he y t beares only the image of darkenesse corruption euen the likenesse of the old Adam in the same lothsome and deformed shape shall hee appeare before God sitting in iudgement For God doth regenerate and new create man onely in this world They that be not changed here and made like vnto Christ doe let passe the time of Regeneration and so they haue the stampe of sinne in their foreheads vnremooueable for euer Now in that great and terrible day what difference shall there be in the twofold apparance of these different sorts The sonne of God new made by his Spirit shal appeare in the image and likenes of God his Father with light in his vnderstanding righteousnesse in his will and holinesse in his affections To him it shall be said Blessed is the pure in heart he shal see God for God delighteth to see him euen his owne likenesse in him But the sonne of flesh shall appeare foule and blemished in his vnderstanding corrupt and froward in his will and affections and in stead of representing hee shall bee contrarie and crosse vnto God and ougly in his cōtrarietie And then is his very presence lothsom to the Iudge of purest eies he is a toad or serpent made and taken to bee destroied His ouglinesse kindleth the wrath of God against him which burneth and driueth into the bottom of hell Lord when thou raisest vs vp thou shalt make their Image despised Therefore while it is to day while it is the accepted time let the sonne of man make hast to become the sonne of God Let him put off the goate which he is and put on the sheepe that he should bee let him get a cleane heart and a right spirit within him And because this only commeth of God let vs seeke onely to him and because God hath told vs by his Sonne that he will be ouercome by importunitie let vs seeke importunately stil begging following and vndeniably soliciting him vntill hee giue the holy Ghost to them that aske him Then shall wee with Symeon bee full of peace at our departure being assured to see saluation there shall wee with Paul bee alwaies bold euen at our remoouing being certaine of a better tabernacle in heauen then shall wee comfortably approch to the Throne of God who wee know will acknowledge vs for sonnes by his marke in our foreheads and will call vs in vnto the Supper of the Lamb. But then they y t appeare in the shape of dogs their place shall be without from the presence of God and the Lambe for euermore where their worme dieth not and their fire quencheth not They that are the kindreds of the earth and not of heauen shall waile before God and theirs shall be eternall weeping and gnashing of teeth The goates shall bee set on the left hand God will behold them scornefully and afarre off they shall be called cursed and they shall be driuen from God into euerlasting fire there to accompanie the diuel and his Angels whom in this life they haue associated and resembled 66 The hard things are often most excellent for our businesse in this world is to striue against flesh blood which is not a matter of ease Among diuers combats therewith they haue not the least who are in the stead of a father and mother The hardnesse hereof is that such standing in the place of natural parents should do that right to the child in cold reason which the other would doe in the heate of affection Now men saile with affection but row hard with reason yet the worth and reward counteruaile the labour It must needs be a matter of excellent worth for God is the God of the fatherles and hee ioyneth with God that helpeth them hee is Gods instrument and hath a deputiship vnder God as for the reward mercy procureth mercy temporall eternall Thou maist well hope that God who is pleased with thy goodnesse to the children of others will raise vp the goodnesse of others to helpe thy children and himselfe will become a father vnto thee and thine But if thou liftest vp thy hand against those whom God hath taken into his protection feare thou the Iudgement without mercy for shewing no mercy and that while thou art a very father in law to others God will be a father in law to thee and thine which makes men of al others the most miserable Orphans 67 Marriage of all naturall actions is of most consequence yet is it the worst done of any other For men doe not commonly make marriages but bargaines and the bargaine being made the marriage comes in vpon the bargaine But it was not so from the beginning In the first marriage the woman was the principall part proposed to the man and in her chiefly the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof So it should be still the great matters of the Law should be preferred before Cummin and Mints yet these need not altogether to bee neglected howsoeuer that which is absolutely and only necessarie must bee held whatsoeuer become of that which is but conuenient Examples of holy Scripture shew vs plentifully the miserable issues of marriages made not in the Lord which might be so many instructions to future times In the first world wicked wiues euen the daughters of flesh and blood corrupting the sonnes of God brought in the Flood Afterward the most wise of onely men Solomon by idolatrous wiues was bowed aside to the worship of Idols from the seruice of the true God who appeared to him twice wherefore God did rent his kingdom from him and gaue it to his seruant But a spectacle of long miserie and as long wickednesse was that vnhappy marriage betweene the sonne of Iehosaphat and the daughter of Ahab therby was Iehosaphat himselfe drawne into danger and losse and into the cause of them worse then themselues euen to the loue of them which hated God Thereby the sonne of Iehosaphat yea his sonnes sonne became wicked and vnhappie generations this sentence waiting on their sins for the one had the daughter of Ahab to wife and the other was counselled by his mother to doe wickedly Let men therefore be afraid to infect themselues and their posterity by becomming one flesh with wickednesse to marry vnto a leprosie of the soule is worse then into that of the body A woman is a needle to pierce into the heart and affections of man and if she be wicked the diuell is the thread which followes after This knowes the tempter right well therfore by Eue hee got within Adam by Dalilah hee ouercame Samson by the daughters of Moab he got power on the children of Israel to inspire into them idolatrie one of his chiefest poisons Therefore let no man for money take vnto him a factor for the diuell lest thereby the diuel attended with the curse of God which euer followes him enter in vpon him and his posteritie The remainder of flesh in the best regenerate though but a
