a Name of dignitie and authoritie which God hath over the creatures therefore as they were not eternall so this name agreeth not to him from eternitie S. August in his 12. book of the City God and 15. chap. in modestie refuseth to determine this question Vpon the one part he saieth that he dare not deny but God was LORD from all eternitie and one the other part he saieth it is hard to conceive this since Dominion importeth a respect to the creatures which begane in time But if we consider well we will find that the question is rather verball then reall For clearing whereof ye are to understand that there are two things imported by the Dominion of God The first which is the chief and principall is his power over all things that actually are or are possible The second is a reference unto the creatures subject unto God This belongeth unto God but in time but it is nothing else then an outward secondarie respect that which is inward and principall in the Dominion of God to wit his Power was from eternitie and therfore he is truly from eternitie LORD His Dominion is grounded on his Power which is one with his essence and that is eternall Neither is it the creatures that actually are who alone are subject to him Even the things that are not at under his Dominiō he calleth the things that are not as if they were They obey his commandement and commandement presupposeth Dominion by vertue whereof it hath power Thus the Dominion of God was from all eternitie Secondly It we look to following ages this Dominion and Kingdome endureth after them to all eternitie This is true both of Gods Kingdome generally and particularly considered That is the Kingdome of his Power as it is called by which he commandeth and ruleth all things It is certaine this Kingdome shall never end for God shal ever have supreame power over things that are or are possible His particular Kingdome is that whereby he reigneth in his church and this also shall have no end Hence the Angell speaking of our Saviour LUKE 1. saieth Hee shall reigne in the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Wee must not think that this Kingdome of God and Christ shall end when this World endeth no it shall be most perfected and established when all other Rule Authority and Power shall be put down Here it is the kingdome of grace God ruling in the hearts of his servants by his Spirit grace hereafter it shall be the kingdome of Glory wherein the glory of Gods Wisdome Mercie and Power shall be manifested in the eternall salvation of his own and the glory of his Power and justice shall appeare in the eternall confusion of his enemies Now the Kingdome of God is but not peaceable now his enemies are overcome but not wholly rooted out and trampled under foot Sathan remaineth yet and goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom hee may devoure Sinne and Death remain As yet there are many that rebell against the Law of God and despise his Commandements but all these enemies shall be hereafter rooted out Sathan with his angels shall be chained in hel and shall have no more leave to tempt Sin shall be banished also in the godly it shall not be Their flesh shall no more resist the spirit and the spirit God and the wicked shall have no more liberty to commit any new sin Death shall be rooted out by the resurrection so that we may then sing Death is swallowed up in victorie O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victorie Lastly wicked men the rebels of this great KING and disobedient to his Will shall be subjected to eternal pains against their will whereas the servants of God shall be advanced to the participation of his eternall glory Thus this his Kingdome shall be Eternal and not only so in respect of himself but also in respect of his servants Feare not little flock saith our Saviour it is your Father will to give you a kingdom To him that overcometh will I give saith he Rev. 3. to sit with me in my Throne even as I overcame and sit with my Father in his Throne Come yee blessed of my Father shall he say at the last day and receive the kingdome prepared for you c. This much of the Eternitie of the Kingdome of God I come now to the uses of the Doctrine First The consideration of this Eternitie of God his Kingdome should teach us to disesteeme the things of this World which are but fraile and momentanie suppose they endured never so long yet at last they have an end and when that end is come they are as though they had never been Put the case thou had all the riches and pleasures and honours and dominions of the World yet these should end and being ended leave thee nothing but a sad and sorrowfull remembrance of them and the more sad and bitter the more sweet and deare they were to thee when thou had them I will yet say more these things not only have an end but also end suddenly to us Their continuance is most uncertaine and short All our enjoying of them is grounded upon this mortall life and how fraile that is wee know by experience and S. Jam. teacheth us Chap. 4. Go to now saeth he yee that say to morrow wee will go to such a City and continue a year and buy and sell and get gain And yee know not what shall be to morrow for what is your life but a vapour that appeareth for a little whyle and then vanisheth away Now the life being ended all this World endeth to us That which our Saviour saieth of the soule I may say of the body also What profite is it to a man to gaine the whole World if he losse his bodily life More our health is more uncertaine then life and without it we can enjoy no worldly thing Take health from a man what availe all the treasures of the earth Set the most daintie dishes before him they are loathsome Bring his Wife children friends unto him their sight is often grievous Let him remember his former pleasures it breedeth nothing but bitternesse In a word What is the whole man but as it were an earthen vessel which God in whose hand is a rod of Iron is able to dash in pieces when he will Albeit an earthen vessel were never so pleasant painted perfumed adorned with flowers a crown set upon it yet if it be stricken with a rod of Iron it goeth in pieces so it fareth with these earthen vessels of our bodies Though we had the vigour and strength of youth the prudence of the aged the knowledge and eloquence of the learned the treasures of the rich if God but touch us with his rod it is enough to beat us to powder Why then should we set our hearts upon these things that
