obserue Doctr. All our holinesse must be perfected in feare For as I haue formerly noted the greatest perfection of our holinesse hath in it many imperfections According to the measure and proportion of this life so is our holinesse and no otherwise yea and the least part doth not consist in this to know and confesse our wants Saint Paul wil therefore haue vs to workeout our owne saluation in feare and trembling Phil. 2. and Saint Peter to Passe the time of our mortall pilgrimage in feare Our estate is neuer secure of danger for the Angels though in heauen yet thence did they fall Iude. Gen. 3. Math. 4. Adam and Eue though in Paradise yet there tempted and ouercome Our Sauiour in the vaste and wilde desert yet there the diuell finds him And the Saints of God though in the bosome of the Church Psal 105. yet they haue had many foule slips and falls and therefore our holinesse must be perfected in feare Secondly seeing that the feare of loue and not of punishment is the truest measure of our perfection obserue Note We must grow to full holinesse euen of zeale to Gods glorie and goodnesse must be loued for it selfe oderunt peccare mali for midine poenae To do well for feare of punishment is but an asses vertue And herein is the triall of a perfect heart if a man can ioy in holinesse conscionably though it come alone yea though accompanied with many miseries Singular is the example of Dauid to this purpose Psal 119 126. Psalm 119. It is time for thee O Lord to lay to thine hand for men haue destroyed thy law therefore saith he euen for the loue and zeale that I haue to holinesse and Gods glorie therefore I say loue I thy command ments aboue gold and all false wayes do I vtterly abhorre This is the point our perfection consists in this if we can be content to embrace holinesse euen for it selfe and for reuerence to our heauenly Father By which it may appeare that feare and the feare of loue is the measure and perfection of our holinesse Reason 1 1. Because of the danger that may befall vs for want of this feare viz. lest hereby we fall from our constancie and so for want of perseuerance do hazard our saluation The diuell is a cunning and diligent aduersarie Luk. 11.24 ready to take adnantage vpon euery occasion and if he find the house swept and garnished and no resistance be made he entreth in and dwelleth there and the end of that man is worse then the beginning and therefore we ought at all times and in all things to walke circumspectly and in feare Eph. 5.15 2. For feare of giuing offence to others and by our halting or standing still we wound the weake hands and feeeble knees of the brethren and so become partakers of their sinnes Praeceptamonent exempla mouent yea know that examples in sinne do draw multitudes to offend and therefore we ought to feare our selues euen for the good of others 3. Lest that by our securitie and standing still the enemie be comforted and haue cause to blaspheme and the Angels of God and the Spirit of God be grieued within vs who as they do reioyce for the conuersion of a sinner so do they grieue at the falls of the righteous Vse The vse of the point is to teach vs to beware of securitie and to let the feare of God euermore keepe the doores of our hearts the wants whereof doth breed in vs a numnesse of soule and doth much withstand the ordinance of God for our saluation For when men come to this that they are cold to holinesse if they heare so it is if not they feele no great want if they receiue the Sacrament they haue no great delight or ioy or if they for beare they feele no grieuance and for other exercises of religion they can be content to do them for ceremonious custome but not for conscience and feeling Such a secure and carelesse estate as this doth shew them to lie in some grosse sin presently or else are in danger to fall into some great transgression or some grieuous punishment But all the paths of the Lord are hedged about with feare that we should not forget nor for sake the Lord at any time Beleeue in God we cannot alwayes and to reioyce is not alwayes present faith is sometime faint loue is little ioy is sicke hope is dead and seeling fallen asleepe but the feare of God in a godly iealousie ouer our owne wayes is the meanes to recouer all againe Our sanctification is but in part He that thinkes that he stands let him take heed lest he fall and Blessed is the man that feareth alwayes Surely brethren it is a good thing through godly feare euer to get victorie of out infirmities before they come to be ioyned with the sinnes of the world to the griefe of the godly the reproch of the wicked the trouble of our owne consciences or the hazard of Gods glorie Thus the feare of God is the beginning of wisedome Prou. 1 yea and the perfection of holinesse is the feare of the Lord. heare the end of all Feare God and keepe his commandements It is the Alpha and Omega of our holinesse the measure and foundation of the same and Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord Psal 