let God be with us and we may be content with any condition whatsoever Againe let us not be over much discouraged with our infirmities and corruptions If God be with us who can be against us Our corruptions are against us and they are worse to me than the Devill and all enemies saith a poore Christian. Indeed they are for the devill hath no advantage against us but by our corruptions but if thou account thy corruptions thine enemies they are Gods enemies and Christs enemies as well as thine hee will be with thee and thy corruptions shall more and more be wasted for the flesh shall fall before the spirit this Dagon shall fall before this blessed Arke stronger is hee that is in us than he that is in the world The Spirit of God is stronger in us than corruption in us or the world without us it ministers stronger grounds of comfort than all other can doe of discomfort If you bee under the spirit and under grace sinne shall not have dominion over you It may be in you but it shall not have dominion because yee are under the covenant of grace Therefore though corruption be in us for our exercise and humiliation yet it shall not be against us to abridge us of comfort they serve to drive us neerer to God Let none be discouraged Christ came to destroy the workes of the Devill therefore hee came to destroy sinne in us which is the work of the Devill hee came to take away not only the guilt but the very being of sinne as he will at last for if God and Christ be with us who shall be against us But it may be objected by some But I finde not God with me It is true sometimes God hides
downe the glorious condition of the Church in this world in part yet the desire of the Church rests not in any condition here therefore it is carried to the consummation and perfection of all There shall be a kind of new world at the conversion of the Iewes but when the Church is under that blessed condition yet it is under desires still of farther perfection till an end be made of all things Therefore this saying here Come hath reference to the future state of the Church All the desires of the Church are restles till the consummation of all things in the latter comming of Christ. It carries all before it in a desire Come Lord therefore to call the Iewes Come Lord to confound Antichrist which must be before that for the Iewes wil never come in till the scandal of Idolatry be removed when all this is fulfilled then come Lord to make an end of this sinful world As it is with a river it carryes all before it till it discharge it selfe into the Ocean where it is swallowed up so it is with the desires of a Christian they carry all in the meane time between heaven and them in a streame and never rest â—â—ll they be swallowed in heaven it selfe and â—â—e second comming of Christ to finish 〈…〉 s and then is the period of all happinesse and â—he accomplishment of all promises when Christ shall come to be glorious in his Saints The words they are as it wâ—re â—n eccho aâ— answere backe againe of the Bride the Spouse of Christ unto his promise of his comming which he makes twise in this Chapter in ver 7. Behold I come quickly and in ver 12. Behold I come quickly and he comes not empty handed My rewardâ— is with me Now the Church here ecchoes backe againe Christ saith I come and the Spirit and the Bride say come The words containe the most heavenly desire that can be of the most excellent personage in this world the Queene the Bride of Christ and it is a desire to the most excellent person absolutely Christ himselfe a desire of his comming and it is stirred up by the most excellent Spirit the holy Spirit of God for the meaning of the words is this The Spirit and the Bride say Come not as distinct and severed but the Bride by the Spirit saith Come the Holy Ghost in the Bride as it is Rom. 8.26 Wee know not what to pray but the Spirit makes intercession How is that The Spirit makes intercession by making us make intercession for what Christ doth the Spirit causeth us to do for there is one Spirit in Christ and us So the Bride by the motion of the holy and blessed Spirit say Come The order of our discourse upon these words shall be this First to speake of the person wishing and her condition The Bride And then of the desire of this excellent personage the Bride And then of the mooving cause that stirres up the Bride to desire the comming of Christ First for the person the Bride The Church is sometime compared to a woman for weakenesse sometimes to a wife for faithfulnesse to her Husband and Christ sometimes to a Bride because she is contracted to Christ in this world sometimes to a mother for her fruitfulnesse sometimes to a Virgin for her chastity here to a Bride because this life is but the time of Contract but the consummation of the marriage shall be in heaven Now this contract between the Church and Christ and betweene every particular soule and Christ for both are the bride of Christ. Even as it is the same soule that is in the little finger and in all the whole body the same soule enlivens both so it is the same Spirit in the Bride in generall and in every particular Christian therfore the Bride is both every particular Christian the whole Church Now the contract that is made betweene the soule and between the Church Christ it is by the Spirit of God which knits the soule to Christ and Christ to the soule And for this end that Christ might be a Husband and contract this Bride to himselfe in our nature he married our nature that he might marry our persons There is a three-fold degree of union An union of Nature An union of Grace An union of Glory The union of nature was then Christ tooke our nature upon him The union of grace is when we take his nature when wee partake of the divine nature The union of glory is when we shall all be in heaven The first is for the second and the second for the third Christ became bone of our bone in nature that we might be bone of his bone with him in grace and so perfectly one with him in glory We see the Bride that is the Person Here I might take occasion to speak of the sweet comfort that issues from this that the second Person in the Trinity should dignifie us so much as to take us to unity with and contract us to himselfe but I will not speak much of this point having spoken more at large of it out of the Canticles If marriage be honorable what is this marriage and contract which is indeed the patterne of all other others are but shadowes to this Hence comes the sweet security peace of the Church from this contract between Christ and it for all our debts are discharged by this he tooke upon him our sins And then the Church hath interest in him and all his in this contract and marriage which is to be consummate all that he is hath is the Churches All is yours because you are Christs What a large comfort is this if we had hearts to consider of it and to improove it his grace serves for the Church Of his fulnesse wee receive grace for grace So wee may say of all the priviledges that Christ hath they are first in him and then in the Church the Church shines in his beames And as it is matter of wondrous comfort so it is likewise matter of more speciall comfort in case of infirmities The Church is a woman therefore the weaker vessell Now God that bids us beare with the woman as the weaker vessell to honour her with the honour of gentle usage for that honor is meant he that teacheth man his duty will he not performe it himselfe to beare with his Church as the weaker vessell Especially when it is the condition of the marriage Hosea 2. I will marry thee to me in mercy wee may clayme mercy as a part of our dowry by Christ pardoning mercy forbearing pittying mercy we make not use of this comfort when we are discouraged But this teacheth us likewise how to carry our selves to Christ as we should doe chastly to take heed how we judge of things we must keep our judgements chast A Christian hath not liberty to ryot in his opinion to run at randome to see what 〈◊〉
