comforting the conscience inlarging the affections hee is then said to come and appear so runnes the Promise in the Gospel If a man love mee hee will keep my words and my Father will love him and wee will come in to him and make our abode with him in the Epistle to the Angel of the Laodicean Church Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open the dooâ— I will come in to him and sup with him and hee with me 3 Besides both these there is a personal comming of Christ and this is double for so wee read hee shall appear the second time Indeed the Jews fancy two Messiahs oâ—e of the Tribe of Ephraim the other of the Tribe of Judah one the Son of Joseph the other of David wee no where read of any Messiah of any other Tribe than that of Judah But that which was the occasion of their errour is a certain truth namely that there is a double comming of the Messiah One of the titles of the Messiah is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee that is to come and it is that which as it did from the beginning so it will till the end of the world belong to him for though the first comming bee long since past in respect of which this very Apostle saith in the next Chapter The Son of God was manifested yet there is a comming to come in reference to which hee saith a little before in that Chapter hee shall appear And indeed though the late learned Annotatour refer the appearing in my Text to that virtual comming of his when Jerusalem was overthrown yet since there is no reason necessitating to restrain it to that and so soon after namely in the second verse of the next chapter this appearing is mentioned again where it must bee understood of that second and last comming I conceive it most congruous with the generality of Interpreters so to understand it here This is that comming of Christ which was Prophesied long agoe Enoch the seventh from Adam mentioned this advent saying The Lord commeth with thousands of his Angels and Daniel where hee speaketh of the Son of mans comming with the Clouds of Heaven Of this comming the New Testament maketh frequent mention It is foretold by Christ himself I go and prepare a place for you I will come again By the Angels This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him gone into heaven By the Apostles The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trumpet of God So St. Paul Bee patient Brethren unto the comming of the Lord. So St. James Which if immediately it respect the virtual yet is to bee extended to this personal comming Finally There shall come in the last daies Scoffers saying where is the Promise of his comming So St. Peter That hee shall come again is an Article of our Creed founded upon many pregnant Testimonies of holy Writ To determine the time of his comming is without the compass of our knowledge because not within the spheare of Scripture-Revelation wee have lived to see those men found Lyars who have audaciously presumed to set the time Let us desire to know no more than God hath revealed and that is that it shall bee the last day At this comming whensoever it is bee shall appear to wit in splendor and Glory so it is called by St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And herein lyeth the difference between the first and second comming of Christ Primus adventus ejus occultus secundus manifestus saith an Ancient his first comming was hidden his second shall be manifest quum conspicuus factus erit So Beza readeth my text when he shall appear conspicuously his first coming was in the form of a Servant his second shall bee in the splendor of a King at his first comming hee was meek as a Lamb at his second hee shall bee terrible as a Lyon at his first comming hee was accompanied with mean men at his second hee shall bee attended with mighty Angels at his first comming hee rode upon an Asse in his second hee shall ride upon the clouds Finally his first comming was in meanness and ignominy his second shall bee with might and Majesty This comming I trust beloved wee all beleeve and let us all be exhorted more and more to confirm our faith in it Indeed a sure beleef of this second advent is of urgent necessity in order to an holy life since nothing maketh the Servant more diligent in his business than a certain expectation of his Lords return hence it is that one character of a true Christianin the New Testament is to look for Christs appearing which implyeth a stedfast confidence that hee will appear It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 si but cum If hee shall appear as if it were a thing dubious or onely probable hee may come or hee may not come but when hee shall appear as a thing certain and indubitable and taken for granted by our Apostle that they to whom hee wrote were fully convinced of and so shall I now charitably judge of you and proceed to the 2 Next particular which is implied and that is our appearance in those words before him The first comming was to save sinners upon the terms of faith and repentance his second shall bee both to save and destroy to destroy the incredulous and impenitent to save the beleeving and penitent sinners In order to this it is that whereas his first comming was to bee judged and so condemned and crucified his second comming shall bee to judge both by absolving and condemning That hee may perform this office of a Judge there must bee a general citation and consequently appearance of all men before him when hee shall descend from heaven all shall ascend out of their Graves Wee shall all stand so saith St. Paul to the Romans Wee must all appear so is his phrase to the Corinthians before the judgement Seat of Christ nor is this universallity onely in respect of all sorts of men but of all persons Quicquid hominum universis seculis toto orbe progenitum as Leo hath fully expressed it whatsoever man hath been is or shall bee born in any age or part time or place of this world hee must necessarily come before this Judge at that day Indeed some shall have boldnesse and some shall bee ashamed but all shall appear before him Hee telleth us himself that All nations shall bee gathered before him both sheep and goats good and bad The wicked indeed shall not stand in the judgement that is they shall fall in their cause but they shall stand in their persons desire they will bee to bee
