up with joy Mal. 2.13 and of all Sacrifices a broken heart is that which God most delighteth in Psal. 51.16 17. there is joy in heaven at the repentance of a sinner and therefore there must needs be joy in the heart it selfe which repenteth in as much as it hath heavenly affections begunne in it Therefore as the Apostle saith Let a man become a foole that he may be wise so may I truly say let a man become a mourner that he may rejoyce If it be objected how one contrary affection can be the ground and inducement of another and that he who feeleth the weight of sinne and displeasure of God can have little reason to boast of much joy To this I answere First that we doe not speake of those extraordinary combates and grapplings with the sense of the wrath of God breaking of bones and burning of bowels which some have felt but of the ordinary humiliations and courses of repentance which are common to all Secondly that such Spirituall mourning and joy are not contrary in regard of the Spirit nor doe one extinguish or expell the other As black and white are contrary in the wall but meete without any repugnancie in the eye because though as qualities they fight yet as objects they agree in communi conceptu visibilis so joy and mourning though contrary in regard of their immediate impressions upon the sense doe not onely agree in the same principle the grace of Christ and in the same end the salvation of man but may also be subordinated to each other as a darke and muddie color is a fit ground to lay gold upon so a tender and mourning heart is the best preparation unto spirituall joy Therefore our Savior compareth Spirituall sorrow unto the paines of a woman in travell other paines growing out of sicknesse and distempers have none but bitter ingredients and anguish in them but that paine groweth out of the matter of joy and leadeth unto joy so though godly sorrow have some paine in it yet that paine hath ever joy both for the roote and fruit of it Ioh. 16.21 and though for the present it may haply intercept the exercise yet it doth strengthen the habit and ground of joy as those flowers in the spring rise highest and with greatest beautie which in winter shrinke lowest into the earth I trembled saith the Prophet in my selfe that I might rest in the day of trouble Hab. 3.16 Secondly the Spirit doth not onely Discover but heale the corruptions of the soule and there is no joy to the joy of a saved and cured man The lame man when he was restored by Peter expressed the abundant exultation of his heart by leaping and praising God Act. 3.8 for this cause therefore amongst others the Spirit is called the oile of gladnesse because by that healing vertue which is in him he maketh glad the hearts of men The Spirit of the Lord saith Christ is upon me because the Lord anointed me to preach good tydings to the meeke he hath sent me to binde the broken hearted Esai 61.6 and againe I will binde that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick Ezek. 34.16 Now this healing vertue of Christ is in the dispensation of his word and Spirit and therefore the Prophet saith the Sunne of Righteousnesse shall arise with healing in his wings Mal. 4.2 where the Spirit in the word by the which he commeth and preacheth unto men Eph. 2.17 1 Pet. 3.19 is called the wing of the Sunne because he proceedeth from him and was sent to supply his absence as the beame doth the Suns and this Spirit the Apostle calleth the strengthner of the inner man Eph. 3.16 Thirdly the Spirit doth not onely heale but renew and revive againe when an eye is smitten with a sword there is a double mischiefe a wound made and a faculty perished and here though a Chirurgian can heale the wound yet he can never restore the faculty because totall privations admit no regresse or recovery but the Spirit doth not onely heale and repaire but renew and reedifie the spirits of men As he healeth that which was torne and bindeth up that which was smitten so he reviveth and raiseth up that which was dead before Hos. 6.1 2. and this the Apostle cals the Renovation of the Spirit Tit. 3.5 whereby old things are not mended and put together againe for our fall made us all over unprofitable and little worth Rom. 3.12 Prov. 10.20 but are done quite away and all things made new againe 2 Cor. 5.17 The heart minde affections judgment conscience members changed from stone to flesh from earthly to heavenly from the image of Adam to the image of Christ Ezek. 11.19 1 Cor. 15.49 Now this renovation must needs be matter of great joy For so the Lord comforteth his afflicted people Esai 54.11 12 13. Fourthly the Spirit doth not renew and set the frame of the heart right and then leave it to its owne care and hazards againe but being thus restored he abideth with it to preserve and support it against all Tempests and batteries And this further multiplieth the joy and comfort of the Church that it is established in Righteousnesse so that no weapon which is formed against it can prosper Esai 54.14.17 Victory is ever the ground of joy Esai 9.3 And the Spirit of God is a victorious Spirit His judgment in the heart is sent forth unto victory Matth. 12.20 and before him mountaines shall be made a plaine and every high thing shall be pulled downe till he bring forth the head stone with shoutings Ezek. 4.6 7. To Stephen he was a Spirit of Victory against the disputers of the World Act. 6.10 To the Apostles a Spirit of liberty in the prison Act. 16.25 26. To all the faithfull a Spirit of joy and glory in the midst of persecutions 1 Pet. 4.13 14. Fifthly the Spirit doth not onely preserve the heart which he hath renewed but maketh it fruitfull and abundant in the workes of the Lord Gal. 5.22 Rom. 7.4 And fruitfulnesse is a ground of rejoycing Esai 54.1 Therefore they which are borne of God cannot commit sinne that is they are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers or artificers or finishers of iniquity because they have the seed of God that is his Spirit in them which fitteth them as seed doth the wombe or the earth to bring forth fruite unto God Partly by teaching the heart and casting it as it were in the mould of the world fashioning such thoughts apprehensions affections judgements in the soule as are answerable to the will and Spirit of God in the word so that a man cannot but set his seale and say Amen to the written Law partly by moving animating applying and most sweetly leading the heart unto the Obedience of that Law which is thus written therein Lastly those whom he hath thus fitteth he sealeth up unto a finall and full redemption by the Testimony
of their adoption which is the hansell and earnest of their inheritance and thereby begetteth a lively hope an earnest expectation a confident attendance upon the promises and an unspeakable peace and security thereupon by which fruits of faith and hope there is a glorious joy shed abroad into the soule so ful and so intimately mingled with the same that it is as possible for man to annihilate the one as to take away the other For according to the evidence of hope and excellencie of the thing hoped must needs the joy there from resulting receive its sweetnesse and stability By all this which hath been spoken of the mission of the Spirit in such abundance after Christs sitting at the right hand of God wee should learne with what affections to receive the Gospel of salvation for the teaching whereof this Holy Spirit was shed abroad abundantly on the Embassadors of Christ and with what heavenly conversations to expresse the power which our hearts have felt therin to walke as children of the light and as becommeth the Gospell of Christ to adorne our high profession and not to receive the grace of God in vaine Consider first that the word thus quickned will have an operation either to convince unto Righteousnesse or to seale unto condemnation as the Sunne either to melt or to harden as the raine either to ripen corne or weeds as the Scepter of a King either to rule subjects or to subdue enemies as the fire of a Goldsmith either to purge gold or devoure drosse as the waters of the sanctuary either to heale places or to turne them into salt pits Ezek. 47.11 Secondly according to the proportion of the Spirit of Christ in his word revealed shall be the proportion of their judgment who despise it The contempt of a great salvation and glorious Ministery shall bring a sorer condemnation Heb. 2.2.4 If I had not come and spoken unto them saith our Savior they had not had sinne Ioh. 15.22 Sins against the light of nature are no sins in comparison of those against the Gospell The earth which drinketh in the raine that fals often on it and yet beareth nothing but thornes and briars is rejected and nigh unto cursing Heb. 6.7 8. Thirdly even here God will not alwayes suffer his Spirit to strive with flesh there is a Day of Peace which he calleth our day a day wherein he entreateth and beseecheth us to be reconciled but if we therein judge our selves unworthy of eternall life and goe obstinately on till there be no remedy he can easily draw in his Spirit and give us over to the infatuation of our owne hearts that we may not be cleansed any more till he have caused his fury to rest upon us Ezek. 24.13 We see likewise by this Doctrine wherupon the comforts of the Church are founded namely upon Christ as the first comforter by working our Reconciliation with God and upon the Spirit as another comforter testifying and applying the same unto our soules And the continuall supply and assistance of this Spirit is the onely comfort the Church hath against the dominion and growth of sinne For though the motions of lust which are in our members are so close so working so full of vigor and life that we can see no power nor probabilities of prevailing against them yet we know Christ hath a greater fulnesse of Spirit than we can have of sinne and it is the great promise of the new covenant that God will put his Spirit into us and thereby save us from all our uncleanesses Ezek. 36.27 29. for though we be full of sin and have but a seed a sparkle of the Spirit put into us and upheld and fed by further though small supplies yet that little is stronger than legions of lust as a little salt or leven seasoneth a great lump or a few drops of Spirits strengthen a whole glasse full of water Therefore the Spirit is called a Spirit of judgment and of burning because as one Iudge is able to condemne a thousand prisoners and a little fire to consume abundance of drosse so the Spirit of God in and present with us though received and supplied but in measure though but a smoaking and suppressed fire shall yet breake forth in victory and judgment against all that resist it In us indeed there is nothing that feeds but onely that which resists and quencheth it But this is the wonderfull vertue of the Spirit of Christ in his members that it nourisheth it selfe Therefore sometimes the Spirit is called fire Esai 4.4 Matth. 