unto me saith the Lord James 4.8 Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you LONDON Printed by E. P. for Nicholas Bourne and Rapha Harford 1639. DAVIDS CONCLVSION OR The Saints Resolution Psalme 73.28 But it is good for mee to draw neare to God THis Psalm is a Psalm of Asaph or a Psalm of David and committed to Asaph the Singer for Asaph was hoth a Seer and a Singer Those Psalmes that David made were committed to Asaph so it is thought to be a Psalm of David and if not of David yet of Asaph that likewise was a Singer in the house of God The Psalm represents to us a man in a spirituall conflict by a discovery of the cause of it and a recovery out of the conflict with a triumphant conclusion afterwards He begins abruptly as a man newly come out of a conflict Truly God is good to Israel as if hee had gained this truth in conflicting with his corruptions and Sathan who joynes with corruption in opposing say the flesh what it can say Sathan what he can say carnall men what they can yet God is good to Israel After his conflict he sets downe the discovery first of his weaknesse and then of his doubting of Gods providence and then the cause of it the prosperity of the wicked and Gods contrary dealing with the godly then he discovers the danger he was come to v. 13. verily I have clensed my heart in vaine and washed my hands in innocency c. And then the recovery in verse 17. I went into the Sanctuary and there I understood the end of these men The recovery was by going into the Sanctuary not by looking upon the present condition but upon Gods intention what should become of such men and there he had satisfaction Then his victory and triumph over all verse 23. Neverthelesse I am continually with thee It was a suggestion of the flesh that thou wast gone farre from mee by reason of the condition of carnall men that flourish in the eye of the world No Thou art continually with me and thou holdest me by my right hand thou upholdest mee I should fall else But what would God do so for the time to come he will guide me by his counsell while I live here and when I am dead what will he do fot me after hee will receive mee to glory whereupon saith hee who have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth that I desire besides thee Therfore though for the present my flesh faile yea and my heart faile yet God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Wee see here his victory set downe and hee gives a lustre to it by Gods contrary dealing with the wicked for loe they that are far from thee shall perish thou hast destroyed all them that go awhoring from thee Now in the words of the text you have his Conclusion upon all this neverthelesse it is good for mee to draw neere to God This is the Conclusion upon the former principles this is as it were the judgement upon the former demurrs the sum of all comes to this let all things be weighed and laid together I am sure this is true It is good for me to draw neere to God So he ends where he began God is good to Israel therfore because God is so good to Israel It is good to draw neere to God So you see in what order the words come they are the words of a man got out of a conflict after he had entred into the Sanctuary and after he had considered the end of wicked men at whose prosperity hee was troubled and took scandall Before I come to the words it is not amisse briefly to touch these points to make way to that I am to deliver First of all that Gods dearest children are exercised with sharp spirituall conflicts God suffers their very faith in principles sometimes to be shaken What is more cleare than Gods providence not the noone day yet God suffers sometimes his owne children to be exercised with conflicts in this kind to doubt of principles written in the book of God as it were with a Sun-beame that have a lustre in themselves There is nothing more cleare than that God hath a particular speciall providence over his yet Gods wayes are so unsearchable and deep that hee doth spiritually exercise his children hee suffers them to bee exercised as you see here hee comes out of a conflict but it is good for mee to draw neere to God I will but touch it therefore I will extend it only to Gods people that if by reason of the remainders of corruption God suffer their rebellious hearts to cast myre and dirt to cast in objections that are odious to the spirituall man that part that is good they may not be cast down too much and dejected It is no otherwise with them than it hath beene with Gods deare children as we see in Ieremie Habakuk and others It is a cleare truth I only poynt at it that we might have it ready to comfort our selves when such things rise in our soules it is no otherwise with us than it hath beene with other of Gods deare children The second poynt is that Gods children when they are in this conflict they recover themselves God suffers them to be foiled but then they recover themselves First there is a conflict and then oft times the foyle a man is foyled by the worst part in him and then after awhile he recovers and then as in other conflicts there is triumph and victory as we see here his conflict and recovery For Gods children go not farre off from him as it is in verse 27. Loe they that are far off from thee shall perish they may have their thoughts unsetled a little concerning Gods providence but they run not far off they go not awhoring as carnal men do They begin to â—lip but God hath a blessed hand under them to recover them that they do not fall away that they fall not foulely They may slip and fall a little to stand better and surer after but they go not farre off as wicked men do they never slip so low but Gods goodnesse is lower to hold them up hee hath one hand under them and another hand above them imbracing them so that they cannot fall dangerously This is the second from this that wee see here he recovers out of this conflict Which may serve to discerne our estate in grace if we belong to God though such noysome imaginations rise yet notwithstanding there is a contrary principle of grace alway in Gods children that checks them at the least afterwards if not presently Such noysome thoughts as these rule and reigne in carnall men for they take scandall at Gods government and they judge indeed that the wayes of wicked men are happy they have false principles and they frame
any good God takes notice of it Daviâ— after hâ— had repented of that foule sinne and was sharply corrected for it as indeed he was David was a good man for all that hee served God in his Generation But to give you an item by the way however God passed by the sinne in David and accounted him after his repentance a good man yet he must be sharply corrected for it Let no man therefore presume upon this that God will iudge him by the tenour of his life and therefore hee will commit particular enormities oh no! it cost David deare for besides his heart-smart in his owne particular God made his heart bleed it cost him many a salt tear besides that it was punished in his posteritie God raysed up his own bowels to take armes against him hee made him wish a thousand times that he had not so offended God It is ill trying conclusions with God though God afterwards pardon us and turne all to good yet it shall cost us deare first Though God will bring us to heaven yet if we will venture upon sinnes against conscience and take libertie to offend God he will take sharp courses with us yet it shall not preiudice our salvation you see those sins of David after he had repented was corrected for them they were forgotten and David in regard of the course of his life served God his life was a service of God notwithstanding some particular actions These things may be usefull to the best of us all therefore I observe them in generall from Gods manner of mentioning David here with honour and passing by his infirmities To come more particularly to the words Then David after he had served in his Generation the will of God c. THe words are a short Epitome of the life and death of the blessed man David First I will speak of his life and then of his death In his life there are these two parts First the time in which he lived when this service was done In his Generation And then the manner of his carriage in that time of his generation It was a service of God He served God And this service of God is set down by the obiect of it God By the rule of his worship the will of God Hee served God but how as he had revealed his will to him not at randome God will be served according to his own will And then here is the act he served So here is the proper obiect of worship God in whom all our service is terminate whatsoever we do it must rest in him if we do good works to men it must be for Gods sake we must serve God in it Then here is the proper rule carrying us to that obiect his Will And then it must be a service it must be done in obedience to God David in his Generation served the will or counsell of God as the Word is For his death we shall speak of it after First for the time In his generation Generation in the Scripture signifies a succession of men one after another as you have it in Matth. 