vnion with him haue a perfect wisedome and are in him perfectly wise Let vs therefore esteeme our selues others more or lesse wise as we are more or lesse partakers of that high and infinite wisedome and therein especially let vs striue for Supereminence If in this litle and narrow knowledge of man wee only excell others it may bee a iust ground of cōtempt against our selues rather then a reason of that pride which is commonly assumed and imployed in despising others For those whom this humane wisedome despiseth may haue an assured Right in the Diuine wisedome which in the foolishnesse thereof is wiser then the wisest of men and which being wise approoues her children for the most wise for iustifying of her and which finally shall raise vp her meanest children in so true an image of God that in regard of their new vnderstanding the Schoole-taught knowledge euen of old Doctors shall bee ashamed of the name of knowledge and shall appeare to bee but as the rudiments of children Let Christ therefore be the wisedome by which mankinde should be especially measured and valued so shall the iudging of them be according to truth not outward appearance we shall iudge the iudgement of God and not of man 13 If any man haue done some excellent worke by wit learning or valour we ascend presently from the excellencie of the worke to the excellencie of the worker imagining him to be a fountaine wherof his work is but a streame and wee earnestly desire to see the more excellent cause of so excellent an effect This is the ordinary course of naturall Men yet is there a most notable and incomprehensible worke the worke that containeth all humane workes yea man himselfe and this worke is daily seene but few ascend from the worke to consider the worker and much fewer desire to see him and fewest of all wonder that they doe not desire Surely to a rectified soule it is a great wonder that for Atchieuements small in comparison of this great one wee should looke vp with loue admiration to their cause but for this huge worke we should not lift vp our eyes and desires to the cause thereof which indeed comprehendeth causeth all other causes But againe the same soule ceaseth to wonder when it lookes on the fall of man for therin it sees mans chiefest corruption was in that fleshly wisedome which hath blinded vs to the Creator makes vs broad-sighted to the creature which hath put the head of a beast into the heart of a man and makes him looke downward with the beasts from the maker to things made But it is our part to vnhood our selues as much as we may from this vizard of wisedome and to iudge of things according to cleare truth not blinde opinion Let vs pursue truth as long as it lasteth not so long only as our muffled vnderstanding doth naturally and easily follow and apprehend it In this course of outgoing nature yet let vs set our first foote in her owne pathe So on her ground we fasten this that the Author is more excellent then the worke the cause then the effect and therefore if it be pleasant or glorious to see and know the worke and effect it is farre more pleasant glorious to see the cause and author himselfe But whereas grouelling nature applies this rule only to these lower things we knowing that the truth thereof proceeds further yea reacheth especially to the cause of causes let vs out-strip nature and follow this truth vntill it leade vs into an amazing wonder a feruent loue a longing desire to see that great producer of all excellent workes that infinite being from whom all this masse of Creation hath his Being and who as farre exceedeth in wisedome power and glory the created wisedome power and glory as an infinite and indeterminable cause may effects finite and determined 14 If God haue reuealed a truth to vs which hath bin long concealed let vs not seeke to haue our selues proclaimed as the fountaines of that truth nor draw followers to our selues but to it and by it to God For God is the Author and fountaine of all truth and of the reuelation of truth and so the truth found is Gods and the finding of the truth appertaines to the grace of God Therefore let vs desire to get glory to him to whom the glory indeede belongs And humbly thanking God that among many of his excellent seruants hee hath vouchsafed to vse vs in the reuealing of it let vs steale away our own names if we may from the honour thereof leauing the whole glory to the name of God whose worke it is If thus we draw men to the truth by the truth vnto God not to Paul or Cephas but vnto Christ this seeking of gods glory with the losse of our owne will God reward with infinite glorie whereas the setting vp of our selues in Gods stead the iealous God will punish with extreame torments as most odious idolatry Yet euen in this life to such humble seers doth honour belong though not the honour of fountaines yet the honour of cesternes euen the honour due to such as God honours by committing to them his oracles and secrets And euen to their humility belongeth honour for humility is Gods way to preferment which though it takes away the value of our selues to our selues yet as an excellent grace it ought to increase the same value in the sight of others as it doth in the sight of God 15 When there comes any pleasure to be lost or paine to bee suffered for Gods sake let vs set vp a balance in our hearts in one scale let vs set the temporal pleasure we lose and in the other the eternall pleasure we gaine by this losse and wee shall see the weight of this latter to bee infinitely exceeding So likewise for paine let vs set the temporall paine in one balance and the eternal in the other and wee shall see there also the weight of eternal paine farre to exceed that of the temporall Now if we vse but our ordinarie iudgement of good things to chuse the greatest and of euils to chuse the least we shal presently consent with the losse of temporall pleasure to procure eternal ioy and with the enduring of temporall paine to auoide paine eternall especially since with the auoiding of that eternall torment the exceeding weight of ioy is ioyntly procured 16 There is a great craft of Satan which passeth too much vnmarked or vnresisted and this it is That he seekes by all meanes to keepe his owne kingdome whole and vndeuided and to diuide by schismes and contentions the kingdome and body of Christ that by the malice of such contentions the flocke of Christ may bite one another and consequently deuoure one another and so doe Satans busines for him But it behoueth Christians to note this his cunning and with detestation to beware that they be not Satans in struments nor become those mad members
worse then slaine them for thou killest them with death eternall Christ hath said what shall a man giue for his soule yea to giue a whole world and to lose his soule is a bad bargaine but what a beggerly and bloudy bargaine hast thou made which for litle pieces and shrids of the world hast sold many soules But to what end is it to speake to a man of clay that hath no sense nor feeling of heauen To what end is it to speake to a mule that hath no vnderstanding Such men are more dead then the Altar which heard the word of the Lord. They are stonie at the very heart and nothing but mony makes any sound by striking such a heart Otherwise euen to common reason it wold grosly appeare that a lanterne without a candle can giue no light that a man without sight cannot bee a guide to the blinde that men led by such guides must needes fall with their guides into the pit of eternall destruction But if it happen that a man of some sufficiencie hath like the Centurion by a great summe obtained the freedome of this Benefice then is the Patron readie to go into the Temple with the Pharisie to giue thankes that hee is not like other men There is a fit man in the place and hee hath taken no mony for the Benefice but for the Aduowson which a man may honestly doe But know thou Circumuenter of thy owne soule That if it were lawfull to sell an Aduowson thou shouldest sell it at the price of an Aduowson To finde out this consider what either thou payest for the patronage and so make some proportion by that or what a lay-man would giue for it that would make no vse of it but the bestowing For whatsoeuer is giuen beyond that which a man would giue to haue the meere