3.11 and sometimes Oyle Heb. 1.9 1 Ioh. 2.27 to note that the Spirit is nutriment unto it selfe that that grace which we have received already is preserved and excited by new supplies of the same grace Which supplies we are sure shall be given to all that aske them by the vertue of Christs prayer Ioh. 14.16 by the vertue of his and his Fathers promise Ioh. 16.7 Act. 1.4 and by the vertue of that Office which he still beares which is to be the head or vitall principle of all holinesse and grace unto the Church And all these are permanent things and therefore the vertue of them abideth their effects are never totally interrupted Fiftly and lastly this sitting of Christ at the right hand of God noteth his intercession in the behalfe of the whole Church and each member thereof Who is he that condemneth saith the Apostle it is Christ that is dead yea rather that is risen againe who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 But of this Doctrine I shall speake more fitly in the fourth verse it being a great part of the Priesthood of Christ. I now proceed to the last thing in this first verse the continuance and Victories of Christs Kingdome in these words untill I make thy foes thy footstoole Wherin every word is full of weight For though ordinarily subdivisions of holy Scripture and crumbling of the bread of life be rather a loosing than an expounding of it yet in such parts of it as were of purpose intended for models and summaries of fundamentall Doctrine of which sort this Psalme is one of the fullest and briefest in the whole Scriptures as in little maps of large countries there is no word wherupon some point of weighty consequence may not depend Here then is considerable the terme of duration or measure of Christs Kingdome Vntill The Author of subduing Christs enemies under him I the Lord. The manner thereof ponam and ponam scabellum Put thy foes as a stoole under thy feete Victory is a relative word and presupposeth enemies and they are expressed in the text I will but touch that particular because I have handled it more largely upon another Scripture and their enmitie is here not described but onely presupposed It shews it selfe against Christ in all the Offices of his Mediation There is enmity against him as a Prophet Enmity against his Truth
beleeve his kingdome of glory and salvation but they shall be made subject to the sword of his wrath and that without any hope of escape or power of opposition for God himselfe shall do it immediatly by his owne mighty power Hee will interpose his owne hand and magnifie the glory of his owne strength in the just confusion of wicked men So the Apostle saith that The Lord will shew his wrath and make his power knowne in the vessels fitted for destruction Rom. 9.22 Two meanes the Apostle sheweth shall be used in the destruction of the wicked to effect it The presence or countenance and the glorious power of the Lord 2 Thes. 1.9 The very terrour of his face and the dreadfull Majesty of his presence shall slay the wicked The kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe captaines and the mighty men those who all their life time were themselves terrible and had beene acquainted with terrours shall then begge of the mountaines and rockes to fall upon them and to hide them from the Face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe Revel 6.15 16. Esai 2.10 whence that usuall expression of Gods resolution to destroy a people I will set my face against them O then how sore shall the condemnation of wicked men bee when therein the Lord purposeth to declare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the glorious strength of his owne almighty arme Here when the Lord punisheth a people he onely sheweth how much strength and edge he can put into the Creatures to execute his displeasure But the extreme terrour of the last day shall be this that men shall fall immediatly into the hands of God himselfe who hath said Vengeance belongeth unto me and I will recompence Heb. 10.30 31. And therefore the Apostle useth this expostulation against Idolaters Doe we provoke the Lord to jelousie Are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10.22 Dare we meete the Lord in his fury doe we provoke him to powre out All his wrath Psal. 78.38 He will at last stir up all his wrath against the vessels that are fitted for it And for that cause he will punish them himselfe For there is no Creature able to bring all Gods wrath unto another there is no vessell able to hold all Gods displeasure The Apostle telleth us that wee have to doe with God in his Word Heb. 4.13 but herein he useth the ministery of weake men so that his Majesty is cover'd and wicked men have a veile upon their hearts that they cannot see God in his Word When thy hand is lifted up namely in the threatnings and predictions of wrath out of the word they will not see for it is a worke of faith to receive the word as Gods word and therein before-hand to see his power and to heare his rod Mic. 6.9 Other men belye the Lord and say it is not he But though they will not acknowledge that they have to doe with God in his word though they will not see when his hand is lifted up in the preparations of his wrath yet they shall see and know that they have to doe with him in his judgements when his hand falleth downe againe in the execution of his wrath So the Lord expostulateth with them Ezek. 22.14 Can thine heart endure or thine hands bee strong in the dayes that I shall deale with thee The Prophet Esay resolves that question The sinners in Sion are affraid fearefulnesse hath surprised the hypocrites namely a fearefull looking for of judgement and fiery indignation as the Apostle speakes Heb. 10.27 Who amongst us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Esai 33.14 that is in the words of another Prophet Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fiercenesse of his anger His fury is powred out like fire and the rockes are throwne downe by him Nahum 1.6 Confirmations of this point we may take from these considerations First the quarrell with sinners is Gods owne the controversie his owne the injuries and indignities have beene done to himselfe and his owne sonne the challenges have beene sent unto himselfe and his owne Spirit And therefore no marvell if hee take the matter into his owne hands and the quarrell so immediatly reflecting upon him if he be provoked to revenge it by his owne immediate power Secondly revenge is his royalty and peculiar prerogative Deut. 32.35.41 from whence the Apostle inferres That it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.30 31. And there are these arguments of fearefulnesse in it First it shall be in Iudgement without mercy Iam. 2.13 there shall be no mixture of any sweetnesse in the cup of Gods displeasure but all poison and bitternesse there shall not bee affoorded a drop of water to a lake of fire a minute of eafe to an eternity of torment Secondly it shall be in fury without compassion In humane judgements where the law of the state will not suffer a Judge to acquit or shew mercy yet the law of nature will force him to cōpassionate grieve for the malefactor whom he must condemne There is no Judge so senselesse of anothers miserie nor so destitute of humane affections as to pronounce a sentence of condemnation with laughter But the Lord will condemne his enemies in vengeance without any pittie I will laugh saith the Lord at your calamity I will mocke when your feare commeth Prov. 1.26 Thirdly it shall bee in revenge and recompence in reward and proportion that is in a full and everlasting detestation of wicked men the weight whereof shall peradventure lye heavier upon them than all the other torments which they are to suffer when they shall looke on themselves as scorned and abhorred exiles from the favour and presence of him that made them For as the wicked did here hate God and set their hearts and their courses against him in suo aeterno in all that time which God permitted them to sinne in so God will hate wicked men and set his face and fury against them in suo aeterno too as long as he shall be Judge of the world Thirdly this may be seene in the inchoations of hell in wicked men upon the earth When the doore of the conscience is opened and that sin which lay there asleepe before riseth up like an enraged Lion to fly upon the soule when the Lord suffers some flashes of his glittering sword to breake in like lightening upon the Spirit and to amaze a sinner with the pledges and first fruits of hell when he melteth the stout hearts of men and grindeth them unto powder what is all this but the secret touch of Gods owne finger upon the conscience For there is no creature in the world whose ministerie the heart doth discerne in the estuations and invisible workings of a guilty and unquiet spirit Fourthly the torments of wicked angels