incouraging commendations It was one of St. Jeromes counsels to Laeta about the bringing up of her daughter Laudibus excitandum est ingenium that shee should excite her by praises When the School-master by commending his Scholar for doing well le ts him see that hee hath a good opinion of him it is a notable spur to put him upon preserving and increasing that good opinion by doing better what the blowing of the horn is to the hounds in their chase and the sounding of the Trumpet to the Horse in the battel that is praise to men in their prosecution of vertue and opposition against vice And therefore let all Ministers learn to take notice of and incourage the forwardnesse of their people and let them be no lesse careful to extoll their virtues than to reprove their vices when the people do what is commendable it is but just wee should commend what they do and if they finde matter let not us want words in giving them their deserved praises according to the pattern which here St. John sets us 2 In special take a view of the commendation here given which is first by way of remotion acquitting them from ignorance they were not like St. Pauls silly women which were ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth not like those Hebrews who whereas for the time they ought to have been Teachers they had need that one teach them again which bee the first Principles of the Oracles of God they were not such as did not know the truth And then by way of attribution asserting that they were such who did know the truth yea that they had a distinct knowledge of it whereby they were able to distinguish between truth and falshood for that you know is very fitly by interpreters supplyed in the last clause you know that no Lye is of the truth Our blessed Saviour speaking of his sheep saith they know his voice and that so as to distinguish it from the voice of strangers for so it followeth and a stranger will they not follow thus doth S. John here commend these Christians not only for a true but a clear knowledge whereby they were able to judge aright and discern between things that differ Indeed according to that known maxim rectum est index sui et obliqui that which is true discovers not only it self but that which is false and therefore he that knoweth the truth knows that no lye is of it That it may the better appear how high a commendation this is it will bee needful to discusse a little on the one hand the evil of ignorance and on the other the good of knowledge 1 Not to know the truth is a sin sadly to bee bemoaned and such as contracts not onely guilt but shame upon the person Indeed this is not true of all kinde of Ignorance There is an Ignorance which is commendable not to know what God hath kept secret because hee would not have us know it s no shame for a man not to know that which is not in his possibility and such are all those things which God hath not been pleased to reveal There is an Ignorance which is excusable to wit 1 when it is of such truths which are without our sphere and therefore have no need to know them 2 when it is of such truths as are polemical problematical which partly by reason of the difficulty of the matter and partly by reason of the imbecillity of our understanding wee cannot attain to a full knowledge of 3 when though it be of the Evangelical Truth yet it is either through a defect of Revelation which is the onely means whereby wee can know it as in Pagans who never heard of the Gospel and therefore shall not bee condemned for not knowing and beleeving it or through a natural incapacity as in infants and fools and mad-men who being not able to make use of their reason cannot attain to this knowledge But not to know in some measure the necessary truths of the Gospel notwithstanding the opportunities and means of knowledge afforded to us is an ignorance deservedly blameable Indeed it is negligentia non impotentia incuria non incapacitas not an impotent incapacity but a retchlesse negligence it is not an invincible but a vincible not a negative but a Privative not an involuntary but a wilfull ignorance not of one who would but cannot but of one who may but will not know the truth And now to bee thus ignorant is our sin our shame our ruine what a travellor is without his feet a workman without his hands a Painter without his eies that is a Christian without knowledge unable to do the will of God What danger a ship is in that wants a Rudder Ballasse Anchors Cables Sails the like is hee in who wants knowledge How easily is hee tossed up and down with every winde of Doctrin how unable is hee to stear a right course towards heaven how quickly is hee overturned into a gulf of errors and vices no wonder if God complain by the Prophet Hoseah My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge Our proverb saith The blinde man swalloweth many a flye and catcheth many a fall it is no lesse true of an Ignorant Christian hee swalloweth many an errour and falls into many a sin this jaw bone of an Asse I mean