112. Of God My text hath at last brought me to the end of our iourney euen to God the Lord who alone is to be feared And seeing it is now high time to leaue you here I will leaue you for I cannot leaue you better then with God Consider therefore a little the height of his Maiestie the brightnesse of his glorie the perfection of his goodnesse the strength of his power the excellency of his wisedome the eternitie of his being the holinesse of his truth the sweetnesse of his mercie the blessednesse of his presence in whose sight there is length of dayes and in his presence is fulnesse of ioy for euermore Let his name be had in honour from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe thereof Againe Oh Lord of hoasts how excellent is thy name in all the world Againe God is the feare of his Saints For the strength of Israel is a dreadfull God clothed with vnspeakable maiestie as with a garment and the splendor of his glorie is ten thousand times more bright then the Sunne in his greatest beautie yea the beholding of his face is present death to a mortall man The Angels tremble the heauens melt away the mountaines smoke the sea is dried vp and Iordan driuen backe and the earth doth totter vpon the foundations at the sight thereof The voice of the Lord is a glorious voice and hath the preheminence The voice of the Lord bringeth mightie things to passe Heare and feare and tremble before the Lord your God ye men of Israel In conclusion therefore seeing we know that one and onely God euer to be worshipped and feared whose authoritie doth command and power execute and prouidence gouerne vs and all things let vs as Henoch walked with God so passe the time of our mortall pilgrimage in feare and holinesse as if we walked in his presence whose eye seeth all and whose eare heareth all alwayes remembring that his all-seeing eye and all-hearing eare shall bring you and me and vs all to iudgement In the feare of God therefore let vs begin and so end all endeuours to cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow vp to full holinesse that at the appearance of the Sonne of God to iudge the ends of the earth we may be found faithfull seruants and as we haue dealt truly in a little so he may then make vs rulers ouer much through the riches of his grace who hath freely and formerly beloued vs not for our owne sake but because himselfe is loue and takes delight in his owne goodnesse To which God be ascribed all goodnesse and glory and mercy and power both now and for euermore Amen Amen FINIS
of herbes then a tree and lastly hath boughes and branches wherein the fowles of heauen make their neasts And so the kingdome of heauen is oft compared to things increasing to teach our growth and progresse in weldoing if we haue faith to confirme it Lord I beleeue helpe my vnbeleefe Mar. 9.24 Luk. 7.47 Psal 129.139 if loue to increase it Many sinnes are forgiuen her for she loued much if zeale to enkindle it The zeale of thy house hath euen eaten me vp And as God hath begun and continued a chaine of his high fauours towards vs in predestinating calling Rom. 8.30 iustifying sanctifying and glorifying his Church so let vs encounter his loue with all diligence ioyning to our vertue faith to faith knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience to patience godlinesse to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse to brotherly kindnesse loue 2 Pet. 1.5.6 And thus by ioyning together the linkes of this golden chaine of his graces we must grow vp from grace to grace Reason 1. Because we are as new borne babes and as a building begun As new borne babes desire the sincere milke of the word that you may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 Now as babes which are not fed do perish and as a building begun and not followed comes to nothing it is euen so in the nursing and building of the inward man 2. Because we haue tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come and therefore if we proceede not in well doing we crucifie the Lord anew vnto our selues and make a mocke of his fauours Heb. 6.6 Vse 1 1. This serueth for the examination and condemnation of those which the world calls harmelesse men who haue set vp their pride in this viz. To do no harme But he which proceeds no further is as one that hauing a long iourney to trauell doth pitch downe his rest in the midst of the way but as the Israelits that staied and died in the desert they saw not the land of Canaan no more shall any such see the saluation of God for the breach of the law is not onely commission but omission and the wages of sinne is death and omission of duty is commission of iniquitie This I say that he which endeuoureth an harmelesse life to deale vprightly and iustly and not to defraud or wrong his brother this man is in the way to the king dome of heauen but if thou wilt be perfect Hoc vnum restat do well and endeauour thy selfe to euery good work and thus we must grow in grace that we may attaine to ful holinesse and that is