moment of time upon the abuse or right improvement whereof dependeth the severall issues of their eternall condition though the Lord say expresly Bee not conformed to this world they that walke according to the course of the world walke according to the Prince of the power of the aire The Lord will punish all such as are clothed with strange apparell who take up the fashions of idolaters or other nations or other sexes as that place is differently expounded Nature it selfe teacheth that it is a shame for a man to weare long haire nay Nature it selfe taught that honest Heathen to stand at defiance with the sinnes of his age and not comply with the course of the world upon that slight apologie as if the commonnesse had taken away the illnesse that which committed by one would have been a sin being imitated after a multitude were but a fashion To conclude this particular The Apostle is peremptory Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor effeminate nor covetous nor theeves nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdome of God and the consciences of many men who yet will never yeeld to the conclusion cannot choose but subsume as the Apostle goes on such are some of we nay and such we will be too But now if we should bespeake these men in the word of the Prophet Produce your cause saith the Lord bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Iacob they should finde at the last their reasons to be like themselves vanity and lighter than nothing that the Word of the Lord will at last prevaile and sweepe away all their refuge of lyes Secondly the power of the Word towards wicked men is seene in Affrighting of them there is a spirit of bondage and a savour of death aswell as a spirit of life and libertie which goeth along with the Word Guilt is an inseparable consequent of sinne and feare of the manifestation of guilt If the heart be once convinced of this it will presently faint and tremble even at the shaking of a leafe at the wagging of a mans owne conscience how much more at the voice of the Lord which shaketh mountaines and maketh the strong foundations of the earth to tremble If I should see a prisoner at the barre passe sentence upon his Judge and the Judge thereupon surpriz'd with trembling and forced to subscribe and acknowledge the doome I could not but stand amaz'd at so inverted a proceeding yet in the Scripture wee finde presidents for it Micatah a prisoner pronouncing death unto Ahab a King Ieremie a prisoner pronouncing captivitie unto Zedekiah a King Paul in his chain preaching of judgment unto Felix in his robes and making his owne Judge to tremble It is not for want of strength in the Word or because there is stoutnesse in the hearts of men to stand out against it that all the wicked of the world do not tremble at it but meerly their ignorance of the power evidence thereof The Devils are stronger and more stubborne creatures than any man can be yet because of their full illumination and that invincible conviction of their consciences from the power of the Word they beleeve and tremble at it Though men were as hard as rocks the Word is a hammer which can breake them though as sharp as thornes and briars the Word is a fire which can devour and torment them though as strong as kingdomes and nations the Word is able to root them up and to pull them downe though as fierce as Dragons and Lions the Word is able to trample upon them and to chaine them up Thirdly the power of the Word is seene towards wicked men in that it doth judge them Sonne of man wilt thou judge wilt thou judge the bloudy Citie saith the Lord yea thou shalt shew them their abominations To note that when wicked men are made to see their filthinesse in the Word they have therby the wrath of God as it were seal'd upon them He that rejecteth mee the Word which I have spoken the same shall judge him at the last day saith our Saviour And if all prophecie saith the Apostle and there come in one that beleeveth not or one unlearned he is convinced of all hee is judged of all and the secrets of his heart are made manifest Nay the Word doth in some sort execute death and judgement upon wicked men Therefore it is said that the Lord would smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips would slay the wicked And againe I have hewed them by the Prophets I have slaine them by the words of my mouth And therefore the Word of the Lord is called fury by the Prophet to note that when wrath fury is powred out upon a land they are the effects of Gods Word If a pestilence devoure a city and a sword come and gleane after it it is the Word only which flayes they are but the instruments which are as it were actuated and applied by the Word of God to their severall services Therefore it is that the Prophet saith that wise men see the voice of God and heare his rod. A rod is properly to be seene and a voice to bee heard but here is a transposition and as it were a communication of properties betweene the Word of God and his punishments to note that towards wicked men there is a judging and tormenting vertue in the Word For judgement saith our Saviour am I come into this world that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blinde If it be here objected that Christ saith of himselfe The Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them and that he came not to condemne the world but that the world through him might bee saved I answer that there are two events of Christs comming and by consequence of his Gospell The one principall and by him intended the other accidentall and occasionall growing out of the ill disposition of the subject unto whom he was sent The maine and essentiall businesse of the Gospell is to declare salvation and to set open unto men a doore of escape from the wrath to come but when men wilfully stand out and neglect so great salvation then secondarily doth Christ prove unto those men a stone of offence and the Gospell a savour of death unto death as that potion which was intended for a cure by the Physitian may upon occasion of the indisposednesse of the body and stubborne radication of the disease hasten a mans end sooner than the disease it selfe would have done So that to the wicked the Word of God is a two-edged sword indeed an edge in the Law and an edge in the Gospell they are on every side beset with condemnation if they goe to the Law that cannot save them because they have broken it
of wit joyned with ambition and impatiencie of repulse in vaste desires which hath anciently beene the ground of many heresies and schismes Nothing hath ever beene more dangerous to the Church of God than greatnesse of parts unsanctified and unallaid with the love of truth and the Grace of Christ. Secondly envie against the paines and estimation of those that are faithfull This was one of the originals of Arrius his cursed heresie his envie against Alexander the good bishop of Alexandria as Theodoret reports Thirdly impatiencie of the spiritualnesse and simplicitie of the holy Scriptures which is ever joyned with the predominancie of some carnall lust whereby the conscience is notoriously wasted or defiled Hee that hath once put away a good conscience and doth not desire truth in order and respect to that that thereby his conscience may be illightened purified and kept even towards God will without much adoe make shipwracke of his faith and change the truth for any thriving errour And this impatiencie of the Spirit of truth in the Scriptures is that which caused heretikes of old to reject some parts and to adde more to the Canon of sacred Scriptures and in these dayes to super-adde traditions and apocryphall accessions thereunto and in those which are pure and on all sides confessed to use such licentious and carnall glosses as may hale the Scripture to the countenancing and conformitie of their lusts and prejudices rather than to the rectifying of their owne hearts by the Rule of Christ. Secondly men preach themselves when they make themselves the Object of their preaching when they preach selfe-dependencie and selfe-concurrencie making themselves as it were joynt-saviours with Christ such was the preaching of Simon Magus who gave out that himselfe was some great one even the great Power of God Of Montanus and his scholars who preached him for the Comforter that was promised Of Pelagius and his associates who though they did acknowledge the Name of Grace to decline envie and avoide the curse of the great Councell of Carthage yet still they did but shelter their proud heresies under equivocations and ambiguities Of the Massilienses in the times of Prosper and Hilarie and of some ancient Schoolemen touching pre-existent congruities for the preparations of Grace and co-existent concurrencies with the Spirit for the production of Grace Of the papists in their doctrines of indulgences authoritative absolution merits of good workes justification and other like which doe all in effect out-face and give the lye unto the Apostle when hee calleth Christ an able or sufficient Saviour Thirdly men preach themselves when they make themselves the end of their preaching when they preach their owne parts passions and designes and seeke not the Lord when out of envie or covetousnesse or ambition or any other servile or indirect affection men shall prevaricate in the Lords Message and make the Truth of God serve their owne turnes When men shall stand upon Gods holy mount as on a theater to act their owne parts and as on a step to their owne advancement when the truth of God and the death of Christ and the kingdome of heaven and the fire of hell and the soules of men and the salvation of the world shall be made basâ—ly serviceable and contributary to the boundlesse pride of an Atheisticall Diotrephes Such as these were they who in the times of Constantius the emperor poisoned the world with Arrianisme in the times of S. Cyprian provoked persecutions against the Church and in the times of Israel ensnared the tenne Tribes till they were utterly destroied and blinded the two Tribes till they were led away captive by the Babylonians so horrid are the consequences of taking away the Gospell of Christ from him and making it the Rod not of his strength but of