to their idle and their single sold faith and they runne away counter with this in their minde and this in their mouth the iust shall liue by his faith as though they had now found out such a way to heauen as doe what they will in all their life time they can neuer come short of the place that they seeme so to hunt for But they and their faith are like to perish together and their assurance is as sure to trust to as is a reede or broken staffe which will be sure to leaue them in the ditch when they trusting vnto it most doe reckon and looke to leape ouer thereby True beleeuers who know of Gods loue and fauour towards them indeed and apprehend thâ—se euerlasting sweete mercies of God in Christ Iesus which haue eternall life and saluation accompanying them whereof they haue good assurance giuen them and wrought vp in their hearts by their so beleeuing their soules being now satisfied as with marrow and fatnesse which makes them praise God with ioyfull lips they doe not receiue this grace of God in vaine but because they finde such mercie from God they feare him the more with a child-like feare which makes them awfully to serue him and willingly to performe euery good dutie vnto him Yea the loue of God in Christ Iesus constraines them to doe their Psal 18. 1. dutie and to professe with Dauid that of force they must loue God Now are not his commandements grieuous vnto them but their delight is in the law of God which they haue learned Iob to preferre before their appointed food The more assurance they haue of Gods loue towards them whereby they know God to bee their God and haue boldnesse to crie abba father vnto him the more surely hath the Lord their hearts ioyned vnto him in true loue againe they being tyed fast with the cords of his owne loue wherewith first hee loued them which causeth them reciprocally to loue him backe againe And because he hath giuen them the Spirit of adoption whereby they know him to be their father the more may hee reckon vpon the naturalnes of their loue and child-like dutie vnto him because hee now knoweth them as being so made by him to be his owne true children indeed whom he hath made partakers of his owne diuine nature setting 2. Pet. 1. 4. his owne image vpon them and giuing them a heart and disposition to be like minded to himselfe to loue that he loueth and hate that hee hateth euen to loue righteousnesse as their life and hate all manner of wickednesse which God doth most hate He may now reckon vpon them as vpon his peculiar ones to haue seruice done at their hands though others will doe none that they will stirre when others sit still and though others doe grumble and snuffe when they are spoken vnto yet for them to be found willing chearefull and vnwearied in their well doing CHAP. XVI How easie it is to get a false perswasion but difficult to attaine sound assurance of saluation which is another difference betweene them THe assurance of an hypocrite is of no such excellencie but it is easie to come by and may bee as soone light vpon as euer it is looked after for it is as refuse stuffe that lieth in euery mans way not worth the taking vp No marueile then that they are so full of it for of such rubbish there be cart load fuls ro be had in euery ditch and throwne out vpon euery dunghill which hee that hath vnderstanding to discerne between things that differ would rather throw from him then euer take vp though it lay in his way A wise Christian will rather emptie his heart of such idle conceits as these set so great store by if any such he found there then so to fill himselfe as with emptinesse and winde that will put him more to paine then profit him any whit Such Christians as these they are no sooner borne but they are growne men the first so soone as euer they begin to make any profession of Christian religion they attaine to their perfection so fast as they make any beginning they by and by know as much as any can teach them as to loue God aboue all things and their neighbour as themselues This they reckon to be all that can be taught them there is no more to be learned they know al are to be saued only by faith in Christ Iesus what need they any more they are now sure of their saluation for euer they will neuer doubt after It may be said of the assurance that these men haue according to that which goeth in the prouerbe it is soone ripe and it will be as soone rotten it is brought foorth at once like Ionahs gourd they neuer laboured for it no more then hee did for his gourd for such weedes as these idle conceits and fond fancies wherewith such sort of Christians vse to flatter their owne hearts they wil grow fast enough of themselues but as it is easily come by so it is as easily lost againe it may grow in one night as did Ionah 4. 