Iesus onely therefore blessed are they who are in Christ Hee that heares my wordes and belieues in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life And lastly we may obserue here what a powerfull Sauiour wee haue when to the iudgement of man he was weakest then did hee the greatest worke that euer was done in the world he was powerfull in working of miracles in his life but more powerfull in his death for then hee darkened the Sunne hee shooke the earth hee made the rockes to cleaue he rent the vaile of the temple a sunder and caused the dead to rise Mortuum Caesarem quis metuat sed morte Christi quid efficacius if Caesar bee once dead who will feare Christ euen when hee is dead is terrible to his enimies nothing can be more effectuall then his death By it he did a greater worke than was the creation of the world by it he brought in new heauens and a new earth by suffering death he destroyed him who had the power of death when hee was condemned of man hee condemned sinne that it should not condemne man passus est vt infirmus operatus vt fortis â—e suffered as a weake man but wrought as a strong one Sicut serpens mortuus c. As that Serpent without life erected by Moses in the wildernesse ouercame the liuing Serpents that stung Israell so the Lord Iesus by suffering death hath slaine that serpent that liuing in vs had slung vs vnto death Hic vides mortem morte peremptam maledictum maledicto extinctum per quae Diabolus iam antea valebat per ea ipsa tyrannidem ipsius esse destructam here thou seest saith Chrisostome death slaine by death and the tyrannie of Sathan destroyed by these same meanes by which before most of all he preuailed O wonderfull worke surely the weaknesse of God is stronger then man hee is that stronge One indeed stronger then Samson When the Philistines thought they had him sure within the portes of Azzah hee arose at midnight and tooke the doores of the gates of the Cittie and the two posts and carried them away with the bars thereof on his shoulders vp to the top of the mountaine which is before Hebron but our mightie Conquerour and deliuerer the Lord Iesus hath in a more excellent manner magnified his power for being closed in the graue clasped in the bands of death and a stone rolled to the mouth of the graue the Sepulcher sealed and guarded with souldiers he rose againe the third day before the rising of the Sunne he carried like a victor the bars and posts of death away as vpon his shoulders and vpon the mount of Oliues hee ascended on high leading captiuitie captiue Like as therefore wee receiued before great comfort through the consideration of Christs incomprehensible loue toward vs so is it now confirmed by the meditation of his power Let Sathan boast like Rabsache that the Lord is not able to deliuer Ierusalem out of his hands hee is but a blasphemous Lyar the Lord will rebuke him and will shortly tread Sathan vnder our feet it is the curse of the wicked hee shall be oppressed and there shall bee none to deliuer him but blessed bee the Lord who hath prouided a strong deliuerer for vs who certainly shall set vs free from our enimies and destroy all the oppressours of our soules Glory therefore be vnto him for euer Verse 4. That the righteousnesse of the Law might be fulfilled in vs who walke not after the Flesh but after the Spirit THe Apostle hauing taught vs in the former verse how the Lord Iesus hath freed vs from the condemning power of sinne doth now let vs see how we are freed also from the commanding power of sinne for hee sets downe this to bee the first and neerest end of Christs death in respect of vs the renouation of our nature and conformitie thereof with God his holy law which hee expresses more cleerely in another place when he saith that Christ gaue himselfe to the death for his Church that hee might sanctifie it and make it to himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should bee holy and without blame This is the end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe and whereof hee cannot bee frustrate as hee hath begunne it so he shall finish it he shall conforme vs to the law the righteousnesse thereof shall be fulfilled in vs there shall not bee left in our nature so much as a sinfull motion or desire but hee shall at the last present vs pure and without blame to his Father This righteousnesse of the law I vnderstand to be that perfect obedience to the Commaundements thereof which the law requires flowing from the perfect loue of God and our neighbour and it is fulfilled in vs two manner of wayes first by application or imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs he is our head and we his members and are so vnited with him that now we are not to be taken as sundry but as one bodie with him By vertue of the which communion it comes to passe that that which is ours is his and that which is his is ours so that in our head we haue fulfilled the law satisfied Gods iustice for our sinnes Secondly it will be fulfilled in vs by our perfect sanctification though now wee haue but begunne obedience and in part the Lord Iesus at the last shall bring it in vs to perfection The Iesuites of Rhemes in their marginall notes on this Verse collects a note which the word here rendreth not vnto them Wee see say they that the Law which is Gods commandements may be kept that the keeping therof is iustice and that in Christian men that is fulfilled by Christs grace which by the force of the Law could neuer be fulfilled that the law may be fulfilled and also shall be fulfilled by the grace of Christ who hath deliuered vs from the Law of sinne is euident out of the Apostles words we confesse it and are comforted in it this is an end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe that he may make vs perfectly answerable to that holinesse which the Law requireth and in his owne good time he shall bring it to passe but that the Law is fulfilled of men in this life cannot be proued neyther out of this place nor any other place of holy Scripture Damnatum est pecatum non extinctum Sinne is condemned sayeth Caietane one of their owne but not extinguished And hereunto beside infinite testimonies of holy Scripture agreeth also the suffrages of pure antiquitie Non dicit familia tua sana sum medicum non requiro sed sana me Domine sanabor It is not saith Ambrose the voyce of thy familie I am whole and needes not a Phisition but
Worldlings yee are cursed with the curse of the Serpent yee creepe as it were vpon your bellyes and yee lick the dust of the earth all the dayes of your life yee haue not an eye to looke vp vnto heauen nor an heart to seeke those things which are aboue Most fearefull is our estate vve warne you of it but it is the Lord who must deliuer you from it This resolute knowledge is the mother of spirituall courage constancy and patience for why shall hee feare in the euill day yea though the earth should be remoued and the mountaines fall into the middest of the sea who sees the Lord sitting on his throne and the glassie sea of the world before him gouerning all the waltrings changes and euents of things therein to the good of them who loue him Oh that wee had profâ—â—ed so much in the schoole of Christ all our dayes that without doubting or making any exception we could beleeue this which here the Apostle layes for a most sure ground of comfort that so we might change all our thoughts and cares into one namely how to grow in the loue of God that in a good conscience we might say to the Lord with Peter Lord thou knowest I loue thee casting the burthen of all the rest of our feares griefes and tentations vpon the Lord who cares for vs and hath giuen vs this promise for praemunire all comes for the best The Souldier with courage enters into the battell vnder hope to obtaine the victory the Marriner with boldnâ—sse commits himselfe to the stormie seas vnder hope of vantage and euery man hazards in his calling yet are they all vncertaine venturers and knowes not the end but the Christian runnes not as vncertaine but as one sure to obtaine the Crowne for hee knowes that the God of peace shall shortly tâ—ead Sathan vnder his feet What then shall not hee with courage enter into the battell wherein hee is made sure of the victory before he fight knowing that all the warriours of Christ shall be more than conquerours through him if we will onely stand still wee shall see the saluation of the Lord. Gideon with his three hundred fought against the great host of Midian without feare because hee was sure of victorie Dauid made hast and ranne to encounter with Goliah because hee was perswaded that God would deliuer him into his hands The Israelits were not afraide to enter into the Riuer of Iordane because they saw the Arke of God before them deuiding the waters And shall onely the Christian stand astonished in his tentations notwithstanding that the word of God goes before him to resolue him that whatsoeuer falles out shall come for the best to him The Lord increase vs and make vs to abound more and more in the loue of our GOD for perfect loue casts out feare the Lord strengthen our faith that through these mistie cloudes of affliction which now compasse vs we may see that comfortable end which God in his word hath discouered vnto vs. And to this effect we must beware of the subtile slights of Sathan who to the end that he may spoile vs of this comfort in trouble endeauours by all meanes either to quench the light of God vtterly in our mindes or at least to darken and obscure it by precipitation of our vnbeleeuing hearts carrying vs headlong to iudge of the workes of God by their beginnings and to measure our selues in trouble by our present estate and condition not suffering vs to tarrie while we see the end whereof it comes to passe that our hearts being tossed too and fro with restlesse perâ—urbations like trees of the forrest shaken with the winde we hasten in our necessities to be our owne prouisors in our dangers we will be our owne deliuerers and euery way vve become the caruers of our owne condition Wee haue so much the more neede to beware of this precipitation because the deerest seruants of God haue fallen through it into fearefull sinnes against the Lord As wee may see in Dauid who being in extreame danger in the Wildernesse of Maon said in his feare that all men were lyers Is not this a great blasphemie to say that the promises which the Lord made to him by Samuel were but lyes and in his other extremities hee is not ashamed to confesse that he thought that God had forgot to be mercifull and had shut vp his tender mercy in displeasure but when he saw the end then he was compelled to accuse himselfe and giue glory vnto God I should haue beene dumbe not opened my mouth because thou didst it and againe I said in my feare all men are lyers for notwithstanding all Samuels promises I looked for nothing but death but now considering the deliuerance I must say pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints Seeing this precipitation made Dauid to stumble and fall may vvee not feare least it carry vs to the like inconuenience vnlesse we learne to beware of it in time let vs not therfore iudge of the vvorks of God before they be ended If wee should looke to Lazarus on the doung-hill full of byles and sores hauing no comfort but from the dogs and compare him with the rich Glutton clothed in purple and fairing daintely euery day what can wee iudge but that Lazarus is the most miserable of the two yet if wee tarrie till the Lord haue ended his worke and Lazarus be conuayed to Abrahams bosome and the rich Glutton be gone to his place then shall the truth appeare manifestly All things worke together for the best to them that loue God Let vs therefore learne to measure the euent of things not by their present condition but by the prediction of Gods word let vs cleaue to his promise and waite on the vision which hath his owne time appointed it shall speake at the last and shall not lye though it tarry let vs wait for it it shall surely come and not stay let vs goe into the Sanctuary of God and consider the end there shall we learne that There is no peace to the wicked howsoeuer they flourish for a time that it cannot be but well with them who loue the Lord Marke the vpright man and behold the iust the end of that man is peace but the transgressours shall be destroyed together and the end of the wicked shall be cut off Thus both in the troubles of the Godly and prosperitie of the wicked wee should suspend our iudgement till wee see the end All things worke together Mark the singular priuiledge of the Christian not onely afflictions but all other things whatsoeuer worke for the best vnto him and not onely so but they worke together Many working instruments are there in the world whose couse is not one they communicate not counsels yea their intentions oftentimes are contrary yet the Lord bringeth all