the perfection of our worke and the part that now ensueth To full holinesse The Apostle would haue vs like the wise builder in the Gospel who gaue not ouer his worke till he brought it to perfection we must grow to full holinesse from whence obserue No man must content himselfe with the beginnings of viuification but endeauour perfection The Israelits gathered Manna euery day but vpon the Saboath day to teach vs and teach thē that vntil that euerlasting Saboath of rest where we shall be glorified bodies and soules we must neuer stand still in our Christian growth But as the waters spoken of in Ezechiel grew vp by degrees first to the ankles then to the knees then to the loynes and lastly to the head and as the wheate our Sauiour spoke of grew vp by degrees first there was the blade thē came the stalke after that the full corne but lastly came the haruest euen so like that water we must grow higher and higher til we come to our head Christ and like that corne riper and riper vntill the end of the world when the Lord shall winnow the chaffe from the wheate the wheate he shall receiue into his garner but the chaffe to be burnt vp with vnquenchable fire Thus we must grow vnto full holinesse Mat. 2.9 For as the starre which directed the wise men in their search ceassed not till it came to the place where Christ was and there it stayed so must we not stay in the course of holinesse till we come to heauen where God is And as the kine of the Philistims which drew the Arke of God 1. Sam. 6. though they were milch and had calues at home the one to weaken them the other to withdraw them yet without turning to the right hand or left they kept on their way till they came to Bethshemesh so hauing once ioyned our selues to the yoake of Christ and bearing the arke of his law vpon our shoulders in the way of a vertuous life though we haue many hindrances wordly allurements the diuels temptations and our owne sinfull prouocations yet must we keepe on the way of holinesse to perfection and so the apostle exhorteth Phil. 3. Let vs as many as be perfect be thus mindid Luk. 1. like Zachary and Elizabeth of whom Saint Luke reporteth that they were both righteous befor God walking in all the commandements and iustifications of the Lord without rebuke that is without iust exception to be taken against them yet to dreame of an absolute and Angelicall perfection in a mortall man was the errour of the Pelagian heretikes but our perfection is in part not wholly in respect not absolute or perfect we may be said towards men but not in relation to God There is also a perfection by way of comparison with others and so optimus ille est qui minimis vrgetur he is the most perfect man which hath the fewest faults Yea and further there is a perfection of holinesse secundùm huius vitae modum according to the measure and proportion of this life and this perfection euery good man must haue Saint Paule describes it thus Phil. 3.3 I account not my selfe that I haue attained perfection but one thing I do I forget that which is behind and endeauour my selfe to that which is before and follow hard toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus So that this is the point We must resolue endeauour contend and striue for perfection as for a prize euer be adding grace till we are in some sort according to the capacity of our humane nature perfect men in Christ Ie sus and to this our Sauiour exhorts Beye perfect as your heauenly Father is perfect Math. 5.48 neither must we desist till we come to full holinesse Reason Because non progreds est regredi and our life is like the tumbling of a bowle vp an high hil which if it be throwne part of the way or halfe or more it returneth againe but if it be throwne to the top there it resteth so the hauen of holinesse it is Olympus an high hill which we must climbe to the top for to sticke or stay in the midst is but lost labour Againe our life is as a Boate rowed against the streame where if the rowers stay it goeth backeward of it selfe so in
A DIVINE ENTHYMEME OF TRVE OBEDIENCE OR A Taske for a Christian Preached at Pauls Crosse the tenth of September 1615. by ANTHONIE HVGGET Maister of Arts and Parson of the Cliffe neare Lewis in Sussex Viuendo morimur monendo viuimus The Text. Seeing we haue these promises dearely beloued let vs cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow up to full holinesse in the feare of God 2. Cor. 7.1 London Printed by Richard Field for Francis Faulkner and are to be sold at his shop in new Fish-street vnder Saint Margarets Church 1615. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND MY VERY GOOD LORD WILLIAM Lord Howard Baron of Effingham increase of all true honour and happinesse c. RIght Honorable the importunitie of some good Christians that heard this Sermon at the Crosse hauing ouercome mee to publish it to the world I haue presumed vnworthy though it be to present your Lordship with it as being the best meanes I had to manifest my dutie and how much I honour your Lordship your zeale to true religion your honorable respect and loue shewed to schollers and to me in particular your vnworthy Chaplaine makes me hope it shall find a fauourable acceptation The which if it shall please your Lordship to grant I haue a condigne counterpoise of all my labour Thus in all humblenesse crauing pardon for my boldnesse with my dayly supplications that God would multiplie vpon you all temporall blessings in this life and eternall in the life to come I rest Your Honours most dutifull and deuoted Chaplaine ANTHONIE HVGGET A DIVINE ENTHYMEME OF TRVE OBEDIENCE 2. COR. 7.1 Seeing we haue these promises dearely beloued let vs cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow vp vnto full holinesse in the feare of God THE proeme of Moralitie holds good in Diuinitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Aristot Eth. l. 1. c. 1. omne appetit bonum and it is a sure axiome Finis bonum conuertuntur that vaste Vniuersall like that confused Chaos in the beginning Gen. 1.2 out of whose wombe were first drawn all things which were made each particular with the whole it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do endeuour their end as the smoake flieth vpward which truth is well seene in the great bodie of nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the little bodie of man which is a compendium of all this All. And hath not mortall man his supernaturall end where his soule a stranger here may stay it selfe for euer Yes sure he hath and the end is the accomplishment of Gods promises for by faith we stand and receiue in hope 1. Ioh. 3.2 Now are we the sonnes of God but it doth not appeare what we shall be c. The Apostle therefore in the precedent Chapter hauing earnestly warned his Corinthians to flee the societie and pollutions of Idolaters as being themselues temples of the holy Ghost in the two last verses he setteth downe the scope and summe of mans blissefull end the full period of all their desites euen the sweete and comfortable promises of God in Christ Iesus as namely ver 16. I will dwell in them Leuit. â—â— 12 and walke in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people And againe ver 17 18. I will receiue you Isa 32.1 Ier. 31.1 and wil be a father vnto you and you shall be my sonnes and daughters saith the Lord Almightie Now vpon the consideration of these premised promises promises he inferreth and inforceth that sanctitie whereof my text doth treate Seeing we haue these promises dearely beloued let vs cleanse c. Which words containe in them an exhortation not barely and simply propounded but syllogistically and perswasiuely inforced and may very well be called A diuine Enthymeme of true obedience The Antecedent part whereof is the Foundation and the consequence is the Building or if you will the roote and growth of godlinesse The Apostle thus layeth the case Seeing we haue these promises dearly beloued and makes the issue this Let vs cleanse our selues from c. Let vs begin as he doth that we may end as he did He begins his suite vpon a sure ground Seeing we haue these promises and followes the cause for our welfare Let vs cleanse our selues from c. Thus who so begins and ends his dayes shall die the death of the righteous and his last end shall be like vnto his Turne backe your eyes once more vpon the words and you shall find in them a grounded motiue to holinesse in which obserue the matter the maner and both are Euangelical 1. Modus compellendi dearly beloued vox verè apostolica issuing from no other lips but such as had bin touched from the Altar of the high God with the hote burning coales of zeale and loue Isa 6.6 and well beseeming the scholler of such a Lord who both in life and death did shew himselfe to be the Lord of loue 2. Causa vel fundamentum competendi viz. promissiones In which maine ground of his inforcement he makes vs ioynt purchasers with himselfe viz. Nos habemus and that of an inheritance which shall stand for euer viz. has promissiones Promissiones that is the maine thing Obiectum Obiectum the ground point of this exhortation and that we may build vpon this ground he sheweth our interest and iust claime and that is Subiectum Subiectum Nos habemus We haue these promises and that is the Antecedent the ground the reason the roote of that which followes and that which followes is an exhortation to sinceritie and sound obedience to integritie and perfect holinesse To the perfection whereof there are two maine labours 1. Remotio mali Remotio mali Let vs cleanse our selues 2. Substitutio boni Substitutio boni and grow vp c. For the former that we may take our worke with vs let vs remember the passages 1. Let vs cleanse that is the propertie of the worke 2. Our selues that is the proprietie of the person 3. From filthinesse that is the matter to be wrought vpon 4. All filthinesse there is the generalitie of the taske 5. Of the flesh and spirit there is the specialitie of the parts and powers infected Hitherto my text hath brought vs downeward the way and path of the death of the righteous Mortificatio wherein we must crucifie the old man not leaue one hoofe behind not one sinne vnsearched Mortifie therefore your earthly members c. Colos 3.5 The Apostle tels vs that he which ascended is he which descended first Ephes 4.9 and as I haue descended with you to the similitude of his death so must you be ingrafted to the similitude of his resurrection Rom. 6.5 For you must rise againe the hill of holinesse when we are rooted in humilitie we must rise and spring Substitutio boni so the text faith Let vs grow