naming of the Minister is the price of the benefice and not of the Aduowson it paies for the profit of the liuing not for the particular appointment of the man Mingle things as cunningly and confusedly as thou canst the iudgement of God shal single thē as perfectly and the euill shal be takē out shewed thee by it self in the great terrible day of the Lords displeasure Yet neither do I cōmend y e selling of Aduousons though at the easier rate for a Patronage is an excellent priuiledge a patrone hath the power of a great and high worke euen in the chiefest businesse of God Why wilt thou for a little mony let another doe God acceptable seruice when thou maist do it thy selfe Or why perchance dost thou suffer another to doe Gods seruice negligently and corruptly when thou maist doe it faithfully Take heede hereunto for if by thy sale the sheepe be vnfed for whome Christ died thou maist go among the cursed to whom it shall be said When I was an hungrie thou hadst food in thy hand and yet thou fedst me not Part. 6. But after all this is not the Minister fully escaped hauing paide the Patron for his passage he falles after into the hands of his Parish then is hee like a man rid of a Lyon falne among Wolues euery one almost if not wholly rubs vp his wit and makes it a principall conquest to deceiue the Parson Howsoeuer the Vsurer haue his ten of the hundred the Lawyer his grossefee and the workman his wages the Minister who layes out his stock for their saluation shall not haue his tenne of the hundred nay but a leane fee for the most pretious counsell nor his full wages for his most excellent worke It is a speciall part of thrift if we cannot conceale and defraud some tithes yet to make a good bargaine with the Minister and to get somewhat by him and if he will not bee so wrought on he must goe for a couetous and hard man But O thou ouerthriftie Tither what thinkest thou while thou dealest thus hast thou a soule or not If thou hast none at least if thou thinkest so words wil be vseles vntill thou feele one day by the torments of thy soule that thou hast one and then they will also bee vselesse But if thou hast one it is better then thy body which is also better then thy goods Thou gladly giuest to the Phisition to maintaine the health of thy body and to the Lawyers to preserue thy goods how doth not thy hand willingly chiefly stretch foorth it selfe to him which saueth thy soule which is infinitely better then these It sheweth too euidently that thou valuest things backwards since thou esteemest not thy soule as thou dost thy goods and body nor the eternall saluation thereof as thy present preseruation But they that haue had a glimse of heauenly glorie despise earthly things in comparison thereof and in disdaine say Is it a great matter to giue carnall things for spirituall such men know they cannot giue so good things to them as they receiue from them Therefore they would euen take out of their owne bowels to doe good to their teachers at least they wold thrust their right vpon them though ignorant of it they would by all meanes desire that they might liue plentifully in this world whose life is imploied to make them liue euerlastingly in the next Farre be it then from vs to vexe and discourage by robberie and impouerishing those who are the guides vnto heauen Let diuine loue iustifie them in taking their right yea help them to it and bring after them what they haue left of it Let vs entertaine them as embassadours of Christ with bountifull allowance and not shew our small regard of the Lord that sent them by our ill rewarding of his messengers Their estate is but for life and naturall affection towards their family is commendable in them as in vs therefore a prouident care if without wrong is not to be censured but allowed in them and a willing and a plentifull contribution is requisite in vs. And herein I deserue speedier assent because I am none of those I speake for Part. 7. A third cunning of Satan is to make sanctification an odious thing and to fasten on it some vile reproch that men may bee ashamed to serue God and to be saued And that this may worke the more effectually he suffers many to goe so farre in religion as they may without losing them that is in a morall and ciuill profession thereof but that degree beyond which indeed is onely the very life and power of sanctification is very offensiue to them and appeares to such to bee but hypocrisie and scrupulositie Hence it is that among most of these ciuilians regeneration and sanctification which they attaine not is Puritanisme and a true Saint is called a Puritan which in their English meanes a dissembling or scrupulous fellow And this being the verdit of those who account thēselues for honest men and their neighbours think the same to whom these ciuill men are almost Puritans like a kennel of
the new life we ascribe glory to him for our Election for our Iustification for our Regeneration which are the maine works of our saluation and are the ioynt-workes of the vndiuided Trinitie But yet we can follow this truth no farder then it goes before vs. Therfore when we come to regeneration there must we stop and looke no further for saluation for therein is our saluation accomplished and all the parts thereof perfected If after we will goe on to workes as to further causes of our saluation we goe beyond the truth being past the God-head and come vnto man For though it may be said that God worketh these workes in man yet man ioyneth therein with God Now the saluation of man is deriued into man from God alone and is then absolute and full in parts whē Election Iustification and Regeneration the absolute and only workes of the Trinity haue wrought vpon him For regeneration hauing put into man the seede of God which is the seede of life Man is then translated from death to life and hauing begotten him the Sonne of God hee is then the heire of promised glory and eternitie Indeed works comming after the state and right of life and glorie their goodnesse as it comes from God so it shall be rewarded by God increasing the degrees of that glory wherein before we had an vndeniable property and title Therefore works adde not a new part of saluation but only increase the issues and fruit of a part formerly possessed Accordingly doth the Diuine song of that rauished soule orderly declare Gods sauing of vs from our enemies to goe before our seruing of God in holinesse all the daies of our life So workes themselues are placed as fruits of our saluation and therefore the glory giuen to workes is but as the fruite of the fruite of saluation But why then shall it be said Come yee blessed for ye fed mee and blessed are they that keepe the commandements that their right may bee in the tree of Life So that good works seeme to iustifie and saue in the day of iudgement Herein comparisons may inlighten though not prooue If a man haue a wife of a suspected life whose many children when the dying husband calleth before him hee saith to those that liuely represent him Come to mee the true sonnes of Mee your Father you truely resemble mee therefore to you shall bee giuen the inheritance of your Father Here for their countenance and proportion is the inheritance adiudged to them yet is it not for that indeed giuen them but because thereby they are iudged to be sonnes for which Son-ship the inheritance is verily giuen them So doth God in his great iudgement he will iudge men to bee his sonnes by their good