this sense the Papists take it in this question but wrongfully Secondly to iustifie is to acknowledge or declare one to be iust so it is said that the Publicans iustified God of force wee must expound it they acknowledged or confessed him to be iust so S. Iames saith that a man is iustified by workes that is declared to be iust by his workes or as S. Iames expounds it himselfe his Iustification is shewed by his works Thirdly the word to Iustifie is a iudiciall terme and it signifieth to absolue in iudgement and is opponed to condemning so Salomon vseth it He that iustifies the wicked and condemnes the iust are both alike abhominatâ—on to the Lord and in this sense the Apostle vseth it here for he oppones it to condemnation This right vnderstanding of the word will lead vs to know what the benefit of Iustification is for what euer condemnation be Iustification must be the contrary they are both iudiciall termes vsed in iudgement holden on matters of life and death Condemnation no man will deny is the sentence of a righteous Iudge adiudging a malefactor to death for some capitall crime whereof hee is found guiltie in iudgement Iustification then is the sentence of God a righteous Iudge absoluing the man that is in Christ from sinne and death and accepting him to life for the righteousnesse of Christ which is his So that it is euident the state of the question in the controuersie of Iustification will be this how is a man iustified before God that is what is it that a man must bring before Gods tribunall for the which hee shall be pronounced innocent absolued from death and adiudged to life whether is it our workes of sanctification inherent in vs or is it the righteousnesse of Christ giuen vnto vs and made ours The question being this way taken vp shall giue great light to the controuersie that is betweene vs and the falsely named Catholikes of our time for we denie not that there is in Gods children an inherent sanctification and that they are changed from vnrighteousnesse to righteousnesse but this inherent righteousnesse say we is not able to purchase to vs an absoluitorie sentence from death To make this yet more cleare let vs know that the righteousnesse by which wee are Iustified receiues foure names first it is called the righteousnesse of Christ secondly the righteousnesse of God thirdly the righteousnesse of Faith fourthly our righteousnesse The righteousnesse of Christ because it is conquered by him and inherent in him as in the proper subiect The righteousnesse of God because he onely in his meruailous wisedome found it out it is called the righteousnesse of Faith because Faith is the instrument by which wee apprehend it and it is called our righteousnesse because it is giuen vnto vs of God to be ours by imputation on Gods part by acceptation of it by Faith vpon our part for these two wayes that acquisite righteousnesse of Christ is made ours This wee haue to marke for our comfort against those obiections which eyther inwardly by Sathan or outwardly by men of a contrary opinion are obiected vnto vs. If they to trouble our peace and weaken our Faith aske how can yee be iustified by a righteousnesse which is not yours we answere the righteousnesse of Christ is ours and ours by as great a right as any other thing that we possesse is ours to wit by the free gift of God seeing it hath pleased God to giue vs a garment who were naked and to giue vs who had none of our owne a righteousnesse answerable to his Iustice vvhat intrest can eyther man or Angell haue to resist it The euasions and obiections whereby the aduersarie impugnes this doctrine are chiefely these First the Apostle say they excludeth the works of nature not the works of Grace the workes of a man vnregenerate they confesse cannot iustifie him but the works of a man regenerate say they doe iustifie him but this is false as is proued first by examples for Abraham whose example the Apostle bringeth in to confirme the doctrine of Iustification was a regenerate man and effectually called yet as witnesseth both Moses and S. Paul his faith was counted to him for righteousnesse Dauid after hee had beene a regenerate man yet saith Lord enter not into iudgement with thy Seruant for in thy sight shall no flesh be iustified The Apostle Paul protests of himselfe I haue in all good conscience serued God vnto this day neyther know I any thing of my selfe yet am I not thereby iustified hee was more abundant in good workes than all the rest of the Apostles hee did also beare in his body the markes of Iesus and was renouned through his manifold sufferings If euer any regenerate man could haue beene iustified by his good workes it was this holy Apostle yet hee tels you himselfe for all that I haue done for all that I haue suffered yet am I not thereby iustified The same is proued by reason that which by order of nature followes our Iustification before God cannot be said to iustifie vs in the presence of God cannot be said to iustifie vs in this sense but so it is good works by order of nature followes our iustification before God Non praecedunt iustificandum sed sequuntur iustificatum Againe such works as are not perfectly agreeable to the rule of Legall iustice cannot iustifie vs but rather fals vnder that curse Cursed is hee who fulfilleth not euery â—ot of the Law but so it is that the workes euen of men regenerate are not able to answere the perfection of the Law There is no man saith Salomon iust in the earth that doth good and sinneth not If I would dispute with God I could not saith Iob make answere vnto one of a thousand All our righteousnesse saith Ieremie is but like a menstruous cloath and our Sauiour hath taught euen regenerate men to pray daily for the remission of their sins Quid ergo de peccatis nostris fiet quando ne ipsa quidem pro se respondere poterit iustitia nostra what then shall become of our sinnes when our righteousnesse is not able to answere for it selfe Vae hominum iustitiae quantumuis laudabili si remotâ— misericordia Dei iudicetur woe to the righteousnesse of man were it neuer so lowable if God setting aside mercy enter to iudge it But they insist the workes of regenerate men are the workes of Christ for it is hee who by his spirit workes them in them therefore they are meritorious and iustifies I answere the workes of Christ iustifies it is true if yee vnderstand his personall workes done by himselfe in his own person as the Apostle teacheth vs He hath purged our sinnes by himselfe But as for those workes which hee workes in vs by his spirit of grace hee workes them not for our iustification that as I haue said he hath done
THREE HEAVENLY TREATISES VPON THE EIGHT Chapter to the Romanes Viz. 1 Heauen opened 2 The right way to eternall Glory 3 The Glorification of a Christian. VVherein the Counsaile of God concerning Mans saluation is so manifested that all men may see the Ancient of dayes the Iudge of the world in his generall Iustice Court absoluing the Christian from sinne and death Which is the first benefit wee haue by our Lord Iesus Christ. Come and see Written by Mr. William Cowper Minister of Gods word LONDON Printed by Thomas Snodham for William Firebrand and Iohn Budge and are to be sould at his shop at the great Southdoore of Paules 1609. TO THE MOST SAcred Christian truely Catholique and mightie Prince Iames King of great Britaine France and Ireland defender of the faith c. SIR The Apostle S. Paule that chosen vessell of God and his ambassadour sent forth into the world to bring in the house of Iapheth into the tents of Sem hauing in his peregrination vndertaken for preaching from Ierusalem vnto Illyricum seene the most pleasant parts of the world and in an extasie transported from earth into the third heauen seene also the pleasures of Paradise as one who knew both not by naked speculation but experience giues out his iudgement of both that the most excellent things of this world were but dung in respect of the Lord Iesus and that whatsoeuer pleasure on earth may delight the eye or eare they haue vnto others it shal be no small comfort vnto me and my greatest thankefulnesse shal be declared in my dayly prayers vnto the Lord God for your Maiestie that the name of Iacobs God may defend you from all euill and the Lord may send you helpe out of his Sanctuarie in all your need according as hee hath done O King beloued of God hated of none but for Gods sake keepe still your heart in the loue of God and his truth Reioyce in the strength of your God and feare not what flesh can doe vnto you Is it not the Lord who set your Highnesse on the throne to bee a feeder of his people Israel Is it not the Lord who hath deliuered your Maiestie from the contentions of the people and secret snares of your cursed enimies though the Archers grieued you hated you and shot at you were not the hands of your armes strengthened by the hands of the mightie God of Iacob Is it not the almightie who hath blessed your Maiesty with heauenly blessings from aboue with blessings of the depth that lyes beneath with blessings of the breast and wombe Sir let his liberall blessings wherewith the Lord your God hath preuented you be so many obligations binding your Highnesse to honour the Lord who hath honoured you Let his forepast manifold deliuerances be as so many confirmations that if your Maiestie rest in him and not in man he will still be a buckler vnto you Let Abaddon the King of the Locusts that Romish vsurper rage Vnto the Lord belongs the issues of death Can Balaam curse where God hath blessed yea can Sathan hurt the man who is hedged by the Lord Let the Ambassadours of new Babel more shamelesse than Sennacherib his Rabsache raile at good king Ezekiah ruling in Ierusalem the Lord hath yet a hooke for his nosethrils and a bridle for his lips Doe not the eyes of the Lord behold the whole earth to shew himself strong with them that are strong and of a perfect heart toward him Therefore feare not their feare but sanctifie the Lord God of hostes let him be your feare and hee shal be a Sanctuarie vnto your Maiestie Count it a part of your high glorie and no small matter of your Maiesties ioy that with Christ you beare this peece of his crosse that the rebukes of them who rebuke the Lord are fallen vpon you and trust still O King in the Lord and in the mercie of the most High and so your Maiestie shall neuer fall Long may your Highnesse liue and raigne ouer vs as a faithfull seruant to your God and a happie King of many blessings to your people Your Maiesties most humble Subiect and dayly Oratour William Cowper Minister at Perth works of God there is a difference and some of them more cleerely then others declares the glorie of God so it is also among his holy writs they breath all out one truth by a most sweet harmonie diuine enim lectiones ita sibi connectuntur tanqnam vna sit lectio quia omnes ex vno ore procedunt yet ye shall finde that in some of them the Lord commeth neere vnto vs as it were with the face of a man talking familiarly vnto vs in others againe hee mounts high aboue vs as it were with the wings of an Eagle And the Lord hath left it free to delight our selues most in those places of holy Scripture wherein for our estate we haue most edification and to seeke in this Apothecarie shop of that sweet Samaritan the Lord Iesus pharmaca morbo nostro conuenientia such medicines as are meet for our maladie Among all the bookes of the old Testament most frequent testimonies are brought by our blessed Sauiour and his holy Apostles out of the booke of the Psalmes Ierome called it a treasurie of all learning And among all the Epistles of the Apostles no meruaile this to the Romanes haue the first place not that it was first written but because aboue the rest it contayneth a most perfect compend of our Christian faith And this middle Chapter thereof hath in it an Abridgement of all these comforts and instructions one excepted which otherwise are dispersed throughout the whole Epistle and is so to call it a pleasant kâ—ot of the garden and Paradise of God and therefore shall it not be vnprofitable for vs by Gods grace to delight our selues for a while in it As to the connexion of this Chapter with the former wee are to know that it is a conclusion of the foregoing treatise of Iustification Wherein the Apostle summarilie collects the excellent state of a Christian iustified by faith in Christ Iesus declaring it to bee such that there is no condemnation to him that nothing were it neuer so euill is able to hurt him yea by the contrary that all things workes for the best vnto him And because there are onely two euils which grieue vs in this life to wit sinne that remaines in vs and affliction that followes vs in the following of Christ. Against both these the Apostle furnishes the iustified man with strong consolations Comforts against the remanents of sinne wee haue from the 1. verse to the 18. Comforts against our afflictions wee haue from the midst of the 18. verse to the 31. That this is the very purpose and order of the Apostle is euident out of his owne conclusion set downe from
Aquinas Nihil est damnabile in illis qui sunt in Christo nullus actus quo mereamur damnari that in them who are is Christ there is nothing worthy to be damned no act that merits damnation for the Apostle condemnes these motions of sinne which he found in himselfe as euill and repugnant to the Law of God and if the holy Apostle was not ashamed to confesse this of himselfe what blinde presumption is this in them to exempt themselues or others from such motions as are worthy to be damned wee shall still confesse our guiltines there remaines in vs of our owne which the Lord might condemne if he would enter into iudgement with vs and shall so much the more praise his mercie who hath deliuered vs from condemnation and further comfort then this the Apostles words do not afford vnto vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is no iudgement no sentence to be giuen against them who are in Chrst. Surely our righteousnesse in this life consists rather in the remission of sinnes then in the perfection of vertue Ne quis sibi quasi innocens placeat cum innocens nemo sit se extollendo plus pereat instruitur docetur peccare se quotidie dum quotidie pro peccatis iubetur orare that no man saith Cyprian should flatter himselfe as though he wer innocent when as indeed no man is innocent and so by extolling himselfe should perish so much the more he is instructed and taught that he sinnes while as euery day hee is commaunded to pray for remission of sins but this errour we shall God willing further improue hereafter In the meane time for our comfort let vs consider that albeit the Lord when hee iustified vs might haue vtterly destroyed the life of this sinning sinne in vs yet for waighty causes hath he suffered some life thereof to abide in vs for a time the first is for the exercise of our faith Peccata quorum reatum Soluit Deus ne post hanc vitam obsint manere tamen voluit ad certamen fidei these sinnes saith Augustine the guiltinesse whereof God hath loosed that they should not hurt vs in the life to come hee will haue to remaine for the exercise of our faith No man is crowned except he striue as he ought and therefore the Lord who hath prepared for vs a crowne and hath put vpon vs his compleat armour hath also suffered some enimies to remaine against whom we may fight for the tryall of our faith patience and perseuerance euen as the Cananites were left in the Land that the Lord by them might proue the Israelits whether if or not they would keepe the way of the Lord to walke into it Secondly some life of sinne is left in vs for our instruction that wee may know the better how farre we are oblieged to Gods mercy and how excellent is that deliuerance which we haue by Iesus Christ. Nulla quidem est condemnatio his qui sunt in Christo tamen ad humiliandos nos peccatum adhuc patituâ— viâ—tere in nobis grauiter nos affligere vt sentiamus quid gratia nobis praestet semper ad illius auxilium recurramus It is true indeed saith Bernard that there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ yet for our humiliation the Lord suffers sinne to liue in vs and oftentimes afflict vs that we may know the benefit wee haue by Grace and make our recourse for helpe vnto it continually and indeed except by experience wee felt how powerfull sin is of it selfe to ouer rule vs we could neuer