our owne pride or passion Wee must therefore alwayes remember that the Gospell is Christs owne and that will encourage us to speake it as we ought to speake First with authoritie and boldnesse without silence or connivence at the sinnes of men Though in our private and personall relations we are to shew all modestie humilitie and lowlinesse of carriage towards all men yet in our masters businesses wee must not respect the persons nor bee daunted at the faces of men Paul a prisoner was not affraid to preach of righteousnesse and temperance and judgement to come before a corrupt and lascivious Prince though it made him tremble Secondly with wisedome as a Scribe instructed to the kingdome of heaven This was Saint Pauls care to worke as a wise master-builder When Christs enemies watched him to picke something out of his mouth wherby they might accuse him wee finde so much depth of wisedome in the answeres and behaviours of Christ as utterly disappointed them of their expectations and strooke them with such amazement that they never durst aske him questions more So should wee endeavour to behave our selves in such manner as that our ministerie may not be blamed nor the truth of God exposed to censure or disadvantages for sacred truthes may bee sometimes either so unseasonably or so indigestedly and uncoherently delivered as may rather open than stop the mouthes of gain-sayers and sooner discredit the truth than convert the adversary The Apostle saith that we are to make a difference to save some with compassion others with feare This is to speake a word in due season and as our Saviour did to speake as men are able to heare to presse the Word upon the conscience with such seasonable and sutable enforcements as may bee most likely to convince those judgements and to allure those affections which we have to doe withall It is not knowledge in the generall but the right use thereof and wise application unto particulars which winneth soules The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright This is that heavenly Craft wherewith the Apostle caught the Corinthians as it were by guile such Art he useth towards the Philosophers of Athens not exasperating men who were heady and confident of their owne rules but seeming rather to make up the defects which themselves in the inscription of their Altar confessed and to reveale that very God unto them whom they worshipped but did not know Therefore wee finde him there honouring their owne learning and out of that disputing for a resurrection and against idolatry to shew that Christian Religion was no way against that learning or rectified reason which they seemed to professe The like art hee used towards king Agrippa first presuming of his knowledge and credit which he gave to the Prophets and then meeting and setting on his inclinable disposition to embrace the Gospell like the wisedome of the servants of Benhadad unto Ahab They did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him and did hastily catch it and they said Thy Brother Benhadad And the like wisedome he used every where hee denied himselfe his owne
effectually that is it doth not consummate nor accomplish any perfect worke but onely in those that beleeve in the rest it proves but an abortion and withers in the blade Secondly with love and readinesse of minde without despising or rejecting it No man can bee saved who doth not receive the truth in love who doth not receive it as the primitive Saints did with gladnesse and readinesse of minde as Eli though from the hand of Samuel a Child as David though from the hand of Abigail a woman as the Galatians though from the hand of Paul an infirme and persecuted Apostle For herein is our homage to Christ the more apparent when we suffer a little childe to lead us Thirdly with meeknesse and submission of heart reverencing and yeelding unto it in all things Wresting shifting evading perverting the word is as great an indignity unto Christ as altering interlining or rasing a patent which the King hath drawen with his owne royall hand is an offence against him Patience and effectuall obedience even in affliction is an argument that a man esteemes the word to bee indeed Gods owne word and so receives it Hee onely who putteth off the old man the corrupt deceitfull lusts of his former conversation and is renewed in the Spirit of his minde is the man that hath heard and been taught by Christ that hath received the Truth in him Againe in as much as the Gospell is the Rod of Christs owne strength or the instrument of his arme who hath beleeved our report and to whom is the arme of the Lord revealed and the instrument is no further operative or effectuall than according to the measure of that impressed vertue which it receiveth from the superior cause therefore wee should learne alwayes to repaire unto Christ for the successe of his word For he onely is the teacher of mens hearts and the author of their faith To him onely it belongeth to call men out of their graves and to quicken whom hee will Wee have nothing but the ministerie he keepeth the power in his own hands that men might learne to waite upon him and to have to doe with him who onely can send a blessing with his word and teach his people to profit thereby Another ground of the power of the word is that it is sent from God The Lord shall send forth the Rod of thy strength From which particular likewise wee may note some usefull observations as First that Gods appointment and ordination is that which gives being life majesty and successe to his owne word authority boldnesse and protection to his servants When hee sendeth his word hee will make it prosper When Moses disputed against his going down into Egypt to deliver his brethren sometimes alleaging his owne unfitnesse and infirmity sometimes the unbeliefe of the people this was still the warrant with which God encouraged him I will bee with thee I have sent thee doe not I make mans mouth I will bee with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say I was no Prophet neither was I a Prophets Sonne saith Amos but I was an heardsman a gatherer of sycamore fruit And the Lord tooke me as I followed the flock and said unto mee Goe prophecie unto my people Israel And this made him peremptory in his office to prophecie against the idolatry of the Kings Court and against the flattery of the Priest of Bethel And this made the Apostles bold though otherwise unlearned and ignorant men to stand against the learned councill of Priests and Doctors of the Law Wee ought to obey God rather than men Vpon which Grave was the advice of Gamaliel If this counsell or worke bee of men it will come to nought But if it bee of God yee cannot overthrow it lest haply yee bee found even to fight against God For to withstand the power or progresse of the Gospell is to set a mans face against God himselfe Secondly in as much as the Gospell is sent forth by God that is revealed and published out of Sion wee may observe That Evangelicall learning came not into the world by humane discovery or observation but it is utterly above the compasse of all reason or naturall disquisition neither men nor Angels ever knew it but by divine revelation And therfore the Apostle every where calleth it a Mystery a great and a hidden Mystery which was kept secret since the world began There is a Naturall Theologie without the world gathered out of the workes of God out of the resolution of causes and effects into their first originals and out of the Law of nature written in the heart But there is no naturall Christianity Nature is so farre from finding it out by her owne inquiries that shee cannot yeeld unto it when it is revealed without a Spirit of faith to assist it The Iewes stumbled at it as dishonorable to their Law and the Gentiles derided it as absurd in their Philosophy It was a Hidden and secret wisedome the execution and publication whereof was committed onely to Christ. In God it was an Eternall Gospell for Christ was a lambe slaine from before the foundations of the world namely in the predeterminate counsell decree of his father but revealed it was not till the dispensation of the fulnesse of time wherein he gathered together in one all things in Christ. The purpose and ordination of it was eternall but the preaching and manifestation of it reserved untill the time of Christs solemne inauguration into his Kingdome and of the obstinacy of the Iewes upon whose defection the Gentiles were called in Which might teach us to adore the unsearchablenesse of Gods judgements unto former ages of the world whom hee suffered to walke in their owne wayes and to live in times of utter ignorance destitute of any knowledge of the Gospell or of any naturall parts or abilities to finde it out For if these things bee true First that without the knowledge of Christ there is no salvation This is eternall life to know thee and him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifye many Secondly that Christ cannot bee knowen by naturall but Evangelicall and revealed light The naturall man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerend The light shined in darknesse and the darknesse was so thick and fixed that it did not let in the light nor apprehend it Thirdly that this light was at the first sent onely unto the Iewes as to the first borne-people excepting onely some particular extraordinary dispensations and priviledges to some few first fruits and preludes of the Gentiles He sheweth his word unto Iacob his statutes and his judgements unto Israel Hee hath not dealt so with any nation Hee hath not afforded the meanes of salvation ordinarily unto any other people the world by wisedome knew him not Fourthly that this severall
