the pulse of the arme so iudgement is made of the spirituall soundnesse of the heart not so much by wordes and lookes as by the fruits of the hands He shall enter into the kingdome of heauen which doeth the will of my father which is in heauen saith our Sauiour Mat. 7.21 And if yee know these things happy are ye if you doe them Iohn 13.17 S. Aug. De civit Dei l. 6.6.2 reporteth that Varro the great Philosopher did read so much that it was admired how he could write any thing againe he wrote so much that another could hardly read now admit a man had as great knowledge in Diuinity as he in Philosophie that hee could speake with the tongue of men and Angele and had not loue whereby to doe good he were as an inane nihil sounding brasse a tinckling cymball 1. Cor. 13.1 Lastly the Apostle in the cited place telleth vs that faith must worke by loue else it is no faith So here our Prophet requireth the same First faith trust in the Lord. But let it worke by loue in doing good In which sentence both the Prophet and the Apostle set forth the perfection of a Christian in this life which consisteth in 2. parts Inwardly in sayth to God Outwardly in doing good to men 1. Inwardly to God by faith which needeth not our good workes Psal 16.2 O God my goodnesse extendeth not to thee 2. Outwardly to men by good workes which neede not our faith as it is written in the named place But to the Saints that dwell vpon the earth In which respect S. Aug. de ciuit Dei lib. 10. c. 1. sayth that doing of good is pro sacrificijs accepted of God as a Sacrifice Heb. 13.10 Yea prae sacrificijs more then sacrifice Hosea 6.6 I will haue mercy and not sacrifice For to be mercifull is the sole work common to man with God as Synes nor indeed can we any way more neerely resemble God which is most good then in our doing of good Greg. To the necessary performance whereof in the next place we are inuited by many and those most forcible reasons first Reason 1 Because in doing of good wee shall so shew our loue to God So Christ testifieth in Iohn 14.16 If yee loue mee keepe my commandements Heerein our loue to God is made manifest in walking as it becommeth his children The comparison is mod proper if we marke it for as in nature when children are neither in outward feature of the body nor inward qualities of the minde like to their parents which begat and brought them foorth wee say that such children degenerate and grow out of kinde neither can they be outwardly iudged to belong to their parents by reason of that great dissimilitude and vn likelines of maners Euen so on the contrary when we see in the world men walking in by-paths of their own and no way like to their heauenly father in holinesse and righteousnesse no way resembling him which hath begot them in Christ in doing of good we may and iustly say of such that they degenerate and grow out of kinde they do not patrizare tread in their fathers steps going about alwayes doing of good after the example of Christ Iesus our elder brother Againe although we must walke yet it is as children and therefore weakly yet notwithstanding they shew their loue in that they walke and follow so well as they can desirous to goe on further if they could And this is kindly accepted of a louing father So is it with Almighty God whose mercies are far greater then our desires or endeuors are or can be who when hee seeth vs like louing children following in the same way which he leadeth vs accepteth our will for the deed crowning his owne worke in vs. For although wee as children cannot tread in the same steps as he speaketh of Ascanius in the Poet sequiturque patrem non passibus aequis Yet we tread and as we can goe along the very same way and in this true and childlike resemblance of him wee shall much delight our holy father This is the very argument which our Sauiour vseth to the Iewes Iohn 8.39 which stood much vpon their prerogatiues nil nisi Cecropides they boasted themselues to bee Abrahams seede but hee telleth them that their boasting was in vayne of their father since they were so much degenerated from him that they were no longer to bee accounted and called the children of Abraham For when they tolde him Abraham is our father Iesus answered them if yee were Abrahams children yee would doe the workes of Abraham For Abraham by his good workes glorified God and shewed his loue to him in walking as his childe so must all the true seed of Abraham be doing of good to shew their loue to God Whereby moreouer God is glorified For like as when a childe obserueth in most dutifull maner what his father commandeth this redoundeth to the prayse of the father Omnet enim omnia bona dicere laudare fortunas meas qui filium haberem tali ingenio praditum So the Lord is glorified in his children when they intend and seeke his honor and glory by their obseruing him in doing good The costly rayment wherwith others are clothed maketh to the praise of the worker so it is sayd of the good huswife giue her of the fruit of her hands and let her workes prayse her in the gates Prou. 31.31 So the doing of good redoundeth vnto God whose glory ought to be the end of our life and scope of all our actions as Paul teacheth Whether yee eate or drinke or whatsoeuer ye doe let all be done to the glory of God 1. Cor. 10.30 Reason 2 2. Because in