speaking in the name of the Lord not thy merits for if I should seeke thy merits thou shouldst neuer bee pertaker of my gifts When the Apostle Saint Paul had reckoned out how hee had laboured more aboundantly in the worke of the ministerie then all the rest of the Apostles hee subioynes as it were by correction yet not I but the grace of God in me learning vs when vve haue done all the good we can to be humble in our selues and giue the glory to God if he promise vs a crowne nihil aliud coronat nisi dona sua he crownes no other thing but his owne gifts if by promise hee bindes himselfe a debter vnto vs to giue vs a reward debitor factus est nobis non aliquid a nobis accipiendo sed quod ille placuit promittendo he is become a debter vnto vs not by receiuing any thing from vs but by promosing freely to vs that which pleased him and therefore when we are exhorted to mortifie the deeds of the body by the spirit let vs first turne this and the like of the precepts into prayers that the Lord would enable vs by grace to doe that which he commaunds vs and then when in some measure we haue done it that we returne the praise and glory to the Lord. Mortifie c. Seeing the first part of our sanctification is called mortification vve are to consider hovv in this word there lurkes a rule vvhereby euery man may try hovv farre forth he hath profited in sanctification vve see by experience that the neerer a man drawes to death the lesse motion is in him but after hee is once dead hee moues not at all present him pleasant obiects they delight him not praise him yet he is not puffed vp speake euill of him yet he is not offended euen so is it with the spirituall man the greater progresse he makes in sanctification the motions of sin are euer the weaker in him the pleasures of the world moues him not as they were wont if thou praise him the breath of thy mouth cannot lift him vp if thou offend him the more he is mortified the lesse he is grieued As a man saith Basile being dead is seperate from those with whom he was conuersant before so hee who is mortified is instantly sundred in his affections from those who before were his familiar companions in sinne yea those actions wherein he delighted before are a griefe vnto him now it is a vexation of his soule to heare and see the vnrighteous deedes of the wicked which were wont to be vnto him the matter of his sport and laughter Therefore doth he wish and so should we that we might alwayes die this kind of death foelix mors quae alienum facit hominem ab hoc saeculo certainly it is a happy death which alienates and turnes away the hart of man from the loue of this world Bona mors quippe vitam non aufert sed transfert in melius for it is a good kinde of death which doth not take life away but changes it into a better But alas how farre are we from this spirituall disposition doth not the angry countenance of one in wordly authoritie terrifie vs the disdainfull words of men doe they not put vs out of the state of patience if the world flatter vs are we not puft vp if she frowne vpon vs are wee not cast downe and this our great weakenesse proceeds onely from the strength of sinne in vs this lets vs see what cause we haue to bee humbled considering that hauing liued long in this time of grace yet haue we profited little in the mortification of our sinfull lusts and affections Againe out of this same word of Mortification wee learne that the worke of our Sanctification is a worke of difficultie not accomplished without labour paine and dolour for it receiues these three names as to bee called Mortification Regeneration and Circumcision As no birth no death no cutting off the flesh can bee without dolour and sorrow so the conuersion of a sinner is not wrought without inward paine and sorrow The Infant that hath laid but nine Moneths in the wombe of the mother is not deliuered without great paine suppose shee conceiued it with pleasure and shalt thou thinke to part with sinne which in thee was conceiued with thee and which since so often thou hast nourished with pleasure and not to proue the dolours of the New-birth No assuredly In the worke of mans conuersion there is the contrite spirit the humbled heart the mourning weede the melting eye the pale countenance the voyce of lamentation let not such as feele them if they find therwith a rending of their affections from their old sins be troubled for these are but the dolors of their new birth and for others who know not these inward humiliations and wrestlings of the Children of God they haue iust cause to suspect themselues that they haue not so much as the beginnings of Mortification Regeneration and spirituall Circumcision By the Spirit Nature will not destroy our sinfull lusts they are mortified by the Spirit of Christ and therefore vve are to nourish and entertaine this Spirit by the meanes before prescribed As those Beasts which sacrificed to God vnder the Law were first slaine by the knife of the Leuite and then offered to God vpon the Altar so the Lord Iesus must mortifie our affections by the power of his word and Spirit before they can be presented acceptable sacrifices to the Lord our God Yee shall liue As I spake of death which is threatned so speake I of life here promised this temporall life cannot bee the recompense of righteousnesse for it is common both to the Godly and the wicked If in this life onely we had hope of all men wee were the most miserable but the life here promised is eternall life the beginning whereof presently vve enjoy by the Spirit of our Lord who hath quickned vs so that wee may say now I liue yet not I but Christ Iesus liueth in mee the accomplishment thereof wee looke for hereafter Thus hath the Apostle set before vs both life and death he hath shewed vs the way how wee may eschew the one and attaine to the other the Lord graunt that according to his counsell wee may make choyse of the best Verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sonnes of God IN this Verse the Apostle subioynes a Confirmation of his preceding argument in the last part thereof hee hath said If yee mortifie the deedes of the body by the Spirit ye shall liue now he proues it They who mortefie the deedes of the body by the Spirit or they who are led by the Spirit of God for these phrases are equiualent are the Sonnes of God therefore they must liue the necessitie of the consequence is euident of that which followeth the Sonnes of God
the heauens hath ministred food to Gods people as in that barren wildernesse wherein Israell soiourned the earth yeelded no fruit but the heauens rayned downe Manna and Quailes and sometime the heauens haue beene as brasse yet in the earth hath the Lord prouided nourishment as he did by the Rauens and the Widdow of Sarepta for Eliah and if otherwise it please the Lord by famine to inflict death vpon his children then he strengthens their spirits with the bread of life and comforts their hearts with hid Manna so that they can say to worldlings as our Sauiour said to his Disciples I haue bread to eate that yee know not of and so no famine can seperate them from the loue of God Nakednesse This is also a great tentation partly for the shame and partly for the decay of naturall life which followes it Before the Iewes crucified Christ they striped him naked of his garments Basile makes mention of fortie Martyres who being striped naked were put foorth in the night to be pined with cold and afterward burnt with fire in the day Of these it is euident that nakednesse is one of those tentations whereby Sathan seekes to trouble our faith and patience but he who hath put on the Lord Iesus for a garment neither shame nor losse of naturall life procured by nakednesse can seperate him from the Loue of God Where we may perceiue how different the dispositions of the Christian and the worldling are The men of this world esteemes nakednesse their shame and places a great part of their glory in gorgeous garments and no meruaile quia dâ— proprio non habent decorem necesse est vt aliunde mendicent for hauing no glory of their owne they must borrow glory from others From the Beasts of the earth they borrow skins wool from the Fowles of heauen they borrow feathers from the Wormes they borrow silk from the Earth siluer gold from the Waters pearles and of these doth man make vp his begged glory whose glory in the beginning was to be clad in the image of God but what is it decor qui cum veste induitur cum veste deponitur vestis est non vestiti that beautie which is put on and put off with the garment is not the beautie of the person but of the garment Yet are these but licitae quodammodo insaniae if they be compared with the madnesse of others who alter by artifice the shape and colour of the countenance which God hath giuen them Manus deo inferunt cum illud quod formauit reformare conantur for they put hands as it were into God while they prease to reforme that which God hath formed Nescientes quia opus dei est omne quod nascitur diabeli quod mutatur I know they excuse their fact with the couerings of comelinesse and necessitie but praetextu tegendae turpitudinis in maiorem turpitudinem incidunt for worldlings are neuer so naked as when they are best apparelled As for men truely godly they will thinke shame of wickednes but not of nakednesse improbum vocarite pudeat non pauperem aut ignobilem blinde Egiptians may account sheepe keepers abhomination but true Israelits will thinke shame to be prophane but no shame to be poore those godly ones in the wildernesse clad with sheepes skins and goates skins were more honourable in the eyes of God than Herod in his royall robe of shining siluer glancing the more brightly by the shining