10. his gourd and perish in another and then it will be with them as it was with him they will fret more for the want of it then euer they ioyed in their first hauing of it The good assurance of Gods faithfull seruants is very True assurance hardly gotten hard to come by The assurance of faith like faith it selfe as it is most pretious so it is most rare and not common to be found In this particular the truth of that which runneth in another prouerbe that is common is much confirmed that daintie things are deare things and things of most excellencie will not be attained to without great difficultie Great is the cost many of Gods seruants haue been at and hard hath been the labour which they haue taken about this one point of their assurance they haue sweat much and taken sore paines hereabout night and day doe they seeke it yea daies and yeeres haue they bestowed vpon it in seeking after it and yet hardly can finde 〈◊〉 and with much difficultie can euer attaine vnto it the Lord seeing it meete so to haue them exercised so to deâ—erre them and so long to put them off before euer hee will giue them to haue their hearts desire herein For he knoweth such to be the worth and excellencie thereof as it will quit well the cost they haue been at and pay well for the trauaile and paines they haue taken for the comming by it when once they shall haue obtained it hee holds it therefore at so deare a price that knowing what it cost them before they could purchase it they may the better esteeme of it when they haue it The Lord seeth well enough that the things we easily come by wee vse as little care for and as lightly to set by Neither doth the Lord vse to giue this to be had
then to himselfe for beyond himselfe vpward it truly and properly cannot be said to go it mounteth not so high as to reach vnto God aboue as vnto the most worthy and principall obiect that it can find to settle vpon and to solace it selfe and take delight in Such a one seemeth to haue a delight indeede and take some great pleasure in the fauour of God which hee standeth perswaded he now abideth in and which he holds by misapplying of promises and mistaking of grounds without all controuersie to belong vnto him Those fauours of God how slightly superficially or wtongfully soeuer they be laid hold vpon hee can well enough ioy in when once they are descended and come downe so low as they are found to light vpon him as he conceiues that now he may seeme to touch them and take hold of them reckoning without all faile to bee saued by them as well and as soone as the best Neither need any to marueile though they are seene to haue such a ioy for what reprobate is there that is so foolish that would not with that foolish prophet Balaam that was more blind and brutish then the dumbe Asse he rode vpon be ioyfull and glad if he knew he might bee saued at the last and share with the righteous in his latter end this differeth not much from the pleasure delight and contentment which a very bruite beast may haue the Hogge which hunteth after nothing more then to get his rauenous appetite satisfied seemeth to bee glad when hee can get vnder an Acorn tree greedily gathering vp the Acorns that fali from the tree and neuer leaues eating till he hath eaten his fill it is the fruit onely that he ioyes in as for the tree he neither cares for nor any whit doth looke after Much after this manner is the ioying of these kind of beleeuers they ioy in Gods fauours so farre as they may any benefit by them but God himselfe they little care for neither doe they so much delight themselues in him if saluation might fall to their lot they would leape and be glad but to haue the Lord himselfe their portion that doe they not so greatly desire nor so much reckon vpon The faith the loue the feare and ioy of such sore of men and all whatsoeuer else they doe proceede but of corrupt selfe loue whereby they loue their owne welfare their present and future good estate they desire Gods fauour and they ioy in conceiting that they shall haue it not simply for it selfe but in a by-respect either to escape some euill as Pharaoh desired fauour to haue the plague gone or to obtaine some greater good as Balaam that wished hee might be saued and Esau as prophane as he was could yet desire to bee blessed They pretend the loue of God when yet they loue him not for himselfe but in respect of his benefits as Saul loued God for a Kingdome The ioy then of this sort of beleeuers arising out of a wrong perswasion which they haue entertained into their hearts that they are in Gods fauour and are as well loued as any and therefore shall be saued with the best in the end is but a fruit of selfe-loue and therefore no fruite of faith but a fruit of the flesh which is wholly thus occupied about themselues for as it tooke the first beginning from themselues alone so endeth it in themselues and in no other thing that being the vttermost aime that it euer hath to respect their owne good higher then themselues simply it cannot be said to reach and further then to themselues properly it cannot be said to goe On the other side the ioy of the iust and righteous seruants Beleeuers ioy is spirituall of God who are true beleeuers indeed is fruite of a more noble off-spring and of a farre higher descent for it is said to be the fruit of the spirit and ioy of the holy Ghost Gal. 5. 22. 1. Thes 1. 6. It is spirituall heauenly and diuine like the wisdome that is said to be from aboue which is pure and pcaceable so doth this come from 2n high as being giuen of God and comming from him that is the Father of light euen the Father of mercies and God of all consolation hee that created all things of nothing in the beginning createth still the fruite Isaiah 57. 19. Isai 65. 18. of the lipps to be peace to his people it is he that createth Ierusalem a reioycing and her people a ioy He that is the heauenly Psal 97. 11. husbandman is he that hath sowne light for the righteous and ioy for the vpright of heart and in due time when this that is sowne shal once come vp and be ripe for them and they be come ready for it then shall they that mourne Isai 61. 