doing good we shall so shew our loues to our selues and that in a two fold respect 1. in quieting our owne conscience 2. in making our election certayne As touching the first namely the peace of conscience S. Paul to Timothy 1.1.19 counselleth him to hold fast the fayth and keepe a good conscience now indeed what greater peace can be brought to the conscience then that which ariseth out of our doing of good through a liuelie fayth And As touching the second S. Peter carnestly exhorteth 2. Pet. 1.10 Giue diligence to make your calling and election sure which cannot bee more effectually performed then by our doing of good This alone was the reioycing of the holy Apostle What Not that he had preached not that hee had wrought miracles or done extraordinary workes but that in obedience to Gods commandements and in sincerity of heart hee had his conuersation in the world So likewise his comfortable farewell to the world is grounded vpon his fayth which was shewed by loue through both concluding the peace of his conscience and the assurance of his election I haue fought the good fight I haue kept the fayth I haue finished my course henceforth is laid vp for me a crowne of righteousnesse 2. Tim. 4.7
letters of the Crosse-row Aleph doctrina Beth domus Gimel sapientia c. What seeke we further Heer is true wisedome to be found Nay not onely methodicall but musicall not onely for information but also for consolation wherefore in the words of a Prophet Comfort ye comfort ye my people and ô yee people be ye comforted In this consolatory cordiall of comfort then for so wee may well call this diuine dittie one of the sweete songs of Sion we may obserue foure parts 1. a proposition 2. a confirmation 3. an amplification 4. a conclusion The Prophet Dauid continually exercised with the crosse and tossed with trouble most diuinely fortifieth the mindes of all Gods children against any wicked assaults especiallie against the scandall of the crosse Namelie that no man from the outward affluence of all things the concurrence of all outward blessings all pompe plentie prosperitie to the hearts desire in the greatest measure whatsoeuer beholding this as the most doe onely with the carnall eye of the body bee so voyd of diuine iudgement to draw this argument Because high among men ergo high in the fauour of God Whereas Solomon telleth vs time and chance falleth alike to all and our Sauiour that God causeth the Sunne to shine on the iust and vniust Such an argument then were absurd in Gods schoole not grounded aright according to the rules of holy writ On the other side because the Church of God represented in euery child of God is like Noahs Arke on the waues of the world tossed to and fro with contrary winds and waues sometimes in Shiloh sometimes in Keriath-iearim sometimes amongst the Philistines disstressed oppressed destitute not hauing like Noahs Doue where to rest the sole of his foot till hee land on Ararat the holy hill of heauen If any one therefore looking only through the windowes of nature should from carnall reason hence conclude Because this man is in misery exposed to trouble and calamity ergo despised and reiected of God This were as vncharitable as miserable for the holy Ghost hath in this place and in many more teacheth vs to conclude otherwise For all that will liue godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution To bee exercised with the crosse is a good argument of one of his followers which by the crosse went vnto his crowne for those that suffer with him nay for him shall also reigne with him marke this argument if none but such what shall become of the iolly jinglers of the time Solomon hath taught vs to conclude of them and their happinesse to bee only the cracking of thornes vnder the pot only a blast But Dauid the father because more acquainted with the crosse therefore is much more copious in this case as not to instance more among many is largely for information and consolation set downe in this Psalme particularly they shall be cut downe like the grasse and wither vers 2. they shall be cut off verse 9. yet a little while and the wicked shall not be verse 10. the Lord shall laugh at him his day is comming verse 13. their sword shall enter into their owne heart verse 15. they shall perish and be as the fat of Lambes into smoke they shall consume away verse 20. Yet all this while the wicked is in great power and spreading himselfe like a Bay tree verse 35. And particularly touching the godly for consolation Thou shalt dwell in the land and be fed verse 3. hee shall giue thee the desires of thy heart verse 4. hee shall bring it to passe verse 5. he shall bring forth thy righteousnesse as the light and thy iudgement as the noone-day verse 6. thou shalt inherit the earth verse 11. in the day of famine they shall be satisfied verse 19. the Lord vpholdeth him with his hand verse 24. hee shall helpe them and deliuer them from the wicked verse 40. marke the perfect man and behold the vpright for the end of that is peace verse 37. Yet notwithstanding all this the iust and vpright man is in many troubles so that this which Dauid here affirmeth of the state of either in the iudgement of flesh and blood is a meere Paradox and in naturall reason incomprehensible but those things which are impossible with