of the Sun vpon it if we will credit Iosephus But what of all this our vnwillingnesse to want superstuitie of apparell argues that we are euill prepared to endure nakednesse for Christs sake Againe we learne here that seeing nakednesse is one of those crosses whereby the Lord tryes the faith and patience of his children and that then it is time for vs to endure a crosse when God layes it vpon vs it cannot be good religion to impone it to our selues where God layes it not vpon vs. It is a hard thing to keepe mediocritie not to be either too remisse in religion or too superstitious Wil-worship what euer shew of godlines it hath in the eyes of men is but abhominable idolatry in the eyes of God and we are not to place true religion in those things which he hath not required the false Prophets ware a rough garment but it was to deceiue the Priests of Baal spared not to lance their owne flesh but it is reiected by God as blinde zeale to walke bare footed or weare a garment of haire without linnen or wooll next the skinne to carry on our head a Franciscanes hood and at last to be buried in it If these things haue in them such holinesse as they pretend is it not a meruaile their holy Father the Pope is not careful to make himselfe more holy by changing his triple Crowne with a Franciscanes hood or that his Cardinals are so inconsiderate as to redeeme by so excessiue prices a Cardinals hat the haire garment being better cheape and much more meritorious of eternall life Perills The life of a Christian is full of perils euery place vnto him is a palaestra in the sea in the land in the citie in the wildernesse goe where he will hee shall encounter with perils These are so many probations of our Faith and Patience of Gods truth and prouidence Our preseruation depends on our protector euen the Watch-man of Israell who neither slumbers nor sleepes As a Father hath compassion on his children so hath the Lord on them who feare him and wee know that a naturall father doth neuer looke more pittifully vpon his childe than when hee sees him in greatest danger and shall we expect lesse kindnesse from our heauenly Father The men of this world when they send out their seruants in commission goes not with them themselues knowes not their danger and are not able to preserue them but the Lord our God when he sends out his seruants foresees the perill goes with them to preserue them Feare not for when thou passest through the water I will be with thee and through the flouds that they doe not ouerflow thee The more perils we fall into the more experience haue wee of Gods louing preseruing vs for the which wee may say perils may well make vs grow in the sense of the loue of God but cannot seperate vs from him Sword This is the last and by it the Apostle expresses any kinde of violent death for vnto these also the seruants of God and his best beloued Children haue beene subiect euer from the beginning The Apostle gloryes that no kind of death can seperate vs from Christ yea as he saith in another place it conioynes vs more neerely vnto him as Nebuchadnezzans fire loosed the bonds of the three children but hurt not their bodyes so death inflicted by man may loose our bodily bonds but cannot
manifesta salutis vt indubitabile sit â—um esse de numero Electorum in quo ea signa permanserint This is the truth of God agreeable to Scripture and auncieâ—t Fathers which wee doe affirme howeuer they doe accurse it That neyther life By life vve are to vnderstand the pleasures of this life strong tentations indeed for in the hearts of many they preuaile against the loue of God that we may learne to despise them and to count with the Apostle all things to be doung in regard of Iesus let vs looke vnto those two things which discouers vnto vs the vaniâ—e of worldly pleasures first they are most loathsome to them who haue them in greatest abundance and aâ—e most admired of those who haue them not A proofe of this we haue in Salomon who wanted nothing delectable vnder the Sunne yet by the very vse of them he found the vanitie of them and was moued to abhorre them It is far otherwise with heauenly pleasures the more we tast of them the more wee esteeme of them hungring still for more we cannot be satisfied with that which wee haue gotten already Secondly worldly pleasures are of this nature that if they be continued without intermission they turn into pains therefore is it that those same things which now we choose for recreation incontinently they become wearisome vnto vs and wee cast them away so that it is not so much by themselues as by the change of them that we are delighted Sola vicessitudine recreamur being weary of walking we refresh our selues with sitting againe being vveary of fitting we rise to refresh our selues with walking and so fareth it with all the recreations of this life being continuall they become wearisome So oft therefore as Sathan by worldly pleasures would steale away our hearts from the loue of God let vs consider how vaine and small a pleasure it is vvhich he would giue vs in respect of that vnspeakeable ioy which he would take from vs. Nor death By death vvee vnderstand not onely death it selfe but all those paines that goe before it and terrouâ—s which accompanie it There vvas neuer life so long but it hath beene concluded by death no life so pleasant but the paines of death shall swallow vp all the pleasures therof As the seauen leane Kine deuoured the seauen fat the seauen yeares of famine consumed the fruit of seauen yeares of plenty so shall the dolours and terrours of death eate vp all the pleasures and delectations of this vvretched life If vve suffer the pleasures of this life to bewitch vs be sure the terrours of death shall confound vs. It were therefore good that as Ioseph of Aramathia had his sepulcher in his Garden so vvee season all the pleasures of our life with remembrance of our death this is summa Philosophia Yet our comfort is that if wee liue in Christ no terror of death can seperate vs from him yea death conioynes vs neerer to the Lord Iesus then wee were before wee see oft-times by experience that the children of God haue so triumphed in the very dolours of death and reioyced in the sense of Gods loue that they haue forgot all their bodily paines As the top of mount Pisgah was to Moses the place of his death and the first place wherein euer hee got a sight of Canaan so shall death be to the children of God where we lay downe the sight of this world there shall wee take vp the sight of eternall life which shall neuer be taken from vs. Nor Angels By Angels here I vnderstand not elect Angels for they are not enimies to vs but ministring spirits for our saluation but reprobate Angels for these names of Angels principalities and powers are common both to good and euill Angels And they are so called partly from the power which God hath lent them and partly from the message vvherein hee imployes them for sometime they are sent out as messengers of his wrath to punish the wicked and so an euill spirit was sent from the Lord to punish Saul and sometime to exercise the godly and so an Angell of Sathan was sent to buffet the Apostle Paul for his humiliation we are not exempted from their tempting but praysed be God we are exempted from their tyrannie dominion Their working in regard of the wicked is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the efficacie of errour for the Lord hath giuen them vp into the hands of Sathan but their working in regard of the godly is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tentation Alwayes seeing so long as we liue wee must wrestle against so strong enimies let vs watch and be sober let vs stand with the compleat armour of God vpon vs. Againe we mark here how that our estate in Christ is better than the estate of Adam by his first creation for then an apostate Angell drew Adam to an apostasie also from God but now no Angell is able to seperate vs from the loue of God the reason is the couenant which God made with Adam was without a mediatour hee had the keeping of his owne saluation in his owne hand but the couenant of grace with vs is bound vp in the mediator Christ Iesus to whom the Father hath committed vs that hee might redeeme and saue vs hee hath taken vs into his hand and none are able to take vs from him our saluation depends not on our selues it is not in our keeping but in his and therefore is it most certaine Principalities nor powers These names are not to terrifie or astray vs seeing as I said these reprobate Angels haue no power but that which is lent and limited of God Therefore Saint Iude saith that they are reserued in chaines vnder darknesse and here for our comfort we are to consider how that there are two chaines wherewith they are bound and other two wherewith they are tormented the first chaine that bindes them is their owne nature the second is Gods prouidence the first restraines them that they cannot doe the euill which they would the second restraineth them that they doe not the euill which they can Sathan being a naturall creature is bounded within the compasse of nature his insatiable malice would doe much more euill than by nature he is able to performe for aboue or contrary to nature can hee worke nothing and againe many euils is hee able to doe by naturall meanes which the prâ—uidence of God permits him not to doe The tormenting chaines which are vpon him are an euill conscience and the wrath of God for as he growes in euill doing so groweth his conscience worse and worse and the wrath of God accordingly encreaseth vpon him with which two he is continually tormented Nor things present nor things to come This is a great amplification of our suretie that neyther present euils inflicted vpon vs nor any euill to come can seperate vs