dispensation toward one and other the giving of saving knowledge to one people and with-holding it from others was not grounded upon any preceding differences and dispositions thereunto in the people but onely in the Love of God The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to bee a speciall people unto himselfe above all people that are upon the face of the earth The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because yee were more in number than any people for ye were the fewest of all people but because the Lord loved you c. The Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possesse it for thy righteousnesse for you art a stiffe-necked people Your Fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood mold time and they served other gods There was no difference betweene them and the Gentiles from whom I gathered them Fiftly that the Gospell was hidden from others in God his owne will and counsell was the cause of it Hee forbad men to goe into the cities of the Gentiles neither were they to goe unto them without a speciall gift and commission The same Beneplacitum was the reason of revealing it to some and of hiding it from others Even so ô father for so it seemed good in thy sight If all these particulars bee true needs must we both admire the inscrutablenesse of Gods judgments towards the Gentiles of old for no humane presumptions are a fit measure of the wayes and severities of God towards sinners And also everlastingly adore his Compassions towards us whom hee hath reserved for these times of light and out of the alone unsearchable riches of his grace hath together with principalities and powers in heavenly places made us to see what is the fellowship of that great mysterie which from the beginning of the world was hidden in himselfe Thirdly in that the Lord doth send forth the Gospell of Christ out of Sion into the world wee may further observe that the Gospell is a Message and an invitation from heaven unto men For for that end was it sent that thereby men might bee invited and perswaded to salvation The Lord sendeth his Sonne up and down carrieth him from place to place he is set forth before mens eyes he comes and stands and calls knocks at their doores and beseecheth them to bee reconciled Hee setteth his word before us at our doores and in our mouths and eares He hath not erected any standing sanctuary or city of refuge for men to fly for their salvations unto but hath appointed Ambassadors to carry this treasure unto mens houses where hee inviteth them and intreateth them and requireth them and commandeth them and compelleth them to come into his feast of mercy And this must needs bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an unsearchable riches of grace for mercy pardon preferment life salvation to goe a begging and sue for acceptance and very unsearchable likewise must needs bee the love of sinne and madnesse of folly in wicked men to trample upon such pearles and to neglect so great salvation when it is tendered unto them O what a heavy charge will it bee for men at the last day to have the mercy of God the humility of Christ the entreaties of his Spirit the proclamations of pardon the approches of salvation the dayes the years the ages of peace the ministers of the word the booke of God the great Mysterie of Godlinesse to rise up in judgement and to testifie against their soules Lastly in that the Gospell is sent from God the Dispencers thereof must looke unto their mission and not intrude upon so sacred a businesse before they are thereunto called by God Now this call is twofold Extraordinary by immediate instinct and revelation from God which is ever accompanied with immediate and infused gifts of this wee doe not now speake And Ordinary by imposition of hands and Ecclesiasticall designation Whereunto there are to concurre three things First an Act of Gods providence casting a man upon such a course of studies and fashioning his minde unto such affections towards learning and disposing of him in such Schooles and Colleges of the Prophets as are congruons preparations and were appointed for nurseries and seminaries of Gods Church It is true many things fall under Gods providence which are not within his allowance and therefore it is no sufficient argument to conclude Gods consent or commission in this office because his wisedome hath cast mee upon a collegiate education But when therewithall hee in whose hands the hearts of all men are as clay or wax to bee moulded into such shapes as the counsell of his will shall order hath bended the desires of my heart to serve him in his Church and hath set the strongest delight of my minde upon those kindes of learning which are unto that service most proper and conducent when measuring either the good will of my heart or the appliablenesse of my parts by this and other professions of learning I can cleerly conclude that that measure and proportion which the Lord hath given mee is more suteable unto this than other learned callings I suppose other qualifications herewith concurring a man may safely from thence conclude that God who will have every man live in some profitable calling doth not onely by his providence permit but by his secret direction lead him unto that service whereunto the measure of gifts which he hath conferred upon him are most suteable and proper And therefore secondly there is to bee respected in this Ordinary mission the meet qualification of the person who shall bee ordained unto this ministerie For if no Prince will send a mechanick from his loome or his sheers in an honorable Embassage to some other forraigne Prince shall wee thinke that the Lord will send forth stupid and unprepared instruments about so great a worke as the perfecting of the Saints and Edification of the Church It is registred for the perpetuall dishonor of that wicked King Ieroboam who made no other use of any Religion but as a secondary bye thing to bee the supplement of policie that he made of the Lowest of the People those who were really such as the Apostles were falsly esteemed to be the scumme and offscouring of men to bee Priests unto the Lord. Now the Qualities more directly and essentially belonging unto this office are these two Fidelitie and Abilitie The things saith the Apostle which thou hast heard of amongst many witnesses the same commit thou to Faithfull men who shall bee able to teach others also Wee are stewards of no meaner a gift than the Grace of God and the Wisedome of God that grace which by S. Peter is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a manifold Grace and that wisedome which by S. Paul is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifold wisedome of God Wee are the depositaries and dispencers of the most pretious treasures which were ever opened unto the
and shame of sinne and the first fruits of that eternall vengeance which is thereunto due not onely set forth Christ before them as a rock of redemption reaching out a hand to save and offering great and pretious promises of an exceeding eternall abundant weight of glory but besides all this doth inwardly touch the heart by the finger of his Spirit framing it to a spirituall and divine conformity unto Christ. How can the soule of such a man in these present extremities of horror which yet are but the pledges of infinite more which must ensue and in the evidence of so wonderfull and sweete promises the seales of the eternall favor and fellowship of God choose but with much importunity of affection to lay hold on so great a hope which is set before it and with all readinesse and ambition of so high a service yeild up it selfe into the hands of so gracious a Lord to bee by him ordered and over-ruled unto any obedience Secondly this willingnesse of Christs People is wrought by a spirituall illumination of minde And therefore the Conversion of sinners is called a Conviction because it is ever wrought in us Secundum modum judicii as wee are reasonable and intelligent creatures I take it under favor and submission to better judgements for a firme truth that if the minde of a man were once throughly and in a spirituall manner as it becommeth such objects as are altogether spirituall possessed of the adequate goodnesse and truth which is in grace and glory the heart could not utterly reject them for humane liberty is not a brutish but a reasonable thing it consisteth not in contumacie or headstrongnesse but in such a manner of working as is apt to bee regulated varied or suspended by the dictates of right reason The onely cause why men are not willing to submit unto Christ is because they are not throughly and in a manner suteable to the spirituall excellency of the things illightned in their minde The Apostle often maketh mention of fulfilling and making full proofe of our ministery and of preaching the Gospell fully namely with the evidence of the Spirit and of power and with such a manifestation of the truth as doth commend it selfe unto the conscience of a man The Word of God saith the Apostle is not yea and nay that is a thing which may bee admitted or denied at pleasure but such a word as hath no inevidence in it selfe nor leaveth any uncertainty or hesitancie in a minde sitted to receive it And as wee may thus distinguish of preaching that there is an imperfect and a full preaching so may wee distinguish of understanding the things preached in some it is full and in others but superficiall for there is a Twofold illumination of the minde the one Theoreticall and meerly Notionall consisting in knowledge the other Practicall Experimentall and spirituall consisting in the irradiation of the soule by the light of Gods countenance in such an apprehension of the truth as maketh the heart to burne therby when we know things as wee ought to know them that is when the manner and life of our knowledge is answerable to the nature and excellencie of the things knowne when the eye is spiritually opened to beleeve and seriously conclude that the things spoken are of most pretious and everlasting consequence to the soule as things that concerne our peace with God This is the Learning of Christ the teaching of the Father the knowing of things which passe knowledge the setting to the seale of our owne hearts that God is true the evidence of