men are possible with God and spirituall things are spiritually discerned wherefore Trust in the Lord and be doing good so dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed In this Text we are to obserue 2 parts 1 a precept trust in the Lord. 2 a promise to dwell in the land and be fed Touching the precept it hath reference 1 to God 2 to man 1 To God trust thou in the Lord for matter of piety 2 To man and be doing good for matter of charity Faith and good workes are inseparably vnited as the soule and the body yet in their order first faith for trust in the Lord secondly good works be doing good whom God hath then thus ioyned together let no man put asunder Now as when man and wife like faithfull yoak-fellowes and like the words of my Text walke orderly together aequis passibus a happy issue attendeth on their trauell So if our faith be grounded on God in the first place and from hence we be enabled in the second place to doe good then a long Catalogue of many glorious blessings waiteth on vs to crowne vs and those are either externall to dwell in the land to be fed internall to haue the desires of his heart v. 4. to haue abundance of peace v. 11. eternall to dwell for euermore verse 27. and 29. Whence we see that those which haue the Lord for their master haue the most profitable seruice in the world to whom the promise of this life and so respecting the body and the soule in the inchoation of grace and that which is to come and so respecting body and soule in the consummation of glory most properly belongeth for be saith dwell in the land thou shalt be fed a constant promise of him whose word is yea and amen Touching this Text then it may be sayd that it comprehendeth the Law and the Gospell in which wee haue the first and second table the summe of the Law and the Prophets viz. to loue God aboue all which we cannot doe if we trust not in him To loue our neighbour as our selues which we cannot doe neither if we be not doing good So that the grace of God like the Sonne in his glory appeareth in our Text to teach vs to deny all vngolinesss to liue religiously by trusting in the Lord righteously by doing good to our selues and others and soberly by waiting on the Lord dwelling in the land and being fed In the words what obscurity onely the last dwell in the land and thou shalt be fed challenge at my hands a further interpretation our letter not so well bearing and therefore not so neerely answering the originall of which when I come vnto the promise I For
conuersation honest and harmelesse that the name of God may not be blasphemed among the Gentiles and not only so but that they may winne those that are without by their holy cariage and conuersation according to that of the Prophet Isaiab 61.9 Their seed shal be known among the Gentiles and their of spring among the people All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed that the Lord hath blessed And if this reason bee not sufficient let me lead you yet further Reason 4 Because this is the commandement of God to the performance whereof we are inuited à praemio from the reward à periculo from the danger That God commands it without further reason why is sufficient reason for vs to do it And that it is the command of the highest it appeareth in many places Eschew euill and doe good To doe good forget not Date eleemosynam Luke 11.41 Charge the rich that they bee fruitfull in good workes and heere be doing good And in many places which command implies obedience if we go no further then the command it selfe for he that commanded it to be done is that mighty one high aboue all men and angels by whose command all things were made for dixit factuns est but that the Lord might leaue vs inexcusable and that euery mouth might be stopped he hath enforced the same by a double reason For hoofac vines do this A praemiâ— and thou shalt liue There is a reward greater then our seruice Againe he that looketh in the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein being not a forgetfull hearer but a doer of the worke the same shall bee happie in his deed which happinesse is no lesse then eternall life then which what reward can be greater Againe wee are exhorted by good workes on earth to lay vp for our selues treasures in heauen to bring somewhat into Gods exchequer as the Israelites to the Tabernacle whereof in singular confidence clayming an especiall interest in Gods fauour and expecting the promised recompence we may say with Nehemiah Remember me O God concerning this For albeit the glory of God bee the vltimus terminus of our cogitations actions well doing and principall motiue of our good workes and as it were the primum mobile of our obedience yet as Aquinas in the actions of our obedience whilest we seeke the aduancement of Gods glory in the first place we may as a secondary obiect or adiunct respect our owne commodity and haue an eie to our owne reward for shall Iob or any one serue God for nothing But as S. Augustine saith in Pal. 100. Nisi Deus per misericordiam parceret non inueniret quos per iustitiam corenaret Except God should spare in mercy he should finde none to crowne in iustice For as conscious to our selues of our many imperfections in our best actions of defects and faults in the end matter maner or measure of our obedience we must