3. Psal 125. 5. 6. in Zion haue beautie in stead of ashes the oyle of ioy for mourning and garments of gladnesse for the spirit of heauines then shall they that haue sowne in teares reape in ioy in the time of that haruest bringing not their armes full but their hearts full of these bundles of gladnesse that will make them reioyce with ioy vnspeakable and glorious This ioy of the faithfull is said to be the ioy of the Lord because hee is the onely author of it and it alone is giuen by him none can either take ioy or comfort for himself or giue it to another that doth want it if God doe with-hold it but on the other side if hee doe giue comfort and peace none can make trouble if he doe giue ioy none can take that away Nehem 8. 10. againe and this ioy of the Lord is said to be his peoples strength This ioy is so high and so heauenly as it is part of the kingdome of heauen and is the beginning of the glory that is to come this ioy it is part of the kingdome of God here which our Sauiour Christ saith to bee within Luke 17. 21. vs the Lord setting vp his kingdome in the hearts of his elect and ruling mightily there by his Word and by his Spirit Now this kingdome saith the Apostle consisteth not in meate and drinke but in righteousnesse and peace and Rom. 14. 17. ioy in the holy Ghost It is called the ioy of the holy Ghost because it is not so much our ioy as the ioy of the holy Ghost that moueth our ioy and causeth our ioy especially this ioy of our saluation to haue the assurance thereof and comfortably to stand perswaded of the loue of God towards vs and of his sauing mercies in and through Christ Iesus for it is he that is the Comforter that was promised Iohn 14. 16. 17 Ephes 4. 30. to be sent vnto vs it is he by whom we are sealed vp to the day of our redemption he is giuen vnto vs not alone to be with vs but to be in vs that wee may haue him remaining with vs and
and vnderstanding that doth discerne that which is seene and so the same obiect is both in the eye and in the mind at one and the same instant apprehended together the eye by looking on a thing becommeth one with it after a manner to looke then to Christ is after a fort to lay hold of him and such a kind of looking to him as causeth a distressed soule in greatest extremities to looke for helpe from him alone doth so affect him as it doth rauish his heart and in a manner ouercome him faith being the beautiful eye of the Church that woundeth the heart of Christ with loue to the same Therefore doth Christ himselfe will the Spouse to turne her eyes vpon him as Tremelius doth reade it which if she shall Cantic 6. 2. doe she shall euen lift him vp with great ioy and gladnesse after Tremelius reading to see her so to beleeue in him and to depend vpon him Now who would not bee glad to cast vp such an eye to the Lord as he might be thus delighted withall If this also seemeth to be more then well can be performed by them they being in their owne conceiuing as those that are past all hope of recouerie and as men that are alreadie dead yet seeing there is no name vnder heauen Acts 4. 12. that is giuen nor any other meanes in the whole World beside to be vsed by which any can be saued but only by the name of the Lord Iesus Christ our Sauiour Let them as knowing there is no other for them to rest vpon for saluation but vpon him him alone by some meanes or other get themselues to be rowled cast vpon him and let them not feare but that as the dead man that was cast into the Sepulcher of Elisha so soone as hee touched the 2. King 13. 21. bones of the Prophet he was made to stand vpon his feet and to liue againe so such being cast vpon Christ though they were dead yet should they surely liue there being Iohn 11. 25. infinitely more vertue in Christ that was crucified then euer was in the bones of the Prophet that was dead to reuiue and cause to liue againe all that are cast vpon him as seeking so to haue life from him Lastly if they bee able no manner of way to doe any thing to helpe themselues and further their owne saluation but onely desire to bee holpen and desire that they might be saued by Christ Iesus let them make of that desire keeping it and nourishing it and comforting themselues yet in this that God hath giuen them a desiring heart to hunger thirst and long after the saluation that is in Christ Iesus He that giueth them so to desire will also in due time giue them to haue the thing so desired onely let them waite for Christ his helping hand vsing the best meanes that possibly they can and let them keepe themselues within the compasse of Christ his walk where he vseth to come louing and resorting to the habitation Psal 26. 8. of his house and the place where his honour dwelleth that he may see them there And they shall find by good experience in the end that as our Sauiour going by the Poole of Bethesda saw that impotent man who had an infirmitie 38 yeeres and hearing him complaine of his vnablenesse Ioh. 5. 5. 6. 7. 8. to helpe himselfe and that there was no other that would helpe to put him into the Poole but while he was a comming some other was more ready to step in before him our Sauiour hauing compassion put no other taske vpon him but onely to desire to be made whole asking him if hee would bee made whole and so presently restored him to his desired strength againe willing him to take vp his bed and walke So doubtlesse these weaklings in faith that can do no more for themselues through their great infirmitie then desire to bee holpen and to haue saluation from him our blessed louing and most mercifull Sauiour who will not breake a bruised reede nor Matth. 