spirituall things not to the braine but to the conscience In one word this is that which the Apostle calleth a spirituall Demonstration And surely in this case the heart is never over-ruled contrary to the full spirituall and infallible evidence of divine truths unto a practicall judgement Therefore the Apostle saith that Eve being Deceived was in the transgression and there is frequent mention made of the deceitfulnesse of sinne to note that sinne got into the world by error â—nd seduction For certainly the will is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Rationall Appetite and therefore as I conceive doth not stirre from such a good as is fully and spiritually represented thereunto as the most universall adequate and unquestionable object of the desires and capacities of a humane soule for the freedome and willing consent of the heart is not lawlesse or without rules to moderate it but it is therefore said to bee free because whether out of a true judgement it move one way or out of a false another yet in both it moveth naturally secundum modum sibi competentem in a manner suteable to its owne condition If it bee objected that the heart being unregenerate is utterly averse unto any good and therefore is not likely to bee made willing by the illumination of the minde To this I answere that it is true the will must not onely bee movâ—d but also renewed and changed before it can yeeld to Christ. But withall that God doth never so fully and spiritually convince the judgement in that manner of which I have spoken without a speciall worke of grace thereupon opening the eye and removing all naturall ignorance prejudice hesitancie inadvertency misperswasion or any other distemper of the minde which might hinder the evidence of spirituall truth By which meanes hee also frameth and fashioneth the will to accept embrace and love those good things of which the minde is thus prepossessed Thirdly this willingnesse of Christs people is wrought by the Communion and adspiration of the spirit of Grace which is a free spirit a spirit of love and a spirit of liberty a spirit which is in every faculty of man as the soule and principle of its Christianity or heavenly being and working And therefore it makes every faculty secundum modum sibi proprium to worke unto spirituall ends and objects As the soule in the eye causeth that to see and in the eare to heare and in the tongue to speake so the spirit of Grace in the minde causeth it rightly to understand and in the will causeth it freely to desire heavenly things and in every facultie causeth it to move towards Christ in such a way and maner of working as is suteable to its nature Fourthly this willingnesse of Christs people ariseth from the apprehension of Gods deare love bowels of mercy and riches of most unsearchable grace revealed in the face of Iesus Christ to every broken and penitent spirit Love is naturally when it is once apprehended an Attractive of love And therefore it is that the Apostle saith Faith worketh by love that is By faith first the heart is perswaded and affected with Gods Love unto us in Christ. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himselfe for me Gal. 2.20 Eph. 3.17 18. Being thus perswaded of his love to us the heart is framed
be a Free agent or mover to have ex se and within it selfe an indifferencie and undeterminatnesse unto severall things so that when it moves or not moves when it moves one way or other in none of these it suffers violence but workes according to the condition of its owne nature Secondly we may note that this indifferencie is twofold either habituall belonging to the constitution of the will which is nothing else but an originall aptitude or intrinsecall non-repugnancie in the will to move unto contrary extremes to worke or to suspend its owne working or else actuall which is in the exercise of the former as objects present themselves and this is twofold either a freedome to good or evill or a freedome to will or not to will Thirdly notwithstanding the will be in this manner free yet it may have its freedome in both regards so determin'd as that in such or such a condition it cannot doe what it should or forbeare what it should or cannot doe what it should not nor forbeare what it should not Man fallen without the grace of God is free only unto evill and Christ in the time of his obedience was free wholly unto good Man free to evill but yet so as that he onely doth it voluntarily he cannot voluntarily leave it undone Christ free onely to good yet so as that he doth it most freely but could not freely omit the doing of it Fourthly the will worketh not in this condition of things unto morall objects without some other concurrent principles which sway and determine it severall wayes so that the will is principium quod the facultie which moves and the other principium quo the qualitie or vertue by which it moves And these qualities are in naturall men the flesh or the originall concupiscence of our nature which maketh the motions of the will to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the will of the flesh and in the regenerate the Grace and Spirit of Christ so farre forth as they are regenerate Fifthly as the will is ever carried either by the flesh or the spirit to its objects so neither to the one or the other without the preceding conduct and direction of the practicall judgement whether by grace illightned to judge aright or by corrupt affections bribed and blinded to misguide the will for the will being a rationall appetite never moveth bu◠per modum judicii upon apprehension of some goodnesse and convenience in the thing whereunto it moves Sixthly the judgement is never throughly illightned to understand spiritual things in that immediate and ample beautie and goodnesse which is in them but only by the Spirit of Christ which maketh a man to have the selfe-same minde judgement opinion and apprehension of heavenly things which he had so that Christ and a Christian doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thinke the same thing as the Apostle speakes Phil. 2.5 By the which Spirit of grace working first upon the judgement to rectifie that and to convince it of the evidence and necessitie of that most universall and adequate good which it presenteth the whole nature is proportionably renewed and Christ formed aswell in the will and affections as in the understanding as the body in the wombe is not shaped by peece-meale one part after another but all together by proportionable degrees and progresses of perfection So that at the same time when the Spirit of grace by an act of heavenly illumination is present with the judgement of reason to evidence not the truth onely but the excellencie of the knowledge of Christ thereunto it is likewise present by an act of heavenly perswasion and most intimate allurement unto the will and affections sweetly accommodating its working unto the exigence and condition of the faculties that they likewise may with such libertie and complacencie as becomes both their owne nature and the qualitie of the obedience required apply themselves to the desire and prosecution of those excellent things which are with so spirituall an evidence set forth unto them in the ministery of the Word As by the same soule the eye seeth and the eare heareth and the hand worketh so when Christ by his Spirit is formed in us for the Spirit of Christ is the Actus primus or soule of a Christian man that which animateth him unto an heavenly being and working Rom. 8.9 10 11. 1 Cor. 6.17 every power of the soule and body is in some proportionable measure enabled to worke suo modo in such manner as is convenient and proper to the quality of its nature to the right apprehension and voluntary prosecution of spirituall things The same Spirit which by the word of grace doth fully convince the judgement and let the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shine upon the minde doth by the same word of grace proportionably excite and assist the will to affect it that as the understanding is elevated to the spirituall perception so the will likewise is enabled to the spirituall love of heavenly things By all which wee may observe that this working of the Spirit of grace whereby we become voluntaries in Christs service and whereby he worketh in us both to will and to doe those things which of ourselves we were not obedient unto neither indeed could be is both a sweet and powerfull worke as in the raising of a man from the dead to which in the Scriptures the renewing of a sinner is frequently compared there is a worke of great power which yet being admirably sutable to the integrity of the creature must needs bring an exact complacencie and delight with it we may frequently in holy Scriptures observe that of the same effect severall things may be affirmed by reason of its connexion unto severall causes and of the severall causalities or manners of concurrence with which those severall causes have contributed any influence unto it As the obedience of Christ was of all other the most free and voluntary service of his Father if we consider it with respect unto his most holy and therefore most undistracted and unhindered will for if it were not voluntary it were no obedience and yet notwithstanding it was most certaine and infallible if we consider it with respect to the sanctitie of his nature to the unmeasurablenesse of his unction to the plenitude of his unseducible and unerring Spirit to the mystery of his hypostaticall union and the communication of properties between his natures wherby what-ever action was done by him might justly be called the action of God in which regard it was impossible for him to sinne In like manner the passive obedience of Christ was most free and voluntary as it respected his owne will for he troubled himselfe hee humbled and emptied himselfe he laid downe his owne life he became obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse and yet thus it was written and thus it behoved or was necessary for Christ to suffer if we respect the predeterminate counsell and