1. from such a one to such a one so many generations so many successions You know in the Latine tongue seculum is taken for an age or generation the space of an hundred years though Moses shut up the life of man in a shorter time Succession of one man after another is a generation Generation sometimes in a generall sense is taken for all of one kinde The generation of Noah and the generation of the righteous that is all of that kinde without restraining it to succession But most commonly it is the consideration of men from succession of them having the tearm from the way whereby we enter into the world that is by generation therefore the succession of men from one to another is called Generation Now here Generation implies both the times and the persons The persons of men are a severall generation and the time wherein they live is a generation and both are here included David in his Generation among the age of men and in the time wherin he lived â—erved God The meaning of the place is clear The points considerable here are First of all that there is a generation a succession of men one after another Secondly that every man hath his particular generation Daviâ— had his generation wherin he served the Lord. Thirdly that he served God in his Generation that is the whole time of his Generation yet with this limitation he served God only in his generation while he was here before he came to heaven In heaven there is a kinde of service but it is not by way of work but of reward We must serve God in our generation here If ever we look to reap herafter we must sow now David served God in his generation First of all There is a generation a succession of men Particular men go off the stage but the species the kinde is eternall kinds of things continue forever Man dies noâ— but Paul and Peteâ— and David die there is a succession of particular men It is with men as it is with the waves of the sea one wave goes away and another comes after It is with men as it is with trees for men are compared in Scripture to trees trees of righteousnesse and man take him in his nature is like a tree the Poet could say to that purpose it is with men as with trees some leaves fall off in Autumne and others come in their place the next spring so it is with men they have their severall Generations there is an Autumne a decay and there is a spring of them there is a succession of Generations To teach us this lesson that our time being short here every man hath his generation one Generation goeth away and another commeth as the Scripture saith wee must be laid to our Fathers and otherr must stand up in our place Rise up Iosua for Moses my servant is dead saith the Lord one servant of God dies and another rises There bee many that must act their parts in this world therefore some must go off the stage that others may come on therefore while we have time here let us be sure to do good before we be takeÌ„ away suddenly we know not how soon and there be no more generation Here there will be a succession of generations till wee all meet in heaven then there wil be no succession there shal be no more death but as the Apostle saith we shal be for ever with the Lord. And it should teach us likewise considering that in regard of our being and naturall condition in the world there are severall successions generation after generation that now we are here and presently after no more seen in the world to make sure an eternall generation to be borne anew of the immortall seed that never dies as Saint Peter saith that tends to
death rest Againe it is in this respect a sleep because a man goes to bed with assured hope of rising againe and therefore he goes quietly though it be a state of darknesse for the time all the senses are bound up yet hee knowes that in Gods ordinarie providence hee shall rise againe therefore men not only quietly but cheerefully go to bed So there is greater ground to know that wee shall rise againe out of our graves than that we should rise out of our beds for many mens beds have been their graves in some sort I meane they have died in their beds but for the resurrection we have the word of Almighty God that is a God of his word that we shall rise againe and we have it in the pledge of our Saviours resurrection there is no doubt of that Therefore when wee die if wee have faith wee should make no more of death than men doe to goe to bed hoping undoubtedly of an assured and joyfull resurrection The want of faith in that kind makes us backward to this you see in what respect death is said to be a sleep To speak only of those references and relations that are most pertinent between sleep and death David fell asleep and very willingly for he had lived a painefull life he served God both as a private man as a Sheepheard as a King Eccles. 5.12 To a labouring man sleepe is sweet so to a man that hath served God carefully in his calling and kept a good conscience death is very sweete Wee see children that have been playing all day they are loath to goe to bed but to a man that hath wrought all day sleepe is sweete as wise Salomon saith to a labouring man Would we then have death as a sweet rest to us let us doe as David did that is bee painefull and laborious in our particular place and in our generall calling let us be faithfull in them to keep a good conscience and set all in order as much as wee can while we live to leave no seeds of debate when we are gone Some men die carelesly this way in disposing the good things that God hath given them they lay a foundation of perpetuall jarring afterward and so their death is skarsly a sleepe and rest they cannot but bee disquieted when they thinke how they leave things because they were not wise before hand David setled Salomon in his Throne and set all things right before hee died and that made him die not only in rest but in honour in 1 Chron. 29.28 David died in a good old age full of riches and honour And let us labour to get assurance of a change for the betteâ— David his flesh rested in hope because hee beleeved in Christ that Christs body should see no corruption Psal. 16. So if wee would have death sweete as a sleepe let us labour to get assurance by faith in Christ and so our flesh may rest in hope that as Christ raised his owne flesh so he will raise ours Good Simeon when he had seene Christ once Lord now let thy servant depart in peace c. so after we have gotten a sight of Christ to be our Christ our Saviour and Redeemer and have interest in him Lord now let thy servant depart in peace So much for the tearme sleepe It is added besides that Hee was gathered to his Fathers HEâ— was gathered to his Fathers both in regard of his body and in regard of his soule for his body went to the house of the dead the grave and his soule went to his fathers to heaven As I said before of sleepe so of this it is a phrase of Scripture that must bee understood as the persons are When a man dies his body goes to the place or house of all men the house of darknesse the grave but for his soule that goes as the man is to his fathers to hell if hee bee naught to the soules of just and perfect men as the Apostle speakes if he have lived a gracious and a good life and so it must be understood here bâ—cause hee speaks of a blessed man He was 〈◊〉 to his Fathers he meanes not to his immediate fathers but all beleeving men before him that were the children of Abraham his soule went to them his body to the first Mother the Earth out of which it was taken