12. 20. quench the flaxe that smoaketh beholding their great distresse and lamentable plight that they are in will be moued in pitie to relieue them And knowing that they are able to doe no more in the matter of beleeuing in him for their saluation then to desire they could beleeue better and depend more vpon him that they might be saued wil accept of such a desire in stead of the deed it selfe and as vndoubtedly saue them with such an earnest and true desire of beleeuing better as they shal euer be saued that beleeue best of all Q. In the description of faith which you made at the first beside the true knowledge of Christ and laying hold of him you ioyned therewith a comfortable perswasion also of the fauour and loue of God towards vs in and through him Doe you take it that this comfortable perswasion of Gods fauour towards vs as it is felt and perceiued by vs doth alwaies accompany true and sauing faith in Christ and that it is so necessary to the essence and being of faith as without it true faith cannot at all consist A. Not so but I take such a setled perswasion of Perswasion of Gods fauour Gods vnalterable loue towards vs in and through Christ Iesus to be necessary rather to the well-being of faith and euen to the finishing and perfecting of it when it is growne to the greatest strength and perfection that it can come vnto in this life then to the being of faith at all for to a higher pitch or degree of greater perfection faith cannot grow nor rise vp vnto so long as wee haue any being in this life euen then when it hath made the best proceedings and prospered most happily increasing with the increasings of God and hath runne through all the degrees that are set vnto faith in this life till the best and highest be attained vnto then for faith to settle the heart in a cleare full and vndoubted perswasion of Gods loue and fauour towards vs in Christ Iesus to bee so sure and vnchangeable as nothing shall euer be able to separate vs Rom. 8. 38. from the same againe like to that of the Apostles but that true faith may haue existence and being in the heart of a good Christian where such an vndoubted and comfortable perswasion is either very seldome or peraduenture neuer at all felt by the true beleeuer especially in such a degree of clearenesse and vndoubtednesse of assurance as had the Apostle may appeare first if we consider the first beginnings of faith with what great feeblenesse and imbecillitie it hath his being in vs when it is new begotten and as I may say first bred and borne lying in the swathing cloutes vnder as great weakenesse and with as little feeling and apprehending of the operation of God Coâ—oss 2. 12. in giuing it selfe being as doth the infant that is
be done by such or to be conceiued of the estate of such a Christian that cannot haue such feeling of his faith and standing in the fauour of God after the manner as before sometime he hath had A. Such are to labour by iudgement to conuince and controle their abused sense and feeling who sometimes Want of feeling to their owne sense and feeling may thinke God to haue forsaken them Christ Iesus to haue quite left them and to be departed and gone from them when as yet he is still where he was and as touching his fauour and his loue vnalterable remaining still the same towards them that he was the alteration being found onely to bee in themselues by reason of the strong tentations that are vpon them Men are therefore not to measure their estate by sense and feeling for many times in naturall things reason is able to controle our sense as if I being in a ship that is driuen with a faire wind and tide doe saile by a Tower or Castle standing vpon a banke when I looke vpon the Tower as the ship doth swiftly passe by my sense of seeing thinketh that the Tower goeth away while I my selfe stand still in the ship but my iudgement and vnderstanding telleth me that it is otherwise in truth and that the Tower standeth still and moueth not but it is I and the ship that doe goe away from it though to my sense of seeing it seemes otherwise to be In like manner as touching feeling a man that hath but raging paine in one tooth or hath but a fellon on the vttermost ioynt of his finger or the paine of the goute onely in his toe though all his body should be sound and in good health besides he feeleth more the paine of that one little member of his tooth or of his toe then the sound health of his whole body beside though the health of the whole body be much more then is the paine of that one member In like manner doth it many times fall out with good Christians if they be indued and inriched with neuer so many good graces of Gods Spirit hauing true faith and ioyned therewith vertue knowledge temperance patience godlinesse brotherly kindnesse charitie hope humility meekenesse repentance and the rest that are linkes of that golden chaine wherewith the vertues are chained and linked one to another if it should happen not to be well with them in any one of the said graces according as these seueral graces of the mind as well as the seuerall members of the body may bee