from the loue of God And hereof wee are warned that all our battailes are neyther present nor past some of them are to come let vs not waxe secure because of our fore-past victories When Israell came out of Egipt one nation followed them to pursue them but when theyâ—passed Iordan seauen nations came against them sure it is our hindmost battaile will be the heauiest and our last tentation greatest the horrour of hell the rottennesse of the graue the conscience of sinnes past the dolours of present death all standing vp at one time to impugne our faith but shall not be able to seperate vs from that loue of God wherein stands our life Againe wee are taught here that Christians are sure of perseuerance nothing to come can seperate vs from the loue of God this is proued first from the nature of GOD who is faithfull and will confirme vs vnto the end perfecting that which hee hath begunne in vs secondly from the nature of the seede whereof wee are begotten againe for it is immortall thirdly from the nature of that life which by that seed is communicated to vs it is the life of Christ which is not now any more subiect vnto death Neyther height nor depth By these I vnderstand Sathan hath two manner of wayes by which he wrestles against men some he mounts on the chariot of presumption others hee castâ— downe into the deepe of desperation by prosperitie hee puffes vp many to make their fall the more shamefull those tentations which he vsed against our blessed Sauiour doe wee think that hee will spare them against other men hee set him vp vpon the pinnacle of the temple of purpose if he could to haue throwne him downe and againe tooke him vp to the top of an high mountaine where making a shew to him of worldly kingdomes hee promised to giue them if hee would fall downe and worship him and albeit with these tentations hee did not preuaile against our blessed Sauiour yet how many in this world are daily bewitched with them that without any refusall they fall down and worship him But as Simon Magus while he assayed to flye from the top of the capitall vp into heauen was throwne downe to his destruction so shall the prosperitiâ— of those men bee their ruine and their high estate as a pinnacle whereupon they shall not continue Happy is the man whose heart is not exalted against God by any preferment that can come to him vpon the face of the earth for hee who rising in dignitie riseth also in pride against the Lord is raised vp as Pharaoh was that God may declare his power in casting him downe Nor depth The other sort of Sathans tentations tend vnto desperation whom hee seeth hee cannot puffe vp hee doth what hee can to cast downe by feares perturbations vvrong conceptions but our comfort is both by the Apostles testimonie and our owne experience wee may be cast downe but wee cannot perish Nor any other creature Now in the ende the Apostle doth draw his speach to the height his confidence is so great that not being content with the enumeration of aduersaries which hee hath made hee defieth yet all other whatsoeuer if any other be for hee speaketh this by way of supposition if there be yet any other creature than those whom I haue named I am sure be what they will they cannot seperate vs from the loue of Christ. Heâ—e in the last roome wee doe obserue the surety of a Christian aboue all other men in the world onely the Christian is sure his estate shall neuer be changed Worldlings may thinke with Babell in her prosperitie I shall neuer be moued and with the rich Glutton promise to themselues many yeeres to come but they shall be deceiued none of them shall continue in that slate wherein presently they stand the Lord shall driue them from their station as it were with wheeles and shall roll them like a ball as hee threatned to Shebna Pharaoh his pompe shall perish in the redde sea Nebuchadnezzar shall be changed from a Monarch of men vnto a companion of Beasts Manasses from the Pallace shall goe to the Prison and all the men of the world shall goe from the house to the graue their beautie and royall pompe shall consume as a Moth onely the Christian shall stand for euer in that happy vnion and fellowship with GOD this is the state of the Christian this is his life this is his glory and from it nothing present nor to come shall euer be able to transchange him Euerlasting praise therefore be to the Lord our God through Iesus Christ. Amen FINIS Act. 9. 15. Gen. 9. 27. Rom. 15. 19 2. Cor. 12. Philip. 3. 8. 1. Cor. 2. 9. Psal. 20. 1. Psal. 21. 1. Psal. 56 4. Psal. 18. 43 Gen. 49. 23. Gen. 49. 25. Psal. 21. 3. Psal. 18. 50 Gen. 12. 1 Psal. 68. 20 Reuel 9. 11. Numb 23. 8 Iob. 1. 10. 2. Kin. 18. Esa 37. 29. 2. Chr. 16. 9 Esa. 8. 12. Psal. 69. 9. Psal. 21. 7. Some books of holy Scripture meeter for vs then others are August de temp ser. 49. Why among the Epistles this to the Romanes is first Ierom. epist. ad Paulin. Two parts of this Chapter the first containes comfort against sinne The second comfortagainst the crosse This order of the Apostle is manifest out of his owne conclusion Rom. 8. 31. vers 33. 34. ver 35. Cant. 2. 4. Cant. 5. 1. Subdiuision of the first part Proposition Coherence of this Chapter with the former The Apostles former lamentation turned into a triumph Math. 17. 2. Psal. 50. 21. The life of a Christian is a mixed webbe wrought of trouble and comfort 2 Cor. 1. 3. 1 Pet. 1. 3. Bernard Psal. 125. 3. Hose 6. 2 Chrisost. in Mat. hom Papist wrongfully collect here that there is sin on or damnable act in them who are in Christ. Aquinas Caietane on this place Cypriain orat dom Reasons why the Lord suffers sin to remaine in the iustified man For the exercise of our Faith Aug. in Ioan. tract 41. 2. Tim. 2. 5. For our instruction that we may know what benefite we haue by Christ. Bernard For the greater glory of God and Sathans greater confusion Iosh. 10. 23. Rom. 16. 20 Ciril catech 8. 1 Cor. 15. 25 How Sathan is daily confounded in the godly Christians are not exempted from the condemnatory sentence of men But from the condemnatory sentence of God Iohn 5. 24. Three sundry dyats the Lord keepes against the wicked in the processe of their condemnation The first is kept against them in the iustice court of their owne Conscience Psal. 50. 5. â— Ioh. 3. 20 Aug. hom 50 The second is kept against them in the houre of death Aug. epist. ad Hesych The third dyat shall bee kept against them in the day of generall iudgement Dan. 12. 6. Reuel 10. 8. This iudgment shall proceede by
vs to grow and preserueth our soules in life Though he be in heauen and we on earth no distance of place can stay this vnion for seeing the members of the body howsoeuer scattered through sundry parts of the world so farre that many of them haue neuer seene others in the face are notwithstanding knit together by the band of one spirit into one holy communion why should it bee denyed but that the head and members of this mysticall body are also one by the same Spirit suppose the head be in heauen and the members on earth or what need is there to enforce for effecting of this vnion such a corporall presence of Christ in the Sacrament as cannot stand with the truth of Gods word Now the comforts that ariseth vnto vs of our communion with Christ are exceeding great for first we haue with him a communion of natures hee hath taken vpon him ours and hath communicated his nature vnto vs. Of the first after a sort all mankinde may glory forasmuch as Christ tooke not on the nature of Angels but the nature of man yet if there bee no more the comfort is small yea the condemnation of man is the greater that the Lord Iesus came vnto man in mans nature and man would not receiue him But as for the godly let them reioyce in this that the Lord Iesus hath not onely assumed our nature but also made vs pertakers of the diuine nature before hee assumed our nature hee sanctified it and now hauing by his owne spirit ioyned vs to himselfe wee may bee out of doubt hee shall not cease till he hath fully sanctified vs. It is a notable comfort that the worke of our perfect sanctification is not left vnto vs to doe the Lord Iesus hath taken it into his owne hand to performe it what then shall hinder it I am perswaded that hee who hath begunne this good worke in you will performe it against the day of Iesus Christ. Hee who at his pleasure turned water into Wine hee who made the bitter vvaters to become sweet hee who makes the wildernesse a fruitfull land and the barren woman to become the mother of many children in a word hee who calles things which are not and causeth them to bee is hee not able to make sinners become Saints or shall hee not perfect that worke of the new creation which hee hath begunne in vs As for man he may begeâ— children but cannot renew their nature he may marrie a Wife but cannot change her conditions no more than Moses qui Aethiopissam duxit sed non potuit aethiopissae mutare colorem who married an Aethiopian woman but could not change her colour But the Lord Iesus hath so loued his Church that hee shall make head and remanent members euidently shewes that this spirituall life is but weake in vs. Last of all by our ingrafting in Christ wee haue this comfort that we are sure of the benefite of perseuerance and that because as the Apostle saith we beare not the root the root beares vs our saluation depends not vpon vs for that were an vnsure foundation it depends vpon him because we are in him we grow and increase yea the older we be in Christ the more we fasten our roote and flourish for they who are planted in the Courts of the Lord flourish in their old age and bring forth fruit and wheras