purpose of God who had so ordained Act. 4.28 God would not suffer a bone of Christs to be broken and yet he did not disable the souldiers from doing it for they had still as much strength and libertie to have broken his as the others who were crucified with him but that which in regard of the truth and prediction of holy Scriptures was most certainly to be fulfilled in regard of the second causes by whom it was fulfilled was most free and voluntary Wee finde what a chaine of meere casualties and contingencies if we looke onely upon second causes did concurre in the offence of Vâ—sâ—ti in the promotion of Esther in the treason of the two Chamberlaines in the wakefulnesse of the King in the opening of the Chronicles in the acceptance of Esthers request and in the favour of the King unto her and all this ordered by the immutable and efficacious providence of God which moderates and guides causes and effects of all sorts to his owne fore-appointed ends for the deliverance of his people from that intended slaughter determined against them the execution whereof would evidently have voided that great promise of their returning out of captivitie after seventie yeares with relation unto which promise their deliverance at this time was in regard of Gods truth and purpose necessary though in regard of second causes brought about by a cumulation of contingencies In like maner when the hearts of men do voluntarily dedicate and submit themselves to the kingdome of Christ if we look upon it with relation unto the Spirit of grace which is the principium quo the formall vertue whereby it is wrought so it is an effect of power and as it were an act of conquest and yet looke upon it with relation unto the heart it selfe which is Principium quod the materiall efficient cause thereof and so it is a most free sweet connaturall action exactly temper'd to the exigencie of the second cause and proceeding there-from with most exact delight answerably to the measure of the grace of illumination or spirituall evidence in the minde whereby our naturall blindnesse prejudices and misperswasions may be remov'd and to the measure of the grace of excitation assistance and co-operation in the heart whereby the naturall frowardnesse and reluctancy thereof may be subdued In one word there are but three things requisite to make up a free and voluntary action First it must be cum judicio rationis with a preceding judgment Secondly it must be cum indifferentia there must be an internall indeterminatenesse and equall disposition of it selfe unto severall extremes Thirdly it must be cum dominio actus the will must have the power of her owne worke And all these three doe sweetly consist with the point of the Text That the heart is made willing to obey Christ by an act of power For first this power we speake of is onely the power of the Word and Spirit both which doe alwayes worke in the ordinary course of Gods proceeding by them with men secundum judicium by a way of judgement and conviction by a way of teaching and demonstration which is suteable to a rationall facultie Secondly which way soever the will is by the Spirit of grace directed and perswaded to move it still retaines an habituall or internall habitude unto the extremes so that if it should have moved towards them that motion would have beene as naturall and suteable to its condition as this which it followeth for the determination of the act is no extinguishment of the libertie thereunto Thirdly when the Spirit by the power of the word of grace doth work the will in us yet still the will hath the dominion of its owne act that is it is not servilely or compulsorily thereunto overswayed but worketâ— ex motu proprio by a selfe-motion unto which it is quickned and actuated by the sweetnesse of divine grace as the seed of that action according to that excellent knowne speech of Saint Augustine Certum est nos velle cum volumus sed Deus facit ut velimus Thus we see how the subjection of Christs people unto his kingdome is a voluntary act in regard of mans will and an act of power in regard of Gods Spirit inwardly â—llightning the minde with the spirituall evidence not only of the truth but the excellencie and superlative goodnesse of the Gospell of Christ and inwardly touching the heart and framing it to a lovely conformitie and obedience therunto The ground of this point why there is an act of power required to conquer the wils of sinners unto Christ is that notable enmitie stoutnesse reluctancie rebellion wearinesse aversenesse in one word fleshlinesse which possesseth the wils of men by nature such forwardnesse unto evill so much frowardnesse against good such a spring and byas from private ends and worldly objects such feares without such fightings within such allurements on the right hand such frownes and affrightments on the left such depths of Satan such hellish and unsearchable plots of principalities and powers to keepe fast and faithfull to themselves this chiefe mistris of the soule of man such slie and soaking such furious and firy temptations to flatter or to fright it away from Christ such strong prejudices such deepe reasonings such high imâ—ginations such scornefull and meane conceits of the purity and power of the wayes of Christ such deceitfulnesse of heart such misperswasions and presumptious of our present peace or at least of the easinesse of our future reformation such strong surmises of carnall hopes which will be prevented or worldly dangers incurred or private ends disappointed such lusts to be denied such members to be hewed off such friends to be forsaken such passions to be subdued such certaine persecutions from the world such endlesse solicitations of Satan such irreconcilable contentions with the flesh in the midst of all these pull-backes how can we thinke the will should escape and breake thorow if God did not send his Spirit as once the Angell unto Lot Gen. 19.16 to lay hands upon it while it lingers and hankers after its wonted course to use a mercifull conquest over it and as the Scriptures expresse it to lead it to draw it to take it by the arme to carry it in his bosome to beare it as an Eagle her young ones on her wings nay by the terrours of the Lord and the power of his Word and wrath to pull and snatch it as a brand out of the fire Certainly there is so much extreme perversenesse so much hellishnesse and devillish antipathy to God and his service in the heart by nature that if it were left to its owne stubbornenesse to kicke and rebell and fall backe and harden it selfe and were not set upon by the grace of Christ no man living would turne unto him or make use of his bloud by the same reason that any one man perisheth every man would too because in all there is as fundamentall and originall enmity
due to the Ministers of the Gospell by a Law of Iustice. It is a wrong and foolish Apologie to pretend the punishment for the continuance of the fault The poverty of many men is doubtlesse a just recompence for their neglect of the honor of the Gospell For God hath ever severely punished the contempt and dishonor done to his messengers 2 Chron. 16.10.12 2 Chron. 24 21-25 2 Chron. 26.19 20. 2 Chron. 36.16 17. Wheras on the other side doe thou deale faithfully with God fulfill to thy power his appointment and decree that they which preach the Gospell may live by the Gospell and then hearken unto God Honor the Lord with thy substance and the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barnes bee filled with plenty and thy presses burst out with new wine Prov. 3.9 10. Consider now from this day and upward from the day that the foundation of the Lords Temple was laid consider it Is the seed yet in the barne From this day I will blesse you Hag. 2.18 19. Yee are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me even this whole nation Bring yee all the Tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in mine house and prove mee herewith saith the Lord of Hoasts if you will not doe it out of duty yet doe it out of experiment If I will not open you the windowes of heaven and powre you out a blessing that there shall not be roome enough to receive it Mal. 3 9-12 There was never any man lost by paying God his Dues there was never any man thrived by grudging or pittancing the Almighty I will conclude this point with the Apostle It is his Doctrine faithfull Ministers are worthy of double honor And it is his Exhortation Render to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute Custome to whom Custome feare to whom feare Honor to whom Honor Rom. 13.3 Note lastly The Priesthood of Christ is an everlasting Priesthood Hee also was without Father and without Mother without beginning of dayes or end of life As man without a Father as God without a Mother The same yesterday and to day and for ever His name was Everlasting Father His Gospell an Everlasting Gospell He was a lamb slaine from the beginning of the world The vertue of his bloud goes backward as high as Adam He was foreordain'd before the foundation of the world 2 Tim. 1.9 The redemption of those that transgressed under the first Testament the remission of sinnes that were past were procured by this Sacrifice Heb. 9.15 Rom. 3.25 It goeth downward to the end of the world he must raigne till all be put under his feete and he must raise up all by the power and vertue of his victory over death Ioh. 5 26-29 And lastly it goeth onward to all immortality for though the Acts and administration of his Priest-hood shall cease when hee shall have delivered the Kingdome to his Father and have brought the whole Church into Gods presence yet the vertue and fruits of those Acts shall bee absolutely eternall for so long as the Saints shall bee in heaven so long they shall enjoy the benefit of that Sacrifice which did purchase not a lease or expiring terme but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an endlesse life an everlasting glory an