Ignorance hath slain its thousands laying heaps upon heaps In a word Almighty God is so far provoked with affected ignorance that hee threatneth by his Prophet It is a people of no understanding therefore hee that made them will not have mercy on them and hee that formed them will shew them no favour and by his Apostle that the Lord Jesus shall beerevealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God 2 To know the Truth and that no Lye is of it is a virtue highly to bee commended Indeed there is an excellency in all kinde of knowledge it is a pearl despised of none but fools Knowledge having no enemy but the Ignorant Alexander was wont to say hee had rather excell in knowledge than bee great in Power Indeed what the eie is in the body that is knowledge in the minde that the choycest member of the one this the noblest ornament of the other but surely this knowledge whereof my Text speaks is far more excellent than all other knowledge whatsoever for wheras by knowledge it is that a man differeth from a beast by this knowledge it is that a Christian differeth from other men nullus omnino cibus suavior quam cognitio veritatis saith Lactantius no sweeter food to the minde than the knowledge of truth and especially of this truth What the foundation is to the building the root to the tree that is this knowledge to the Soul the beginning of all grace and goodnesse what the Sun is to the world that is this knowledge to the minde to
see and know that hatred of the Brethren is a deadly sin and that whilst he continueth in it he goeth down to Hell how then is it said of him that he knoweth not whither he goeth To answer this briefly It is one thing to know that is to apprehend and another to know that is to consider a thing Indeed it is impossible but that such an one should know and yet as God saith of Israel in another case Israel doth not know my people doth not consider so may it be said of this person he doth not know that is he doth not consider whither he goeth to this purpose is Carthusians note Quantam damnationem meretur non pensat he doth not lay to heart what damnation he deserveth what a danger he encurreth His judgment dictateth to him in Thesi in generall that hatred is a sin and leadeth to Hell but when it is to passe sentence in Hypothesi in particular it either denieth the action which is done against his Brother to proceed from hatred or that though it be a sin yet it shall not prove deadly to him because he is in Christ already or because he intends to repent of it before he dyeth or else his judgement not at all taking notice of the obliquity of the work and misory of the wages dictateth what the will is about to do as expedient for the present satisfaction of that which it intendeth Sutable hereunto is that note of Estius upon my Text That no sin is committed but through a praevious errour of the practicall judgment about that particular Object which the will chooseth therefore doth the malicious yea every wicked man commit and persist in his sin because he noth dot weigh his actions in the ballance of right reason nor duely ponder either what he doth or whither he tendeth I cannot let this go without this usefull inference sinners consider seriously what you do and think sadly whither you go whilst you go on in your sins Respice finem look to the end is a lesson which whosoever learneth not will in the end prove a foole No better way to deale by this Serpent sin then as God commanded Moses in another case to take it by the taile The verb beginning of repentance is at St Peters Question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is the end of a wicked course But further This phrase not knowing whither he goeth sets forth the miserable estate of this sinner Collaterally and by way of Allusion For 1. He that knoweth not whither he goeth is in an unquiet restless state full of fears and cares and his mind is never at quiet a fit embleme of a wicked man whose name in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth one that is unquiet and whom the Prophet compareth to the troubled Sea And especially is this true of the malicious hater who alwaies carrieth about him that which tortureth him Indeed what is envy and hatred to the soul but to use St Bafils comparison as the fretting rust to the iron and the consuming moath to the garment Nay to borrow Socrates his resemblance what is it but as a Saw continually cutting or to allude to that of our Saviour a worme still gnawing In one word to speak in the Poets language Vt Aetna seipsum Sic se non alios invidus igne coquit like to the mountain of Aetna the envious man hath a â—re alwaies burning within his breast and so is never at ease Upon this account it is that Gregory Nazianzen saith of this sin that it is both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most unjust to him that is hated and most just to him that hateth in that disquietment with which it perplexeth him 2. He that knoweth not whither he goeth is usually deceived in his opinion when he thinketh he is walking Eastward he walkest Westward and whilst he imagineth himself going forward he is going backward Thus he that saith he is in the light and hateth his Brother is deceived for whereas he supposeth himself in the way to Heaven he is posting on to Hell and truly in this respect he is so much the more miserable because he bringeth himself into a fools Paradise and dreameth that he shall be happy 3. Lastly He that knoweth not whither he goeth cannot see to avoid and so ofttimes sodainly falleth into bogs pits waters by which he is destroyed and perisheth Such is the case of wicked especially malicious men they bring upon