other branches may be pulled away from their stocke eyther by violence of winde or force of the hands of men or at least consumed by length of time it shall not be so with them who are in Christ they keepe not him but are kept by him because I am not changed therefore yee are not consumed O yee sonnes of Iacob but as to those who are not planted in Iesus bee who they will they shall be pulled vp they shall not continue in honour The Princes of the earth their breath shall decay they shall returne to their earth and their thoughts shall perish the Iudges thereof shall bee made as vanitie as though they were not planted nor sowen or as if their stocke tooke no root in the earth The Lord shall blow vpon them and they shall wither the whirle-wind shal take them away like stubble O silly glory of worldlings which dieth to them oftentimes before themselues at least with them their beâ—utie consumes when they go from the house to the graue their pomp doth not descend after them Onely happy sure is the state of that man who is in Christ neyther life nor death things present nor things to come shal seperate him from the loue of God Now the lessons of instruction are chiefely two first is a lesson of humilitie seeing it is so that in Christ we haue life let vs be humble in our selues forasmuch as that which we haue we haue of another so taught the auncient fathers agreeable to holy scripture eleauen hundred yeers before vs which I mark the rather to point out the agreement in one truth between vs and the Fathers of the primitiue Church Ita sunt in vite palmites vt illi nihil conferant sed inde accipiant vnde viuant sic quippe vitis est in palmitibus vt vitale subministret illis non sumat ab ijs ac per hoc manentem in se habere Christum manere in Christo discipulis prodest non Christo the branches are so in the vine that they giue nothing vnto it but receiues from it that sap of grace wherby they liue but the vine is so in the branches that it ministers life vnto them and receiues nothing from them that therefore Christ abideth in vs and we in him is profitable to vs who are his Disciples but not vnto himselfe Thus they learned from our Sauiour who in his speach to his Disciples denyes that man is able to doe any good thing without him as the branch can beare no fruit except it abide in the root no more can ye except ye abide in me for without me ye are able to do nothing And that which is subioyned doth yet more humble vs praeciso palmite potest de viuae radice alius pullulare qui autem praecisus est non potest sine radice viuere though a branch be cut off from the root another may spring out but the branch which is cut off cannot liue without the root it withereth and is meet for nothing but the fire he that falleth away from Christ shall perish like a withered branch but the Lord Iesus shal not want another who shall grow vp in him we stand by faith let vs not be high minded but feare The second is a lesson of thankfulnesse wee who professe that we are in Christ should be fruitfull in good works herein saithâ—our Sauiour is my Father glorified that yee beare much fruit There is such a liuely power in this stock of
vnproperly compared to a Rock in the sea which being beaten on euery side vvith vvaues raysed by the wind yet stands vnmoueable vnbroken it selfe breakes them that assaults it Againe yee see that the Apostle who speaking of the estate of christians vpon earth sayd before wee are slaine all the day long saith now we are more then conquerours strange it is that hee who is slaine should be a conquerour but so it is the christian battell euery way is meruailous paâ—tly because it is foughten within and against himselfe and partly because then is hee a conquerour when â—ee seemes to be vanquished being the member of that head who obtayned greatest victory vvhen hee suffered most shamefull death Through him that loued vs. The Apostle doth so giue comfort to the christian that he reserues the glory vnto the Lord the strength whereby we preuaile is from him that loued vs not from our selues It is very comfortable to consider that a christian is not a man standing or liuing by himselfe he hath his being in Christ as long as there is life in him we cannot die it is true that sometime being deserted and left to our selues we fall away for a time as we may see in Peter vvho at the voyce of a Damsell denyed the Lord Iesus and this is to teach vs that the praise of our standing perseuering and ouer-comming pertaines to the Lord. Verse 38 For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come 29. Nor height nor any other creature c. THe Apostle continuing in his triumph mounts to an higher sort of enimies and hee also proclaimes defiance to them affirming that neither death nor life nor Angels nor things present nor things to come nor any other creature whatsoeuer if any other be are able to seperate vs from the loue of God Of the which wee haue first to learne that a Christian man in this life may be perswaded of his saluation neyther is it to be accounted presumption for as much as in so doing hee leanes not vpon himselfe but vpon the word and promise of God which the Lord hath confirmed by an oath that hee may make sure to the heyres of promise the stabilitie of his counsell Where if the aduersary obiect that the word of the Lord out of all doubt is true and that they who beleeues and repents shall be saued but euery one who saith hee beleeues doth not beleeue and so cannot be perswaded of his saluation To this I answere that hee who repents vnfainedly and beleeues knowes as certainely that hee hath repentance and faith as hee who hath in his hand a iewell knowes that he hath iâ— and therefore may conclude with himselfe that the promises of saluation made to the penitent beleeuers belongs vnto him for albeit it be true there be many in the Church like vnto those fiue foolish Virgins who suppose they haue that which they shall not be found to haue in the end yet is there no reason to conclude that because some are deceiued all are deceiued because some thinke they haue faith and haue it not therefore none can be sure that they haue faith Out of all doubt where the Lord Iesus dwelleth by his Spirit hee makes himselfe knowne to them in whom hee dwelleth according to that Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates and these names giuen to the holy Spirit of Adoption doth also confirme the same truth for hee is called the Seale the Witnesse earnest penny of God which names hee receiues from his effects and operations which hee workes in them to whom hee is giuen eyther therfore must the aduersary say that there are none to whom the Spirit is giuen or they must graunt that they to whom he is giuen are sure the first they will not affirme the second they cannot with reason deny for what is this to say that a man hath the Seale the Witnesse and the Earnest of God giuen to confirme the promise of God and yet all these doe not make him who hath them sure of saluation But here least that which I haue said discourage them who are of weake consciences let them know that this assurance of saluation doth not alway continue with the Christian in a like measure for here wee doe so beleeue that we want not our owne vnbeleife and albeit our faith when it is in the full strength ouer-comes all doubting yet is it oftentimes so weake that it is againe disquieted with doubting for which if we pray instantly with the Father of that child Lord I beleeue but helpe my vnbeliefe wee may be sure at length Faith shall ouercome and thus farre teach we concerning the assurance which the Christian man hath of his saluation But as for that Religion which teacheth doubtings and pronounceth them accursed who hold that a man may be assured of saluation wee accurse it as a doctrine enimie to Faith and Saluation such as is the doctrine of the counsell of Trent Si quis dixerit hominem renatum teneri ex side ad credendum se certo esse ex numero praedestinatorum anathema sit It is strange to see that where they teach a man is able to fulfill the whole Law of God and by his workes to merit eternall life yet they accurse him if hee say hee is sure to be saued so directly doth one point of their false doctrine impugne another But indeed it is no meruaile if their Religion can yeeld no comfort nor certaintie of saluation to the weary conscience because they draw men from off the foundation Iesus Christ in whom onely it is promised that wee shall finde rest to our soules and would make vs to leane vpon rotten foundations such as the merit of Masses the vertue of our workes and humane satisfaction and because all these cannot yet satisfie the doubting consciences of men they suspend them with a vaine hope of greater comfort which they shall finde in their forged and comfortlesse Purgatorie thus doe they hold the poore people comfortlesse both in life and in death But as for vs wee will abide on the rocke renouncing all purgation but the purgation of his bloud wee will content our selues with Iesus Christ in whom the Father is well pleased that in him we may finde rest to our soules which neyther in our selues nor in any other creature shall wee euer be able to finde Let them call it Presumption Non arrogantia est sed fides praedicare quod acceperis non superbia est sed deuotio it is not presumption but Faith or otherwise if wee say vnto him who hath begotten vs by the lawer of regeneration Pater bona praesumptio est Father this said Augustine is a good presumption And to the same effect said Bernard Propter hoc data sunt signa quaedam