workes it being impossible that good works can come from any cause but Regeneration and for the regenerate sonnes was the kingdome of glorie long agone prepared euen by that election which was before the world So the word For doth not still imply the cause it selfe but sometimes an inseparable signe annexed to the cause as if it should be said My sonnes are heires of my kingdome those which are my sonnes and they only bring forth the works of loue these workes haue I seene in you therefore do I acknowledge you to bee my sonnes enter into your Fathers ioy 28 There are two things without in the word which witnesse it to bee excellent aboue nature A supernaturall truth and a supernaturall holinesse There are also two supernaturall things within a Christian which ioyne their inward witnessing to the outward A supernaturall inlightning to acknowledge and beleeue this truth and a supernaturall vertue changing the will into a conformity with this holinesse So in the mouth of many witnesses standeth firme the truth of diuine truth 29 Man and the earth are growne wilde by the fall of Adam both bring foorth weedes of their owne nature But as the earth is cured by husbandrie good seed so by the regeneration of Christ the chiefe husbandman and the seede of the word man is brought into a fruitfull nature and hath a remedy for the first Adam by the last Blessed be the word which is God and reuerenced and desired be the word of that Word which is of God for of them is our life and health 30 As a man in his first conuersion yeelded himselfe into a generall submission vnto the spirit so must hee doe in euery particular action and then most resolutely when sin tempteth most strongly our selues Wee made our couenant at first for the whole and continually we must performe the parts of the promised whole When we gaue our selues to the spirit of dead branches to be made liuely branches withall inclusiuely we gaue our selues to bring forth the continuall fruite of liuing branches which is done by a continuall sucking of life from the spirit which quickneth vs. Now if we rest contented onely with our first ingrafting though the Almightinesse of him whose seed is immortall and who wil not faile of his end may preserue vs aliue yet do we what wee may to kill our selues and to falsifie our couenant with him who therefore beeing offended will chastise vs with temporall iudgements and desertions and will shew that when hee is angry he is a consuming fire But let the true sonnes keepe neere to their father let them keepe close to his spirit moouing at euery motion of it and filling the wants in their Lampes with the continuall oyle thereof for this spirit is our very life and the witnesse thereof By our generall resignation this life entred and by particular resignation this life increaseth so the more we sow to this spirit the more we shal reape of life eternal Again as a mā in his great main conuersion from a sinner guilty to a sanctified and iustified man goeth ouer himself in general with y t iudgement of the Law whereby finding himselfe a man of death he flieth vnto Christ who baptizeth him from his guilt and sinfulnesse by his Bloud and Spirit giuing both his actuall righteousnes and the spirits habitual righteousnesse so after the committing of euery particular sin we shold go ouer it with a particular iudgment of y e Law wherby acknowledging it to be a worke of death wee should flie to a particular applicatiō of the great Baptisme that so putting away the particular guilt of that sinne by the washing of Christs blood and the particular vncleannesse of that sinne by the washing of Christs Spirit we which before were generally clensed and iustified may also haue a particular and continual clensing and iustification For our inward and outward Baptisme though at once performed is of continual vse and daily wee must haue a recourse thereto to wit by the outward remembring and passing to the inward that the stocke of iustification and sanctification at first imparted may be daily applied and distributed to our particular necessities And thogh being in Christ we
especially fasten her eies that knowing herself with a right and true knowledge she may finde what is right in her to continue and confirme it and which is crooked and corrupted to auoide amend it But to do this clearely she hath need of some light aboue her owne for it is hard for the blind soule to see her owne blindnesse Therefore begging for that eye-salue of the greatest Light and so hauing obtained it let her goe on to a true search and inquirie of her selfe In this inquirie let her generally compare the resolutions of her vnderstanding and the inclinations of her will with the lawes of her Maker For seeing the soule did and shold beare the Image of God which Image the lawes of God truly and vnchangeably expresse it is a certaine truth that wherin the soule differeth and boweth from these lawes in vnderstanding or will therein and in so much the soule differeth from God and hath abated and altered his Image And this is indeed a chiefe and most worthy employment of mans time on earth when the soule lookes into Gods loue as into a glasse and thereby trimmeth and fitteth her selfe for her Maker against the day of her appearance before his glorious Selfe who cannot abide to see any thing neere him that is vnlike him Now there are some parcels and remnants of this Law yet remaining of the first writing in the nature of man but if we will reade profitably therein we must take heed we follow it not too farre but still compare it with the Law written because there are but small broken and corrupted pieces thereof While we are in this search as generalitie and custome are great binders of the soule vnto error and corruption so a suspicion that a generall estimation of things may proceede from the vnderstanding deceiued or the will corrupted may be a great helpe to bring the soule into her place and true estate For to suspect deceit is a first and excellent degree toward being vndeceiued vnto this suspicion of mens wisest and most esteemed opinions the word of truth giueth vs a good foundation while it sayes that many things which are highly esteemed among men are abominable in the sight of God And of this againe there is an vnfallible reason euen the corruptnesse of the soule by the fall of man For this deprauation mightily possessing the vnderstanding makes it in the best iudgement thereof to think deceitfully of things and withall to thinke these deceiued thoughts wise because it knoweth nothing beyond them But let the soule that prepareth her selfe for God vntie her selfe from her selfe as from a thing corrupted and from the world as from a multitude of such things as her selfe is equally blinded and walking in the same darkenesse though among themselues they be agreed to call it light Thus putting off her own corruption and that of the world shee is fit and ready to be new stamped with the image of her Creator and to be inlightned with truth in her vnderstanding and to put on rightnesse in her wil which let her learne from the law and desire to haue ingrauen in her by grace In this course there will bee many Rubbs the glorious folly of the world will mocke thy particular and desolate wisedome it will disswade thee from singularity and desire or prouoke thee to erre with company it will aske thee whether the rulers doe beleeue as thou doest yea thine owne corruption will somtime strike thee into