thewselves swift and sodaine destruction and which is very considerable whilst they plot the ruine of others they accelerate their own and the very mischief which they designe for their brethren falls upon their own heads and now putting all this together tell me if he whose troubles are so distracting hopes deceaving and dangers destroying be not a miserable man 2. The proposition is dispatched He knoweth not whither he goeth The proofe felloweth Because the darkness hath blinded his eyes and now our Apostle carryeth on the Allegory to the outmost therefore He that is in darkness and walketh in it cannot know whither he goeth because he cannot see his way and therefore he cannot see his way because by reason of the darkness his eyes are blinded For the better opening of this clause I shall very briesly consider these particulars The part affected his eyes The disease blinded The cause darkness 1. His eyes that is the part affected by which no doubt is to be understood the understanding The eye in its proper notion is a part of the body but Metaphorically the soul hath its eyes as well as the body It is Olympiodorus his note The members of the outward man are aequivocally attributed to the inward As the excellencies of the greater world are after an higher manner in the less so the parts of the body are after a more noble way in the soul what the feet are in the one the affections are in the other what the stomach is in that the memory is in this what the heart is in the one the will is in the other Finally what the eye is in that the understanding is in this We need no better Expositor then St Paul who unfolds the meaning of this Metaphor when he saith The eyes of the understanding If you inquire after the Analogies they are both apt and obvious which I shall only mention The eye is situate in the upper part of the body the head and in the upper part of the head so is the understanding a faculty of the superiour soul the rationall and the superiour faculty in the rntionall soul The eye is the chiecest of the senses and the understanding is the choieest among the faculties without which the will would be but a brutish appetite The use of the eye is to see things visible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the Greek Etymologists is quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chamber of
guess at Gods love by Christs respect who commanded little Children to be brought unto him and blamed those that kept them from him It was Davids comfort When my Father and Mother forsooke me then God tooke me up it may be yours my little Children if you endeavour to know and love the Father when your Parents either cannot or will not help you he both can and will provide for you Once more your dear Redeemer and blessed Saviour Jesus Christ began himself betimes and was so well skild at twelve years old that he disputed with the Doctors in the Temple hereby giving you an example which though it cannot be expected you should equalize yet it is required you should follow we finde in the Gospell little Children going before Christ and following after him with Hosanna's and it is the praise of Jereboams Childe That there was found in him some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel Oh little Children write after these coppies so much the rather because with Jereboams Childe you may dye early and what a comfort will it be to your selves and Parents if then there shall be found in you some knowledg and love and fear of your Father which is in Heaven To end all What remaineth but that all of all ages Fathers young Men little Children make use of this Scripture as a looking glass whereby they may see what they are at least what they should be that they may be all according to the gracious promise taught of God from the greatest to the least eldest to the youngest And then the Psalmists exhortation will be readily embraced young Men and Maids old Men and Children let them praise the name of the Lord from this time forth for evermore Amen THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St JOHN CHAP. 2. VERS 15 16 17. Love not the world neitherr the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world And the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth forever THe Subject of this Scripture is one of the chiefest and most needfull lessons in all practicall Divinity since it is Removens prohibens a document of removing that which is one of the greatest hinderances in the exercises of Christianity Indeed what the stumbling block is to th Traveller in the way the weight to the runner in his race or to use St Austins comparison limetwigs are to the Bird in its flight that is the love of the world to a Christian in his course either wholly diverting him from or greatly entangling him in or forcibly turning him out of it This is one of the fetters which keepeth so many from entring into the path of piety This is one of those suckers which hinder others from growth in godliness Finally This is that which like a contrary winde to the ship beateth back many from their former profession The truth is as Calvin well observeth on this place Till the heart be purged from this corruption the eare will be deafe to divine instructions Hercules could never conquer Antaeus Donec â terrâ matre â—um levasset till he had lifted him up above his Mother earth no more can the spirit of grace subdue us to the obedience of the Gospell till he hath lifted up our hearts from earthly Love Heavenly truths glide of from carnall mindes as water from a sphaericall body No wonder then if the Apostle Paul exciting the Hebrews to run he race which is set before them