So the Generall is nothing but this that When we die wee are put to our fathers Therefore this should moderatâ— our feare of death and our griefe for the departure of others Why wee are not lost when we die the soule and body is taken asunder it is taken in pieces but both remaine still the bodie goes to the earth from whence it was taken and the soule goes to God that gave it And for our comfort we goe to those that we knew before many of them to our fathers not to strangers Especially in respect of our soules wee goe to our fathers to our next fore-fathers and to our old fathers to Abraham Isaac to Iacob to David to blessed Saint Paul and Peter and all the blessed men that died in the faith And when we are dead wee goe to those that are more perfect than those that wee leave behind us This should moderate our griefe oh I leave my friends behind me my father and mother and childrenâ— it is to goe to better to greater and those that love thee better Thou goest to greater for they are in their pitch they have attained their end they are in heaven and to better they are refined from those corruptions that men here are subject unto and then their love is perfect likewise therefore going to our fathers and not to strangers to those that are better and greater and love us more perfectly why should wee thinke much to die they will bee readie to entertaine us oh the welcome that soules find in heaven and at the day of the Resurrection the sweete imbracings when all the blessed soules that have beene from Adam to the last man shall meete together seeing therefore wee goe to our fathers it should rather make us chearefull Here whom do we live with take them at the best our friends men subject to jealousies and weaknesses our jealousie makes us suspect them and their weaknesses makes us thinke the meaner of them so our love is not perfect nor our graces are not perfect therefore we cannot have perfect love and contentment while we are here But in heaven there shall be no jealousie nor feare nor imperfection which is the ground of jealousie we shall perfectly love them because they shall be perfectly good and they shall perfectly love us because we shall be perfectly good and one shall stand admiring the graces of God in another and that will maintain a perpetuity of love therefore it is want of faith that makes us unwilling to yeeld our soules unto God at the point
of death It is a going to our fathers But then wee must take heed what fathers wee imitate here take heed who are our patterns while we live for if wee do not imitate them here wee cannot live with them in heaven when wee are dead Therefore it is a very necessary item in Heb. 13.7 Look to them that rule over you that speak the word whose faith follow Considering the end of their labour Let us look before what kind of men those have beene that wee desire to live with in heaven and mark the end of their conversation for such as we delight in and frame our carriage to here such we shall live with hereafter We must not think to live with Nero and die with Paul to live Epicures and die Christians to live dissembling and falsly in our places and to die comfortably and to go to the blessed soules at the houre of death and at the resurrection No God will gather our soules with wicked men if wee fashion our carriage to wicked men such as wee delight in and live with and set as patterns before us with such we shall live for ever hereafter Hee was gathered to his fathers One signe of a man that shall be gathered to beleeving fathers to his good fore-fathers besides imitation is this to delight in the congregations of just men here A man may know he shall go to the congregation of perfect soules in heaven if he delight in the congregations of Gods Saints here for surely he that hath a confidence to bee in the proper heaven heaven that is so blessed he will have a care while he lives as much as he can to be and delight in the heaven upon earth Now the chiefe heaven upon earth is the Church of God Oh how amiable is thy dwelling place oh Lord where many soules meet together to joyne in speaking to God and in hearing God speak to them Those therefore that delight not in the congregations that delight not in the service of God what hope have they to bee gathered to the congregation of the faithfull when they are gone so much for that he was gathered to his fathers And he saw Corruption IT is an Hebraisme for he felt Corruption he had experience of Corruption All other senses are attributed to sight that being the principall of all the senses they have their terme from it because sight is the most excellent the most capacious and quick sense therefore I say the actions of all the other senses are attributed to it as wee say see how he speaks and so here he saw Corruption that is he had experience of it because sight is a convincing sense He could not properly see when he was dead but the meaning is he had experience of Corruption the truth is this in a word that The best and greatest men in the world when they are gone they are subject to corruption David was a King and a Prophet a man after Gods owne heart yet this could not keepe Davids body from Corruption The reason is wee are but dead men here this is not the life that Christ hath purchased for us wee are going to death our naturall life is but Cursus ad mortem a continuall going to death We are alive now but alasse our life is nothing but a continuall dying every day cuts off a part of our life It is a statute that all must die And it is our perfection to die we cannot otherwise see God enjoy our Crown Death indeed is nothing but misery but when we die we go to live The best must see Corruption Therefore this should bee an argument to support the soule when we think of the rottennesse in the grave and of that place and time of horrour when wee shall bee no more here upon earth It is no otherwise with us than it hath beene with the best in the world they all saw Corruption in their time Again considering we have but corruptible bodies here bodies that must see corruption let us take care for the better part He is a mad man that having two houses one free-hold the other a rotten tenement ready to fall about his eares that shall take delight in that and neglect his owne inheritance which is a goodly thing it is for want of wit and it is as much want of grace when we having a double life the life of grace that ends in glory the life of the soule the life of God as Saint Paul saith and then the life of the body which is communicated from the soule to the body which is corruptible our bodies are but tabernacles of clay whose foundation is in the dust for us to take care of this vile body as the Apostle calls it Phil. 3. Who shall change our vile body and make it like to his glorious body according to his mighty power to take care of this vile body and to neglect our precious soules It is the care of most such is the carnall breeding of men and they follow those that bred them in this brutishnesse as if they had no soules as if there were no life after this their care is what they shall eat and what they shall drink and put on what to commend themselves by in the outward man to the view of others all their care is for their outward man Alas what is it but a corruptible vile body it is but the case of the soule they forget the Iewell and look all to the Casket which is a base body take it at the best while we are here And take heed we be not ensnared with the bodies of others This is the corruption of men to gaze in this kind You see wise Salomon and others were much troubled with temptations in this kind Consider that body that thou dotest on now and which is made by the Divell a snare to thee what will it bee ere-long so noysome that thou wilt not indure the presence of it it is but a flower and it is fading fresh in the morning and dead at night All flesh is but grasse it is a corruptible body If thou wilt needs love bee acquainted with such as have excellent spirits that shall live eternally Oh there is an object of love indeed that is the true love and acquaintance that is spirituall Many things may be lovely in the outward person but see that there be a heavenly spirit that is mounting up that savours of good things a spirit that hath life begunne in it that shall be for ever happy in heaven unlesse there bee this there cannot bee a fit ground for the love of any wise man To end all you see here a short story of a good life and a blessed death let us make this blessed man of God exemplary to us in both Let our whole life be nothing but a service of God and let us consider the generation wherein wee are to take