astonishment and make thee muse and wonder whether thou art in a right minde and purpose But goe on vnchanged knowing that thou seekest not what is vsuall but what is right and the patterne to which thou art fitting thy selfe is not man but God euen a patterne of perfection beyond all exception This is also their duty if they considered it Therefore let them that would turne thee returne to thee Returne not thou to them When thou shalt present thy selfe before God the more holy and vnblameable thou art the more acceptable shalt thou bee to him who wil not aske what company came with thee but wil know and acknowledge his sonnes by their likenesse to him and accordingly reward them as that is more or lesse then shal it be no sorrow of heart to thee that thou hast gone out of thy selfe and the world to passe through somewhat more vnsociably into happinesse 40 God is the iudge of the world and iudgeth it generally by two kinds of iudgment The first is by Deputies and so by Kings Magistrates and Iudges he iudgeth mankinde It is the iudgement of God which is committed to them and they are his mouth to the people How wicked and false are they then that out of the mouth of God giue not the iudgement of God but of their owne corruption that seeke not what God iudgeth of the case but what themselues may iudge corruptly if couertly These are in the ranke of the old false Prophets which said the Lord saith when hee speaketh not by them Thou standest ô corrupt man in the place of God to represent him but thou actest this part ill fauouredly and insteede of representing the pure and by-bribes-vnflexible Lord of the world thou plaiest the part of a base and rotten-harted slaue so doest thou expresse thy owne vice not his iustice and wee receiue that iudgement of mony not of God Yet is that indeede thy God and tells thee what sentence thou shalt giue and all this is wisedome if concealed from the eyes of men But euen for that point also know this that thogh thou art only in that place deputed to iudge yet many others particulars beeing heard cā do iudge as wel as thy selfe these see feele when the bias of couetousnesse and corruptions carrie thee from the straight line of iustice they feele whē the iudge is some way allyed to the cause hath some feeling of it because hee or his haue felt some thing for it yea generally they talke of it though out of hearing for corruptnesse though it haue no other goodnesse hath yet some modestie and is ashamed to heare it selfe spoken of for it knoweth it selfe to bee a vice yet this is one more vice of that vice to rage more against others that reueale it then against the owner of it that did such a thing which might iustly shame the Author of it if reuealed Let such a one be rather angry with himselfe for doing ill then with another for speaking truth But because through this net of humane iustice and deputatiue iudgement many guilty if profitable offenders breake out and escape God hath another greater net which he casts without these wherein hee takes both the escapers and the giuers of leaue to escape This is the great and generall iudgement wherein God in person will sit as iudge and will examine the iudges themselues and the iudged Then the righteous Iudge of the world shall iustifie the iudges that haue iudged righteously
in this world But there they that now are wrōgfully iustified shall iustly bee condemned and the mooueable Iudges that missed their part and changing iudgement spake from thēselues when they should haue spoken frō God shall haue their faults repeated vnto them if vnrepeated and by the iust mouth of God himselfe shall with their faults be deliuered to Satan the iayler who shall carry them to the dungeon where the worme dyeth not nor the fire goeth out But because such men doe fortifie their consciences against the terrors of the Lord and his fearefully-great iudgement and put the euill day either wholly or farre from them that they bee not vtterly without feare in this world God doth many times by particular iudgements strike either them their issue or those whom they haue iustified in offences by which particular stroakes on some among many he puts them in minde that hee which now iudgeth some shall hereafter iudge all sinne being equally odious in all and equally lyable to iudgment Hee strikes not all yet because generall iustice is reserued for the generall iudgement But he strikes some that their iudgement might to al be an earnest of a generall iudgement and might in the meane time terrifie men from wickednesse by present plagues who feare not the future 41 Moreouer it is a great motiue from sinne the shortnesse of the time betweene sinne and punishment there is nothing but life betweene them howsoeuer we lengthen it in our imagination to keepe vs from feare of punishment yet if we consider it by the most earnest and most trusted iudgement which is that of the worldly wise it is therby valued but at seauen yeares or thereabout yet if it be as it is but with some a continuance of thirtie or forty yeares after thou commest to thy full age of wickednesse aske the worldling what hee thinketh of himselfe when hee hath such a tearme in a liuing He will by no meanes think himself a setled man he will not much build vpon it for hee holds it but a short time and is continually troubled that it weares so fast is so neere an end Surely the diuell hath a great aduantage vpon vs by this deceit of our flesh that it can tell vs truths in many things when their vse and end is earthly but tels vs falshoods in the same things when their vse is heauenly it makes vs wise for matters of this generation but not for those of the Regeneration But let vs where there is such a truth so found take the line from the worldly things and lay it on the spirituall then shal we finde that grosly to appeare which before was not perceiued and so may we deceiue the Diuell himselfe his aduantage beeing made ours Accordingly let vs take that life wherewith the wisedome of the world doth measure life for worldly purposes and lay it on the same life for our spirituall vse then shall we finde that the sinfull pleasures of life are but pleasures for a season that a short one and that there is but the same short season betweene pleasant sinne and eternall punishments 42 He that wil finde a good friend let him seeke a good Christian. For a Christian is more then a man and hath the strength of God added to the strength of man Christ the Rocke is his foundation and he will stand the billowes and beat backe the tempests for hee is founded on a Rocke But the Moralist and the Romane of these times are but flesh and blood sand and dust therefore floods and tempests wash him and blow him away Wonder not therfore my soule with the world neither take vp the vsual complaints of the deceiueable vncertaintie of friends Those that were once true friends are still so those that are not neuer were If they had been of vs they would haue continued with vs. If they had been truly Christian loue would haue grown in them not decaied For it is a speciall businesse of a Christian in this life to grow vp vnto Christ in loue but their not continuing with vs shewes they were not of vs so they do vs not wrong but right by departing from vs for they rid vs of il company and tell our iudgemēt the truth which before was deceiued in them Yet that wee deceiue our selues no more let vs fasten on such no expectation let vs try the spirits and if by true