adviseth them to lay aside every weight to wit of worldly care And here the Apostle John intending chiefly in this whole Epistle to advance a Christian conversation indeavours in these words to take men off from worldly affections Love not the word nor the things of the world c. The discourse of these words moveth upon two principall wheels namely A command peremptorily inhibiting which is Propounded in the beglning of the fifteenth Verse Love not the world nor the things of the world Expounded in the sixteenth Verse All that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life An Argument strongly enforcing which is drawn from two considerations The one in regard of worldly love its direct contrariety to that which is divine as it is Asserted in the end of the fifteenth Verse If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Proved in the end of the sixteenth Verse For it is not of the Father but of the world The other in regard of the world it self its fleeting instability which is Affirmed in the begining of the seaventeenth Verse And the world passeth away and the lusts thereof Amplified from its contrary the permanent felicity of the religious in the end of the Verse But he that doth the will of God abideth for ever So that though the grand wheels of this period are but two yet we finde many lesser wheels yea Rotam in rotâ every wheel having another within it The first main wheel is the prohibition and in that is another wheel the exposition The second wheel is the argument and in that two wheels the double motive each of which hath a wheel within it whilst the first motive is backed with a probation and the second with an illustration May that blessed spirit of grace vouchsafe to drive the Chariot of my discourse which shall run in order upon these wheels and then I doubt not but we shall attain that which is I trust the Goale of my Preaching and your hearing namely our reformation and salvation The prohibition is that which I am to begin with and that 1. As propounded in these words Love not the world nor the things that are in the world This is in order the sixth step of that walking in the light which I have heretofore told you is the chief design of this Epistle to delineate The first whereof is a sorrowfull confession of sin past The second a cordiall forsaking it for the time to come The third an obedientiall keeping the Commandment The fourth a sedulous imitation of Christ The fifth a Christian Law of the Brethren and now The sixth is an alienation of our head from the world Love not the world c. What the intent of this prohibition is will best apapear by inquiring what is the proper notion of the word world in this place Not to trouble my self and you with giving an account of its severall acceptions in sacred writ Be pleased to know to our present purpose That to use St Austins similitude as an house is taken sometimes for the wals and roomes which constitute the house and sometimes for the family which inhabiteth the house so by
heart he hath a foule dirty soule he is a mourner but it is only when his trading doth not thrive and riches increase he careth not for poverty of spirit but fullness in his purse all his mercy is to pitty and spare his Gold he is so farre from being a Peacemaker that he will go to Law for a penny and he resolveth to suffer no persecution but what is from his own fretting and raging lust Indeed the one of these qualifications is true but it is only in part men revile him and speak evill of him but it is not falsely but justly for Christs sake but his Monies sake and therefore his reproaches are so farre from rendring him blessed that they make him the more cursed and however this wretched catiffe like him in the Poet applaude himself while the people point and hisse at him yet the time will come when God shall upbraide him with his folly laugh at his calamity and then though too late he shall bewaile and abhorre and condemne himselfe What now remaineth but that since the denying this worldly lust appeareth so reasonable we resolve upon it and for our better execution of this resolution remember these Lessons 1. Get a contented minde The Author to the Hebrews hath aptly joyned them together Let your Conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have Requiring no doubt the latter in order to the former what are all of us in this world but as so many strangers and Pilgrims why should we care for more then Money to defray our charges we are under the providence of a gracious Father why should we not be content with what he seeth convenient for us Certainely that Shooe is not best which is the greatest but which is fittest for the Foote nor that Garment which is longest or most gorgeous but that which sets closest to the Body let our portion content us and then the lust of the eyes will not domineer over us 2. Labour for a charitable Heart make not the Mammon of unrighteousness your friend by loving it but make you friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness by giving it one desire will thrust out another the good lust of giving and distributing will expell the bad lust of getting and keeping St Austins counsell concerning riches is excellent Si absint ne per mala opera quaerantur in terra si adsâ—nt per bona opera serventur in â—aelo If they be wanting seeke them not in earth by evill workes if they be present lay them up in Heaven by good workes if you will needs be laying up of riches let it be in the safest place in Heaven as our Saviour directeth us and that is by laying them out for the poores relief if you must needs see your riches let it be upon the backs of the naked and the tables of the