Abraham to Moses Gen. 17.4 from Moses to Christ Luk. 18.5 Luk. 20,27 Gal. 4.4 Exod. 14.10 Heb. 9.15 And in the fulnesse of time God sent our Sauiour according to his promise Luk. 1. 54. Act. 3.12 and our Sauiour Christ did mightily shew himselfe to be the Sonne of God and the Redeemer of his people Israel Luk. 24 19. in whō all the prophecies promises and figures did meet as many lines in the center These promises also The Apostle doth alledge onely two texts of these promises which are like the grapes and fruites of Eschol which the spies brought from the land of Canaan as if he should say By these few you may taste and see how sweete the Lord is and if I should labour to go through them all I suppose they are moe in number then the haires of my head and the plenty of them would beget want of strength in me to deliuer them Moses the man of God doth giue vs to wit 1. Promissiones rarae that these promises are first Rarae inauditae worthy his performance onely who in all things with his holy arme doth get himselfe the victorie Psal 98.2 Who would haue thought that a wombe of ninety yeares barrennesse should be a ioyfull mother of children God promised it Gen. 17.17 and he performed it Gen. 21.6 Who would imagine that God would bring Israel out of Aegypt thus as it is said and after so strange a maner by tentations by signes and by wonders by warre by a mightie hand and by a stretched out arme and by great terrors according to all that the Lord did for them in Aegypt Deut. 4.34 Who could haue thought that the Red sea should be diuided or Iordan driuē back Exod. 14.21 Iosh 10.12 Exod. 16.13 Num. 20.8 or the Moon should stay her course and the Sunne forget his going downe that Manna should be rained from heauen that liuing waters should flow from the flintie rocke These things God promised Exod. 3.19 and these and greater then these the Lord hath done in their due season for he is the God who made all things of nothing which quickneth the dead and calleth those things which are not as though they were Rom. 4.17 2. 2. Promissiones certissime Mal. 3.6 Most sure and certaine as proceeding from the eternitie and immutabilitie of his will and verity with whom is no change nor shadow of changing God saith concerning him that promiseth by vow or oath Implebit omne quod promisit Numb 30.3 He shall not breake his promise but do according to all that he hath promised And shall the Lord say and not do it promise and not performe it Surely God shall as soone not be himselfe as his proceedings not be the truth he were not omnipotent but impotent if it were otherwise Therfore the Apostle doth thus stile him God that cannot lie Tit. 1.2 The faithfull God Deut. 7.8 with whom is no change his promises are therefore Yea and Amen 2. Cor. 1.20 certissimae 3. 3. Promissiones gratuitae Gratuitae the effects of his mercie and goodnesse without any merite or desert of ours Deut. 7.7 He set not his loue vpon you saith Moses to Israel nor chose you because you were moe in number then other people for you were the fewest of all people but because the Lord loued you c. And in the riches of his mercie God chose this people first and his first promise he made to them Leuit. 26.12 I will walke with you I will be your God and you shall be my people yea and enlargeth the same Ier. 31.1 I will be the God of all the families of Israel and they shal be my people c. When Adam sinned against God God had compassion towards him yea when he maketh Gods liberalitie the patrone of his iniquitie saying The woman which thou gauest me c. then did he promise The seed of the woman should breake the Serpents head Genes 3.12 These and the like are gratuitae promissiones without any precedent merit of man as a motiue to moue him thereunto the free donations and enlargements of his goodnesse and bountie 4. 