haue knowne that vile bondage and seruitude of sinne vnder which wee lay by nature nor that excellent Grace of Christ by which we haue gotten deliuerance And therefore so oft as wee are troubled with our inhabitant corruption we are to consider that if the remanents of the old man breed vs such strong and restlesse tentations how would it tyrannize ouer vs if it were liuing in the full vigour strength thereof that so we may praise and magnifie that sauing Grace of the Lord Iesus which hath freed vs from so intollerable a tyrannie Thirdly the Lord hath done this for his own greater glory like vnto those Victors in battaile who albeit they may yet will not put all their enimies to the edge of the sword some of them they take Captiues and reserues for a while aliue against the day of triumph to be put then to death to their greater shame and the greater honour of their Conquerours When Ioshua had discomfited those fiue Kings who made warre against Gibeon hee would not slay them in the battaile but inclosed them in a caue that the battell being ended he might put them to death in sight of all his people and then for their further confirmation hee caused his Captaines and chiefe men of warre to tread vpon the necks of these Kings to assure them that after the same manner the Lord should subdue all the rest of their enimies vnder them And so our Captaine mightie conquerour the Lord Iesus hath by himselfe obtained vnto vs victorie ouer all our enimies these Kings which besieged Gibeon are turned to flight these inordinate affections which held vs Captiues before are now by his power captiued of vs they are closed vp vvithin vs as in a Caue vvhere they remaine vvith some life but restrained of their former libertie and power And vve rest assured that when the battaile shall be finished our Lord Iesus shall altogether spoyle them of their life The God of peace shall shortly tread Sathan vnder our feete then Goliah being ouercome his army of the Philistines shall flie and no inordinate desire shall bee left within vs. Thus wee see how the Lord permits his enimie to liue and will not fully torment him before the time it is not because he wants power to subdue him Set vt â—o magis confundatur but that so much the more he may confound him When as all the warriours of God aswell those who are to come in the last age of the world as those who were in the forefront of the battaile haue foughten against him and ouercome him then shall the Lord Iesus put all his enimies vnder his feete Yea euen now in the very time of the conflict is Sathan wonderfully confounded in this that notwithstanding the Serpent keepe his sting yet there is no deadly power in it This vncircumcised Goliah hath that same sword in his hand by which he hath slaine many one the Lord permits him also to strike the Christian man therewith but hee sees himselfe it is in vaine O how doth he returne ashamed and confounded when hauing gotten leaue to shoot out his sting and to strike with his accustomed sword of sinne those whom he hateth vnto death he perceiues that for all hee can doe there remaines in them a seed of life which cannot be
destroyed But that the greatnesse of this benefite which we haue by Iesus Christ may the better appeare let vs see what a condemnation this is from which we are deliuered In the Scriptures there is ascribed to man a iudging by which he absolueth or condemneth there is also ascribed to God a iudging by which he absolueth or condemneth As to mans condemnation we are not exempted from it Daniel condemned for a Rebell Ioseph condemned for an Adulterer Iob condemned of his friends for an Hypocrit our Sauiour condemned for an Enimie to Caesar his Disciples condemned and iudged worthy of stripes stand as so many examples to confirme vs that vve faint not when vve are condemned of men yea vvith the Apostle vve must learne to passe little from mans iudgement and striue in a good conscience to be approued of God for sure the Lord vvill not peruert iudgement it is farre from the Iudge of all the world to doe vnrighteously hee vvill at the last plead the cause of his Seruants and bring their righteousnesse to light This condemnation then from which vvee are deliuered is the sentence of God the righteous Iudge by which finding man guiltie of sinne for sinne hee adâ—â—dgeth him vnto eternall damnation from this all they who are in Christ are deliuered Hee that beleeueth in him who sent mee hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life In this condemnation the Lord proceedes at three sundry dyats against the wicked First hee condemneth them in the Court of Conscience Next in the day of their particular iudgement Thirdly in the day of generall Iudgement First I say the Lord holdeth a Iustice Court against the vvicked in his owne Conscience For the Lord iudgeth the righteous and him that contemneth God euery day After sinne committed by him there ariseth in his Conscience accusing thoughtes and there is a sentence vvithin him giuen out against him The Apostle speakes it of Heretikes one sort of vvicked men and it is true in them all they sinne being damned of their owne selues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by themselues Iudgement is giuen out against themselues which sentence albeit euery vvicked man doe not marke the voyce of their disordered affections sometime being so loud that they heare not the condemnatoâ—ie voyce of their Conscience so clearely as it is pronounced yet doe they heare as much as makes them inexcusable and breedes in them a certaine feare and terrour which is but a fore-runner of a more fearefull iudgement to come vvhich howsoeuer in time of their securitie they labour to smoother and quench by externall delights yet at the length affection shall bee silenced and Conscience shall pronounce sentence against them vvith so shâ—ill a voyce that their deafest eare shall heare it This I haue marked that vve may learne not to esteeme lightly the Iudgement of our Conscience but that so oft as vvee are condemned by it vvee may make our refuge to the throne of Grace to seeke mercy For if Conscience condemne vs God is greater then the Conscience and will much more condemne vs Ascendat itaque homo tribunal mentis suae si 〈◊〉 illud meminerit quod oportet eum ante tribunal Christi exhiberi Let therefore a man saith Augustine goe vp to the tribunall of his owne mind in time if he feare it let him remember that he must be presented before a greater tribunall The second dyat of iudgement which the Lord keepes against the wicked is in the houre of death wherein the Lord doth not onely repeat their former sentence of condemnation and that in a more fearefull and iudiciall manner but proceeds also to execution adiudging their bodies vntill the day of last iudgement to the prison of the graue to vnderly that curse pronounced on man for his Apostasie and condemning their spirits to be banished from the presence of God and cast into vtter darknesse Let not therefore the wicked man nourish himselfe in sinne with a vaine conceit of the delay of iudgement wherefore wilt thou put farre from thee the euill day what suppose the day of generall iudgement were not to come for many yeeres is not the day of thy perticular iudgement at hand vnto which thou shalt be drawne sodainely and perforce in the midst of thy deceiuing imaginations thou shalt bee taken away in an houre wherein thou thought not to dye more miserable than that rich glutton who hauing stored his head with false conclusions dreaming of many dayes to come when he had not one was that same day taken away to iudgement And this shall moue vs the more if we doe remember that such as we are in the day of death such shall we bee found in the day of iudgement In quo enim quemque invenerit suns nouissimus dies in hoc eum comprehendet mundi nouissimus dies quia qualis in die ifto quisque moritur talis in die illo iudicabitur and euery man in the last day shall be iudged to bee such as hee is when hee dyeth It would waken vs all more carefully to thinke vpon our end that so we might prepare our selues for this second dyat of iudgement But the third day of iudgement shall be most fearefull when all the wicked being gathered together in one shall bee condemned in that high and supreame court of iustice which the Lord shall hold vpon all that euer tooke life then shall the full measure of the wrath of God bee powred vppon all those who are not in Christ Iesus both in soule and body they shall bee punished with euerlasting perdition This iudgement shall bee most equitable for when that Ancient of dayes shal sit downe vpon his white throne before whose face heauen and earth shall flee away and when the Sea and the Earth hath rendred vp their dead then the bookes shall bee opened according to which hee shall proceed vnto iudgement And the bookes are two the booke of the law which sheweth to a man what the should doe and the booke of Conscience which sheweth him what hee hath done by those shall the wicked man bee iudged and hee shall not bee able to make exception against any of them against the booke of the law hee shall bee able to speake nothing for the Commandements of the Lord are pure and righteous altogether And as to the booke of conscience thou canst not denye it the Lord shall not iudge thee by an other mans conscience but by thine owne that booke thou hast had it alway in thine owne keeping who then could falsifie it neither is any thing written in it of things thou hast done but that which thine owne hand hath written how then canst thou make any exception against it Thus the bookes being opened the iudgement shall proceed in this manner The Law shall pleade for transgression of her precepts requiring that the
wicked may be put to death for their most vnreasonable disobedience her commandements for number being but ten and so not burdenable to the memorie for vnderstanding plaine written in the hart of euery man for equitie not contradictable for the Law craueth nothing of man but that which by the holinesse of his nature receiued by Creation hee was able to performe neither doth the law command any thing profitable to God vvho gaue it but vnto man who receiued it And for holinesse euery precept of the law when God proclaymed it on mount Sinai was assisted with a thousand of his Saints as witnesses of the holinesse therof all these circumstances doe aggrauate the waight of that iudgement which the law shall giue out against the transgressors thereof Then from the Law iudgement shall proceede to Conscience and Conscience shall witnesse against them of their transgressions against euery precept of the law wherein they shall be so cleerely conuinced that their perticular sinnes with the circumstances thereof time and place though now they haue cast them behind their backs shall then be set in order before them and so iustly euery manner of way shall iudgement goe out against them Eliphaz spoke it falslie to Iob thy owne mouth and not I condemnes thee but most iustly shall the ruler of the world lay it vpon the wicked out of thy owne mouth I iudge thee O thou euill and vnfaithfull seruant the voyce of thine own conscience and no other shall condemne thee And as this condemnation will bee most righteous so shall it bee also most fearefull not onely in regard of the manner of the Lords proceeding in that last iudgement but chieflie in regard of that irrevocable sentence of damnation which shall be executed without delay The Law was giuen with Thunders and Lightnings and a thicke cloud vpon the mount with an exceeding loude sound of the Trumpet so that all the people were afraide yea so terrible was the sight that Moses said I feare and quake The lawes of mighty Monarches are executed with greater terror then they are proclaymed what then shall we looke for when the God of glory shall appeare to iudge the world according to his law the Heauens shall passe away with a noyse the Elements shall melt with heate the Earth with the workes which are therein shall be burnt vp the Archangell shall blow a Trumpet at the voyce whereof the dead shall rise If Moses the seruant of the Lord quaked to heare the first Trumpet how shall the wicked condemned in their owne conscience tremble and quake to heare the second Then shall the Kings of the Earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mightie men hide themselues in the Dennes and among the rockes of the Mountaines for what strength is there in man who is but stubble to stand before a consuming fire and or euer their doome bee giuen out they shall crye Mountaines and Rockes fall vpon vs and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the Throne but when they shall heare that fearefull sentence depart from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his Angels O how shall the terrour thereof confound their spirits and presse them downe to the bottome of hell O fearefull sentence depart from me what shall the creature doe when the Creator in his wrath commaunds it to depart and by his power banishes it from his presence O man wilt thou consider in time vvho shall receiue thee when God casts thee out from his face or who shall pittie and bee able to comfort thee when God shal persecute thee with his wrath assure thy selfe euery creature shall refuse her comfort to thee if a drop of colde water might bee a reliefe vnto thee thou shalt not get it Happie therefore are they vvho in time resolues themselues vvith Peter Lord whether away shall wee goe from thee thou hast the wordes of eternall life For they who doe now goe a whoring from the LORD wandring after lying vanities shall in that day receiue this for a recompence of their errour goe to the Gods whom yee haue serued Your whole life was but a turning backe from mee now therefore depart from mee and whether into fire and what fire euerlasting fire and with whom with the Diuell and his Angels thou hast forsaken mee thou hast followed them goe thy way with them a companion of their torment O fearefull sentence quae cum it a sint bene nobiscum ageretur si iam nunc sic nos paeniteret super malis nostris quomodo tunc sine vllo remedio paenitebit It were good therefore sayes Augustine if novv all men could so repent of their sinnes as it is certaine in that day they shall repent without any remedie for then the wicked vvill shed teares aboundantly but they shall bee fruitlesse And if yet all this cannot waken thee to goe to the Lord Iesus vpon the feete of faith and repentance that in him thou mayest bee deliuered from this fearefull damnation yet remember that seeing this iudgement is supreame and the last from which will bee no recalling most foolish art thou if in time thou doe not foresee and prouide how thou mayest stand in it Now if thy conscience condemne thee thou may get if thou seeke absolution in Christ but in that day if the Lord condemne thee thou shalt neuer be absolued the day before the Trumpet sound mercy shall bee preached to the penitent and beleeuers by the Gospell but from the time that once the sentence is giuen out there shall neuer bee more offering of mercy the doore shall be closed though the wicked cry for mercy and vvith Esau seeke the blessing vvith many teares yet shall they neuer finde it Of all this novv it is euident vvhat an excellent benefit wee haue by Iesus Christ in that vve are deliuered from this threefold condemnation For first being iustified by faith vve haue peace vvith God in our consciences that holy spirit of adoption testifying vnto vs that our sinnes are forgiuen vs whereof arises in our heart an vnspeakable and glorious ioy which ioy notwithstanding cannot be full nor perfect vntill the former sentence of our absolution be also pronounced in the other two iudgements that in the houre of death wee heare that ioyfull sentence Come to mee thou with the Apostle the terrour of that day but surely when the Lord shall set vs on mount Sion among those thousands which follow the Lambe and we shall see the smoake of the damned ascending continually when we shall stand at the right hand of the Lord Iesus and shall heare that fearefull sentence pronounced on the wicked and see the speedie and terrible execution thereof the earth opening incontinent to swallow them then shall we perfectly know how greatly the Lord hath magnified his mercies towards vs in