supplicate and say misericordia tua meritum meum thy mercie is my merie pardon me according to thy great mercy In hope and expectation of which infinite reward we must in our seuerall callings dailie be doing good exercising our selues in works of piety and pity that so our soules as fields of sincerity being daily more and more charged with the deeds of mercy we may at length be accomplisht with the erest and crowne of eternall glory as himselfe hath promised Matt. 5. Blessed be the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercy Luk. 6.35 Iohn 14.1 They shall be called the children of the highest and therefore haue a dwelling place in their fathers house For Quimiseretur proximo soeneratur domino he that casts his bread vpon the waters shall after many daies find for a crumme a crowne for one mite a million for a drop of cold water a full draught of that heauenly water wherof hauing tasted he shall neuer thirst any more and in a word for the gleanings and refuse of our vintage a ful measure pressed and running ouer saithfull is he that promised to performe it But if we cannot be wonne by reward let vs be wrested by danger for feare of punishment for feare and anguish shall be vpon euery soule that doeth euill and take and bind that vnprofitable seruant and cast him into vtter darknesse there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth this is their portion for euer ignorans ignorabitur Primosâ—â—â— Aquin. hee that will not know God by doing good shall not be known of God among those to whom he shall shew himselfe good These forenamed reasons first to shew our loue to God in walking as his children secondly to shew our loue to our selues In quieting our consciences In making our election sure Thirdly to shew our loue to our neighbours In witnessing our faith In winning them by our godly conuersation Fourthly in yeelding obedience to the commandement of God In respect of the reward In respect of the danger These reasons I say as a cord diuinely twisted are sufficiently able to moue vs to and to confirm vs in the doing of good Vse 1 First then let vs sling this stone into the brazen foreheads of our Aduersaries which in their shamesse chalenges of our Religion dare tell the world that we are all for faith nothing for good workes all for saying but nothing for doing And that we hold workes to saluation as a Parenthesis to a clause that it may bee perfect without them Heauen and earth shall witnesse the iniustice of this calumniation and the consciences of all which heare vs shall bee our compurgators which testifie that there is no lesse necessity of doing good workes then if you should bee saued by them and th t though you cannot be saued by them as the meritorious cause of your glory yet that you cannot be saued without them as the necessary effects of that grace which brings glory We say and maintaine that fides nuda is fides nulla a naked faith is no true fayth to the conuiction of that lewd slander of Solifidianisme For although we doe not wee dare not make inherent righteousnesse the cause of our iustification yet wee say it is the effect thereof though with the Papists we make it not the Vsher yea rather the Parent of iustification yet we require it as the companion at least the Page thereof But some man may say what matters it if both ascribe the whole worke to God For comes it not all to one if one pay a summe for me or giue it me to pay my selfe These things may seeme little dissonant to some mens cares yet the spirit of God hath made them vtterly incompatible For it is written To him that worketh the wages is not imputed of grace but of debt if by grace now not of works for else grace should be no more grace Rom. 4.4 Ephes 2.8 for neither is it grace any way if it bee not free euery way saith Aug.
giue thee when thou hast it by thee Our Sauiours action must be our imitation and hee sayth I must worke the workes of him that sent mee while it is called to day The night commeth wherein none can worke Ioh. 9.4 To day if you will heare his voyce The time past cannot bee recalled the time to come vncertayne the time present only ours He therefore spake not amisse that so spake Da tua dum tua sunt post mortem tune tua non sunt Death is the worlds strict dore-keeper who as we brought nothing will narrowly search vs that we shall carry nothing with vs wherefore while we haue time let vs diuide our goods and deale our dole with Zacheus that saluation may come to our house here and when we leaue our house we may goe to saluation hereafter Vse 3 So then to come to a third vse of the Doctrine propounded and proued me thinks here come within compasse of iust censure diuers Christians as they esteeme themselues to be sharply reproued First Nullifidians and Merit-mongers whom we leaue on the left hand as Paul left Cyprus Secondly carnall Gospellers and Solifidians on the right for neither of these doe either at all or at least this good aright In vain shall any thinks to come to heaven by the ladder of workes since in Christ neither circumcision nor vncircumcision auaileth any thing No religious order in the world but faith alone without trust in works auaileth before God Yet on the other side the heauens cannot bee scaled without a ladder which although it be Christ yet some of the lower staues