4. Promissiones magnae pretiosae Magnae pretiosae so Saint Peter teacheth vs to esteem them 2. Pet. 1.3 For these that our God will be with vs wheresoeuer we go ruling and assisting vs in whatsoeuer we do these are magnae pretiosae Oh how sweete are thy promises Exod. 5.18 Psal 119. He ruleth vs according to his promise not as Pharaoh ruled Israel with a rod of iron toyling them in their taskes of bricke allowing no straw but he commands vs weldoing and helpes vs to do it and when our seruice is done of dutie herein his bountifull dealing passeth our conceiuing when for a broken seruice on earth he makes a promise of heauen not as they are now subiect to corruption 2. Pet. 3.10 For the heauens shall passe away with a noise and the elements shall be consumed with heate but as they shall be then refined most glorious and stable for the comfort and crowning of his Saints Magnae pretiosae So that as a Father saith The children of God hauing tasted hereof in the life to come do mourne and grieue in the heauens that their repentance was no sooner their thankfulnesse no more and their obedience no greater to glorifie God on earth so that as it is said of the glorious Church Quà m mirabilia de te narrantur ô Ciuitas Dei Oh how great and wonderfull things are spoken of thee O thou Citie of God! such are his promises according to the excellencie of his wisedome and power Magnae pretiosae And in the fift place that we may inherite the promises 5. Promissiones futurae I must informe you that they are futurae viz. of things to come the promises of hope Our life saith Paul is hid with Christ and it appeares not what we shall be Peraduenture some will say better to haue something certaine But to them I say our hope is not a dead but a liuely hope 1. Pet. 1.3 2. Pet 3.8 not depending vpon man whose breath is in his nostrils but vpon our God with whom one day is as a thousand yeares and a thousand yeares as one day The Apostle saith God is faithfull and We know whom we haue beleeued If our life therefore be a warfare our hope is an helmet Eph. 6. if a sea-faring hope is our anchor to stay our ships in danger Act. 27.33 till the day appeare Act. 28. And in a word in all things this is our stay God is faithfull he hath promised and will performe it but all in his due time his I say and not ours Psal 40.1 that we should keepe our soules still waiting on the Lord therefore they are futurae 6. 6. Promissiones augustissimae To comprise many in one and not to totall all in iust account in briefe
promises of God are the ground of obedience I beseech you by the mercies of God saith Saint Paul Rom. 12.1 that you giue vp your bodies and soules a liuing sacrifice vnto God c. Where he makes Gods mercies the onely motiue to obedience for howsoeuer some do his will of compulsion because they dare do no other yet plures colligit amor and good men loue God for himselfe euen of zeale to his glory The Lord hath two ordinary Heralds of obedience viz. his promises and his threats Aut sequeris aut traheris either his mercies to allure vs or his iudgements to terrifie vs and therefore we say on behalfe of his mercies that the liberty of a Christian doth necessarily imply not lasinesse but holinesse and when we say that the promises of God are gratuitae our meaning is ex parte antecedente non consequente free on Gods part to vs for no inducement in vs to moue him to compassion but not so on our part towards him for they are done vpon condition of our obedience It is in his promises as in his threatnings they all runne not absolutely but with a prouiso expressed or at least wise vnderstood Si nisi non esset perfectum quidlibet esset Were it not for conditions and exceptions our end was present destruction Except you repent you shall all perish but the Nisi comes in like a Repriueall betwixt the sentence and the execution day and as it is in the case of threatning so likewise of promise for there is a twofold nisi of repentance and of obedience so that except we performe the conditions we haue no part nor claime in the promises The charge of Iosua makes it plaine Iosua 23. as that chapter doth dilate at large neither need I stand to cleare this point that all the promises run with the condition of holinesse for all the Sermons of the Prophets and Apostles giue witnesse to this purpose And this is the will of God euen your sanctification God hath purchased you to be a people Tit. 2.14 holy and peculiar to himselfe that you should be zealous of good workes therefore Gods loue and our obedience which God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder Vse 1 Are the promises of God the ground of obedience Then our doctrine is not a doctrine of liberty neither is the calling of a Christian a calling of ease for we preach not mercies or promises that men should liue as they list Should a malefactor contemne his Prince because he is mercifull or a sonne disobey his father for his loue and affection This I say that precedent promises can purchase no license for subsequent sinnes It is not our hope but the profession of our hope that shall saue vs. Saint Paule therefore saith 1. Cor. 5.7 Purge out the old leauen that you may be a new lumpe for Christ our passeouer is sacrificed for vs. Because he was crucified for vs let vs not crucifie him againe but rather because he was sacrificed for vs let vs sacrifice our selues for him in obedience and sanctity For Gods mercie and our obedience must be ioyned together and they that turne away obedience and faith from their hearts turne away Christs merits and mercies from their soules and they that will