in a most divine manner at length he descriveth In the first verse that I have read The Thankfulnesse of the Church is expressed Praise waiteth for thee c. In the second an excellent benefit is set down for which God should be praised and vowes should be performed to him Praise waiteth for thee c. Praise is the proclaming of the Excellencie of any especially manifested by worthe deeds This David saieth waiteth for God The word rendered to waits signifieth properly to be silent but for the similitude and agreement of silence expectâ—â—â—â— is rendered here to waiâ—e or expect And if we so expound the word the sense is That God doth so loaden his 〈…〉 and by 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 every morning furnish such matter of Praise Thà nksgiving that praise in the Church continually as it were waiteth on to honour him If wee render the word to be silent as it properly signifieth and which our Interpreters have put on the Margent the meaning is That the benefits of God bestowed upon Sion or his Church are so great and so many that even our Praise through astonishment becometh as it were silent notable to reach to the due commemoration and esteeme of Gods bountie and benefits And indeed so it is The benefits of God toward his people are such and so many daylie and hourly bestowed upon them in generall in particular known and unknown that no minde can sufficiently conceive nor tongue utter them In him wee live move and have out being Hee maketh his sun to shyne and his rain to fall upon us Hee hath endued us with reason and understanding When we were lost he did not forsake us but even when blinded with our own ignorance and wickednesse and so his enemies Hee redeemed our life from destruction and to this effect sent his own Son which the Church now clearly knoweth to bee born and suffer and by his most perfect sacrifice to purge all our sinnes and withall sendeth his Spirit in our heart to guide us through all difficulties till we attaine to the blessed sight and joy of his Countenance Thus he compasseth and crowneth us with loving kindnesse and tender mercies for which if wee had a thousand hearts and a thousand tongues could wee give him sufficiently praise and thanks No Praise it self is forced as it were to stand here astonished and silent And the saints say with DAVID O Lord What shall thy servants say What shall we render unto thee for all thy benefits towards us But where is this waiting of praise and the admiration of it In Sion DAVID had translated the Ark of God unto Sion There was Gods Sanctuary and there was he woâ—shipped and therefore Sion here signifieth the Church of God then and in all following ages This is added for great reasons First the PROPHET signifieth that Sion or Gods Church hath reason ought to praise God beyond all others whom hee hath not chosen to be his people for Gods chief benefits are poured down upon Sion It is the perfection of beauty and out of it God shyneth Psal 87. God loveth the gates of Sion more then all the habitations of Iudah It is the City of God and glorious things ar spoken of thee O City of God saieth DAVID in the same psalme Of Sion it shall be said such and such a man was born there The Lord Himself counteth and writeth that such a man was born there saieth DAVID in the place mentioned All the true Citizens of Sion are written in the book of God even in the book of life by his own finger and nothing is so great a matter of Thanksgiving and Praise as that Rejoyce not in this saieth our Saviour that the devils are subjectunto you but rather rejoyce in this that your names ar written in heaven So then in Sion justly should praise wait for God The Citizens of it are a chosen generation a royall Priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people to set forth the praises of him who hath called theÌ„ out of darknes unto his marvellous light 1. Pet. 2. 9. Secondly As Sion should so Sion only can praise God righly Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner saieth the Wise-man Ecclesiast 15. IT standeth not so much in the words of the mouth as in the devotion of the heart He that would rightly praise must be affected with that which he praiseth truly believe it haue an inward taste feeling of it Except therfore he hath tasted seen how good the Lord is he cannot praise as he should on the other part God also looketh not so much to the mouth as to the heart of the praiser He respecteth not so much the tongue as the Conversation What availeth it to blesse God with thy mouth and blaspheme him with thy life this is an abomination and therefore it is truly said by holy August that a wicked man cannot praise God The discord of his life from his word marreth all the sweetnesse of his song of praise maketh it unpleasaÌ„t ungracious in the eares of God Thirdly As Sion should and onely can so also she will undoubtedly praise God and therefore rightly saieth the PROPHET that praise waiteth for God in her as if he would have said O Lord albeit all other men would hold their peace of thy praises yet Sion or thy church thy servants and saints will not Though other men haue not eyes to see nor minds to consider thy benefits but bury them in ignorance or oblivion yet thy own people will set forth thy praises and magnifie thy Name Hence we may clearly see how necessare is this duty of praise and thanksgiving Gods Worship standeth chiefly in this that we be not unthankefull unto him saieth holy August in his book of the spirit and latter chap. 11. when God first made the world he sequestred one day of every week as for his service so particularly for a thankfull remembrance of the benefit of Creation Under the law he appointed one day in the month to wit the first which was the feast of the new moone for a thankfull remembrance of the benefit of conservation of the world he ordained the feast of the passover for celebrating the benefit of bringing his people out of Egypt The feast of Pentecost for remembring the benefit of giving the Law The feast of Tabernacles for remembrance of protection in the wilderness and commanded that yearly the first fruits of the land should be offered to him be way of thanksgiving Thus under the law the duty of thanksgiving was most necessare and acceptable to God Under the gospel now I may say it is yet more necessar The proper sacrifice of ChristiaÌ„s is the sacrifice of praise thanksgiving every wher vehemently urged in the new Test Our blessed Lord did institute the blessed sacrameÌ„t of his body blood giving thanks and for this end that we may give thanks to God as for