put out of their right frame and haue distemper and disease bred in them and brought vpon them though in the meane while it were neuer so well with them in all the rest yet is it found vsuall for them more to feele the disquiet of the distemper and hurt of some one of these graces so out of frame then to feele the content and comfort of the abiding in good estate of all the rest beside and to bee more grieued with the disease that is growne vpon that one then ioyed with the health that doth stil remaine in all the other As if a good man being sore prouoked and set vpon of the sudden should be so much distempered and put out of all patience as he should breake forth to much fury and rage in his hastie anger which is no better then a short madnesse and being come to his right mind againe his fit being once ouer for all that while beside himselfe he should then bethinke himselfe what he had done so would he bee out of conceit with himselfe he would be so cast downe in his owne eyes so smitten in heart so pricked in conscience so wounded in his soule with griefe for his sinne he would crie out and complaine for being thus ouerseene as that the distemper of that one grace of patience and the weakenes thereof which could then beare no more would more bee felt of him with griefe and work him greater woe and disquiet him much more then he should feele comfort or haue contentment in the good estate which all the rest did abide in beside and yet that one slip of his for a time is not so blame-worthie as is commendable the ordinary course of goodnesse constantly held on in the well-vsing and practising of other his graces wherein much soundnesse is found stil to be remaining And as among the members and parts of the body some are more necessarie then are others and so more hardly can be spared some are more dangerous to take hurt in or for any disease to breed vpon them because they are the vitall parts of the body such as is the heart the liuer and the braine which if they should be perished the life it selfe would be lost when such parts are affected men are found to be more troubled about the hearts of such and the diseases bred vpon them then vpon any other ther the partes of their bodies besides they are most suspitious and doubtfull of the recouering of them aboue that they are of all the rest euer fearing lest those hurts should not be well healed or those diseases soundly cured and recpiered againe As if one should haue among other the outward parts and members of his body his right hand so maimed as it should be in daunger to bee quite cut off and so lost and of all the inward parts should haue a disease breeding in him that should dangerously affect the heart which being a most vitall part euen the very fountaine and seate of life that doth send forth the vitall spirits and life it selfe to the other parts if that should be perished then the very life it selfe would vetterly be lost Much after this manner is it found to be with good Christians in respect of the differing graces of Gods Spirit which they haue receiued from God though all verie vsefull for the Christian life yet some are more absolutely needfull as being vnto the soule not onely the hand by which it worketh but as the heart which is the very receptacle and seate of life by which it liueth which if they should miscarry all would be lost such as is faith and loue and repentance vnto life If these should receiue any dangerous hurt or fall into any deadly disease whereof they should not be againe well recouered there must needs follow the vtter ruine of such a Christian When therefore their faith is mightily assailed and by the strength of tentation sorely shaken when their repentance is challenged not to be sound and such as it ought Oh then how solicitous is a carefull Christian about the hauing of these well cured and recouered againe how feareful and doubtfull is he lest these should faile him and neuer be holpen how doth hee enquire after the best Physitians to heare the best counsell that in this case may be giuen yea if a whole Colledge of Physitians should all meete together to conferre about his disease they
that failed him and his portion for euer Like as they who to day doe beleeue and haue now the comfort of their saluation which they doe much ioy in to morrow may haue their faith so shaken that they cannot beleeue as they did before and so the comfort and ioy of their saluation for the time may be gone but God is the strength of their faith and the vpholder of their saluation for euer who himselfe is so faithfull as though they cannot beleeue yet hee cannot denie himselfe Gods children haue learned therefore more to ioy in God who is the strength of their faith and the vpholder of their saluation then in the stedfastnes of their beleeuing or any assurance that they haue of the same their owne saluation If a man haue a rich and royal portion he is much pleased and delighted therein the Lord being the portion of his seruants and their chiefe treasure all their longing desire is to enioy him which if they can obtaine it is enough to them and that which their soules are fully satisfied in this is the making vp of their ioy their chiefest solace and their hearts onely delight Giue a man his delight hee asketh no more hee is then content Gods children thinke they want nothing so long as they haue him for their owne aboue all ioyes aboue all pleasures aboue all that their hearts can delight in they delight in the Lord and in his loue and fauour continually when they know him to be their God and father reconciled in Christ Iesus and doe feele his loue shed abroad in their hearts so as they know he loues them by tasting the sweetnesse of his loue which is better then wine such is the goodnesse and the greatnes such is the glorious excellencie of God his owne maiestie as the better he is knowne the more he must needs be loued delighted and ioyed in for his owne maiesties sake Gods children doe therefore loue God dearely yea they cannot but of force they must loue him so doe they loue him ioy and delight in him as they loue the habitation of Psal 26. 