not weepe ouer him whom their sinnes haue wounded he shall neuer bleede ouer them that their sinnes my be pardoned and therefore 2. See the calumniation of our quarrelling aduersaries the aduersaries of the grace of God the Church of Rome which charge vs with that we neuer taught God he knowes our innocency viz. that we teach promise without obedience faith without workes and therefore that we are solifidians and teach a doctrine of licenciousnesse to all impietie But to these I say that we haue not so taught Eph. 4.20 neither haue we so learned Christ for we teach faith without workes to be a dead faith and the promises of God without our obedience shall do vs no good for howsoeuer they are sufficient in themselues yet are they not effectuall in vs. But to bring home their sinne to their owne doores to pay them with their owne coine or rather to strike thē with the rod which they haue prepared may I not say and experience beare me witnesse that I speake the truth in Christ and lie not Is not their doctrine a doctrine of liberty 1 Tim. 4.1 or rather of diuels which make merchandise of sinne as of flesh in the shambles making shipwrack of faith and a good conscience and hauing clad themselues with the figge leaues of a blind dispensation from a Popish broker they blush not at most direfull proiects but walke secure in the machinations and executions of all villany What shall I name that which is not to be named amongst Christians the tolleration of stewes and the like which yet is not paralelled among the nations Alas paruaqueror these be but trifles Seneca Audent aliquid breuibus gyaris carcere dignum To kill a King or poison a Prince to blow vp a Senate to defie God deface religion plot treasons spoile a nation these and the like are patronized among those Satanicall spirits and the actors canonized for worthies and their acts for workes of supererogation I might instance in their intended desolations in the dayes of our famous Deborah the memoriall of whose name shall be blessed for euer and their hellish treasons now in the dayes of our happie Ioshua whose yeares the Lord make as many ages and fill all his dayes with peace a Monarch for his power and a man after Gods owne heart so famous for his learning so learned in religion and religious in profession innocent from wrong peaceable in his wayes and mercifull to all if not too mercifull to them and yet did not these infernall spirits Antichristian pioners and Romish Mold warpes seeke to extinguish this glorious light and the life of the whole land vno tactu vno ictu vno nictu with one blow sulphurious blast in the twinkling of an eye to haue dismembred and crushed together the gouernment counsell wisedom learning iustice and religion of God in the whole land Oh inauditum nefas oh nefandum scelus Oh vnspeakable villanie especially to be countenanced or canonized but in the Rolles of hel or by a Pope a diuel incarnate and doth not the Pope giue libertie and dispensations for the committing of the same is not this a doctrine of libertie which doth giue libertie to make themselues as it were drunke with the bloud of so many worthies I dare be bold to say that all the Masses Dirges Trentals smoakie fumes and polluted lip-seruice and as the Apostle speaketh beggerly rudiments Gal. 4.9 or if you will cosening shifts of all the idolatrous Iesuites Monkes and Friers and adde to them all the English calues begotten by the buls of Rome cannot wash this one bloudie sinne from the Popes bloud-guiltie soule 3. What shall I say of the
the worke of holinesse we striue against the streame of our affections and if we desist or be slacke in weldoing they draw vs backe to cuill Vse 1 1. To teach vs the danger of apostacy as of those which fall from their holinesse which begin with Peter and end with Iudas hauing entred the couenant of grace they fall away like vntimely fruites trees that are twise dead and plucked vp by the roots Iude v. 12 whose end is to be burned which turne to their old bias of iniquitie as the dog to his vomite and as the sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire Gen. 19.29 Lots wife for this we know was turned into a pillar of salt and set vp in example to season others and that we forget not our Sauiour sets a memento before her name Remember Lots wife Luk. 17. 