giuen vs such deliuerances shall we returne any more to breake thy Commaundements but much more should it binde vs to doe seruice to our Lord Iesus seeing hee hath made vs free by his bloud shall wee againe make our selues the seruants of sinne The Lord neuer shewed a greater mercie on man then this that hee gaue his sonne Iesus Christ vnto the death for vs and there can be no higher contempt done to God by man then if after so great a loue shewed vs wee shall still refuse to bee his seruants much will be required of him to whom much is giuen those Gentiles to whom the Lord reuealed himselfe in goodnes onely as their Creator because they did not glorifie him the Apostle saith that the wrath of God was reuealed from heauen vpon them and what wrath then maist thou looke for to whom the Lord hath manifested himselfe in mercy also as thy Redeemer in Christ and yet thou wilt not glorifie him thou receiuest not him whom thy Father hath sent vnto thee neyther wilt thou liue vnto him that gaue himselfe to dye for thee but by thy wicked life thou crucifiest againe the Sonne of God and treadest vnder thy feet the bloud of the new couenant certainely Sodome and Gomorrha shall be in an easier estate in the day of iudgement then the wicked of this generation For in this last age the Lord hath spoken to vs by his Son he hath none greater to send after him those labourers of the vineyard that slew the Seruants of the great King were not for that instantly punished but when the Sonne came and they had murthered him also then was their iudgement no longer delayed It was not written for the Iewes onely in whom it was first accomplished but for vs also to whom the Father in this last age hath sent his owne Sonne and by whom hee hath spoken vnto vs from himselfe if we despise him there remaines no more but a violent looking for of iudgement The third dutie is that for Christs sake wee loue vnfainedly those vvhom hee hath recommended vnto vs our goodnesse cannot extend vnto the Lord neither haue vve him vvalking vvith vs vpon earth that vve may minister vnto him may wash his feete and annoynt his blessed bodie vvith precious oyntments therefore should our delight bee vpon these his excellent ones that are vpon earth When Ionathan was dead Dauid for Ionathans sake shewed kindnesse to Mephibosheth our Ionathan is not dead hee liues and raignes in heauen yet can we not declare our kindnesse to himselfe let vs seeke some Mephibosheth some of Christs little weake and impotent children of vvhom he hath said what yee doe to one of these little ones for my sake is done to mee and let vs shew kindnesse vnto them for the great loue which the Lord Iesus hath shewed vnto vs. And that for sinne These wordes containe the end of Christs manifestation in the flesh which is that in our nature hee might beare the punishment of our sinnes satisfie the iustice of God and so abolish sinne Saint Iohn makes this cleare when he saith that hee appeared to destroy the workes of the diuell that is sinne for sinne being remoued there is nothing in man but the workmanship of God By this it is euident how highly they offend God who abuseth the death of Christ to nourish themselues in their sinne being the bolder to commit sinne because Christ dyed for them surely this is to turne the grace of God into wantonnesse The Lord came to abolish sinne not to nourish it Christ once suffered the iust for the vniust not that we should still abide vniust but that hee might bring vs to God Thou therefore who continuest vniust maist say as thou hast heard that there is a Sauiour come into the world but can not say in truth that there is a Sauiour come to thee For where Christ comes hee worketh that worke for which hee came namely hee destroyes the worke of the diuell that is hee enfeebles and abolishes at the last the power of sinne Condemned sinne Sinne by a metaphor is said to be condemned for as they vvho are condemned are depriued of all the liberty power and priuiledges they had before and hath no more any place to appeare in iudgement so hath the Lord Iesus disanulled sinne that it hath now no power to command and condemne vs hee hath spoyled principalities and powers and triumphed ouer them in the Crosse and hath nayled vnto it the obligation of ordinances which was against vs and so sustulit illam quasi authoritatem peccati qua homines detinebat in inferno hath taken away that povver and authoritie of sinne whereby it detayned men vnder damnation This hath hee done most lawfully and in iudgement as vve shall heare bearing our sinnes in his blessed body on the Crosse hee hath suffered that punishment vvhich the law required to bee inflicted on man for sinne and that in the flesh that is in the same nature of man vvhich had offended For this word of Condemnation imports a iust and lawful proceeding of a Iudge in iudgement which that vve may the better vnderstand let vs consider that there are two generall and head iustice Courts vvhich the Lord hath set vnto men the one is holden already the other is to bee holden in the first the sinnes of all the elect are lawfully condemned that themselues may be absolued in the second the persons of all the reprobate shall bee iusty condemned In the first by the ordinance of God the Father our sinnes were laid vpon the back of Iesus Christ and a law imposed to him which was neuer giuen to any other neyther Angell or man to wit the law of a Mediator that hee should make vp peace betweene God and man loue God in such sort that hee should by suffering preserue the glory of his Fathers iustice and yet make manifest the glory of his mercy that hee should loue his brethren in such sort that hee should take the burden of their transgressions vpon him which as by the Father it vvas inioyned vnto him so did hee vvillingly vndertake it And therefore hauing our sinnes imputed vnto him hee presented himselfe for vs vpon the Crosse as vpon a pannell before the Iudge to vnderly the law which craued that our sinnes should be punished to the death The decree according to the law is executed death yea an accursed death as the punishment of sinne is laide vpon Christ wherevpon there followes of equitie an absolution of all those for whom the Lord Iesus suffered as Cautioner their sinne is condemned and made of no force to condemne them hereafter The other generall iustice court will bee holden in the last day wherein all flesh must appeare before the Lord as their superiour and in that supreame and last Court of iustice shall bee condemned the persons of all those whose sinnes were not condemned before in Christ
Iesus onely therefore blessed are they who are in Christ Hee that heares my wordes and belieues in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life And lastly we may obserue here what a powerfull Sauiour wee haue when to the iudgement of man he was weakest then did hee the greatest worke that euer was done in the world he was powerfull in working of miracles in his life but more powerfull in his death for then hee darkened the Sunne hee shooke the earth hee made the rockes to cleaue he rent the vaile of the temple a sunder and caused the dead to rise Mortuum Caesarem quis metuat sed morte Christi quid efficacius if Caesar bee once dead who will feare Christ euen when hee is dead is terrible to his enimies nothing can be more effectuall then his death By it he did a greater worke than was the creation of the world by it he brought in new heauens and a new earth by suffering death he destroyed him who had the power of death when hee was condemned of man hee condemned sinne that it should not condemne man passus est vt infirmus operatus vt fortis â—e suffered as a weake man but wrought as a strong one Sicut serpens mortuus c. As that Serpent without life erected by Moses in the wildernesse ouercame the liuing Serpents that stung Israell so the Lord Iesus by suffering death hath slaine that serpent that liuing in vs had slung vs vnto death Hic vides mortem morte peremptam maledictum maledicto extinctum per quae Diabolus iam antea valebat per ea ipsa tyrannidem ipsius esse destructam here thou seest saith Chrisostome death slaine by death and the tyrannie of Sathan destroyed by these same meanes by which before most of all he preuailed O wonderfull worke surely the weaknesse of God is stronger then man hee is that stronge One indeed stronger then Samson When the Philistines thought they had him sure within the portes of Azzah hee arose at midnight and tooke the doores of the gates of the Cittie and the two posts and carried them away with the bars thereof on his shoulders vp to the top of the mountaine which is before Hebron but our mightie Conquerour and deliuerer the Lord Iesus hath in a more excellent manner magnified his power for being closed in the graue clasped in the bands of death and a stone rolled to the mouth of the graue the Sepulcher sealed and guarded with souldiers he rose againe the third day before the rising of the Sunne he carried like a victor the bars and posts of death away as vpon his shoulders and vpon the mount of Oliues hee ascended on high leading captiuitie captiue Like as therefore wee receiued before great comfort through the consideration of Christs incomprehensible loue toward vs so is it now confirmed by the meditation of his power Let Sathan boast like Rabsache that the Lord is not able to deliuer Ierusalem out of his hands hee is but a blasphemous Lyar the Lord will rebuke him and will shortly tread Sathan vnder our feet it is the curse of the wicked hee shall be oppressed and there shall bee none to deliuer him but blessed bee the Lord who hath prouided a strong deliuerer for vs who certainly shall set vs free from our enimies and destroy all the oppressours of our soules Glory therefore be vnto him for euer Verse 4. That