and do all the good we can in our time And then consider what death will be when we come to die it will be a sweet sâ—eep to us and our resurrection will bee a refreshing our flesh shall rest in hope as David saith We shall be gathered to our fathers wee shall see Corruption indeed but mark what David saith Psal. 16. my flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not suffer thy holy one to see Corruption Then this is the upshot of all though we see Corruption when we are dead yet with the â—y of faith wee see a rising againe from Corruption We see death but as a pot to refine us in even as it is with silver when there is much corruption and heterogeniall matter mingled with it the fire refines it but it is not lost so the grave refines the body and fits it for a glorious resurrection The flesh rests in hope all the while though the body see Corruption because our head saw no Corruption if the head be above water what if the body be downe our head saw no Corruption that is Christ for he rose out of the grave before his body putrified for his body had a subsistence and was gloriously united to the second person in Trinity and being united to the Lord of life it saw no Cortrption For that did not lie upon Christ as our Saviour to bee corrupt but to die to bee made a curse for us and then especially I say by reason of the neare union of it to the God of life Well then what is Davids argument of comfort in Psal. 16. My flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not suffer thine holy one to see Corruption Because Christ rose from the grave himselfe the holy one of God our flesh may rest in hope though we see Corruption because the same divine power that raised christ our head out of the grave that his body saw no Corruption will raise our bodies to bee like our glorious bodie Our blessed Saviour that overcame death in his owne person by his power he will overcome death for all his mysticall body that is his Church it shall be perfect in heaven soule and body together as hee himselfe is glorious now in heaven That wee may say with David notwithstanding our bodies see Corruption as his did yet our flesh shall rest in hope because Gods holy one saw no Corruption FINIS The Table Part Page A Abasement ABasement of Christ the greatest 1 10. Abasement of Christ whence it was 1 11. Fruit of Christs Abasement 1 13. Adam Our estate in Christ better then in Adam 1 43. Affections Affections not taken away by religion 1 249. Afflictions Benefit of Afflictions 1 279. Against How farre the enemies of Gods children are Against them 2 74. In what respect none are Against Gods children 2 75. Alone A Christian is never Alone 2 78. Angels Angels the cause of their fall 2 202. Annointed Three sorts of persons Annointed 1 34. Appetite How to get Appetite to feed on Christ 1 183. Application Application wrought by the Spirit 2 43. Faith the grace of Application Ibid. Approach Comfort in our Approach to God 1 27. Ascention The Spirit given more abundantly since Christs Ascention 1 53. Authority Authority of Christ from his Father 1 202. B Behold The word Bâ—â—â—ld how used 1 5. Blame Blame to bee laid upon our selves in judgements 1 316. Bodies Bodies of others not to be doted on 2 229 Bondage Freedome in sin a Bondage 2 17. Bride The Church of God a Bride 2 101. Why the Church is called a Bride 2 106. C Care Ground of Care in our carriage 1 82. Ceremonies Bondage of Ceremonies in the Law 1 263. Chaines Sin as Chaines 2 7. Choise Chosen Christ Chosen of God how 1 19. We should rest in Gods Choise 1 20. Christ. Christ not to be neglected 1 21. How to know wee are in Christ 1 30. All that is good is first in Christ and then in us 1 40. To take heed of refusing Christ 1 210. The greatnesse of the sin to refuse Christ 1 212. Comfort for such as receive Christ 1 213. See Chosen servant delight Adam Christians Difference betweene Christians and others 1 238. 2 205. Disposition of true Christians 1 246. Church Three degrees of men in the Church 1 156. Cleansed To labour to be Cleansed by the blood of Christ 1 296 Comfort Comfort from the ground of Gods love 1 25. Comforts when to bee stored up 1 131. Ground of Comfort for weake Christians 1 228. Comming There must be a second Comming of Christ 2 107. The Church desires Christs Comming 2 108. The Church in Heaven desires Christs Comming 2 113. Christians not alway fitted alike for Christs Comming 2 118. Directions how to desire Christs Comming 2 119 Communion See Saints Common See Service Condition Why we should consider our former Condition 1 140. Why God suffers different Conditions of men 2 137. Conflict Gods children exercised with Conflicts 2 132. How to recover out of Conflict 2.134 Confession Confession of sin necessary 1.288 Good men in their Confessions rank themselves with others 1 289. Conscience Conscience after long sinning hardly comforted 1 94 Conjunction Foure Conjunctions wonderfull 1 10 Consideration Hinderances of Consideration 1 103. Contentment Ground of Contentment 2 84. Contraries Contraries agree in a Christian 1 302. Conviction Ground of Conviction 1 127. Conviction of judgement the ground of practise 2 148. Foure things in Conviction 2 149. Conviction to be laboured for 2 151. Conviction wrought by the Holy Ghost 2 155. Correct God Corrects his children sharply 2 169. Counsell The will of God called Counsell why 2 187. Corruption The best men subject to Corruption why 2 227. Ground of support against Corruption 2 218 Courage Ground of Christian Courage 2 81. Course Every man hath his Course 1 107. God judgeth men according to their Course 1 108 Gods children have a contrarie Course to the world 2 137. Creator God to be served as a Creator 2 187. Crâ—â—â—ion See Redemption Creature God shames mens pride by other Crâ—atures 1 115 D Danger What to doe in times of Danger 1 129. Death Dead Men naturally Dead 1 141. Death what Ibid. Death spirituall wherein it is 1 142. Sin it selfe a Death 1 144. Signes of spirituall Death 1 145. Difference in naturall and spirituall Death 1 152. The best have remainders of Death 1 155. Every man under the law of Death 2 25. How we are under the law of Death 2 27. Sin and Death go together 2 28. â—reedome from sin and Death what 2 49. Difference in the Death of godly and wicked 2 216. See Sinne. Defect Three maine Defects in man 1 34. Defiled The best actions of the best men Defiled 1 299 Delay Repentance not to be Delaied 1 91. Danger of Delaying 1 92. Delight Delight in Christ the ground of it 1 28. Desirâ— See Comming Dying There is a time of Dying as