hungry this is the only commendable lust of the eyes 3. Judge righteous judgement concerning those things with which you are so enamoured to which end shut the eye of your sense and open the eye of your reason Tully writeth of a people who when they went to the field were wont pugnare clausis oculis to fight with their eyes shut it might be cowardize in them it would be wisdome in us to shut our eyes not to look too much on those Objects least they ensnare us When the Devill thought to tempt Christ to the utmost he shewed him all the kingdomes and glory of the world it is ill looking on the world especially when it putteth on its Holy-day apparell No wonder if David when he desireth that his heart may not be inclined to covetousness prayes also Turn away mine eys from beholding â—anity or if you will looke upon these things let it be with the eye of reason or rather faith to see the vanity and vexation of them looke not upon ther pompous outside but their rotten inside and then you will finde them like hangings which on the one side have pictures of Kings and Queens curiously wrought but on the other side rags and patches 4. Finally Lift up your eyes to Heaven by a due meditation of things above Anatomists observe that there is a muscle in mans eye more then in any other Creatures by which he is able to looke up Man in the Greeke language is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Plato saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that lifts up his countenance to which agreeth that of the Poet Os homimi sublime dedit Oh let our bodily constitution minde us of an Heavenly disposition Terram despicit qui Coelum aspiciâ— he will have Earth under his foote who hath Heaven in his eyes In one word As Moses so let us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 looke off from this land we possess to the promised Land that having respect to that recompense of reward we may disrespect the treasures of Aegypt and taking daily walkes upon Mount Sion all these things silver gold houses lands goods riches may be little and vile in our eyes so shall we be delivered from this second venemous corruption The lust of the eyes THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St JOHN CHAP. 2. VERS 15 16. Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world AMong those many excellent rules which belong to the divine Art of Preaching this is not of least concernment that Ministers should not content themselves with Generalities either in disswading evill or perswading good Virtues and vices are then rightly handled when our Sermons are not like shadows which represent obscurely and confusedly but as glasses or rather Pictures setting them forth in their distinct lineaments It is a known maxime in Logick Latet dolus in universalibus There is a great deale of ambiguity and consequently deceit in universall propositions And though exhortations at large to serve God mortifie the flesh and contemne the world are in themselves true and good yet if not more particularly discussed the Auditors will be too apt to deceive themselves by imagining they have learnt those lessons to which perhaps they are meer strangers For this cause it was that Sâ— Paul exhorting the Colossians to mortifie their earthly members proceeds to a punctuall enumeration of those members and not only those of the grossest and worse sort but those which seem at least in mans eye of less guilt and to instance no further for this very reason no doubt it was that our Apostle contents not himself in generals to dehort worldly love but annexeth a speciall discovery of the severall lusts by which it reigneth in the hearts and lives of the wicked Love not the world for all that
meet with this construction but I shall not refuse to take up a Pearl though I finde it in a Dunghil and as I shall never receive so neither will I reject any exposition because of the person that bringeth it Besides him that learned Mr. Mede occasionally speaking of these words conceiveth it to bee the last hour of Daniels seventy weeks and so consequently of the Jews Common-wealth Suitable whereunto is the Annotation both of H. Grotius and Dr. Hammond to whom for their excellent illustrations of many Scriptures this age is and future will bee much beholding The only objection that can lye against this interpretation is that this Epistle was written after the destruction of Jerusalem but this can only be said not proved True St. John out-lived that desolation but this Epistle might bee written before it yea this text renders it very probable and accordingly Mr. Mede conceiveth it might be written in the last of Daniels weeks about which time Jesu Ananiah began that woful cry Woe to Jerusalem woe to the Temple Taking the clause in this construction the emphasis of this word Hour will prompt two things to our meditation That the time of the Jews ruine was a set time and a short time 1 An hour is a measured part of time consisting of a set number of minutes whereby is intimated that the time of Jerusalems ruine was fixed and her years numbred it is that which would be considered in a double reference to wit as the Jews were a Nation and a Church 1 Consider them as a Nation and People and wee may see in them this truth exemplified That to all Nations there is an appointed time how long they shall continue hee that sets bounds to the Sea hithertâ— shalt thou passe and no further sets periods to all the Kingdoms of the earth thus long they shall flourish and no longer The signification of that word Mene which the hand wrote upon the wall concerning Belshazzar God hath numbred thy Kingdom and finished it carrieth in it a general