and higher to are pinned fast with good workes whereby all slothfull and idle persons are excluded affirming that if faith alone iustifie then let vs barely trust in God but not be Doing of good not so ye carelesse generation enemies of grace for faith is operatiue working by loue faith is resembled to fire which is operatiue fire cannot be without heat and light the greater fire the greater heat the lesser fire the lesser heat no fire no heat no heat no fire But it may be said of too many and those as they take themselues none of the coldest Christians or professors amongst vs as one sometime of the Monks of his time that their fasts were fat and prayers leane their faith is hot their loue cold they say they trust in God better then others yet doe lesse good then others it may bee said of such as the witty Grecian spake of extreame tall men that they were Cypresse trees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faire and tall but fruitlesse oh shame that the child of heauen should resemble hell which hath fire but that fire hath no light I feare we haue too may such firebrands of hell that haue a flashing fire of faith in their tongues but the fire of their faith makes not their loue boile Lazarus shall haue more diuinity then humanity twenty paternosters not one penny at their hands These mens light shineth not out before men and therefore are leauelesse trees empty clouds waterlesse wels like the sumptuos Sumptermule of that vaineglorious Cardinall seeming without wondrous rich but nothing within saue old shooes and rubbish or like Adonibezek want their thumbs but Gods Priest must haue not only the Vrim of science but Thummim of conscience on his breast and in his skirts not only bels a sounding profession but pomegranates also a fruitfull deuotion faith and loue on the altar of the heart must neuer goe out like that stone in Plinie which being once made hot could neuer be cold If it be otherwise and indeed so it is whatsoeuer they boast of their faith they are but hypocrites in the sight of God like that bestia pharmacopolae wherewith Iulian twitted Austen a beast pretended of great vertue ouernight that ere morning was come had deuoured her selfe or lastly like that cursed fig-tree therefore cursed because it was fruitlesse Thus in generall more particularly to runne through all degrees of men it is pitifull to see and therefore great reason to complaine that this practicall politicall part of Christian obedience not only in rectifying our owne courses and Doing good our selues but also in reprouing repressing and reforming the irregularities of others and the sinnes of the time is commonly neglected of all How many neuter-passiue Magistrates meale-mouthed Officers scar-crow Constables haue we now a daies that are so farre from Phineas his zeale to slay offenders ipso facto that they want Moses his courage to slay sinne in grosse offenders salvo iure and herein pardon my boldnesse for aures omnium pulso conscientias singulorum convenio I speake to the eares of all in generall and appeale to the conscience of euery one in particular if this bee not so many of them are so farre from reprouing that they are content with sinne and yeeld consent to it that so they may take vp sinne vpon warrant and commit it boldly and so goe to the Deuill by authority If this were not so why are not the hurts of the daughter of Iudah healed why are not the breaches of Sion stopped why are not recusants punished why is not the pot pulled from the nose of the drunkard why is not the Sabbath sanctified why are not our horrible blasphemers our shamelesse fornicators incorrigible drunkards and the like profane licentious liuers let blood with the sharpe razor of reprehension or struck downe with a downe-right blow of condigne punishment for their presumption What is there no balme in Gilead no Physitian there yes but they are like Iobs friends Physitians of no reckoning Rephaims by name Zamzummims indeed who whereas they should be patrons and patternes of piety and temperance as their places and callings require and as leaders of the Vantgard to stand in the forefront of Gods battell against all Caananites which cry downe holinesse in towne and country they either runne along with them or rather lead them into the race of riot or are busied in boo-thalling and foraging for themselues not caring for the ship of state in generall so they may be safe in the cock-boat of their owne fortunes in particular I am ashamed to thinke and speake how weakely the paralytick hands of our Magistrates are exercised in Doing of good in their places by brandishing the sword of iustice against the friends of Baal Balaam and Bacchus Resembling Ostriches which haue great feathers but no flight or Iupitera block cast among the frogs whom at first they feared for the greatnesse but despised afterward for the stilnesse So that as Demosthenes sometime complained that the power of their aduersary Philip King of Macedon was greatly augmented by the Athenians slothfulnsse So may the Ministers of God complaine that through the slothfulnesse remissenesse or wickednesse of many Magistrates the Kingdome of Satan is exceedingly enlarged Againe to put that part of the wallet which hangeth behind our backs into open sight how is this duty of Doing good