experience we find a spirit begotten of God let vs take him for that friend which is better then a meere brother Thy heart and his are one and they will agree in spight of the diuell though hee come against them accompanied with the flesh and the world yea if such two should bee stirred as Barnabas and Paul euen vnto parting being parted they would meete in loue and doe the offices of friendship each to other vpon any occasion The heauenly loadestone euen Christs Spirit of loue hath toucht them therfore though stirred they returne to their point and still rest in loue 43 When Adam was created there was no corrupt lust when there was no such lust there was no shame generation was cleane and meerely pure and when generation was pure then the neerest kindred could not defile themselues with it for pure things defile not Therfore rightly God who had aboundance of Spirit made but one male and female who could haue made many more for though there were inforced thereby an intermarriage between brethren and sisters yet thereby was inforced no incest for when marriage and generation were pure and without shame then the brother discouered not the shame of his sister which is the wickednesse and vnlawfulnesse of incest And thus might the state of generation haue continued in all posterities if the state of the creation had continued But man by his fall brought in lust and thereby shame and by both a necessitie of incest which was not before For God made onely a necessitie that brethren and sisters should purely and holily marrie together but man turned this necessitated mariage into incest For a brother and a sister being one flesh it is a ground of nature that the same flesh should couer the shame of the same flesh which hee that doth not goes so farre toward incest as hee goes from this couering Now the children of Adam being brought by Adam into this necessitie were suffered by the patience of the God of long suffering who might still require his first course well instituted that now by manis corrupted After that some of the Fathers may be thought to haue done the like by a spirituall necessitie that they might marry within the Church and not with the daughters of men or by diuine indulgence and dispensation God being the Lord of nature and so able to change the lawes of it to giue what lawes he list vnto it much more to require the law in which first hee created man But for vs who neither are forced by a naturall necessitie the world
bestowed let vs thankfully glorifie the giuer who gaue it vs chiefely for his owne glory and withall let vs take heede that though there bee so great mercy with God yet wee make not worke for mercie lest mercy tempted turne into iudgement 47 The obedience of insensible and brute creatures vnto the will of God is a great checke and reproofe vnto the disobedience of man Man is the chiefest of creatures and they the lowest yet doe they as farre exceede him in obedience as he doth them in naturall eminence The will of God is a straight and fixed line to which all things created by the same will should so fit and fashion themselues that they should not bowe from it in any degree This doe the baser things stedfastly following the imprinted light law of their first Creation So the storke and swallow know their appointed times the oxe knowes his owner and the Asse his masters crib the sea moueth in setled and vnmoouing course the starres fit their many changes to a steadie rule answerable to the will of him that neuer changeth But man that had a burning Lampe euen a fountaine of light in his soule whereas brute beasts haue but a light determined and certaine and liuelesse things haue no light of reason but an orderly influence and moouing power fixed into thē this reasonable man is wholly gone astray from his rule and not onely runneth from it but against it Thus is he farre worse then things worse then himself and openly shewes that he hath fallen and not they What now remaines but that as this abased Lord of creatures hath beene checked and reprooued by the creatures his vassals so he should also bee instructed by them Therefore ô thou man goe willingly hereafter to the Oxe and Asse to learne thy duty There is in them as in the Asse of Balaam that which may instruct thee Be ashamed of thy corruption and fall but bee not ashamed by any thing not falne to bring thy selfe back to the place from whence thou fellest when thou seest creatures obedient to thee thence know that obedience is also due to God from thee who is infinitely more aboue thee then thou aboue them When thou seest mutuall loue betweene creatures of one kinde learne thence Charitie to thy owne kind In sum when thou seest any creature continuing the steady appointed course of his kinde call thereby to minde that there is a certaine and appointed course to thee also wherein thou shouldest as certainly satisfie the will of thy Creator who requireth a conformitie of all things in their place and order and the chiefest of the chiefest 48 It hath beene an often pollicy of Satan when hee could not pull downe good things with euill to pull them downe by setting them together by the eares betweene themselues Not to mention the too-much opposition betweene the reformed Christians I can example it in the quarrels which haue been betweene faith and workes prayer preaching and the commendation of the learned workes of some in a comparatiue despite of as profitable works of others But this is an vnkindly debate and issueth by no meanes out of the nature of the things thēselues but from mans contentiousnes want of iudgement or ouer-prising our owne apprehensions Each vertue hath her seuerall place and in that place shee excelleth hath commendation and thrusteth out no other vertue either from place or worth The place of faith is first in the vnderstanding but working downward on the wil and affections it ioynes vs to Christ so is it the hand of the ingraffer it sets the eye of the soule euer on God in Christ it is excellent for vnion for all the benefits and fruites comming from that vniō wherof workes are a part The place of workes is chiefely in the will and affections yet grounded in the vnderstanding springing forth at the members They expresse the vertue of the vnion they praise and glorifie him that bestowed this vnion they are excellent as fruits but they haue both being excellence frō him whom faith apprehendeth Preaching deliuers words of knowledge of reproch of comfort of exhortation to our ignorance to our sinnefulnesse to our despaire to our deadnesse of heart yea it teacheth vs how to pray it perswadeth vs to pray prayer fetcheth downe grace from the Author of grace by which preaching it selfe is made profitable and life is put into the dead letter it prouides vs for hearing and makes vs able to doe what we heare In summe it procures helpe in all things from him without whom we can doe nothing Thus it seemes both faith and workes prayer and preaching bee of kinne mutuall embracers and farre from that contention which is fastned to them each desire that their fellowes may haue appointed time and place because in their prosperitie themselues doe Horish Now for the last kind of debate which hath been set betweene excellent writers discretion and charitie might serue for a full remedie If any one bee in any thing good and profitable charitie and wisedome will rather commēd that worth of his then obscure it by comparisons if another be more learned it may