8. his house and the place where his honour dwelleth they loue as wee vse to say the very ground he goeth vpon they are neuer well but when they are with him their soule is a thirst for God euen the liuing God they vse to long for Psal 42. 2. Psal 84. 2. Cantic 5. 8. him euen to the very fainting of their heart and to grow sicke with the loue of him there is nothing they can lesse beare then his absence and for him to be estranged from them for any time it is as death to them to want his presence but they aske no more then to haue the light of his Psal 4. 6. countenance lifted vp vpon them for they finde contentment enough in him this causeth to them more ioy then the abundance of corne and wine and oyle though neuer so increased can Yea the louing kindnesse of God is better Psal 63. 3. 5. then is loue it selfe they are euer satisfied with the sweetnesse of his mercie as with marrow and fatnes This makes them to reioyce in the Lord alwaies and to reioyce in his strength Psal 18. 31. Psal 77. 13. Psal 34. 2. 44. 8. continually to praise him to make their boast of his praise for who is God but the Lord and who so great a God as is their God and who so gracious and good as he They are as I may say proud of their Master his greatnes and excelcencie being as it is many are seene to get them vnder great men to serue them A noble man thinkes himselfe honoured if he may but hold the basen to a King it may be the reioycing and counted for the greatest dignitie that the highest Kings in the world can be aduanced vnto to serue so great a God as is he there is no place in his seruice meane his Maiestie is so great there is none so honourable a Master as the Lord to waite vpon for his throne is prepared in heauen therefore doe the faithfull serue the Lord with gladnesse and much ioyfulnes of heart as thinking themselues greatly honoured that they may serue him neither doe they as mercenarie seruants only respect their wages and hire they shall haue for their seruice but they looke vpon the high dignitie the great worth and glorious excellencie of him they attend vpon whose highnesse and greatnes is such as that touching him it may well be said Worship him all ye Gods In seruing the Lord they neuer thinke any dutie sufficient nor seruice great enough that can be performed to so eminent a Master so mightie and so gracious a God as is the Lord for God is with such an affection with such a desire and minde to be loued serued and ioyed in that hee himselfe may be esteemed and reckoned reward great enough of his owne worship of all the loue that is borne to him and of the best seruice that any can doe vnto him otherwise hee that serueth God for any other respect then for the Prosper lib. sent Lords own sake serueth not so much God as that which by seruing him he aimeth at and desireth to haue CHAP. XX. Of the second dimension of ioy wherein they differ which is the depth of a deiected and disconsolate estate THE second dimension that the ioy of a true beleeuer exceedeth the ioy of a true beleeuers counterfeit in is in the depth of a deiected and low estate and condition whereinto they both as well the one as the other may at sometimes indifferently be brought which so happening the ioy of one vnsound in the faith is altogether extinct and can no more be had when distresse commeth vpon them they begin to mourne as those that had outliued all their ioyes But the ioy of a true beleeuer which is the ioy of faith it is either felt in it according to the power of faiths working as hee then can get to beleeue or it is vndoubtedly in the end fetched out of it and many times doubled afterwards for the little time that it then was ecclipsed Both of them may Psal 140. 10. be cast into a labyrinth of troubles and into a sea of miseries they may be in wofull distresse and brought to False ioy in sorrow doth sinke the state of the forlorne hope as wee vse to speake the one by biding the aduenture is blessed with such successe and scapeth happily out of danger when the other shifting for himselfe miscarrieth in all that he endeuoureth and so commeth short home in the end A true beleeuer True ioy riseth out of sorrow is neuer in such a sea of misery but he escapeth drowning and swimmeth safely out of it againe for hee is alwaies held vp as by the chin either by the strength and comfort of his hope which maketh him to reioyce in hope that hee shall be deliuered in the