giuen vs such deliuerances shall we returne any more to breake thy Commaundements but much more should it binde vs to doe seruice to our Lord Iesus seeing hee hath made vs free by his bloud shall wee againe make our selues the seruants of sinne The Lord neuer shewed a greater mercie on man then this that hee gaue his sonne Iesus Christ vnto the death for vs and there can be no higher contempt done to God by man then if after so great a loue shewed vs wee shall still refuse to bee his seruants much will be required of him to whom much is giuen those Gentiles to whom the Lord reuealed himselfe in goodnes onely as their Creator because they did not glorifie him the Apostle saith that the wrath of God was reuealed from heauen vpon them and what wrath then maist thou looke for to whom the Lord hath manifested himselfe in mercy also as thy Redeemer in Christ and yet thou wilt not glorifie him thou receiuest not him whom thy Father hath sent vnto thee neyther wilt thou liue vnto him that gaue himselfe to dye for thee but by thy wicked life thou crucifiest againe the Sonne of God and treadest vnder thy feet the bloud of the new couenant certainely Sodome and Gomorrha shall be in an easier estate in the day of iudgement then the wicked of this generation For in this last age the Lord hath spoken to vs by his Son he hath none greater to send after him those labourers of the vineyard that slew the Seruants of the great King were not for that instantly punished but when the Sonne came and they had murthered him also then was their iudgement no longer delayed It was not written for the Iewes onely in whom it was first accomplished but for vs also to whom the Father in this last age hath sent his owne Sonne and by whom hee hath spoken vnto vs from himselfe if we despise him there remaines no more but a violent looking for of iudgement The third dutie is that for Christs sake wee loue vnfainedly those vvhom hee hath recommended vnto vs our goodnesse cannot extend vnto the Lord neither haue vve him vvalking vvith vs vpon earth that vve may minister vnto him may wash his feete and annoynt his blessed bodie vvith precious oyntments therefore should our delight bee vpon these his excellent ones that are vpon earth When Ionathan was dead Dauid for Ionathans sake shewed kindnesse to Mephibosheth our Ionathan is not dead hee liues and raignes in heauen yet can we not declare our kindnesse to himselfe let vs seeke some Mephibosheth some of Christs little weake and impotent children of vvhom he hath said what yee doe to one of these little ones for my sake is done to mee and let vs shew kindnesse vnto them for the great loue which the Lord Iesus hath shewed vnto vs. And that for sinne These wordes containe the end of Christs manifestation in the flesh which is that in our nature hee might beare the punishment of our sinnes satisfie the iustice of God and so abolish sinne Saint Iohn makes this cleare when he saith that hee appeared to destroy the workes of the diuell that is sinne for sinne being remoued there is nothing in man but the workmanship of God By this it is euident how highly they offend God who abuseth the death of Christ to nourish themselues in their sinne being the bolder to commit sinne because Christ dyed for them surely this is to turne the grace of God into wantonnesse The Lord came to abolish sinne not to nourish it Christ once suffered the iust for the vniust not that we should still abide vniust but that hee might bring vs to God Thou therefore who continuest vniust maist say as thou hast heard that there is a Sauiour come into the world but can not say in truth that there is a Sauiour come to thee For where Christ comes hee worketh that worke for which hee came namely hee destroyes the worke of the diuell that is hee enfeebles and abolishes at the last the power of sinne Condemned sinne Sinne by a metaphor is said to be condemned for as they vvho are condemned are depriued of all the liberty power and priuiledges they had before and hath no more any place to appeare in iudgement so hath the Lord Iesus disanulled sinne that it hath now no power to command and condemne vs hee hath spoyled principalities and powers and triumphed ouer them in the Crosse and hath nayled vnto it the obligation of ordinances which was against vs and so sustulit illam quasi authoritatem peccati qua homines detinebat in inferno hath taken away that povver and authoritie of sinne whereby it detayned men vnder damnation This hath hee done most lawfully and in iudgement as vve shall heare bearing our sinnes in his blessed body on the Crosse hee hath suffered that punishment vvhich the law required to bee inflicted on man for sinne and that in the flesh that is in the same nature of man vvhich had offended For this word of Condemnation imports a iust and lawful proceeding of a Iudge in iudgement which that vve may the better vnderstand let vs consider that there are two generall and head iustice Courts vvhich the Lord hath set vnto men the one is holden already the other is to bee holden in the first the sinnes of all the elect are lawfully condemned that themselues may be absolued in the second the persons of all the reprobate shall bee iusty condemned In the first by the ordinance of God the Father our sinnes were laid vpon the back of Iesus Christ and a law imposed to him which was neuer giuen to any other neyther Angell or man to wit the law of a Mediator that hee should make vp peace betweene God and man loue God in such sort that hee should by suffering preserue the glory of his Fathers iustice and yet make manifest the glory of his mercy that hee should loue his brethren in such sort that hee should take the burden of their transgressions vpon him which as by the Father it vvas inioyned vnto him so did hee vvillingly vndertake it And therefore hauing our sinnes imputed vnto him hee presented himselfe for vs vpon the Crosse as vpon a pannell before the Iudge to vnderly the law which craued that our sinnes should be punished to the death The decree according to the law is executed death yea an accursed death as the punishment of sinne is laide vpon Christ wherevpon there followes of equitie an absolution of all those for whom the Lord Iesus suffered as Cautioner their sinne is condemned and made of no force to condemne them hereafter The other generall iustice court will bee holden in the last day wherein all flesh must appeare before the Lord as their superiour and in that supreame and last Court of iustice shall bee condemned the persons of all those whose sinnes were not condemned before in Christ
speakes of a naturall generation Let Paul speake before Agrippa of the heauenly vision and Festus shall count him a foole Let Lot speake to his Sonnes in Law of the iudgement to come vpon Sodome and they shall esteeme him as a mocker thus Naturalists can neyther vnderstand the words of mercy nor iudgement to be allured with the one or terrified with the other for he minds onely earthly things but as for the spiritual man he hath receiued that new mind Whereby he knowes him that is the true one hee is indued with new senses whereby he perceiues things which are excellent habet enim oculos interiores quibus videt iustitiae lumen he hath those naturall eyes whereby he seeth the light of righteousnesse And if from the vnderstanding we proceed to the affections whereupon can the naturall man set his affections but vpon those things which his vnderstanding commends for good for euery man hath his heart enclined to that which accoâ—ding to his knowledge hee thinks best for himselfe The Gadarens wil prefer their Swine before Christ and naturalists make more of their smallest earthly commodities than of those things which are aboue at the right hand of God 〈◊〉 the Christian accounts the testimonies of the Lord sweeter â—nto him then all the treasures of worldlings hee findes â—ore ioy in the lightsome countenance of God then in all abundance of Wheat and Wine the best things of this earth he accounts but doung the pleasures of the world are loathsome vnto him her glory is despised in his eyes habet enim olfactum interius de quo dixit Apostolus Christi bonus odor â—â—mus Deo in omni loco estque verbum illi odor vitae ad vitamâ— for he hath that internall sense of smelling whereof the Apostle speakes wee are vnto God the sweet sauour of Christ in euery place this makes the word of God vnto him either reason which should rule is ouer-ruled by the will or at least the crooked is led by the blinde that is a blinded vnderstanding directs the crooked will and peruerse affections a wrong way and what meruaile then if both fall into the ditch for where the eye which is the light of the body is darknesse how great must be the darknesse of the whole man and seeing the vnderstanding facultie of the soule giues no counsels nor conclusions but such as are deadly what can the will and affections doe but run headlong into the wayes of death This is that encrease of knowledge which we haue gotten by our Apostasie from God this is the fruit wee haue plucked from off the forbidden tree we haue a wisedome which brings out death the most excellent knowledge whereunto the quickest ingines could euer attaine by the light of nature profited them not vnto saluation Lanctantius compared all the learning of Philosophers to a liuelesse body wanting a head in seeing they were blind in hearing they heard not vnderstanding they vnderstood not while they professed themselues to be wise they became fooles As the sences are in the head so all spirituall vnderstanding of the way of life is in Christ Iesus by naturall philosophie they attayned to the knowledge of the creatures but learned not to know the Creator by natural reason they learned to discerne the sophistrie of men but not to resist the sophistrie of Sathan By practise also of Morall philosophie they attayned to a shew of those vertues which they called cardinall to a shew I say but as for true Prudence Iustice Temperance and Fortitude they attayned not vnto them without faith it is impossible to please God neyther can there be without it any thing which deserueth the name of vertue quid enim illis cum virtutibus qui Dei virtutem Christum ignorant for what haue they to doe with vertue who are ignorant of Christ the vertue and power of God All the light that is in nature is like to the sight of blinded Sampson for as he without a guide could not finde one pillar of the house no more can naturall vnderstanding finde out so much as one of the articles of our faith nascimur vniuersi viae ciuitatis prorsus ignari wee are all borne altogether ignorant of the way that leadeth to the citie of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle cals vs without a minde to know any thing pertayning to our owne saluation Whatsoeuer wisedome man hath without grace may leade him forward to euill but cannot teach him to eschew euill Achitophell was counted wise in his time and his wisedome and counsell as the oracle of God but hee had no wisedome to foresee nor preuent his miserable end he hanged himselfe in his impatiencie yet is the wit of naturalists in our time no better than his they are wise in their owne eyes and glories within themselues that by their subtile wits they haue gone through dangerous courses wherein others haue fallen yet they know not their end neither are sure that the politique deuise wherein they haue placed their confidence shall not at length be a snare to themselues Therefore the spirit of God vouchsafeth not vpon the men of this world the 〈◊〉 of wise men but calles them wise with arestriction they are wise saith Ieremie to doe euill Wiser saith our Sauiour in their owne generation than the children of God Basil properly compares them vnto Howlets which see somthing in the night but nothing in the day such are worldlings they haue some vnderstanding of the works of darknesse but no iudgement how to approue themselues to the light of God wise to compasse things present but carelesse for those which are to come Where if it be demaunded why then doth the Apostle attribute wisedome to them who vvalke after the flesh it is answered Prudentia dicitur cum res stulta sit quia sic ipsis videtur it is called wisedome because so it seemes to them who haue it albeit in very deed it bee foolishnesse The iudgements of the carnall and Christian man are so different that eyther of them esteemes another foolish but the one iudges with a warrant the other not so the spirituall Spirit they haue not As the waues of the Sea are stirred with euery winde so are their mindes perturbed through the tumultuous desire of their variable affections And as for peace of Conscience which ariseth of the sense of Gods mercy towards vs in Christ how can they haue it whose life is a continuance in inimitie with God for righteousnesse and peace doe kisse one another where there is no righteousnesse how can there be peace pax est haereditas ChristianoruÌ„ peace is the heritage of Christians The wicked haue their owne carnall securitie they blesse themselues in their heart when the word of the Lord doth curse them but the false conclusions of peace and safetie which they haue laid in their owne