well as living 2 117. Divell Carnall men better then the Divell would have them 2 11. Diligence Diligence how stirred up 1 254. E Enemies How farre God suffers the Enemies of his children to prevaile 2 75. See Against Eternity Eternity of misery should deterre us from sin 2 30. Everlasting life What meant by meate that indures to Everlasting life 1 175. Excellent See Necessity F Face Face of God what 1 322. Conflict of faith when God hides his Face 1 323. Godâ— Face how to be sought 1 324. Fade Men Fade as leaves how 1 315. Failing How to make use of Christ in our Failings 1 49. Faith How Faith doth that which Christ doth 2 45. To get into Christ by Faith why 2 175. Faith drawes neere to God 2 137. Father The consideration that God is our Father what it should work 1 326. Fathers who meant by them 2 223. When we die wee are put to our Fathers 2 224. Feed Food Christ and his benefits why called Food 1 176. Difference of spirituall and corporall Food 1 182. How to know we have Fed on Christ 1 188. Motives to Feed on Christ 1 197. Formality Formality in religion a forerunner of judgements 1 121. Freedome Freedome acceptable 2 31. Freedome from all ill by Christ how 2 32. Freedome double 2 46. See Violence Full. Christianity a Full state 1 232 G Generality Generality in sin no plea 1 98. Generality of sin a forerunner of judgement 1 120. Generation Generation what 2 171. An eternall Generation to be made sure 2 173. Every man hath his particular Generation 2 175. To observe the Generation we live in why 2 176. To take benefit by the good in our Generation 2 178. Not to be tainted with the sins of the Generation 2 180. Wee should labour to make the Generation we live in good 2 182. God God is with his children how 2 69. Ground of Gods presence with his children 2 72. How to know God is with us 2 87. What course to take that God may be with us 2 90. To goe from God what 2 144 See Prayer Godly Difference betweene the Godly and others 1 96. Good There is Good in our actions though they be defiled 1 300. We are advanced to the greatest Good by Christ 2 56 See Generation Gospell Difference of giving the Law and the Gospell 1 69. Gospell why disesteemed 1 266. Spirit effectuall in the Gospell 1 267. Guilty The best men Guilty of the sins of the times 1 291. H Happy The judgement of the world who are Happy 2 18. Heaven The Church the Kingdome of Heaven 1 326. Threefold signification of the Kingdome of Heaven Ibid. Why grace and the meanes of grace are called the Kingdome of Heaven 1 229. Help Helps to doe Gods will 2 197. See Outward Hide God sometimes Hides himselfe 2 86. Hold. We must stirre up our selves to lay Hold on God 1 308. Hopefull See Violence Horse Wicked men compared to Horses 1 110. Humility Humiliation Grounds of Humiliation 1 16 320. Humility why to bee laboured for 1 73. Humiliation necessary 1 281. Kinds of Humiliation 1 282. Helps to Humiliation 1 283. Verball Humiliation 1 287. Humiliation extraordinary 1 314. J Idolatry Idolatry the ground of it 1 47. Image Image of God defaced by sin 1 112. Importunate Why to be Importunate with God 1 310. Imitation Imitation of holy men needfull 2 210. To take heed whom wee Imitate 2 125 231. Impregnable The estate of a Christian Impregnable 2 78. Indeavour Difference betweene Indeavours of Christians and others 1 256. See Successe Infirmities Infirmities should not discourage us 2 85. Innocencie In what case to stand on our Innocencie 1 303. Iudgement Iudging What meant by Iudgement 1 63 113. Iudgements of God how spoken of amisse 1 85. How to speake aright of Gods Iudgements 1 87. God offended when wee repent not by his Iudgements 1 88. Neglect of selfe Iudging the cause of misery 1 101. After long patience God sends Iudgements 1 117. Iudgements comming how knowne Ibid. Sin to be looked to in Iudgements 1 318. Iustice See Sin K Kingdome What things are in a Kingdome 1 231. Excellency of Christs Kingdome 1 268. See Heaven L Labour Labour for earthly things when immoderate 1 173. To Labour for Christ as food 1 216. Labour distinguisheth Christians from others 1 219. Language Language of Scripture savoury 2 165. Law Law what 2 5. See Gospell Sin Leprosie Sin a Leprosie 1 294. Life Life what 1 141. Life spirituall whence 1 142. Life in Christ how 2 34. To serve God in the time of Life 2 184. Long Life not to bee looked for 2 217. Not to repine if God give us Life 2 218. Lie Grand Lie in the Church of Rome 2 191. Love Christ Loved of God how 1 22. Decay in our Love a forerunner of judgement 1 127. Lust. Comfort against rebellion of Lusts 2 51. M Marriage Comfort by our Marriage with Christ 2 103. Meanes Greatnesse of sinning against Meanes 2 179. Mourne To Mourne for the sins of the times 1 130. N Name Gods children leave a good Name behind them 2 164. Nature Things made use of in Scripture from Nature 1 116. To see what we are by Nature 1 150. Naturall parts how to bee used 1 153. Every one tainted by Nature 1 293. In actuall sins to see the corruption of Nature 1 298. Neare God Neare us how 2 145. How wee are Neare to God 2 146. Necessity Necessity of what we pray for 1 309. Newters Newters hatefull to Christ 1 247. O Obedient The Spirit given to the Obedient 1 58 Offices Offices of Christ in what order performed 1 36. Old God can convert Old sinners 1 154. Opposition Grace increased by Opposition 1 260. Outward Outward service alone not accepted 1 310. Outward helps to doe Gods will 2 194. P Patience See Iudgement Peace Foure things trouble a Christians Peace 2 1. Perish Meat that Perisheth what 1 167. Not to gaine things that Perish with the losse of our soules 1 170. Plague Sin worse then the Plague 1 297. Popery To be thankfull for freedome from Popery 1 266. Popery opposeth preaching why 1 270. Pâ—â—er Power of Christ to give himselfe and his benefits 1. 201. Prayer Prayer a meanes to obtaine the Spirit 1 61. Formes of Prayer usefull 1 278. Danger of neglecting Prayer 1 305. Prayer laies hold on God 1 307. To looke for answer of our Prayers 1 312. Resignation of our selves in Prayer 1 328. See Worship Preaching Grace wrought by Preaching 1 68 See Popery Precious See Violence Priestly Christs Priestly office the principall 1.37 Prerogatives How to use our Prerogatives 2 52. Principles Principle in a Christian double 1 302. Principles to be laid up 2 80. Promâ—seâ— Christ Promised in the Old Testament 1 3. Prophanenesse Prophanenesse whence it is 2 152. Providence To looke to the end of Gods Providence 2 135. Q Querie It is good to propound Queries to our selves
2 67. R Reason Different conclusion of Gods Word and carnall Reason 2 135 Redemption Gods love greater in Redemption then in Creation 1 12 26. Reflect Man can Reflect upon his actions 1 100. Repentance Late Repentance seldome true 1 92. Benefit of lively Repentance 1 95. See Sinne. Reproach Reproach not to be regarded 1 â—45 Resolution Ground of Resolution 2 219. Riches To carrie our selves answerable to our Riches 1 48. Rule Properties of a Rule appliable to Gods Word 2 190. Rule how to bee applied in particular actions 2 194. See Word S Salvation Christ as man chosen to Salvation 1 19. Saints To delight in the communion of Saints 2 225. Sanctuarie Benefit of entring Gods Sanctuary 2 135. Satan When we are under Satan 2 10. Scripture How to understand the Scripture 2 164. Sealing Seâ—ling of Christ what 1 201. What use to make of Christs Sealing 1 204. How to know Christ is Sealâ—d for our good 1 205 209. Sealing threefold 1 206. Sealing of thâ— Spirit what 1 207. Servant Service Christ a Servant how 1 7. Comfort that Christ was a Servant 1 17. To offer Christ in our Service to God 1 20. Danger of deferring Gods Service 2 184. God the object of our Service 2 186. Service what 2 188 203. Common actions a Service of God how 2 â—12 Qualification of our Service of God 2 214. See Life Shaken Gods children Shaken why 2 141. Secret Secret will of God no rule 2 190. Security Security a forerunner of judgement 1 119. Sight Sin takes away the Sight of it selfe 2 21. Sinne. The hurt we have by Sin 1 90. Particular Sins foreshewing judgements 1 121. Naturally we are under Sin 2 5. Sin threefold Ibid. Justice of God to give men up to Sin 2 8. Misery to be under Sin 2 9. Fruit of thraldome to Sin 2 16 Men not given up to all Sinne alike 2 22. Wee should see death in our Sins 2 28. See Generality Death Leprosie Iudgement Sleepe The death of the godly a Sleepe 2 220. Society Society with carnall men to be avoided 1 151. Soule The Soule chiefly to bee cared for 2 228. Spirit How to know wee have the Spirit 1 30. Degrees of receiving the Spirit 1 32. The Spirit put on Christ how 1 33. Spirit given and received by Christ how 1 38. Three things wee receive by the Spirit 1 42. How Christ gives the Spirit 1 55. Spirit in Christ how 2 36. Meanes to get the Spirit 2 123. See Ascention Gospell Stirre See Hold. Strength God the Strength of a Christian 2 79. Successe Succession Christians indeavours Successefull 1 255. There is a Succession of men 2 172. Sufferings Service of God in our sufferings 2 209 214. Supply Our Supply whence it is 1 46. T Table Service of God in obeying the second Table 2 205 207. Tast. Tast a most necessary sence 1 193. Temptation Comfort in Temptation 2 53. Thankefull See Popery Thraldome See Sin Time Times Time when especially to bee improved 1 129. Why to make use of Time 2 173. How our Times both miserable and happie 2 177. To serve God our