inheritance incorruptible that fadeth not away reserved in the heaven for them VERSE 5. The Lord at thy Right hand shall strike through Kings in the day of his wrath VERSE 6. Hee shall judge amongst the Heathen he shall fill the places with dead Bodies Hee shall wound the heads over many Countries IN the former part of the Psalme we have had the description of Christs offices of King and Priest together with the effect thereof in gathering a willing people unto himselfe Now here the Prophet sheweth another effect of the powerfull administration of these offices containing his victories over all his enemies allegorically expressed in a Hypotiposis or lively allusion unto the manner of humane victories wherein first I shall in a few words labour to cleere the sense and then the observations which are naturall will the more evidently arise The Lord at thy right hand To lay aside their exposition who understand these words of God the Father the words are an Apostrophe of the Prophet to those at whose right hand the Lord Iesus is Some make it an Apostrophe to God the Father a triumphall and thankfull prediction of that power and Iudgement which he hath given to this his Benjamin the Sonne at his right hand Because that thereby the phrase retaineth the same signification and sense which it had in the first verse As if David had said O God the Father of all power and majesty worthy art thou of all praise thanksgiving and honor who hast given such power to thy Sonne in the behalfe of thy Church as to smite through Kings and judge heathen and pull downe the chiefe of his enemies and to subdue all things to himselfe and these read it thus O Lord hee that is at thy right hand shall strike through Kings c. Others make it to be an Apostrophe to the Church and so to bee a phrase not expressing Christs exaltation as verse 1. But his care and protection over his Church his readinesse to assist and defend his owne people against all the injuries and assaults of adverse power Salomon saith A wise mans heart is at his right hand but a fooles heart is at his left Eccl. 10.2 That is his heart is ready and prepared to execute any wife counsels or godly resolutions as the Prophet David saith My heart is prepared ô God my heart is prepared I will sing and give thankes But a fooles heart when hee should doe any thing is like his left hand to seeke of skill unactive and unprepared when hee walketh by the way his heart faileth him vers 3. And this readinesse and present helpe of God to defend and guide his Church is expressed frequently by his being at the right hand thereof Because the Lord is at my right hand I shall not bee moved Psal. 16.8 Hee shall stand at the right hand of the poore to save him Psal. 109.31 I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee feare not I will helpe thee Esai 31.13 As if David had said Bee not dismayed nor cast downe ô yee subjects of this King as if being exalted to Gods right hand hee had given over the care and protection of his people for as hee is at the right hand of his Father in glory and majesty so is he at your right hand too standing to execute judgement on your enemies and to reveale the power of his arme towards you in your protection Now the reasons of this phrase and expression as I conceive are these two First to note that Christs power providence and protection doe not exclude but onely strengthen assist and prosper the ordinary and just endeavors of the Church
for themselves The Lord is not at our left hand to succor us in our idlenesse and negligence but at our working hand to give successe to our honest endeavors The sword of the Lord doth not fight without the sword of Gedeon Iudg. 7.18 In the miracles of Christ when hee fed and feasted men hee never created wine or bread of nothing but blessed and so changed or multiplied that which was by humane industry prepared before Our Savior had fish and bread of his owne and yet hee would have his Disciples put in their net and catch and bring of their owne to note unto us that Gods power and providence must not exclude but encourage mans industry Ioh. 21.9 10. Hee protecteth us in viis nostris non in praecipitiis in our wayes not in our precipices or presumptions Psal. 91.11 So long then as the Church is valiant and constant in withstanding the enemies of her peace prosperity God is undoubtedly with her to blesse that courage and to strengthen that right hand so long as Moses held up his hand God fought for Israel There was Ioshuas sword and Moses his hand or prayer and upon those Gods blessing Exod. 17.12 13. And they were all to concurre If the sword should cease the Prayer would doe no good for God will not bee tempted If the Prayer faint the sword is in vaine for God will not bee neglected As in a curious Clock stopp any wheele and you hinder the whole motion If God promise to bee present Ioshua must promise to bee couragious Iosh. 1.5.6.9 Secondly to note unto us the care and militarie wisedome of Christ our Captaine to meete with and to prevent our enemies and to intercept their blowes against us for wee may observe in the Scripture that Satan plieth the right hand of the Church laboureth to weaken and assault us where there is most danger towards him Let Satan stand at his right hand Psal. 109.6 That is either give him over to the rage of Satan that hee may bee hurried to execute his will or set Satan to hinder him in his mischievous intents Thus Satan stood at the right hand of Ioshua the high Priest to resist him Zech. 3.1 Noting the assiduous and indefatigable endeavors of Satan to resist disappoint and overthrow the workes of the worthies in Gods Church I would have come unto you even I Paul once and againe but Satan hindered us 1 Thess. 2.18 And to divert the strength of men upon his service And therefore to rebuke him and to shew to the Church that our strength is from him and due unto him hee also stands there to outvie the temptations and impulsions of Satan These are the two expositions which are given of these words The Lord at thy right hand Now though of all places of Scripture there is indeed but one literall sense yet when two are given which both tend unto the same generall scope and are suteable not onely to the analogie of faith but to the meaning mainely aimed at by the Holy Ghost in the place and when there is no apparant evidence in the face of the Text for preferring one before the other I thinke it is not unfit to embrace both and so something I shall touch upon both senses Shall strike through or wound or make gore bloudie Kings in the day of his wrath The word is Hath stricken through Kings It is a Prophesie of things future spoken as of things to bee done To strike thorow notes a complete victory and full confusion of the enemie an in curable wound that they may stagger and fall and rise up no more and that affliction may not arise a second time Nahum 1.9 1 Sam. 26.8 The onely difficulty is what is meant by Kings for which wee must note that the Kingdome of Christ is spirituall and his warre spirituall and therefore his enemies for the most part spirituall Therefore I take it wee are hereby to understand the most potent enemies of Christ whether spirituall wee wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers and spirituall wickednesse in high places Ephes. 6.12 2 Cor. 10.4 Or Carnall as heathen and wicked men Psal. 2.8 9. The fat and the strong enemies of the Church Ezek. 34.16 Our spirituall enemies in Scripture are called Kings Satan the Prince of this world the God of this world the Prince of the power of the aire The King of the locusts c. Sinne and originall concupiscence is a King Let not sinne raigne in your mortall bodies And the Earthly enemies of Christ are called Kings The ten Hornes that is ten Kings make warre with the Lambe The Kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and his Christ and Death which is the last enemie is a King The King of Terrors that raigneth over men Aâ—d over all these Kings doe the victories of Christ reach Some by Kings understand the Romane emperors who are called Kings 1 Pet. 2.13.17 And their overthrow for persecuting the Church But since all sorts of Christs enemies are called Kings in Scripture and all of them doe push at his Kingdome in the Church I see no ground why wee may not by Kings understand them all with their subjects armies and associates As in great victories the Lords and principall men are said to be overcome when the servants and souldiers are routed and slaine In the Day of his wrath That is when time hath ripened the insolency and malice of the enemie when his fury is fully stirred up and provoked when the just and full time of his glory is come That it may appeare that they are overcome not by time or chance or humane power or secular concurrence but onely by the power of his wrath hee will doe it Christ is never destitute of power but in wisedome hee hath ordered the times of his Church when to have his Church suffer and beare witnesse to him and when to triumph in his deliverances So the meaning of this clause is this when the day of recompence is come when the sinnes and provocations of his enemie is ripe when the utmost period of his patience is expired 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the fixed and unmoveable day which hee hath set bee the probabilities never so poore preparations never so small the expectations never so low the meanes in humane view never so impossible yet then by his wrath hee will utterly and incurably wound his enemies both spirituall and temporall that they shall not rise a second time He shall judge amongst the Heathen The word judgement noteth both Government and Punishment The Lord shall judge his people and repent himselfe for his servants when hee seeth that their power is gone Deut. 32.36 There to judge noteth government The Lord standeth up to plead and to judge his people Esai 3.13 That nation whom they serve will I judge Gen. 15.14 There to judge noteth punishment Here it is taken