than if he had said the gall of bitternesse was in him and the spirit of God when he sayes that man is in his sinne or in the flesh doth thereby expresse a farre greater corruption of his wretched nature then if he did say that sinne and fleshly corruption is in him Syricius Bishop of Rome expounds this place of married persons affirming that they are in the flesh and so cannot please God flatly against the Apostles owne commentarie for hee wrote this Epistle to the godly Romanes among whom vvere many married persons such as Aquila and Priscilla whom afterward he commends for godlinesse and of whom hee sayes verse 9. yee are not in the flesh because the spirit of God dwels in you so doth the Apostle expound it himselfe and therefore the Pope is but a peruerse interpreter of the Apostles minde and his fauourers are but seducers who vvill haue vs to seeke out of the boxe of his breast the true sence and meaning of all scripture Alwayes leauing them let vs marke againe here the miserable estate of such as are strangers from Christ. What an vnhappy condition is this that a man should liue in that state of life wherein doe what hee vvill hee cannot please God Let Cain sacrifice with Abel the Lord shall not accept it let Esau his teares seeking a blessing from his father be shed as aboundantly as Iacobs were when hee sought a blessing from the Angell yet shall he not preuaile he shall not be blessed let the Pharise pray in the Temple with the Publicane he shall not goe home iustified and for worldly glory let him be neuer so high among men hee is but abhomination vnto God yea oftentimes worldlings to whom waters are wrung out of a full cuppe are counted blessed and happie yet is it but ignorance that makes men account much of them that are despised in the eyes of God Ideo malus foelix putatur quia quod sit foelicitas ignoratur for this cause is an euill man counted happie because men know not what happinesse is But what euer men be thought of by others eyther for his shew of Godlinesse or his shew of worldly glory vnder which two shadowes the most part of men deceiue the â—emanent it is certaine that hee onely is blessed with whom the Lord is pleased If the tree bee not good it cannot bring forth good fruite and if the person bee not Godly his actions cannot bee acceptable vnto God It is in Christ Iesus onely that the Father is well pleased except wee be in Christ neyther can our persons nor actions please the Lord. The Lord translate vs yet further out of this vnhappy estate of nature the Lord roote vs and ground vs in Christ Iesus and stablish vs to abide in him for euer Verse 9. Now ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwelleth in you but if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ the same is not his THE Apostle hauing discouâ—sed of the miserable estate of them who walke after the flesh doth now turne him toward the godly to comfort them least they should bee discouraged with that remanent caâ—nall coâ—ruption which they finde within themselues he shewes them that what he hath spoken of the vnhappy condition of carnall men doth no way concerne them for they are not in the flesh but in the Spirit In this verse the comfort is first set downe and then a caution annexed vnto it the comfort is for the weake Christian the Caution for the presumptuous professor the Apostle so terrifies the vvicked that he reserues comfort for the Godly and he so comforts the Godly that he confirmes not the wicked in their sinnes No sort of men are sooner moued with the sharpe speaches of the word of God then are the children of God He hath said before they who are in the flesh cannot please God least this should terrifie the Godly he subioynes But as for you yee are not in the flesh for the Spirit of God dwelleth in you Againe no sort of meâ— are more ready to appropriate vnto themselues the comforts of God then they to whom they belong not and therefore for their sakes the Apostle subioynes the Caution If any man haue not the Spirit of Christ the same is not his Where first vvee may learne that the word of God ought so to be handled and receiued that it should be applied to the comfort of those who are the sonnes of consolation and to the conuiction of others the Apostle doth now yee see apply his former doctrine letting them to whom he writes see the comfort and admonitton which out of it riseth vnto them so ought wee alway to handle and heare the word of God as considering what is our part and interest in it for this word is written for vs and doth so neerely concerne vs that as Moses saith It is our life it giueth sentence eyther with or against euerie man that heares it being to the one the sauour of life to the other the sauour of death When Iohn the Baptist preached that word of iudgement Now the axe is laid to the roote of the tree euery tree that bringeth not out good fruit shall bee hewen downe and cast into the fire his hearers so receiued it as a word which touched them neerely and therefore both People Publicanes and Souldiers came to him and asked What shall wee doe then So the Iewes in like manner asked Peter being pricked in their hearts at the hearing of his Sermon What shall wee doe then the same was the voyce of the Iaylor to Paul and Silas and it should be the voyce of euery man as oft as hee heares the word of God condemning his sinnes What shall I doe then that I may be saued As meate brought to the table cannot nourish vnlesse it bee applyed to the mouth and from thence sent downe into the stomacke so the word of God cannot profit vs vnlesse we so heare it vt traijciatur in viscera quaedam animae nostrae transeat in affectiones nostras that it be sent into the bowels of our soule and enter into our affections If in this manner thou receiue the word of God out of doubt thou shalt be saued by it but in this part most part of men heares the word of God as they would heare an Indian storie or some other such discouâ—se as did not concerne them whereof it comes that at this day after long planting and watering there is so small a spirituall growth in grace and godlinesse among vs Now â—or the words yee are not in the flesh but in the spirit that is as yee heard it before expounded ye are not carnall men but spirituall Here it is to be inquired seeing no man knowes the things of a man but the spirit of a man hovv could the Apostle know that
these Romanes were spirituall Was not Eli deceiued in iudging of Anna she sought the Lord in the affliction of her spirit and hee iudged that she had beene a wicked woman and may not godly men be deceiued on the other extremitie to thinke well of them vvho are euill indeede I answere the Apostle doth here write vnto a Church and a publique fellowship or company of men seperate from the remanent of the world by the heauenly vocation called to be Saints and therefore might vndoubtedly write vnto them as vnto Saints and spirituall men it being alway most sure that where the Lord gathers by his word a Church he hath alway in the middest thereof a number that belong to the election of grace But to proceed further and to see how farre vve may goe in iudging of a priuate man we must know that first there is a iudgement of faith secondly a iudgement of fruits thirdly a iudgement of extraordinarie reuelation By the first we can onely iudge our selues and know our owne saluation according to that of the Apostle proue your selues if yee be in the faith know yee not your owne selues how that Christ is in you except yee be reprobates By the iudgement of fruits we may also proceed and iudge of others according to that rule of our blessed Sauiour Yee shall know them by their fruits no man gathers grapes of thornes or figges of thistles Euery good tree bringeth forth good fruit and a corrupt tree bringeth forth euil fruit These first two are common to euery Christian the iudgement of fruits being helped by the iudgement of Charitie Concerning the third Simon Peter knew by extraordinarie reuelation that Simon Magus was a reprobate a child of perdition by it the Apostle Paul knew that the same vnfayned faith dwelt in Timothie which dwelt before in his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice and by it Iohn the Euangelist knew that the Lady to whom hee wrote vvas an elect Lady but as for vs we are not to presume the election or reprobation of any man by such extraordinary reuelation Againe wee haue to mrke for our comfort how the Apostle calles them spirituall men in whom notwithstanding remained fleshly corruption The iudgement of the Lord and Sathan are contrary there is in you saith the deceiuer to the weake Christian fleshly corruption therefore yee are carnall there is in you saith the Lord through my grace a spirituall disposition therefore yee are spirituall Sathan is so euill that his eye sees nothing in the Christian but that which is euill the Lord is so good that hee sees no transgression in Israell hee iudges not his children by the remanents of their old corruption but by the beginnings of his renuing grace in vs. One dram of the grace of Christ in the soule of a Christian makes him more pretious in the eyes of God than that any remanent corruption in him can make him odious therfore is it that the Lord giues vnto them the names of his beloued his seruants his Sonnes his Saints who are so onely in part and by a beginning Both these are true hee that is borne of God sinneth not and againe if we say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues Illud ex primimitijs noui hominis istis ex reliquijs veteris the one wee haue of the first fruits of the new man the other of the remanents of the old man Let vs therefore be so continually displeased with our inhabitant corruption that we dispaire not nor be discouraged neither let vs so complain of our sins that wee become false witnesses against the grace of God which is in vs. If there were nothing in vs but that wee haue by nature our estate were most miserable but seeing beside nature theâ—e is in vs a new workmanship of grace fâ—om the which the Lord accounts vs new and spirituall men wee haue thanks be to God matter of comfort As Sathan is a lyer in denying the name of spirituall men to men regenerate so his supposts aduersaries of the truth of Christ are lying deceiuers and vniust robbers when they restraine this name to such as are of their Cleargie which here the Apostle makes competent to euery man in whom the spirit of Christ dwelleth Spiritualem non facit vestis locus officium opus sed Spiritus it is neyther garment sayes one of their owne nor place nor office nor externall work that makes a man spirituall but the holy Spirit dwelling in him Because the Spirit of God dwels in you He subioynes here the confirmation of his former comfort hee hath said vnto them yee are not in the flesh hee proues it the Spirit of God dwels in you therefore yee are noâ— in the flesh not carnall but spirituall The necessitie of the consequence depends vpon this middest that the spirit of God where hee dwels is not idle but workes where he workes he workes not in vaine but effectuates that which he intends he transforms them in whom he dwels into the similitude of his owne Image hee is compared to fire that giues light euen to them who are farre of and heate to them who are neere hand but transchangeth those things into the nature of fire which are cast into it with so meruailous a vertue that yron which is cold by nature being put into the fire becomes hot and burning so doth that holy Spirit illuminate euery one who comes into the world but hee changeth all those in whom hee dwelleth hee transformeth them into his owne similitude and endueth them with an holy and heauenly disposition then his argument is sure the Spirit of God dwelleth in you therefore yee are not carnall but spirituall In the end of the last Chapter the Apostle said that sinne dwelleth in the man regenerate it is not I but sinne that dwelleth in me and here hee sayes that the spirit of God dwelleth in the man regenerate this is strange that two guests of so contrary natures should both at one time haue their dwelling in man I compare the soule of man regenerate to the house of Abraham wherein there was both a free woman Sarah and a bond woman Hagar vvith their children Ismael the sonne of the bond woman borne after the flesh is older and stronger then Isaac the sonne of the freewoman borne after the spirit that is according to the promise hee disdaines little Isaac as weaker and persecutes him yet the comfort of Isaac is that though Ismaell dwell in the house of Abraham for a while hee shall not remaine the sonne of the bondwoman shall be cast out and shall not inherit the promise with the sonne of the free woman such a house is the soule of a Christian there dwelleth in it at one time both old nature and new grace with their children the old man at the first being older and stronger than the new