31. for as it was with her Vbirespexit ibiremansit where she looked backe there she stood so no man putting his hand to the plough of holinesse and looketh backe is fit for the kingdome of God Saint Paul giueth the reason which who so considereth in heart it will cause the heart-strings to ake and the bones to quake for feare It is impossible saith he that they which were once enlightened and haue tasted of the heauenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and haue tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if they fall away that they should be renewed againe by repentance Heb. 6.4.5 For they after they haue escaped the fil thinesse of the world saith Saint Peter 2. Pet. 2.20 through the knowledge of the Lord lesus Christ and are againe intangled therein and ouercome the latter end is worse then the beginning for it had bene better for them not to haue knowne the way of righteousnesse then after they haue knowne it to turne from the holy commandement giuen vnto them 2. It serueth to condemne our standing still our dulnesse and slacknesse in the pursuite of holinesse A miserie it is to see how the men of this our age are fallen from their stedfastnesse from zeale to coldnesse For where is that discipline in manners zeale to the word hunger and thirst after righteousnesse which doth become and adorne the Gospell of Christ May I not speake in generall and your consciences beare me witnesse Reu 2.4 that as the Church of Ephesus was charged so you are become changelings and haue forsaken your first loue And what should I name in particular that stedfastnesse in faith modestie in words that vprightnesse in actions mercie in workes that discipline in manners loue and vnitie among brethren which in the primitiue Church was the glorie of the first Christians Yea and brethren I must tell you that you did runne well and what should turne you out of the way of holinesse that you should haue an euill heart to depart from the liuing God This you know of a suretie that to him that striueth and contendeth to him is the kingdome giuen The kingdome of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force To him that ouercometh to him will I giue the crowne of life Math. 11.12 Reu. 2.17 Math. 24 13. Reuel 2.17 And againe He that endureth to the end he and he onely shall be saued And of full holinesse we haue thus farre heard and spoken And now followeth the measure thereof viz. in the feare of God in the feare of God This last part of my text and labour sets downe 1. the measure of our holinesse viz. in feare and 2. the obiect of this feare viz. God For the former I finde by obseruation generally three kinds of feare a naturall feare a foolish feare and a feare of God the two former I finde not in my text neither will the time giue me leaue to seeke them out But for the last I finde it generally to be of two forts the feare of God it is either seruile or filiall the obiect of the former is Gods iudgement but the ground of the latter are the effects of his loue and mercie and both these in a different maner are the measure and foundation of holinesse And looke what difference is betwixt a seruant and a son they feare to offend the one for punishment the other for loue so howsoeuer good men loue God euen of zeale vnto his glorie yet it is not amisse to be restrained from sinne euen for feare of iudgement It is best saith Augustine to be a sonne yet better to be a seruant then an enemie Si non potes propter amorem iustitiae fac propter timorem poenae The affection of an enemie is hatred of a seruant is the rod of punishment but of a sonne is loue and reuerence And accordingly I find three sorts of feare the first of which is meerly slauish lumpish vnprofitable and dogged kind of feare full of hatred and diuellish despite and indeed the feare of diuels and reprobate spirits which findes no mercie because it seekes no mercie And the diuels do thus beiecue and tremble But there is a feare of Gods righteous iudgements which euen in good men hath a good effect for it restraineth from impietie Et maxima est poena timorem amisisse poenae Bernard I considered my wayes Psal 119.59 saith Dauid and so I turned my feete vnto thy testimonies For who so considereth his wayes shall find his wants and withall remembring the terrour of Gods iudgements and the necessitie of his iustice to punish yea and to punish according to the nature of offence it will daunt and terrifie the heart of any from offending if it be not past feeling And this is that which Augustine hath to like purpose Atimore tenera conscientia à tenera conscientia bona vita hinc decrescit timor seruitutis atque inde dulcescit Deus peccanti and thus the feare of Gods righteous iudgements is to good purpose for it is a bridle to restraine from finne and a step to beget the third which is the filiall feare of loue But Saint Iohn saith Perfect loue casts out feare 1. Ioh. 4.18 viz. this seruile feare and begets another borne of the free Spirit Psal 51. viz. this filiall feare the feare and reuerence of a sonne to a louing father Of this the Prophet speaketh There is mercie with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared And this is that of which Saint Luke speaketh We must serue God without feare Luk. 1. Luk. 1.74 And Saint Paul makes it more plaine Rom. 8. not in the spirit of bondage for feare of punishment but in the spirit of adoption and freedome euen of zeale vnto his glorie And this is the best and most excellent way of feare which I do take to be the principall aime and intendment of my text And so to bring this feare backe to my text and my text home to your selues First because we must grow to full holinesse in feare