the righteousnesse of the Law might be fulfilled in vs who walke not after the Flesh but after the Spirit THe Apostle hauing taught vs in the former verse how the Lord Iesus hath freed vs from the condemning power of sinne doth now let vs see how we are freed also from the commanding power of sinne for hee sets downe this to bee the first and neerest end of Christs death in respect of vs the renouation of our nature and conformitie thereof with God his holy law which hee expresses more cleerely in another place when he saith that Christ gaue himselfe to the death for his Church that hee might sanctifie it and make it to himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should bee holy and without blame This is the end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe and whereof hee cannot bee frustrate as hee hath begunne it so he shall finish it he shall conforme vs to the law the righteousnesse thereof shall be fulfilled in vs there shall not bee left in our nature so much as a sinfull motion or desire but hee shall at the last present vs pure and without blame to his Father This righteousnesse of the law I vnderstand to be that perfect obedience to the Commaundements thereof which the law requires flowing from the perfect loue of God and our neighbour and it is fulfilled in vs two manner of wayes first by application or imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs he is our head and we his members and are so vnited with him that now we are not to be taken as sundry but as one bodie with him By vertue of the which communion it comes to passe that that which is ours is his and that which is his is ours so that in our head we haue fulfilled the law satisfied Gods iustice for our sinnes Secondly it will be fulfilled in vs by our perfect sanctification though now wee haue but begunne obedience and in part the Lord Iesus at the last shall bring it in vs to perfection The Iesuites of Rhemes in their marginall notes on this Verse collects a note which the word here rendreth not vnto them Wee see say they that the Law which is Gods commandements may be kept that the keeping therof is iustice and that in Christian men that is fulfilled by Christs grace which by the force of the Law could neuer be fulfilled that the law may be fulfilled and also shall be fulfilled by the grace of Christ who hath deliuered vs from the Law of sinne is euident out of the Apostles words we confesse it and are comforted in it this is an end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe that he may make vs perfectly answerable to that holinesse which the Law requireth and in his owne good time he shall bring it to passe but that the Law is fulfilled of men in this life cannot be proued neyther out of this place nor any other place of holy Scripture Damnatum est pecatum non extinctum Sinne is condemned sayeth Caietane one of their owne but not extinguished And hereunto beside infinite testimonies of holy Scripture agreeth also the suffrages of pure antiquitie Non dicit familia tua sana sum medicum non requiro sed sana me Domine sanabor It is not saith Ambrose the voyce of thy familie I am whole and needes not a Phisition but
that one of his friends asking from him a certaine thing which hee refused and being impatient of the refusall did say to him What auaileth thy friendship to me if I cannot obtaine that which I craue returned back to his friend this answere And what auaileth to me thy friendship if for thy sake I must doe that which becomes me not If such equitie be in a mortall man that hee vvill not graunt an vnlawfull thing euen to his tender friend how much more are we to thinke that it is in the Lord our God Away therefore with these cursed and abhominable sacrifices as to present vnto the Lord petitions which are not agreeable vnto his holy will And last to conclude this that wee may be encouraged to prayer let vs consider vvhat excellent priuiledge this is that the Christian as oft as hee pleaseth hath libertie to speake vnto the Lord his God The Persians thought it a piece of their sillie glory not to graunt accesse easily vnto their subiects yea not to those of most noble ranck therefore yee see how afraid Hester the Queene was to goe in vnto the King vnsent for But the Lord our God King of Kings proclaimes vnto vs free accesse as oft as we are disposed to call vpon him ready at all times to extend the scepter of his peace toward those vvho seeke him in spirit and truth Yea though vvith Dauid thou preuent the morning and rise at midnight to call vpon him thou shalt find him euen then waiting vpon thee Inuenire potes praeuenire non potes come vvhen thou vvilt thou maist find him but canst not preuent him Let vs therefore vse our libertie well and see wee neglect not to begin in time our acquaintance with the Lord by frequent speaking vnto him if so be vve looke hereafter for euer to remaine vvith him Verse 28. Also wee know that all things worke together for the best to them who loue God euen to them who are called according to his purpose NOw followeth the Apostles third and last principall argument of comfort taken from the prouidence of God which so ouer-ruleth all things that fall out in the vvorld that hee causeth them to vvorke together and that for the best vnto those vvho loue him and among the rest our afflictions are so farre from being preiudiciall to our saluation that by the prouideâ—ce of God vvhich is the daily executer of his purpose vvorking all things according to the counsell of his vvill they become meanes helping vs forward to that end namely conformitie with Christ vvhereunto God hath appointed vs. The comfort is summarily set downe in these words All things worke together for the best to them who loue God the confirmation thereof is broken vp in these vvords euen to them who are called according to his purpose and the explication is subioyned in the two subsequent Veâ—ses Also That is beside all the comfort vvhich I haue giuen you before I giue you yet this further not one but manifold are the comforts vvhich the Lord hath discouered for his children in holy Scriptures Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuers him out of them all that is for euery trouble the Lord hath a seuerall deliuerance Euery tentation sayeth the Apostle hath the owne issue euery horne that riseth against vs to push vs hath an hammer attending vpon it to represse it saith the Prophet Esau mourned on Isaac albeit he vvas prophane yet he cryed pittifully Hast thou but one blessing my Father but vvee with the holy Apostle may blesse our heauenly Father who doth so comfort vs in all our tribulations that as the sufferings of Christ abound in vs so our consolations abound through Christ. The store-house of his consolations can neuer be emptied The Lord our God hath not delt niggardly nor sparingly with vs but a good measure of consolation pressed down and running ouer hath he giuen vs in our bosome his holy name be praised therefore And yet how little is all this vvhich now vvee receiue in comparison of those inestimable ioyes prepared for vs the like vvhereof the eye neuer saw the eare neuer heard the heart did neuer vnderstand Surely the greatest measure of comfort vvee haue in this life is but the earnest penny of that principall which shall be giuen vs hereafter if the first fruites of heauenly Canaan be so delectable how shall the full masse thereof abundantly content vs when wee shall behold the face of our God in righteousnesse and shall be filled with his image and with that fulnesse of ioy which is in his presence and those pleasures which are at his right hand for euermore Wee know If yee ponder the Apostles words yee shall finde that by an Emphasis hee restaines this knowledge to the Children of God excluding worldlings and naturalists from it The spirituall man discerneth all things but hee himselfe is iudged of no man A naturall man cannot vnderstand the things that are of God The Gospell is wisedome indeed but wisedome in a misterie and wisedome among them that are perfect Euery article of our Faith and point of Christian doctrine euery priuiledge of a Christian is a mysterie no meruail therfore that the Gospell be foolishnes to the naturall man who perisheth the excellent things of christianitie can be knowne of none but those who possesse them the value or rather vanitie of earthly Iewels hath beene better knowne of some vvho neuer had them than of others who haue enioyed them but the Iewels of God Children such as Peace Righteousnesse and Ioy in the holy Ghost can be knowne of none but of him vvho â—oth possesse them the new Name none can know but hee vvho hath it neyther can any man know the sweetnesse of hid Manna vnlesse he taste it If you goe and speake to a Worldling of inward peace and spirituall ioy or of the priuiledges of a Christian yee shall seeme to him a Barbarian or one that speaks a strange language which hee doth not vnderstand or if hee himselfe speake of them as hee hath learned by hearing or reading yet shall hee speake like a Bird vttering voyces which shee vnderstandeth not As the brute beast knowes not the excellencie of mans life and therefore doth delight it selfe with Hay and Prouender seeking no better because it knoweth no better so the naturall man knoweth not the excellencie of a Christian and therefore doth disdaine him and esteeme him a foole a madde man and the off-scowring of the world hee takes the doung of the earth in his armes for his inheritance if hee can obtaine the portion of Esau that the fatnesse of the earth may be his dwelling place if his vvheat and his oyle abound to him hee careth for no more hee knoweth not what it is to haue his soule made glad vvith the light of the countenance of God This is your miserable condition O yee wretched