blessing of restitution by Christ offered and exhibited vnto vs. Iacob iustly complayned of Laban that hee had deceiued him and had changed his wages seauen times but more iustly may we complaine of Sathan who innumerable times hath beguiled vs hee hath changed our wages how oft hath hee promised vs good things and behold what euill is come vpon vs Happy were wee if in all our tentations we did remember this and reply to Sathan in this manner The Lord rebuke thee thou shamelesse Lyar from the beginning with what face canst thou speake that vnto mee wherein thou hast beene so oft conuinced by so manifold witnesses to be a manifest Lyar. Of the fruites of sinne which wee haue seene wee are to iudge of the fruits of sinne which are not seene if sinne hath made vs so miserable in this life how miserable shall it make vs in the life to come if wee continue in it This is that wisedome which the Apostle recommends to vs in that worthy sentence happy were wee if it were sounded continually in the eares of our minde as oft as we are tempted vnto sinne What fruit haue yee then of those sins whereof now yee are ashamed He that will search within himselfe the fruit of his foâ—mer transgressions shall easily perceiue there is no cause why hee should commit sinne vpon hope of any better fruit in time to come It was Samsons destruction that notwithstanding he found himselfe thriâ—e deceiued by Dalilah yet the fourth time he hearkned vnto her deceitfull allurements and it shall in like manner be the destruction of many who notwithstanding they haue found themselues abused by Sathan in time past yet wil not learne to resist him but giues place vnto his lying entisements and are carryed headlong by him into the wayes of death hee was a lying Spirit in the mouth of Achabs Prophets to draw him forward in a battell promising him victory in the vvhich he knew assuredly that he should dye so is hee a lying spirit in the harts of all the vvicked promising vnto them gaine glory or pleasure by doing those works of sin whereof he knowes well inough they shall reape nothing but shame and euerlasting confusion Againe that vve may yet see hovv foolish they are who liue still in their sinnes vve may marke here that they are murtherers of themselues the mallice of the wicked shall slay themselues his owne sin which he hath conceiued brought forth and nourished shall bee his destruction Euery man iudges Saul miserable that dyed vpon his owne sword but what better are other wicked men are not their sins the weapons by vvhich they slay themselues Thus are they twise miserable first because they are subiect to death secondly because they are guiltie of their owne death Oh the pittifull blindnesse of men albeit in their life they feare nothing more then death yet doe they entertaine nothing better than sinne which causes death In bodily diseases men are content to abstaine euen from ordinary foode vvhere they are informed by the Phisition that it will nourish their sicknesse and this they doe to eschew death onely herein they are so ignorant that notwithstanding they abhorre death yet they take pleasure in vnrighteousnesse which brings on death And lastly seeing vve are taught here that sinne brings death vpon the body vvhat meâ—uaile the Lord strikes the bodies of men by sundry sorts of diseases and sundry kindes of death seeing man by sundry sorts of sinnes pâ—ouokes the Lord vnto anger he frameth his iudgement proportionable vnto his sinnes If yee walke stubbornly against me and will not obey mee I will then bring seauen times more plagues vpon you according to your sinnes Hee hath famine to punish intemperance and the abuse of his creatures hee hath the deuouring sword to bring low the pride of man hee hath burning feuers and vncleane consuming goutes to punish the fierie and vncleane lusts and concupiscence of man If now the Lord after that hee hath striken vs vvith famine and pestilence come among vs to visit vs also with vnaccustomed diseases what shall vve say but the despising of his former fatherly corrections and our stubborne walking against the Lord our God hath procured this vnto our selues Quid mirum in poenas generis humani crescere iram dei cum crescat quotidie quod puniatur what meruaile the wrath of God increase euery day to punish men seeing that increases among men vvhich deserues that God should punish it But there are two impediments which suffers not these vvarnings of God to enter into the harts of men The one is albeit they finde within themselues sinnes condemned by the word of God yet the plagues threatned against those sinnes hath not light vpon them This is that roote of bitternesse whereof Moses vvarned Israell to beware that they should not blesse themselues in their harts when God doth curse them thinking they shall escape iudgement notwithstanding they doe those things vvhich God hath forbidden them Salomon marked this to be a great cause of iniquitie because iudgement is not executed speedely vpon the wicked therefore the hart of the children of men is set within them to doe wickedly But O man doest thou not know that the iudgement of God is according to truth against all that commit such things Why despisest thou the riches of his bountifulnesse and patience because the Lord holds his tongue and spares thee for a while thinkest thou that he will spare thee for euer Euery iudgement of God executed vpon another malefactor may tell thee that thou shalt not escape dies poenae nondum aduenit the day of punishment of iudgement of retribution is not yet come though in this life the Lord should not come neere thee yet thy iudgement is not farre off and thy damnation sleepes not Interim plectuntur quidam quo caeteri corrigantur tormenta paucorum exempla sunt omnium In the meane time some are punished that the rest may be corrected the torments of a few are the examples of all As the Lord Iesus set those eighteene men on whom the tower of Siloam fell for examples to all the rest of the people so euery one punished before vs stands vp to vs as a preacher of repentance and an example to warne vs that vnlesse wee repent wee shall perish in like manner Si nunc omne peccatum manifesta plecteretur poena nihil vltimo iudicio reseruari putaretur si nusâ—um nunc peccatum puniret Deus nulla putaretur esse prouidentia If in this life euery sinne were punished with a seene iudgement nothing should be reserued to the last iudgement and if no sinne were punished in this life it might bee thought there were not a prouidence to regard it The Lord therefore punisheth some sinnes in this life to tell there is a God who iudgeth righteously in the
Christians shall wee iudge by the place vvhich ye delight most to frequent are there not many among you oftner in the Tauerne then in the Temple filling your belly intemperately at that same time vvherein the Sonnes and Daughters of the liuing God are gathered together into their fathers house to be refreshed with his heuenly Manna shall we iudge you by your garments doe they not in many of you declare the vanitie of your minds if we estimate you according to your companions what shall wee thinke but that ye are such as those are with whom ye delight to resort ye sit in the seat of scorners if thou seest a theefe thou must with him and art pertaker with the adulterers If wee try you by your language yee shall be found vncircumcised Philistims and not holy Israelites for yee haue learned to speake the language of Ashdod ye speake as Micah complayned of the wicked in his time out of the corruption of your soule making your throat an open sepulchre yee send out the stinking breath of your inward abhominations by your euill and vncleane speaches ye corrupt the minds of the hearers And thus seeing euery part of your life giues sentence against you as a cloud of many vvitnesses testifieng that yee are vncleane what haue yee to speake for you to proue that yee are Christians shall your naked word be sufficient to doe it no certainely for against it the Lord Iesus hath made exception before hand Not euery one that sayth Lord Lord shall enter into my kingdome your workes must be your witnesses and your deedes must declare who it is to whom ye acknowledge your selues seruants and debters Not to the flesh Sometime the flesh signifies the body and in that sense wee are debters vnto it for the couenant sayth Bernard which the Lord hath bound vp betweene the soule and the body is not to be broke at our will but at the Lords will and in the meane time wee are bound to nourish it but the flesh here is put for the sinfull lusts of the flesh and so we are not debters vnto it Take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the sinfull lusts thereof But alas the corruption of our nature is so great that without great circumspection we cannot nourish the body vnlesse we also nourish sinne in the body many vnder pretence of doing dutie to the one failes in the other so they pamper the body that they quench the spirit ouercome with gluttony they are not able to pray Wee are with the godly to keepe a meane of a shaking sword to keepe Adam from the way of the tree of life so the Apostle stands here betweene vs and death with a sentence like a two edged sword in his mouth to keepe the sonnes of Adam as farre as hee can from the way of death the one stood as a minister of Gods iustice the other stands as a messenger of mercy The Lord hath sworne by himselfe as I liue I desire not the death of a sinner but that he should returns liue he iustifies his word by his deed in that in all ages of the world hee hath sent out messengers to warne them to goe by the way of death so that novv if any man perish it is because hee stoppes his eares at the warning of the watchman of God for thou canst not say but Moses and the Prophets Iesus Christ and his Apostles and Preachers haue met thee in the way of thy sin and warned thee many a time by the vvord of the Lord that if thou vvalke on that vvay thou shalt assuredly dye vvhere thou passing by them all rushest headlong after the lusts of thy flesh and so thou perishest and thy blood shall be vpon thine owne head As the Apostle to the preceding exhortation annexed an argument a debito from that which we are bound to doe so now hee subioynes another argument partly a damno from the losse wee incurre if we doe it not in these words if yee liue after the flesh yee shall dye and partly a commodo from the vantage we shall reape if we do it in these words if yee mortifie the deedes of the bodie by the spirit yee shall liue If wee vvere such men as wee should be the former exhortation taken from honestie and dutie were sufficient to moue vs but in that the spiâ—it of God doth also threaten vs with death is an euident argument of the froward rebellion of our nature The word of God is compared not onely to milke but also to salt we haue neede of the one because of our infancy that being nourished therewith wee may grow and because of our corruption wee haue neede to be seasoned with the other to both these ends should Preachers vse the word of GOD to some as milke for their nourishment to others as salt for their amendment But these are the times foretold by the Apostle wherein the itching eares of men cannot abide wholesome doctrine they hate him that rebukes in the gate as Achab hated Micaiah to the death because hee prophecyed no good vnto him that is hee spake not according to his phantasie but warned him faithfully of the iudgement which afterward came vpon him so the hearers of our time can abide no teachers but such as are after their owne lusts but alas they are foolish for are not my words good to him that walkes vprightly sayth the Lord. Aduersarius est nobis quamdiu sumus ipsi nobis quamdiu tu tibi inimicus es inimicum habebis sermonem Dei the word of God is an aduersarie to none but such as are aduersaries to themselues neither doth it condemne any but such as assuredly shall be condemned of the Lord vnlesse they repent Stop thine eare as thou wilt from hearing of the threatnings of the word yet shalt thou not stop that iudgement which the word hath threatned against thee There is a cry that will come at midnight and will waken the dead but blessed are they who in time are wakened out of the sleepe of their sins by the cryes of the watch-men of God for vndoubtedly a fearefull and painefull consumption shall torment them for euer who now cannot suffer that the salt of the Word should bite their sores to cure them The opposition made here by the Apostle vvarnes vs that a necessitie lyeth vpon vs to mortifie our sinfull lusts it stands vpon our liues vnlesse wee slay sinne sinne shall not faile to slay vs. It is like a Serpent in our bosome which cannot liue but by sucking out that bloud vvherby we liue here is a vvholesome preseruatiue against sinne if at euery occasion vvee vvould carry it in our minde vve would make no doubt to put sinne to the death that our selues might liue For alas what pittifull folly is this vvee hate them that pursues our bodily life vvee eschew them by all bodily
reuealed he tels vs 2. Cor. 12. so that his words wee are to consider this way let other men count and reckon as they will this is my reckoning who haue proued them both there is no comparison betweene them What knowledge hee had of the weight of our present sufferings he tels you by a three-fold vniuersalitie first that hee had suffered all kinde of crosses hunger thirst cold nakednesse rods stonings imprisonnings secondly that he suffered in all places in the sea in the land in the citie in the wildernesse where euer he came to preach the Gospell there was he persecuted by some one sort of trouble or other thirdly that hee suffered of all sorts of persons both of the Gentiles and of his owne nation both of open enimies and of false brethren Againe as for his experience of the glory to be reuealed hee tels you how hee was taken vp into Paradise and there heard such words as cannot be reuealed This conclusion therefore is the more to be esteemed of vs because he who giues out this iudgement of the excellency of the one aboue the other is such a one as had experience of them both hee made a iourney on earth from Ierusalem to Illiricum all which way preaching the Gospell he suffered many afflictions he made another iourney from earth to heauen whether in the body or out of the body hee could not tell and there he saw that inutterable glory and comparing with himselfe these two together hee giues out this for a finall sentence that all our present afflictions are but light in respect of that infinite weight of glory to bee reuealed As for worldlings wee are not to stand vpon their testimonie for as hee cannot giue ouâ— right sentence between two parties that heares not both their causes so cannot the worldling who knows somthing both of the pleasures and sorrows of this life but nothing of the ioyes which are to come consider how farre the life to come is to be preferred before this and therfore albeit in the conclusions of his heart hee giue out sentence in fauours of the life present we are not to regard it because he hath not heard nor considered that which tends to the commendation of the other Wee see then here how that our strength in trouble is greatly encreased by the sight at least by the certaintie of that glory which will be the ende of our trouble this sight made the Apostle count light of his present sufferings let Stephen haue his eyes in prayer to see the Heauens opened and Iesus standing at the right hand of God and hee shall not bee moued with the stones which the Iewes violently throw at him let Moses see him who is inuisible and hee shall not feare Pharaoh let him see that recompense of reward and he shall be better contented to suffer rebuke with the people of God than to enioy the treasures of Egypt this is that which made the Martyres stand exulting and reioycing euen then when Infidels tormented their bodyes If they had beene in the body they had felt the paine and it had disquieted them nunc vero non mirum si exules a corpore dolores non sentiant corporis but now no meruaile that being out of the body they felt