truth concerning all Monarchies Kingdoms States the number of the years for their continuation and the term of time for their expiration is determined by God What is become of the Assyrian Persian Grecian and Roman Empires whose glorious splendor in a certain space of time vanished away Indeed according to the Poets expression Momento permagna ruunt summisque negatum Stare diâ— Though some Nations flourish longer than others yet all have their Autumn as well as Spring Winter as well as Summer and when the time registred in Heaven is accomplished on earth the most potent Politick Kingdoms moulder away in a moment 2 Consider them as a Church and Gods people it lets us see that as Kingdoms so Churches have their periods indeed the universal Church shall not fayl God will have if not in one place yet in another an Orb wherein the light of his truth shall shine though not always with the same clearnesse to the Day of Judgement but still particular Churches have their doleful eclipses yea their dismal settings by the removing of the Sun of the Gospel from them Those seven Churches of Asia are deplorable instances of this Doctrin who though once golden candlesticks holding forth the word of life are now inveloped in Mahumetan darknesse Oh see my Brethren what sin will doe to Nations to Churches for though it is God who determineth yet it is sin which deserveth their ruine That which moveth God to remove the Candlestick from a Church is their contempt of the light That which provoketh God to put a period to a Kingdoms prosperity is their heightned iniquity and therefore when we behold as wee of this Land at this day sadly doe a flourishing Church withered a goodly Kingdom overturned oh let us so acknowledge Gods hand as to blame our own demerits since it is upon fore-sight of a peoples transgression that God prefixeth a time for their destruction 2 An hour is a short space of time there are many parts of time longer days weeks moneths years Jubilees Ages but there is only one shorter to wit minutes nay the shortest time by which men commonly reckon is the hour with its several parts so that where our Apostle saith it was the last hour he intends that it was but an hour that is a very short time and Jerusalem should be destroyed Look as when the duration of an affliction is set forth by an hour it noteth the brevity of its continuance so when the coming of an affliction is measured by an hour it noteth the celerity of its approach in the former sense we read elsewhere of an hour of temptation and here in the latter that it is the last hour Indeed if wee look upon the Jewes at this very time we shall find they were very secure not dreaming of so neer and great a destruction The Characters which St. James giveth of the rich Jewes are that they heaped treasure together they lived in pleasure were wantâ—n and nourished their hearts as in a day of slaughter they indulged to their covetous and voluptuous lusts putting the evil day farr from them and yet those were the last days as that Apostle calls them nay the last hour in our Apostles language In this respect it is that our Saviour speaking of this destruction fore-telleth it should be then as it was in the days of Noah when they ate and drank married and gave in marriage till the day that Noah entered into the Ark as being over-whelmed with a general security when ready to bee over-whelmed with the floud Thus may Judgement be at hand when men think it farre off and the Judge stand at the door when the thief imagines hee is many miles distant when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction comes upon them as travel upon a woman with child and they cannot escape is the sad threatning which Saint Paul utters against presumptuous sinners wicked men are never more secure than when destruction is nearest and destruction is never nearer than when they are most secure Indeed when men through infidelity contemn it is high time for God to execute his threatnings that by hastening his wrath he may justifie his truth It is but reason that they who will not beleeve should feel and what they would not learn by the Word they should finde in their own sad experience take we heed therefore how wee look at the wrong end of the Perspective which makes the object seem at a greater distance than it is Alas how soon may the brightest skie bee over-cast Voluptuous Epicures saith Job spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment they goe down to the grave When Judgement cometh it cannot be avoyded and too often it surprizeth men before it is expected Whilst the wicked Jewes were encompassed with plenty and promised themselves tranquillity St. John fore-tells their misery and that as approaching It is
his heart is strongly resolved to hold fast the Evangelical Doctrines and though hee cannot dispute yet hee will beleeve and though they bee things not seen by sense or reason yet his faith being built on a divine Testimony maketh them clear and evident so as hee dares venture his soul on them 2 Savoury and relishing Hee that hath this unction so knoweth as to taste a sweetnesse and excellency in divine things insomuch that with St. Paul hee accounts all other things as dung and losse in comparison of the excellency of this knowledge There is a great deal of difference between that knowledge a man hath of Countries by a map and that which he attaineth to by travels It is one thing for a man to hear a discourse of the beauty of Colours or the sweetnesse of honey and another for a man to see the one and taste the other Oh taste and see saith the Psalmist that the Lord is Good so doth every Christian his knowledge in Divine