is not from the earth but from heaven and if he give life to them that are dead he may be justly called The bread of life 3. He addeth these words to comfort Beleevers and to terrifie unbeleevers For no greater comfort can be to them that receive him by a true and lively faith then the assured hope that they shall be raised up by him from death to a glorious and immortall life and on the other part it is matter of exceeding terror to the unbelieving and wicked that they shall not be partakers of this blessed resurrection but they shall be raised up to shame and confusion This point is urged diverse times hereafter by our LORD and therefore it may be we shall have occasion to speak of it more fully Only now consider that this is a point which we should at this time deeply meditate upon He who calleth us and offereth himself unto us is no lesse then he who hath power of life and death even of eternall life and of eternall death If wee answer him and embrace his Calling we may look to have confidence joy and glory at our death and resurrection but if we do otherwayes we can expect nothing but terrour sorrow and confusion Though we think little now of death and resurrection yet they wil come It is appointed for all men once to die and after death cometh judgement The soul will be called out of the body the body will be called out of the grave and both will be called before the Tribunall of GOD. If thou hearkned devotly and obediently to his Calling here Thou shalt lift up thine head then being confident that thy redemption draweth near When GOD sayeth to thy soul at death Come out thou shalt encourage it and say Go 〈◊〉 my soule fear nâ—t it is the Voice of my Beloved calling not to destroy but to save thee It is the voice of him who hath often called me before and whom I have answered by his Grace It is the Voice of him that I was longing for He said to me before Behold I come I have answered even so Amen LORD Iesus come But on the contrary if thou hast despised his gracious and mercifull Calling here thy terrour shall be unspeakable at death and at the resurrection He shall call when thy Lamp is not prepared and albeit thou would not be drawn by his Mercy his Justice shall draw thy soule out of thy body at death and thy body out of the grave at the resurrection although thou call then he will not heare but will say Depart from me I know thee not Long have I cast open the doore of my Mercy unto thee but thou would not enter and now it is shute O how terrible shall this Calling or rather Drawing of iustice be to the disobedient soule body Faine would they draw back into that very nothing out of which they were brought Therefore the wicked shall say then unto the hills and to the mountains fall upon us and cover us from the Face of him that sitteth upon the Throne and from the Face of the Lamb. Let us therefore while we have time thinke both upon his Mercy Justice These are the two armes of his Providence whereby he draweth to good and from evil MERCY is as it were his Right-Hand which is alluring and comfortable justice his Left-Hand which is terrifying and dreadfull Let us labour That his left hand may be vnder our head as the Spouse speaketh and that his right hand may embrace us that is let us thinke upon his gracious Promises that we may be allured to obey him and withall consider his dreadfull terrours that we may stand in awe to despise his invitations I will speake no more of this Now I proceed It is written in the prophets And they shall be all taught of GOD c. Here he confirmeth and cleareth what he said of the drawing of men to him by the Father He confirmeth it by the testimony of scripture It is written sayeth he in the prophets they shall be all taught of GOD. This testimony is expresly set down Isaiah 54. 13. Where the PROPHET speaking of the happy estate of the Church of the new Testament sayeth to her All thy children shall be taught of the LORD and great shall be their peace According to the sense it is also to be found else-where especially in the 31. 33. of Iâ—r where the LORD speaking of the Church of the new Testament sayeth After those dayes it shall come to passe that I will put my law in their hearts writ it in their inward parts and they shall be my people and I will be their GOD and they shall not teach every man his brother and every man his neighbour but they shall know me from the highest to the least sayeth the LORD For clearing of this yee are to understand that to be taught of God is nothing else but to have our minds enlightned by the knowledge of him and to have his love â—â—â—ed abroad in our hearts so that we obey him and that not out of the fear of punishment but out of the love of righteousnes Of this teaching the Prophet spake when he said Psal 94. 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastisest and teachest out of thy law and when he said againe Teach me to do thy Will O GOD for it is good This our Saviour manifesteth in the next words wherein he explaineth what it is To be taught by GOD saying That such an one heareth and learneth of the Father and cometh to him that is he that is so taught understandeth and beleeveth that which the Father revealeth and embraceth it by sincere love and affection and so cometh to Christ by faith by hope by love and obedience Hence S. AUGUSTINE in his book of the Grace of Christ 12. and 13. chapters inferreth That this doctrine of the Father is nothing else but his heavenly Grace communicated to us whereby he maketh us not only to know what we should do but also to do what we know whereby he maketh us not only to beleeve that which should be loved but also to love that which we beleeve This is the doctrine of the Father whereby from on hye by his unspeakable Power inwardly he manifesteth his truth and communicateth to us the love of himself This also is manifest as S. AUGUSTINE observeth there from the 1. Thess 4. 9. where S. PAUL sayeth As for brotherly love yee have not need that I should write unto you for yee are taught of GOD to love one another So the Teaching of GOD maketh us not only to know what should be done but also to do that which we know And he that knowes and doeth not is not caught by God He is not taught according to grace but according to the law he is not taught according to the spirit but according to the letter Secondly Yee are to consider that our Saviour by urging