not the dolors of the body and where thinke yee was then the soule of the Martyr certainely in a sure place euen in Petra in the rocke of inuincible in the bowels of Christ non sua sentit dum Christi vulnera intuetur hee feeleth not his owne wounds while as stedfastly hee fixeth his eyes vpon the wounds of Christ neyther will hee be afraid for the losse of this life who hath laid hold vpon eternall life and is made sure of a better Let vs therefore pray vnto God diligently that our eyes may be opened to see the riches of that glorious inheritance that as wee speake and heare of it so in like manner wee may see and feele it for the sight thereof makes all trouble easie yea causeth the bitternesse of death to passe away if the world threaten vs with her terrours let vs remember they are not comparable to Gods terrours let vs not feare them who killeth the body and are able to do no more faint vnder trouble Can ye not suffer with me one houre It was the comfort that Athanasius gaue to the Church in his time that Iulian should be but Nubeculo cito transitura a stormy little cloud that vvould quickly passe by and it is certainely true both of our troubles and of all the instruments thereof let vs waite a while on our God with patience and vve shall see them no more This shortnesse of our afflictions depends vpon the breuitie and vanitie of our life which in the estimation of Gods spirit is so short and vaine a thing that he vouchsafes not the name of life vpon it without some restriction Indeed it bewitcheth vs so that in our false imagination wee conceit there is more soliditie and continuance in one yeere that is before vs then in tenne that are past by vs the time which is past is gone away like a thought and that which is to come we thinke it longer then indeede by experience wee shall finde it But the spirit of God who best knowes it giues vnto it the name of life as I said with a restriction hee calles it a momentanie life it is but a moment wherein we liue if we iudge aright we haue no more for as for the moments which are past they are dead to thee and thou to them and as for the moments which are to come they are vncertain and thou canst not be said to liue in them so that no more is left to thee wherin thou canst truely say I liue but a moment and this also must shortly goe away and giue place to another that so by succession of moments one vnto another thy silly life may be prorogued for a while But this shall yet better appeare if wee consider those similitudes by which the spirit of God describes the vanitie of this our mortall life Patient Iob compares the life of man vnto the weauers shuttle which scarce is in at the one end of the webbe when it is out at the other and hee that lookes vnto it can hardly perceiue it He compares it also to the winde that quickly flyeth by vs and to the cloud which speedely vanishes to a Post that runnes diligently and rests not till he come to his end to an hungry Eagle in the aire who seeing her pray a farre off flyeth speedely vpon it to a flower that flourishes at once but withers incontinent and last of all to a ship sayling in the sea before the winde which for the present is seene but within short space appeares no more yea doth not leaue behinde her any footstep or token that any such thing was there and as it is with them
forget them as thou committest them yet the Apostle tels thee that thou hast laid them vp in a treasurie Yea not onely hast thou laid vp in store thy sinnes but with euery sinne hast gathered a portion of wrath proportionable to thy sinne which thou shalt know in that day wherein the Lord shall breake vp thy treasure and open the booke of thy conscience and set thy sinnes in order before thee then shall thine owne wickednesse correct thee and thy turning backe shall reproue thee then shalt thou know and behâ—ld that it is an euill thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Thou shalt be astonished to see such a multitude of witnesses standing vp against thee those sins which thou hast cast behind thy backe thou shalt see them set in the light of the countenance of God woe then shall be vnto thee for the Lord then shall turne thine owne wayes vpon thiâ—e head the Lord shall giue thee to drincke of that cuppe which thou hast filled with thine owne hand when thou shalt haue accomplished the measure of thine iniquitie and hee shall double his stripes vpon thee according to the number of thy transgressions But as for the children of God if yee doe aske when they are at the best I answere praysed be God our worst is gone our good is begunne our best is at hand As our Sauiour said to his kinsmen so may wee say to the worldlings your time is alway but my time is not yet come We were at the worst immediately before our conuersion for our whole life till then was a walking with the children of disobedience in the broad way that leads to perdition then we were at the worst when we had proceeded furthest in the way of vnrighteousnesse for then we were furthest from God Our best began in the day of our recalling wherein the Lord by his word and holy spirit called vpon vs and made vs change our course turning our backes vpon Sathan and our faces toward the Lord and so caused vs to part company with the children of disobedience that where they went on in their sinnes to iudgement we came home with the penitent forlorne vnto our fathers familie That was a a happy day of diuision betweene vs and our sinnes in that day with Israell we entred into the borders of Canaan to Gilgall there were we circumsised and the shame of Egipt taken from vs euen our sinne which is our shame indeede and which wee brought vvith vs euen from our mothers wombe The Lord graunt that we may keepe it in thankfull remembrance and that we may count it a double shame to returne againe to the bondage of Egipt to serue any more that Prince of darknesse in bricke and clay that is to haue fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknâ—sse but that like the redeemed of the Lord wee may walke from strength to strength till we appeare before the face of our God in Sion Alway this difference of estates betweene the godly and wicked should learne vs patience let vs not seeke that in the earth which our gratious father in his most wise dispensation hath reserued for vs in heauen Let vs not be like the foolish Iewes who loued the place of their banishment in Babell better than their home Now our life is hid with God in Christ and we know not yet what we shall be but we know when hee shall appeare we shall be like him the Lord shall carrie vs by his mercy and bring vs by his strength into his holy habitation hee shall plant vs in the mountaine of his inheritance euen the place which he hath prepared and sanctuary which he hath established then euerlasting ioy shall be vpon our head and sorrow and mourning shall flye from vs for euer And now till the Lord haue accomplished his worke in vs let vs not faint because the wicked floorish how euer they prosper they are to bee pittied more than enuied let them eate and drinke and be merry sure it is they will neuer see a better life then that which presently they enioy they haue receiued their consolation in this life and haue gotten their portion in this present world Surely no tongue can expresse their miserie and yet as Samuel mourned for Saul when God reiected him and Ieremie wept in secret for the pride of his people that would not repent of their sinnes how can wee but take vp a bitter lamentation for many of you whom in this time of grace wee see to be strangers from grace wee wish from our harts ye were not like the kinsemen of Lot they thought hee had but mocked when hee told them of an iminent iudgement and therefore for no request would goe out of Sodome but tarryed till the fire of the Lords indignation did consume them but that rather as Sarah followed Abraham from Caldee to Canaan so yee would take vs by the hand and goe with vs from hell to heauen but alas the lusts of the flesh hold you captiue or then the loue of the world doth bewitch you but all of them in the end shall deceiue you for all the labour vnder the Sunne is but vanitie and vexation of Spirit when you haue finished your taske you shall be lesse content than you were at the beginning you shall be as one wakened out of a dreame who in his sleepe thought hee was possessor of great riches but vvhen hee awaketh behold hee hath nothing or not vnlike that rich man who said in his securitie Now my Soule thou hast much goods for many yeares and euen vpon the next day redacted to such extreame necessitie with that other who dispised Lazarus that he had not so much as a drop of cold vvater to coole his tongue withall then shall you lament and say We haue wearied our selues in the way of iniquitie and it did not profit vs. Alas how shall I learne you to be wise Is not this a pittifull blindnesse the Lord vvhen hee created man made him Lord aboue all his creatures and now vnthankfull man sets euery creature in his heart aboue the Lord. O fearefull ingratitude Doe you so reward the Lord O foolish people and vnwise There is nothing which yee conceit to be good but when yee vvant it you are carefull to seeke it vvhen you haue it you are carefull to keepe it onely you are carelesse of the Lord Iesus though hee be that incomparable iewell vvhich bringeth light in darkenesse life in death comfort in trouble and mercy against all iudgement ye should set him as a signet on your heart as an ornament on your head and put him on as that glorious attire vvhich gets you place to stand before God But vvhat paines doe ye take to seeke him vvhat assurance haue yee that yee are in him or vvhat mourning doe yee make for that yee doe not possesse him can you say in truth that the
a persecuter is in great worldly honour commissioner of the high Priest and Elders of Ierulalâ—m but when he becomes a Preacher his former friends becomes his enimies The same is also true in inward tentations when our Sauiour beganne to discharge the publicke office of the Messiah sathan began to tempt him of his two most excellent Apostles the one was winnowed by Sathan the other buffeted by the Angell of Sathan and all to tell vs that notwithstanding the Lord be present with vs yet we may be tempted as our Sauiour was winnowed as Peter was buffeted as Paul was and therefore let vs dispise the iudgement of worldlings and lying conclusions of Sathan who would make vs to esteeme our inward and outward tentations to be tokens and arguments of Gods departure from vs. Againe perceiue here hovv in the vvorld are two contrary factions the one alway militant against the other This inimitie was proclaimed by God in Paradise and hath continued since like as it shall for euer without reconciliation onely let vs take heede vpon what side we standâ— if we stand vpon that wherein God is Captaine and all the Saints of Christ are souldiers we are happy for here the victory is certaine otherwise they who are among the children of disobedience militant vnder the Prince of the aire are most miserable their end is darkenesse shame and confusion It is a comfortable Oration which Abijah King of Iudâ— hauing in his armie foure hundreth thousand made to Ieroboam King of Israell his army of eight hundred thousand with you said he is the multitude but with them yee haue the golden calues but with vs God is a captaine and his Priests to sound with the trumpet an Alarum against you therfore O Israel fight not against the Lord God of your fathers for yee shall not prosper but this comfort much more appertaines to the true Israell of God howsoeuer there be many which are against vs the golden calues are with theÌ„ that is strange gods which shall be their destruction As Moses when he was to plead the cause of God stood in the gate of the Campe cryed whosoeuer pertains to the Lord let him come to me so daily by the word of God doe we exhort you which are on Gods â—ide to gather you together into one not that it is possible ye can be seperate from them in this life in regard of personall conuersation for so saith the Apostle ye behoued to goe out of the world but that by difference of your words and deedes from them yee declare that ye are not of their communion They who are one the side of Iesus are knowne chiefely these two manner of wayes First Sathan fights against them Secondly they are also warriours against him the first without the second is nothing for man euen as hee is a naturall man is an obiect of Sathans malice but where the grace of God hath made the man a new creature there Sathan doubles his hatred for hee enuies most the glory of Gods mercy whereof hee knowes he shall neuer be pertaker As Nabuchadnezers countenance changed and his rage encreased when the three Children refused in his face to worship his image and thereupon commaunded to make his Ouen seauen times hotter than it was before so is Sathans malice most intended against those who plainly refuse to fall downe and worship him But that the godly be not discouraged with his malice let vs remember that first hee was an enimie vnto God or euer he was an enimie vnto vs and that wee haue cause to reioyce in that we finde that Apostate spirit an enimie vnto vs whom God from the beginning hath proclaymed to be an enimie vnto himselfe Secondly we are to collect of his inuasion and our resistance that there is in vs some measure of the grace of Iesus Christ for against those doth he multiply his malitious assaults on whom hee sees that the Lord hath multiplyed his graces like to a crafitie Pirate who passing by the emptie vessell sets vpon that which is loadned Thirdly howeuer he being compared with vs hath many vantages as that he is more subtile in nature being of greater experience and more auncient being now almost sixe thousand yeeres old and hath also vantage of place for he is the Prince of the Aire assisted with armies of spirituall wickednesse who for their number are legions for their strength principalities powers for their subtiltie serpents for their fiercenesse dragons yet stronger is he who is on our side than they who are against vs the serpents head is bruised some life remaines in him but hee hath no power to inflict death on them which are in Christ. But what euer inimitie Sathan exercise against vs it is not sufficient to comfort vs vnlesse wee also liue as enimies vnto him It was a notable speach of Azariah to Prophet to Asa the Lord is with you while yee be with him if thou stand with the compleat armour of God pleading the cause of God fighting against the enimie of God than mayst thou say in a good conscience God is with thee and thou art with him But alas we see in this generation many wearing Christs liuerie and bearing Sathans armour professing friendship to Christ yet fighting against him these two factions are entred already into the battaile pelmell so that in the smallest fellowships some ye shall finde aduancing the kingdome of the one though very few to fight for the glory of the other What a shame is this for vs who say we are on the Lords side that a wicked man seruing Sathan shall in our audience open his mouth to blaspheme God and we will not open our mouthes to rebuke him we see carnall men so shamelesse that they stand vpon no circumstances to dishonour God and we who professe we loue him for feare wee faile against curtesie and I cannot tell what circumstances dare not open our mouthes to praise him Our coldnesse in this point hath neede to be admonished that we may be stirred vp not by profession onely but by conuersation also to make it knowen to the world that wee belong wholy to the Lord Iesus Who can be against vs It may seeme strange that the Apostle should vse any such interrogaâ—orie what Christian wants enimies inough against him yea saith not the Apostle of himselfe that hee had beasts at Ephesus with whom he behoued to fight was there not an Angell of Sathan sent to buffet him did not Nero at length behead him how is it then that he askes who can be against him But wee are to know that the Apostles meaning is not that godly men haue no enimies but that no enimie can take from vs that for which wee striue it is not for the maintenance of our bodily life that wee fight when our enimies haue taken that from vs they haue done no more than Poâ—iphars wife did