things is like the eye to colours and the taste to meats hee so seeth as to bee enamoured with the beauty hee so tasteth as to bee well pleased with the sweetnesse of them The needle which is touâ—hed with the loadstone doth not more naturally move towards the pole than a soul touched with the blessed Spirit moveth towards heavenly objects In one word this knowledge like the Light not of the Moon but Sun is ever attended with heat and so doth not onely inlighten the minde but inliven and inflame the affections 3 Operative and transforming Wee all saith the Apostle with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image in other sciences a man may bee exact at the theory and unskilful in the practick but in Divinity that onely is the right knowledge which mouldeth a man into the frame of what hee knoweth We read of Jacob that upon the agreement between him and Laban Hee took rods of green poplar and the hasel and chesnut-tree and peeled white strakes in them and made the white appear that was in the rods and set them before the flocks in the gutter in the watering troughs when the flock came to drink and conceiving before the rods they brought forth ring-striked speckled and spotted the like efficacy hath a true sight and apprehension of Evangelical truths upon every Christian inabling him to turn words into works and show forth a conformity to them in his life hee knoweth God and Christ so as to trust in and become like to them the precepts so as to observe and obey them sin and heresies so as to abandon and abhor them for which cause perhaps it is that the Gospel is called a doctrin according to godliness not onely because it teacheth godliness but being rightly known it enableth men to live godly Eâ—napiâ—â— in the Life of Porphiry speaking of his master Longinus saith that hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a living library a walking study so is the annointed Christian having digested the sense of Scripture into vital blood and commenting upon Scriptural Doctrin by a practical conversation To shut up this first consideration in a double meditation 1 How glorious a priviledge is it to bee a Christian and partake of the Unction what is more valued by a rational creature than knowledge and by vertue of this unction wee attain the knowledge of all things I mean those all things which are the onely things and without which he that hath the tongue of men and Angels and hath the exactest insight into Arts and Sciences may yet be said to know nothing nothing of that which he ought chiefly to know and which every true Christian in some measure attaineth to How clear and quick-sighted is a spiritual inlightened eye it seeth not onely things that are neer but a far off present but future things below but above looking even within the veil into the Holy of Holies The Christian knoweth those things which others are meer strangers to hee knoweth those things hee did before after another and a better manner That blasphemous expression of the Familists that a Christian is Deified may in some sense receive a fair construction whilest every Christian hath a kinde of omnipotency and omnisciency the former is by St. Paul asserted of himself I can do all things to wit through Christ that strengtheneth me and the other is here affirmed by S. John of the Christians You know all things to wit having received the unction 2 How great will the capacity of our knowledge bee when we come to Heaven what a surpassing brightnesse shall then encompasse our souls when wee shall see all truth in him who is truth it self That phrase of St. Paul We know in part seemeth directly opposite to this of St. John You know all things but yet they are easiy reconciled by observing St. Pauls scope in that place which is to compare our knowledge for the present with that which we shall have hereafter in reference to which the largest measure of knowledge we attain here is but a narrow scantling the knowledge we have here is an integral knowledge extending it self to all things necessary as a childe is an integral man having all the faculties and members of a man and therefore truly saith our Apostle You know all things but yet with all it is a gradual knowledge rising by degrees as a childe groweth stronger and taller and is so imperfect that in comparison of that knowledge wee hope for justly said St. Paul We know in part indeed our present knowledge is but sciâ—tilla futurâ— lucis a spark to that flame a drop to that floud a beam to that splendor we shall then enjoy so that though in it self it be an extensive yet in this respect it is a defective knowledge which wee now attain Then and not till then it is that wee shall know all things which a rational creature is capable of wee shall swim in a vast Ocean of divine knowledge wee shall be surrounded with such a glorious Light whereby wee shall exactly perfectly know what ever may conduce to make us happy Oh! how few are the all things wee see now in respect of the all things wee shall behold then how many things are now hid from us which shall then bee discovered to us and surely that little taste wee have now of divine knowledge cannot but make us long for that state wherein wee shall have our full draught 2 Having dispatched the absolute pass we on to the relative consideration of this benefit as it is an effect of that unction mentioned in the former clause and that such an effect as can flow from no other cause so that the affirmation intendeth a negation and when it is said you have an unction and know all things it implyeth that without this unction you cannot know any thing to wit of those things and with that knowledge which is