whole Time 2 183. Gods children must serve their Time 2 218. Every mans Time allotted by God 2 219. Tirannie Tirannie of sin 2 19. V Vaine-glory Vaine-glory why to bee avoided 1 72. Valew Ground whence to Valew Christians 1 30. By what God Valews his children 2 167. Violence Violent Violence offered the Kingdome of Heaven how 1 233. Christians disposition Violent how 1 235. Ground of this Violence â— 236 To judge our estate by our Violence 1 â—41 Violence after outward things 1 242. Violent onely take Heaven 1 251. Freedome of grace inforceth Violence 1 253. Holy Violence hopefull 1 254 Pretious things require Violence 1 259. Exhortation to holy Violence 1 61. Gospell in Luthers time imbraced with Violence why 1 265. How to get holy Violence 1 271. See Wisedome Vnderstandings How to use our Vnderstandings 1.102 Vnfruitfullnesse Vnfruitfullnesse a forerunner of judgement 1 126 Vs. All good in Christ before in Vs 1 40. How the Spirit takes from Christ and gives to Vs 1 41. How the Spirit is put on Christ for Vs 1 50. What Christ did was for Vs 2 41. W Washings Washings in the Law what they signified 1 295. Watchfullnesse Watchfullnesse when requisite 1 130. Will. Will of Christ to give himselfe 1 119. Will of God knowne and not done aggravates sin 2 201. Will-worship Will-worship why forbidden 2 189. Winde Wicked men blowne away as with a Winde 1 317. VVisedome What violence may stand with VVisedome 1 244. VVisedome in man corrupted 2 21. VVisedome justified by whom 2 140. VVord Spirit given in the Ministery of the VVord 1 55. Written VVord the rule of our service 2 189. VVorld Businesse of the VVorld hinders consideration 1 104. VVorldly things to be neglected why 1 171. Christians rule of life not from the VVorld 2 138. Ill courses of the VVorld settle Gods children 2 139. VVorship Prayer put for all Gods VVorship 1 304. FINIS 1 Tim. 3.15 2 Tim. 1.14 Scope of the words Christ promised in the old testament 1 To stablish faith in other promises 2 To comfort them against their owne unworthinesse 2 Cor. 1.19 The word Behold used 1 To shew Christ as present 2 To take their mindes off from their miseries 3 To raise their mindes from earthly things Christ a servant 1 By Condition 2 By Office In respect oâ— God 1 Pet. 3.18 In respect of us Gods love to us 1 In the person thus abased Phil. 2. 4. Conjunctions wonderfull Christs abasemeâ—t tâ—e greaâ—est 2 Whence Christ was so abased Gods love in Redemption greâ—ter then in Creation 3 The fruit of Christs abaâ—ement Matter of wondâ—rment in the worke of Redemption Christ a servant by way of excellencie Vse Seeing Christ was a servant wee should bee humble Vse 2. Comfort that Christ became a servant Christ chosen of God Christ chosen to his office Christ as maâ— chosen to salvation To reâ—t in Gods choice To offer Christ to God in our services Take heed of neglecting Christ. Christ beloved of God 1 As God 2 As Man 3 As Mediator 4 In regard of the execution of his office Quest. Answ. God loves Christ mysticall Comâ—ort Gods love to us grounded on Christ. God loves the worke of our redeâ—ption Comfort in our daily approach to God To stirre us up to deligâ—t in Christ. On what 〈◊〉 to valâ—w Chrâ—stians We may know we are in 〈◊〉 1 I we have his Spirit How to know we have the Spirit Degrees of Christs receiving the Spirit What is meant by putting the Spirit on Christ Three sorts of persons annointed Three maine defects in man Supplied in Christ. In what order Câ—riâ—t performes his offices Chriests priâ—stly office the principall Object Answ. How Christ both gives and receives the Spirit All 〈◊〉 in Christ then 〈◊〉 How the Spirit takes of Christ and gives to us Three things
their course of life to such false principles and rules from cherishing athiesticall doubts of Gods providence and the like It is farre otherwise with Gods children there are conflicts in them but there is a recovery they check them presently they have Gods spirit and the seed of grace in them that is never extinct The way of recovery is to enter into Gods Sanctuary for wee must not give liberty to our selves to languish in such a course to look to present things too much but look into Gods book and there wee shall see what is threatned to such and such ill courses and what promises are made to good courses and then apply Gods truth to the example see how God hath met with wicked men in their ruffe and advanced his children when they were at the lowest when they were even at the brink of despaire Examples in this kind are pregnant and cleare throughout the Scripture The Lord saith It shall go well with the righteous and it shall not go well with the wicked Let him escape a thousand times Doubtlesse there is a reward for the godly Let us look in the book of God upon the predictions and see the verefying of those predictions in the examples that act the rules and bring them to the view let us see the truthes in the examples This entring into Gods Sancturary it is the way to free us from dangerous scandalls and to overcome dangerous conflicts for the conclusions of the Sanctuary are cleane contrary to sensible carnall reason Carnall reason faith such a one is a happy man sure he is in great favour God loves him oh but the Sanctuary saith it shall never go well with such a mam Carnall reason would say of Dives oh a happy man but the Sanctuary saith he had his good here and Lazarus had his ill here Carnall reason saith is there any providence that rules in the earth is there a God in heaven that suffers these things to go so confusedly I but the word of God the Sanctuary saith there is a providence that rules all things sweetly and that all things are beautifull in their time We must not look upon things in their confusion but knit things Mark the end mark the end of the righteous man Psalme 37. Look upon Ioseph in prison here is a horrible scandall for where was Gods providence to watch over a poore young man but see him after the second man in the Kingdome Look on Lazarus at the rich mans doore and there is scandall but see him after in Abrahams bosom If wee see Christ arraigned before Pilate and crucified on the Crosse here is a scandall that innocencie it selfe should be wronged but stay awhile see him at the right hand of God ruling principalities and powers subjecting all things under his feet Thus the Sanctuary teacheth us to knit one thing to another and not brokenly to look upon things present according to the dreams of mens devices but to look upon the catastrophe winding up of the tragedy Not to look on the present conflict but to go to the Sanctuary and see the end of all see how God directs all things to a sweet end All the wayes of God to his children are mercy and truth though they seeme never so full of anger and displeasure Thus you see Gods children are in conflict oft times and sometimes they are foyled in the conflict yet by way of recovery they go into the Sanctuary and there they have spirituall eye salve they have another manner of judgement of things than flesh and blood hath Againe we see when he went into the Sanctuary the very sight of faith makes him draw near to God Somtimes God represents heavenly truths to the eye of sense in the examples of his justice Wee see sometimes wicked men brought on the stage God blesseth such a sight of faith and such examples to bring his children nearer to him as we see immediatly before the text thou wilt destroy all that go awhoring from thee and then it followes It is good for mee to draw neare to God So that the spirit of God in us and our spirits sanctified by the spirit takes advantage when wee enter into the Sanctuary and sees the divers ends of good and bad to draw us close to God Indeed that is one reason why God suffers different conditions of men to bee in the world not so much to shew his justice to the wicked as that his children seeing of his justice and his mercy and the manifestation and discovery of his providence in ordering his justice towards wicked men it may make them cleave to his mercy more give a lustre to his mercie It is good for me to cleave to the Lord I see what will become of all others The next that followes upon this that Gods children thus conflicting and going into the Sanctuary