bee the lesse learned doth more edifie and sure it is that such contention doth not edifie at all The Schoolemen are excellent in subtilties they search how things are they dig for the roote and in sum if sifted from errors and clearely cōceiued they may giue great light to the vnderstanding Another Diuine goeth more plainely to worke he sets foorth the matter without curious search of the manner herather shewes that it is then how it is yet he shewes enough for saluation hee shewes enough for the most general capacitie and withall he mooues the will and stirres vp the affections to receiue life refuse death The first make a few men excellent but find not often a fit great audiēce they are good teachers of teachers The later doth generally profit he goeth into the wil affections vnlockes the heart for God the seate where he delights to dwell Of this kind hath this age most neede of of which prophecies foretold that the loue of many shold now waxe cold that men should loue their pleasures more then God and of which experience telles vs that knowledge hath farre out-run obedience which should follow close at the heeles of it and therefore of the two lacks most nourishment and incouragement Generally let them that build the house of God if they hold a sword in one hand yet hold it against the enemy not one against another much lesse let the by-standers take their swords out of their hands and fight for them when they will not themselues The building is not promoted by this meanes but hindered yea pulled downe 49 The euils of this life are great and many whereof some are immediately from the hand of God others from the wickednesse of men others from the malice of Satan and of these also God hath the
and destruction And how can it be otherwise The end and marke being fixed the eye is still ayming the hands are still working toward that end And this end being riches and not God for a man cannot serue two masters thither tend the whole endeauours of the hungry couetous soule If an vniust profit bee offered or rather vnoffered may bee hooked the eye lookes on riches and not on God and accordingly God his will being neglected riches are taken howsoeuer displeasing vnto God God must beare with him for hee must bee rich That plot must go forward the resolution is fixed God must giue place he doth not see it or will perchance forgiue it But whiles thou not seeing or at least not regarding God thinkest God therefore seeeth not thee he sees thee verily and will bring forth thy workes of darkenesse into light euen starke naked and they shall bee thy perdition and destruction But rather breake in pieces this thy resolution O man of earth whosoeuer thou art Fasten not thy soule to riches which are not worthie of thy soule neither make them thy marke and end which were made for thee know thou that God alone is thy end and thou art made to serue him only that God is thy happinesse and it is thy only felicity to enioy him that God is thy chiefest treasure therfore fixe thy heart resoluedly on him remoouing it from riches Change thy couetous and be strongly couetous after God and by godlines euen faith and a good cōscience draw him more and more into thee and so godlinesse shall be to thee the greatest gaine for it shal get thee the best treasure As for riches make no couenant with them fasten not thy heart on them lest withall thou fasten thy hart to many noisome lusts to many cares and finally to perdition it selfe The holy and most quiet way is to put contentednesse in the place of couetousnesse and then godlines will appeare that which it is euen the greatest gaine This thou shalt the better doe if thou consider the ende of thy creation that man was created not to be rich neither is that the busines appointed him by his Creator But the Creator himselfe is the end of man neither hath the Creator made any necessitie that a man should be rich for foode and raiment and satisfaction of naturall necessities is his chiefest drift and purpose of worldly things Therefore in the last iudgement when it shall be demanded of thee how thou hast spent thy time in the world and what thou hast done there shalt thou not bee ashamed then to say I haue there done all that I could doe to bee rich For then shall that plainly appeare which now is true though not appearing The man hath mistaken his busines that onely studieth riches for then it shall bee said to the couetous That man was not made to bee a gatherer of mettall nor a filler of bags nor a ioyner of hedge to hedge much lesse to be a prowling vermine a rauening wolfe or a roaring Lyon to deuoure the weake the distressed and the helpelesse The imployment of our naturall abilities as vnderstanding or strength in lawfull actions to procure maintenance for our selues and our families shal then be allowed For this maintenance is the supportation of Gods Church in this vale of necessities and so tendeth to God But a desire of riches for themselues or for the outward glory of them and that setled purpose to be rich shall be condemned in the great and terrible day of the Lord and then chiefest in condemnation and of any of their ranke next the diuell in torment shall they bee that haue made a prey of miserie and whereas miserie is to goodnesse a ground of mercy and reliefe these haue made it a ground of oppression so adding sorrow to affliction making miserie because it was somewhat wretched perfectly miserable To these shall also the perfection of miserie be appointed for a portion euen pure and cleare iudgement without the mixture of any mercy and so their owne measure for qualitie being returned to them but in a farre greater quantitie they shall then taste how bitter the cup is which they haue giuen others to drinke and they shall by experience but helpelesse and remedilesse know the grieuousnes of their owne workes And because this day is by such put farre from them and they comfort themselues in the delay of it let them know also that some sinnes are partly iudged aforehand euen in this world And among them very commonly the sinne of oppression For often is it seene that the fathers oppression hath been powred out on his owne sonne and riches gotten wrongfully for posteritie haue beene wrongfully taken from them for whom they were wrongfully gotten Wherfore euē for feare of present iudgement and in meere good husbandrie leaue not the goods of wrong and robberie to your children For vengeance and they are inseparably tied together they will hardly bee quiet till they bee gone againe and the beame will crie to therafter the hedge to the field This is not our place let vs euery one returne to our owne home 73 Consisting of 8. parts Part. 1. The Church of God and the Church of Satan according to the first law of enmitie enacted in Paradise and followed with the continuall practise of succeeding times haue endlesse warres and combats The weapons of the whole Church are stedfast and the same as the Word Faith Prayer Patience Christian wisedome and the like But the weapons of Satan are diuers as of a cunning enginer that still inuenteth new instruments according to present occasions Among diuers other changes hee changeth his persecutions a principall part of his battering ordinance When God lets him loose then hee sheweth the whole malice of his nature hee appeares in the very shape of a Lyon and teareth frieth burneth men made vp in the likenesse of torches But when God muzles and binds him that hee cannot bite nor teare with his teeth and his clawes then he putting off the Lyon vseth the craft and tongue of the Serpent euen malicious cunning to fret into the Church of God and vndermine it by little and little Accordingly at this time of outward peace he sets his malignant souldiers among vs newly on work especially in three things which though they are become somewhat fashionable yet be they very mischieuous to the Church of God A first is to put cōtempt on the Ministery which are Gods Colony on earth to keepe his subiects in obedience and to beate off the enemies the Salt that keepes men sauourie and vntainted of Satan the shepheards which keep the sheep from the wolfe Surely if these may be contemned discouraged or taken away how must not the Church of God become a prey How neere is Satan then to a full principalitie on earth Yet these are diuersly afflicted debased and troden downe I passe by their owne mutual harmes which as griefe wishes might neuer