forget them as thou committest them yet the Apostle tels thee that thou hast laid them vp in a treasurie Yea not onely hast thou laid vp in store thy sinnes but with euery sinne hast gathered a portion of wrath proportionable to thy sinne which thou shalt know in that day wherein the Lord shall breake vp thy treasure and open the booke of thy conscience and set thy sinnes in order before thee then shall thine owne wickednesse correct thee and thy turning backe shall reproue thee then shalt thou know and behâ—ld that it is an euill thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God Thou shalt be astonished to see such a multitude of witnesses standing vp against thee those sins which thou hast cast behind thy backe thou shalt see them set in the light of the countenance of God woe then shall be vnto thee for the Lord then shall turne thine owne wayes vpon thiâ—e head the Lord shall giue thee to drincke of that cuppe which thou hast filled with thine owne hand when thou shalt haue accomplished the measure of thine iniquitie and hee shall double his stripes vpon thee according to the number of thy transgressions But as for the children of God if yee doe aske when they are at the best I answere praysed be God our worst is gone our good is begunne our best is at hand As our Sauiour said to his kinsmen so may wee say to the worldlings your time is alway but my time is not yet come We were at the worst immediately before our conuersion for our whole life till then was a walking with the children of disobedience in the broad way that leads to perdition then we were at the worst when we had proceeded furthest in the way of vnrighteousnesse for then we were furthest from God Our best began in the day of our recalling wherein the Lord by his word and holy spirit called vpon vs and made vs change our course turning our backes vpon Sathan and our faces toward the Lord and so caused vs to part company with the children of disobedience that where they went on in their sinnes to iudgement we came home with the penitent forlorne vnto our fathers familie That was a a happy day of diuision betweene vs and our sinnes in that day with Israell we entred into the borders of Canaan to Gilgall there were we circumsised and the shame of Egipt taken from vs euen our sinne which is our shame indeede and which wee brought vvith vs euen from our mothers wombe The Lord graunt that we may keepe it in thankfull remembrance and that we may count it a double shame to returne againe to the bondage of Egipt to serue any more that Prince of darknesse in bricke and clay that is to haue fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknâ—sse but that like the redeemed of the Lord wee may walke from strength to strength till we appeare before the face of our God in Sion Alway this difference of estates betweene the godly and wicked should learne vs patience let vs not seeke that in the earth which our gratious father in his most wise dispensation hath reserued for vs in heauen Let vs not be like the foolish Iewes who loued the place of their banishment in Babell better than their home Now our life is hid with God in Christ and we know not yet what we shall be but we know when hee shall appeare we shall be like him the Lord shall carrie vs by his mercy and bring vs by his strength into his holy habitation hee shall plant vs in the mountaine of his inheritance euen the place which he hath prepared and sanctuary which he hath established then euerlasting ioy shall be vpon our head and sorrow and mourning shall flye from vs for euer And now till the Lord haue accomplished his worke in vs let vs not faint because the wicked floorish how euer they prosper they are to bee pittied more than enuied let them eate and drinke and be merry sure it is they will neuer see a better life then that which presently they enioy they haue receiued their consolation in this life and haue gotten their portion in this present world Surely no tongue can expresse their miserie and yet as Samuel mourned for Saul when God reiected him and Ieremie wept in secret for the pride of his people that would not repent of their sinnes how can wee but take vp a bitter lamentation for many of you whom in this time of grace wee see to be strangers from grace wee wish from our harts ye were not like the kinsemen of Lot they thought hee had but mocked when hee told them of an iminent iudgement and therefore for no request would goe out of Sodome but tarryed till the fire of the Lords indignation did consume them but that rather as Sarah followed Abraham from Caldee to Canaan so yee would take vs by the hand and goe with vs from hell to heauen but alas the lusts of the flesh hold you captiue or then the loue of the world doth bewitch you but all of them in the end shall deceiue you for all the labour vnder the Sunne is but vanitie and vexation of Spirit when you haue finished your taske you shall be lesse content than you were at the beginning you shall be as one wakened out of a dreame who in his sleepe thought hee was possessor of great riches but vvhen hee awaketh behold hee hath nothing or not vnlike that rich man who said in his securitie Now my Soule thou hast much goods for many yeares and euen vpon the next day redacted to such extreame necessitie with that other who dispised Lazarus that he had not so much as a drop of cold vvater to coole his tongue withall then shall you lament and say We haue wearied our selues in the way of iniquitie and it did not profit vs. Alas how shall I learne you to be wise Is not this a pittifull blindnesse the Lord vvhen hee created man made him Lord aboue all his creatures and now vnthankfull man sets euery creature in his heart aboue the Lord. O fearefull ingratitude Doe you so reward the Lord O foolish people and vnwise There is nothing which yee conceit to be good but when yee vvant it you are carefull to seeke it vvhen you haue it you are carefull to keepe it onely you are carelesse of the Lord Iesus though hee be that incomparable iewell vvhich bringeth light in darkenesse life in death comfort in trouble and mercy against all iudgement ye should set him as a signet on your heart as an ornament on your head and put him on as that glorious attire vvhich gets you place to stand before God But vvhat paines doe ye take to seeke him vvhat assurance haue yee that yee are in him or vvhat mourning doe yee make for that yee doe not possesse him can you say in truth that the
Peter when hee heard that Iesus behoued to suffer because hee loued him said to him Maister pittie thy selfe but receiued this answere Goe behinde me Sathan for thou vnderstandest not the things that are of God culpans in vtroque non affectum sed consilium blaming in them both not their affection but their vnderstanding yet afterward when Peter was better informed that Iesus behoued to dye and rise the third day hee disswaded him no more but rather promised that hee would dye with him hee had now learned to loue Iesus not onely with his heart but also with his minde not earnestly onely but also wisely yet when it came to the poynt hee denyed his Maister at the voyce of a Damsell because hee had not learned to loue him with strength as hee did afterward when he had receiued the holy Spirit in greater measure hee loued Iesus euen to the very death with so strong an affection that before the Counsell hee choosed rather to dye for Christ than to denye him Licet vitam tunc minime posuit deposuit tamen in so much that albeit hee lost not his life yet hee freely laid it downe for Iesus These are thee three whereunto wee are to aspyre in all our life to loue the Lord heartely to loue him wisely for inconsiderate zeale and temerarious precipitation doth not please him and to loue him with so strong an affection that wee chose rather to suffer death than to forsake him But alas how farre are wee from this holy disposition who can say hee hath attained to that measure of holy Loue which the Law of God requireth in him and therefore should vve endeuour to grow daily in loue earnestly praying the Lord that hee vvould breath by his Spirit vpon that little sparke of heauenly life vvhich hee hath created in our hearts that it be not extinguished with the ashes of our corruption but may increase and become a great flame to burne vp our affections with such a loue of God as may carry vp all the powers of our soule toward him To this effect let vs meditate frequently vpon these foure causes for vvhich wee should loue the Lord first for that which hee is in himselfe to wit the fountaine of all goodnesse the greatest and supreame good if it be good that man would haue let him loue the Lord to vvhom there is none like in goodnes inuenito si potes aliquid pretiosius Deo dabitur tibi finde out if thou canst any thing more pretious than God and it shall bee giuen thee The Platonists by the light of nature saw that all the pulchritude and beautie which shineth in the creature vvas but spendor quidam summi illius boni which should transport vs in our affection toward him from whom it came Pulchrum coelum pulchra terra sed pulchrior qui fecit illa the heauen and earth are beautifull but more beautifull is hee who made them and therefore as oft as any good in the creature beginneth to steale our heart after it let vs in our affection goe vp to the Creator considering that the Lord hath not made these beautifull or profitable creatures that we should go a whooring after them but that by them as steps we should climbe vp to him that made them and rest in him The second cause that may breed the loue of God in