and seeing the end of all there They goe a contrary course to the World They swim against the streame As we say of the starrs and Plannets they have a motion of their owne contrary to that rapt motion whereby they are carried and whirled about in foure and twenty houres from East to West they have a creeping motion and period of their owne as the Moone hath a motion of her owne backward from West to East that makes every moneth and the Sunne hath a â—everall motion from the rapt motion hee is caried with that he goes about in a yeare So Gods children they live and converse and are carried with the same motion as the world is they live among men and converse as men doe but notwithstanding they have a contrary motion of their owne which they are directed and carried to by the Spirit of God as here the holy Prophet saith It is good for mee to draw neare to God As if he should say for other men be they great or small be they of what condition they will let them take what course they will and let them see how they can justifie their course and take what benefit they can let them reape as they sow I doe not matter much what course they take I will looke to my selfe as for me I am sure this is my best course to draw neare to God So the sanctified spirit of a holy man hee looks not to the stream of the times what be the currents and opinions and courses of rising to preferment of getting riches or attaining to an imaginary present happinesse here but hee hath other thoughts hee hath another judgement of things and therefore goes contrary to the worlds course Heare Saint Paul Phillip 3. saith he there All men seek their owne I cannot speak of it without weeping whose end is damnation whose belly is their God who mind earthly things But what doth Saint Paul when other men seek their owne and are carried after private ends oh saith he our conversation is in heaven from whence
we look for the Saviour who shall change our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body according to his mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himselfe So you see the blessed Apostle led with the same spirit as the man of God here he considers not what men do he fetcheth not the rules of his life from the example of the great ones of the world or from multitude these are false deceiving rules but he fetcheth the rule of his life from the experimentall goodnesse he had found by a contrary course to the world Let the world take what course they will it is good for me to draw neare to God I might adde a little further that The course and corrupt principles of the world are so far from shaking a child of God that they settle him They stir up his zeale the more As we say there is an antiperistasis an increasing of contraries by contraries as we see in winter the body is warmer by reason that the heat is kept in springs are warmer in winter because the heat is kept in So the spirit of God in the hearts of his children works boyles when it is invironed with contraries it gathers strength and breaks out with more zeale as David Psal. 119. when he see men did not keep Gods law we see how he complaines to God It is time Lord for thee to work Indeed it is the nature of opposition to increase the contrary those that have the spirit and grace of God in truth they gather strength by opposition Therefore the use we are to make of it is to discerne of our selves of what spirit wee are what principles we lead our lives by whether by examples of greatnesse or multitude or such like it is an argument wee are led by the spirit of the world and not by the spirit of God Gods children as they are severed from the world in condition they are men of another world so they are severed from the world in disposition in their course and conversation therefore from these grounds their course is contrary to the world But it is good for me But is not in the originall it is And it is good for me but the other is aimed at the sense is But it is good for me to draw neere to God and so it is in the last translation Thus you see what way we have made to the words I do but touch these things and it was necessary to say something of them because the words are a triumphant Conclusion upon the former premises And in the words in generall observe this first of all that God by his spirit inableth his children to justifie wisdome by their owne experience To make it good by their owne experience It is good for me to draw neere to God And this is one reason why God suffers them to be shaken and then in conflict to recover that after recovery they may justifie the truth nihil tam certum c. nothing is so certaine as that that is certaine after doubting nothing is so fixed as that that is fixed after it hath been shaken as the trees have the strongest roots because they are most shaken with winds and tempests Now God suffers the understanding that is the inward man of the best men to bee shaken and after settles them that so they may even from experience justifie all truths that they may say it is naught it is a bitter thing to sinne Sathan hath abused mee and my owne lust abused me and intised mee away from God but I see no such good thing in sinne as nature perswaded me before As travellers will tell men you live poorely here in such a country you may do wondrous well there you shall have plenty and respect and when they come there and are pinched with hunger and disrespect they come home with shame enough to themselves that they were so beguiled So it is with Gods children sometimes he suffers them to bee foyled and lets them have the reines of their lusts awhile to taste a little of the forbidden tree that after they may say with experience it is a bitter thing to forsake God it is better go to my former husband as the Church saith in Hosea when God took her in hand a little sinne will be bitter at the last So the prodigall he was suffered to range till he was whipped awhile and then he could confesse it was better to bee in his fathers house God suffers his children to fall into some course of sinne that afterward by experience they may justifie good things and be able to say that God is good And the judgement of such is more firme and doth more good than those that have beene kept from sincking at all God in his wise providence suffers this We should labour therefore to justifie in our owne experience all that is good What is the reason that men are ashamed of good courses so soon It may be they are perswaded a little to pray and to sanctifie the Lords day to retire themselves from vanity and such like I but if their judgements be not setled out of the book of God and if they have not some experience they will not maintaine this therefore they are driven off Now a Christian should be able to justifie against all gainsayers whatsoever can bee said by his owne experience That to read the book of God and to heare holy truths opened by men led with the spirit of God it is a good thing I find Gods spirit sanctifie me by it To sanctifie the Lords day I find good by it by experience That where there is the communion of Saints holy conference c. I can justifie it if there were no Scripture for it I find it by experience to bee a blessed way to bring me to a heavenly temper to fit mee for heaven So there is no good course but Gods children should be able both by Scripture and likewise by their owne experience to answer all gainsayers when either their owne hearts or others shall oppose it he may bee able to say with the holy man here it is no matter what you say It is good for me to draw neere to God So much for the generall To come more particularly to the words It is good for me to draw neare to God HEre you have the justification of piety of holy courses which is set downe by drawing neare to God And the Argument whereby it is justified It is good This glosse put upon any thing commends it to man for naturally since the fall there is so much left in man that hee drawes to that which is good but when he comes to particulars there is the errour hee seekes heaven in the way of hell he seekes happinesse in the way of misery he seekes light in the way of darknesse and life in the way and path of death his lusts so hurry him