and rotten members Secondly wee communicate with the affliction of our brethren when in our affection wee are ready to suffer with them if so it would please the Lord to employ vs as they are Martyres in action so will the Lord accept the others as Martyres in affection Deus enim non estimat quenquam ex euentu rerum sed ex affectu for God esteemes not one by the euent of things but by their affection Non fraudabitur Martyrij gloria per quem non stetit quo minus Martyrium peregerit hee shall not be defrauded of the glory of martyrdome in whose default it was not that he accomplished his Martyrdome therefore Aquila Priscilla are commended that for the Apostles life they had laide downe their owne â—eckes their good-will being reckoned vnto them for a deede But as Iacob hazarded some of his familie in the hands of Esau before others so the Lord sends out some of his seruants to trouble before others For the Lord is not so prodigall of the liues of his children that at one time hee will hauock them all in the hands of the wicked though he send some out to the tryall he will reserue others to be as it were the seede of the Gospell All the day long If we apply this testimonie to the whole Church then this day shall be the whole course of time from the beginning to the end thereof Earely in the morning Cain began to persecute his brother and euer since bloudy persecuters in all ages haue followed his way but among them all the persecuters of this last age which is the euening are most miserable for all the blood shed since the dayes of Abell shall light vpon them As in a good course his praise is greatest who is formost so in an euill course his iudgement shall be greatest who comes hindmost because he subscribes to the wickednesse of all those who hath gone before him But if otherwise we apply this testimonie to euery christian then this day must be called the whole time of our life from our birth to our death warning vs that in no age of our life we should promise to our selues immunitie from affliction yet our comfort is that the time of our trouble is here called a day and in the Reuelation the houre of tentation because it is but short That rebuke which our Sauiour gaue his Disciples when they were sleeping in the garden could you not watch with me one houre may serue as a checke vnto vs when wee faint in tentation could yee not suffer with me one houre Againe seeing our trouble is short let vs not in it limit the holy one of Israell to prescribe to the Lord the time of our deliuerance O how may wee be ashamed of our impatience in trouble when wee looke to Noah who entring into the Arke at the Lords commandement after hee had tarried a whole yeere in it yet sought not to come put till the Lord commaunded him And Ioseph the nourishing father of our Lord Iesus when the Angell commaunded him to goe to Aegipt and said further vnto him tarte there till I tell thee though Ioseph knew not when hee should come out of Aegipt the place of banishment yet referring the time to the Lord hee yeelded himselfe obedient to the holy commandement The Lord work in vs the like obedience of Faith And are counted This is added by way of amplification we are not onely slaine but slaine as if we vvere slaues nothing worth Wicked men account the godly little worth and therefore doe handle them in a vile manner but shall we for that be discouraged No the Prince of our saluation was esteemed among men no more worth then thirtie peeces of siluer and that for our sake shall we then thinke euill for his sake to be counted lesse than the doung or clay wher vpon we tread The Lord giue vs true humilitie that wee may be content to be despised of men that wee may be approued of our God he onely hath the ballance in his hands what euer waight worldlings haue in the eyes of men when the Lord beginnes to weigh them as hee did Beltasar no honour no riches no kingdome shall help them to hold out waight As sheepe for the slaughter Wicked men accounts the godly slaughter sheepe because they thinke nothing is lost when they are taken out of the way yea also they reape a benefit thereby a proofe whereof wee may see in the primitiue Church for when Famine Pestilence and such like calamities were inflicted by God vpon the Empire for the contempt of his Gospell the cause thereof was still imputed by men to the christians and therefore they were persecuted to death with no lesse opinion than that the putting them out of the way was to put the plagues of God from the whole Empire yet did they not this way remedy the wrath due to their sinnes but procured thereby either double stripes to themselues or then were handled in the patience of God like vnto Oxen fed for the slaughter And here it shall not be vnprofitable to oppone the iudgement of the Lord concerning his children to the iudgement of men The Lord also compares his little ones to sheepe but vpon plaine contrary respects to those which the world hath first for their innocencie and simplicitie they are not like other beastes that haue either teeth in their head pawes in their feete or poyson in their bowels to powre out when they are offended secondly for their patience whereas other beasts being beaten vtter vnruly and rowting voyces they are dumbe before their shearers yea when they are iniured are farre from reuenge The sheepe of Christ saith Cyprian hath not the bloudy teeth of Wolues crueltie is an argument of bastard religion and thirdly for their vtilitie for they do not onely giue their milk but their Wooll and Skinne to the vse of man teaching vs how profitable wee should be to our brethren but alas the great number of them who being voide of innocencie wise to do euill voide of patience not acquainted with the yoke void of charitie being like that barren tree which had no fruit to giue to Christ in his hunger euidently declares how that many in this age howsoeuer esteemed among men yet are not accounted of God the sheepe of Christ. Verse 37. Neuerthelesse in all these things we are more then conquerours through him that loued vs. HEre the Apostle doth now subioyne an negatiue answere to his former interrogations with an amplification these things whereof I haue spoken are so farre from being able to seperate vs from the loue of God that by the contrary in them all we are more then conquerours that is victors out of all doubt In all these things Then yee may perceiue that vnto all those crosses enumerated before the christian man is subiect hee is not
13. Professors conuinced that serue him not Loue to those whom he hath bidden loue for his sake Christ came to destroy sinne cursed are they who nourish it 1 Peâ— 3. 18. How Christ hath condemned sinne Colos. 2. 24. Ambrose in hunc locum Two head or chiefe iustice Courts holden by God In the first the sinnes of all Gods elect are condemned In the second the persons of all the wicked shall bee condemned Ioh. 5. 24. Christ did greatest works when to mans iudgement hee was weakest Cyp. de duplici martirio August de temp ser. 7. Mâ—car hom 11. Chris. hom 2 in Math. Christ a power full Sauiour stronger then Samson yea stronger then that strong one Christs power yeelds vs great comfort 2 Kin. 18. 35 Deut. 28. 29 Psal. 143. 12 Here followes the second member of the explication wherein hee shewes how we are deliuered from the commanding power of sin Ephes. 5. 26. How the righteousnesse of the law is fulfilled in vs. The Iesuits collect here that the Law is fulfilled in this life This place prooueth no such thing Caietane That the law is not fulfillâ—d in vs nor by vs in this life is proued Amb. de paeniten li. 1. cap. 6 Ierem. 17. Aug. de verb Apost ser. 29 Ibidem A question for Papists 1. Ioh. 1. 9. Luke 17. 10. Aug. de verb. Apost ser. 29 Ber. in annuÌ„ Mariae Ber. in Cant. Serm. 23. Ber ser. cont vitiuÌ„ingrati Places of scripture wherein godly men are called Saints righteous makes not for their error of perfect obseruance of the Law In what sense Godly men are called perfect in holy Scripture August in Psal. 38. Ber. in Cant. serm 49. Ambros. in Rom. cap. 8. ver 9. August de temp ser. 49. How Zacharie and Elizabeth walked in all the commandements of God Luke 1. 6. Heb. 5. 3. Aug. Enchi The end of Christs death is our sanctification therefore it should not be abused to giue libertie to sinne 2 Cor. 7. 1. Christ hath freed vs from the curse of the law not from the obedience thereof Rom. 6. 15. Rom. 7. 12. Rom. 5. 17. Ambrose in Rom. cap. 8. Rom. 7. 22. We are sure our begun sanctification shall be perfected Application of his former doctrine contayning first a Commination of the wicked wherein is declared their miserable state who walke after the flesh The diuers disposition of the Christian and carnall man flowes from the diuersitie of their generations Iohn 3. 6. The contrary disposition of the christian carnall man appeares In their vnderstanding Iohn 3. 4. Act. 26. 24. Gen. 19. 1 Iohn 5. 20. Aug. de verb Apost ser. 17 In their affections Math. 8. Aug. ibid. 2 Cor. 5. 15. In the soule of a carnall man the blind leads the crooked The most excellent knowledge of the naturall man brings out death Neither naturall nor morall philosophie could profit men to saluation Naturalists are all blinde like Sampson Wisest among them cannot preuent their miserable end more then Achitophel farre lesse the wrath to come 2 Sam. 17. Iere. 4. 22. Luke 16. 8. Compared to Howlets Basil hexam hom 8. The carnall man and the Christian eyther of them iudgeth other to be foolish Psal. 8 5. August de tem ser. 200 Their securitie is like the securitie of Ionas A Christian hath peace with God and himselfe his brethren but not perfect in this Greg. moral in Iob. lib. 6. Aug. in Ioan. tract 77. Ibidem Inward outward troubles may interrupt our peace but cannot take it away Greg. moral in Iob. lib. 2. 2 Cor. 1. 5. Our life stands 〈◊〉 with God Hovv foolish man is when he entertaines inimitie with God 1 Cor. 10. 22 Psal. 2. 9. Psal. 50. 22. No good in mans nature before it be renued against the Semipelagians of our time A minde that neither sees nor can see 1 Cor. 2. 14. A will that neither is subiect to God nor can bee The praise of Gods power grace is the greter because it reforms nature it being so farre peruerted Iam. 3. 7. Mat. 5. 36. Ciril catec 2 Psal. 107. Psal. 103. Iudge not rashly of any mans reprobation The rebellion of the wicked against God exempts them not from his dominion Isal. 45. 9. Miserable is that man who maintaines a contrary to Gods Aug. de cor gra ca. 14 Mat. 26. 39. He concludes the miserable estate of them who walke after the flesh Acts. 8. 23. What it is to be in the flesh Syricius expounds this of the state of marriage wrongfully The best actions of wicked men please not God Gen. 4. 5. Gen. 27. 38. Heb. 12. 17. Gen. 32. 26. Hos. 12. 4. Luk. 18. 11. Luk. 16. Aug. in Ioan. cap. 7. tra 28 The second part of his application contains consolation for the godly that twofold Consolation against the remanents of carnal corruption that are in vs. The word of God should so be handled that it be applyed Math. 3. 10. Luk. 3. 10. 12 14. Act. 2. 37. Acts. 16. 30. Bernard How the Apostle giues iudgement of others that are spirituall 1 Sam. 1. A threefold iudgement first of our selues by faith secondly by fruits thirdly by reuelatioÌ„ 2 Cor. 13. 5 Math. 7. 16 Acts. 8. 1 Tim. 1. 5 2 Iohn 1. 1 Comfort that the Lord cals them spirituall in whom remained carnall corruption The Lord esteemes of hiâ— his children â—cording tâ— his new 〈◊〉 in them 〈◊〉 after their corruptioÌ„ 1 Ioh. 3. 9 1 Ioh. 1. 8 Augustine Papists wil haue none called spirituall men but their Cleargie Ferâ—â—s The spirit of God where hee dwels workes wher he works he workes not in vain therfore they cannot but â—e spirituall in 〈◊〉 he dwels Strange that two guests of so coÌ„trary naturs as sin and the holy spirit should dwell in one man Rom. 7. 17 The soule of man regenerate compared to the house of Abraham Meruailous that the inhabiter is larger thaÌ„ the habitation The speciall glory of a Christian is that God dwels in him Worldlings may exceede him in woridly gifts but can not match him in this Deut. 33. 12. They should be honoured in whom Christ dwels Dan. 6. Gen. 41. 42 Psal. 15. The Metaphor of dwelling imports a continuance of gods presence with his children Three argumeÌ„ts to proue that the regenerate are sure of perseuerance in Grace FroÌ„ the nature of God who begets vs. Phil. 1. 5. 6. FroÌ„ the nature of that life communicated to vs. Rom. 6. 9. FroÌ„ the nature of that seede whereof wâ— are begotten 1 Pet. 1. 23. How the spirit of God is said to depart from Saul 1 Sam. 16. 14. Psal. 51. 11. How Dauid prayeth that God would not take from him his holy Spirit In spirituall desertioÌ„s we must distinguish betweene that which is and which we feel Esa. 6. 13. Chri. in Mat. hom 14. What great benefits comes to the soule by the dwelling of Christs spirit in vs. He repaires the whole lodging of soule and body Isai. 13.