vs if we meditate vpon it is that the Lord hath first loued vs Inuenimus eum sed non praeuenimus we haue found him but we did not preuent him we knovv him novv but were first knowne of him hee found vs first and that euen vvhen vve vvere enimies vnto him dilexit non existentes imo resistentes he loued vs vvhen vve vvere not yea vvhen vve vvere rebels against him and shall vve not novv being reconciled by the death of his sonne endeauour to loue him againe Thirdly the Lord by his continuall gifts hath testified his loue to vs he hath not beene vnto vs as a wildernesse or as a land of darknes if we vvill remember and tell what the Lord hath done to our soule vvee shall finde vvee are ouercome with the multitude of his mercies and there is none that hath deserued the loue of our hearts comparable to the Lord. If our loue be free let vs set it vpon him who is most worthy to be loued and if it be venall let vs also giue it vnto him who hath giuen vs most for it And fourthly it shall waken in vs the loue of God if vve consider in our hearts what great things the Lord hath promised to giue vnto vs euen such as the eye hath not seene and the eare hath neuer heard life without death youth without age light without darkenesse ioy without sadnes a kingdome without a change and in a word he shall then giue vs a blessed life non de his quae condidit sed de seipso not of those things which hee hath made but of himselfe But to returne to our former purpose that we may know vvhether this holy loue be created in our hearts by the spirit of grace or no we must try it by the fruits and effects of loue whereof novv it shall content vs to touch a few First it is the nature of Loue that it earnestly desires and seekes to obtaine that which is beloued Hereby shalt thou knovv whether thy affection of loue be ordered by Christ or remaine as yet disordered by Sathan The affection which Christ hath sanctified will follow vpward seeking to be there where he is Euery thing naturally returnes to the owne originall as the waters go downe to the deep from whence they came so carnall loue powred out like water returnes to Sathan who begat it and carries miserable man captiued with it downward to the bottomles pit but holy loue being as a sparke of heauenly fire kindled in our hearts by the holy Ghost ascends continually and rauishes vs vpward toward the Lord from whom it came not suffâ—ing vs to rest till we inioy him Let this then be the first tryall of our loue if wee vse carefully those holy meanes by which vve keepe and entertaine familiaritie with our God it is an argument that vve loue him and what other meanes is there by which man vpon earth is familiar with God but the exercises of the word and prayer Godly Dauid who protests in some places that he loued the Lord prooues it in other by the like of these reasons O how loue I thy law it is my meditation continually and againe I haue loued the habitation of thine house and the place where thine honour dwels One thing haue I desired of the Lord that I may dwell in the house of my God all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to visit his holy temple As this doth serue for the comfort of those who delight in the exercise of
in this that Christians are without a Crosse yea rather he shewes it is the lot of Gods children to be exercised with all sorts of crosses but herein hee reioyces that no crosse can seperate vs from the loue of God In this quarrell the Apostle prouokes all enimies whatsoeuer corporall or spirituall present or to come and against them all he takes vp the triumph in his owne name and in the name of all the children of God Neuerthelesse in all these things we are more then conquerours through him that loued vs. By the loue of Christ we are to vnderstand here that loue wherwith God in Christ hath loued vs for so he expounds it himselfe through him that loued vs. It is true also that the sense of our loue to God once shed abroad in our harts by the holy ghost can neuer fully nor finally be taken from vs I say fully and finally because of those inward tentations wherewith Gods children are so exercised that the sense of that loue in them is greatly diminished but in all those spirituall desertions oppressions Faith ouercomes at length and lets vs see the face of God our mercifull father shining toward vs in Christ we may be cast downe but we cannot perish if Peter be ready to sincke Iesus Christ shall succour him But as I said by the Loue of God I vnderstand that loue which hee hath borne toward vs from this most constant loue it comes to passe that wee who are weake and silly creatures cannot be ouercome notwithstanding the multitude of mightie enimies that are against vs. If our saluation were in our owne custodie and wee stoode by our owne strength the smallest tentation would ouercome vs our feet are ready to slide and then our feeble hands le ts goe that hold of mercy which once wee had gotten but howsoeuer we loose our hold the Lord holds it fast for vs wee may change but hee remaines the same because the Lord hath loued vs and whom once he loueth he loueth to the ende therefore is it that it cannot be but well with vs hee loued vs before wee were yea before the world was made If we search the beginning of Gods Loue towards vs wee may runne vp in our thought to the beginning of the world but cannot attaine to the beginning of this Loue before the mountaines were made and thou hadst formed the world euen from euerlasting to euerlasting thou art our God Likewise we are taught here that the end vvhich Sathan proposeth to himselfe in all tentations is to seperate vs from the loue of God vvhich notwithstanding he shall neuer effectuate There is a couenant knit vp betweene God and man the band whereof is Iesus Christ this Couenant Sathan doth what he can to dissolue it by alluring vs to sinne and accusing vs to God on Gods part he cannot preuaile on our part he assaults continually but in vaine also because the Lord vvho hath made a couenant with vs keepes vs also vvith him so that though vvee be tempted vve cannot be ouercome This is euident in Iobs tentations it was neyther the affliction of his body the losse of his children nor goods which Sathan craued so much as to empty his heart of the loue of God and make him to blaspheme If vve remembred this it vvould make vs endeauour to possesse our soules in patience in all our troubles for so oft as those things vvhich vve loue are seperate from vs Sathans end is to seperate vs from our God vvhom vve should loue aboue all things And in very deed this is a proper mark of the Children of God that hovveuer their outvvard estate change their heart is neuer changed from the loue of God they are Godly in prosperitie but more Godly in aduersitie the more they are troubled the neerer they draw vnto the Lord as fire in not quenched with wind but made greater so the loue of God waxeth stronger in the hearts of Gods children by tribulation whereas the wicked not rooted in Iesus Christ are like vnto chaffe and the dust of the earth carryed away with euery winde there is no pleasure so small nor profite so vaine which they preferre not before God Now before the Apostle subioynes the answere he maketh an enumeration of some perticular crosses and demaunds if they will doe it these crosses do eyther concerne our bodies our goods our dwellings or our mindes for we are not to thinke here that the Apostle beates the ayre triumphing against such enimies as we haue not No we haue both crosses of body and of minde which wee must prepare our selues to suffer so vsing all the helpes of this our mortall life as being content for the loue of God to want them for this is the tryall of true religion we must not looke to our houses as Nabuchadnezer did to his pallace of Babell as a place of his glory but remember that which Micah said to the Iewes This is not the place of your rest and whatsoeuer thing else wee vse for maintenance of this mortall life let vs so vse them as if we vsed them not that wee be not found when it comes to the tryall louers of them more then louers of God Blessed is the man who loues nothing otherwise but in God Nam solus is nihil charum amittit cui omnia chara sunt in eo qui non amittitur Againe perceiue here in this enumeration a gradation of seauen steppes by which the Apostle ascends It is a great thing to be in trouble but to be troubled and in anguish also is yet greater and for him that is in anguish to be banished in banishment to sustaine hunger and nakednesse and with these to be in continuall perill and last of all to dye by the sword euery one of these last is greater then the former yet all of them saith the Apostle are not able to seperate vs from the loue of Christ. Our warning is here that when we see vnto how many crosses Christians are subiect and how few of them God hath laid vpon vs wee should acknowledge the Lords fatherly indulgence toward vs who regarding our weakenesse hath hitherto dealt tenderly with vs. And againe it should prepare vs for greater afflictions so long as wee haue not resisted to the bloud nor laide downe our liues for Iesus we should remember that greater battailes than any which as yet we haue foughten are before vs wherein we must fight if it please the Lord to enter vs into them Shall tribulation Now hee commeth to the perticular enumeration The first is tribulation the vvord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich the Apostle vseth signifieth a pressing out from the effect vvhich it vvorketh in the godly to vvit that it presseth out and maketh manifest that grace of God which before vvas latent in them like as in the vvicked it presseth out their vile and filthy