but teach him how to labour how to vexe himselfe and how to grieue and consequently how to bee more miserable then the beasts themselues But a soule more excellent then the beasts cannot be imagined to be giuen for this vse by so perfect a wisedome it being extremely contrary vnto wisdome that the beasts shold serue a creature more base and miserable then themselues that man shold be both aboue them and below them and that man should haue reason thereby to be worse then he should be without it Therefore it strongly followeth that this aduantage of reason was giuen by wisedome to man for some aduantage of man And if beasts enioy the world as much as man and yet man hath a soule more excellent then they that this soule hath some happines aboue the world which is the especiall end and marke thereof To this happinesse therfore let our soule lift it selfe vp that it may verily tend toward the end thereof that it be not a meere drudge vnto labour and misery sinking downe below the beasts but that reaching beyond them it lay hold on that blessed refreshing which is to come and comfort it selfe amid all the base imployments labours and toyles of the sixe daies in the view of the happy Sabbath and rest of God the true aime of her desires and the chiefe solace that swallowes and sweetens all her temporall vexations 63 The diuel vsually raiseth temptations out of the state which is present and therefore though wee bee past one dāger into a calme and quietnesse yet euen then looke that out of that calme also some tentation will arise He is more cunningly and industriously mischieuous thē his scholler the Papist One Treason being past wee may not thinke it the last but one among the rest and so looke for his fellowes if we haue scaped we must pray hope and endeauour to scape againe Our life is a warfare which is not a single battaile but a continuance of many If the diuell haue lost he is the more angrie for loosing and surely in this last time of the world as hee is more cholericke and fierce then euer so is he more cunning He hath man at his fingers ends and this his increased knowledge hee sets on worke by an increased malice desiring because his time is short to get in breadth what he cannot in length It concernes vs therefore proportionably to increase our resistance and if wee meane to ouercome by prayer watchfulnesse and industry so to aduance our selues in the power of Christ that we may ouermatch the power of Satan that the house of Dauid growing stronger and the house of Saul weaker the kingdome of Christ the Sonne of Dauid may bee throughly and firmely established in vs and we in it 64 A dissembler hypocrite is a thing most odious to God and so should he be to men especially to himselfe who next to God knowes best how wicked himselfe is First he is a perpetuall lyer his outward profession is nothing but a continuall publisher and perswader of vntruth It tels euery one the man is honest that shewes it and lies all the while This lying in deeds is at least as wicked as lying in words accordingly should be hated Againe the dissembler is an idolater for he sets man in the place of God and God in the place of man His best side he shewes to man that is his outside and the worst side he turnes to God and that is his heart Accursed man that seekest to please him who is but thy fellow and neglectest him who made both thee and him euen the Almightie Lord of all things That God who is ielous and will not giue his honour to another cannot but be highly offended with thee for preferring man before him and to him shalt thou giue an account for this corruption and withdrawing of thy heart Gods chiefest part Thirdly the dissembler is an idoll for he being nothing in the world stāds vp to bee worshipped By his outward shew he calles in the countrey to reuerence him for the goodnes which is not in him he sets himselfe vp on horse-backe as Haman wold haue done his hollow profession crying before him This is the man whom God will honour But this man the whiles is the very man whome God especially hateth and whom with Dagon he will cast downe on the threshold of hell gates breaking him in pieces when none shall deliuer him And this fits wel with him for now hee is not a whole man but pieces of two men tied together the outward piece is a piece of an honest man the other and that the greater piece is a piece of a Reprobate or rather of a diuell Lastly he is a very foole for of that which is good hee chuseth onely to haue the appearance and of that which is naught to haue a full and whole possession Thou foole if the shew of goodnesse be so good is not the thing it selfe much more good if the shew of wickednes be odious is not the wickednesse it selfe much more odious But thou vnwisely art contented to be rotten corrupt and filthy so the world see nothing in thee but an outward painting of purity and cleannesse so thou maist be to them a perfume thou wilt be to thy selfe a kennel But rather turne from thy wickednesse and liue get the reall possession of that whereof the very appearance is so beautifull and pleasant let the shew make thee in loue with the thing get a roote to thy branches Otherwise thy vizard shall bee pulled from thee and thou shalt bee stript of thy shewes be condemned for that which thou art Thou shalt be far away from these whom thou representest and shalt be placed among such as thou art indeede there shal be taken from thee that which it seemes thou hast and thou shalt bee cast into vtter darkenesse Surely if to men the looking asquint of the eies be ill fauoured and vnpleasant much more ougly vnto God is this squinting of the soule while it casts the eye on goodnesse but the sight on wickednesse Therefore reconcile thy self to thy selfe become one man and differ not in thy selfe for if thou agree with thy selfe bringing thy inside to be one with thy outside then wil God agree w t thee and this saying shall concerne thee aswell as others Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God But if thou plough on with thy oxe and asse together thou goest on in that which is an abhomination to the Lord thou heapest vp wrath against the day of wrath thou hast no portiō in y e blessednesses which belōg to the right eous but in y e many woes denounced against y e Scribes Pharisies Hypocrites 65 That image Character w c euery man beares in this life the same also shall he beare in the resurrectiō He that in this life beareth the image of God shall in y e resurrection appeare in that image