neede so requiring yet neuer can it wholly be lost from them nor finally faile them for altogether but so is it found in the end to be restored againe with aduantage vnto them as that for their single sorrowes they haue double ioyes giuen them yea such ioyes as Peter calleth ioyes vnspeakable and glorious at what time they shall see cause to reioyce in their portion They may by their sinning against the Lord and by the prouoking of his anger against them haue the feeling of this ioy kept from them for a long time and their desired comforts so long withholden as may make their hearts to feare and to faint within them but as the Prophet Habakuk counselleth and Hab. 2. 3. giueth direction though it tarrie a little yet let them waite and hope vndoubtedly to finde it againe for certainly in the end it will come and it will not stay long and then the desire once so accomplished will much more delight their Prou. 13. 12. 19. soule and though they haue tarried for it long yet that will be verified vpon them at the last that the patient abiding Prou. 10. 28. of the righteous will proue gladnes in the end Though then the ioy of the faithfull may not be felt for a time yet is there no feare but it will be found againe afterward for their ioy is such ioy as is euerlasting in respect of the grounds thereof and which being giuen thē by Christ according to the promise he hath made none shall for euer be Ioh. 16. 22. able to take it from them any more The sun-shine of Gods fauour may for a while be hidden out of their sight but then as the Lord himselfe hath promised that though for a moment in his anger he hides his face yet with euerlasting Isai 54. 7. 8. mercie hee will haue compassion on them againe and turne their shadow of death into a most bright and chearefull morning Amos 5. 8. The ioy of a temporarie beleeuer how great soeuer it may seeme to be for a season yet as the seede sowne in stony ground it cannot be kept from withering in the scorching heate of hot persecution because it wanteth depth of earth and good ground to roote it on as not being Mak. 4. 17. grounded either vpon any stable assurance of Gods vndoubted Temporary ioy withers loue and rich mercy vnto him or vpon any good stedfastnes of his own loue to God back againe in thankfulnes for the same as who for that loue of God wherewith he seeth God to haue first loued him in Christ Iesus should bee made so farre to forget himselfe and to prize Gods glorie as for Gods cause to be found willing to carrie his owne life in his hand and to hazard the exposing of himselfe to any danger that may happen but rather raised and being grounded vpon some worldly some selfe and by-respects which failing and not falling out according to his owne reckoning and expectation then is his ioy also gone and he as much altered as if hee had neuer been the man The ioy of an hypocrite vanisheth quite away and commeth to nothing in time of tribulation How triumphing soeuer he was found to be before in his great reioycing yet when persecution and fierie triall doth come he groweth then to be most heartlesse and crest fallen of the sudden whosoeuer dare shew himselfe in presence then he will be sure to play least in sight at that time And no marueile though an hypocrite bee but a coward for what hath hee to trust vnto that might make him bold in whom nothing is sound and right as it should be who hath nothing but shewes in stead of substance And who will marueile if such a one being false to God though his heart deceiuing him hee proue false to himselfe also and if wanting such faith as is only able to giue him the victorie he be ouercome of feare that causeth him dastardly to flie the field and turning his backe vpon his enemies to runne the countrey Such kinde of persons whose faith doth so faile them and whose hope is vnsound in the time of trouble and aduersitie are like a man that is in the wilde sea in time of a storme without anchor or cable without mast or saile or any tackling to make shift with and helpe himselfe by who hauing no meanes left vnto him to vse for his succour and reliefe in time of such distresse as one dispoiled of all things but the expectation of death only what else can he looke for but to perish in that storme without all hope of any possible escaping These kinde of persons as they are left faithlesse so are they made hopelesse when they see their case to be thus helplesse and therefore ruine and vtter confusion must needes be their last end But the ioy of a true beleeuer as it hath better rooting True ioy lasteth and is grounded vpon a better foundation whence it springeth vp and taketh the beginning so is it of a more firme and fast abiding standing vnmoued what time the other is not onely shaken and wholly cast downe and then flourishing and seene still to grow greene when the Vinesoit vulnere virtus other not being able to abide the heate of persecution becommeth so sulged and blasted and so withered away as it wholly fadeth and in the end is quite brought to nothing The ioy of a true beleeuer ariseth and groweth out of faith which is vnfained whereof Christ is the author and the finisher and the holy Ghost is the worker and the framer of this blessed worke planting faith in the good ground of an honest heart and causing this ioy to spring out of that flourishing plant as the most sweete and pleasant fruite thereof for it is called the ioy 1. Thes 1. 6. Gal. 5. 22. of the holy Ghost and it is numbred among the fruits of the spirit Faith is the sure ground of this ioy from whence it springeth while by faith wee are perswaded of the loue and fauour of God towards vs in and through Christ Iesus into whom we being grafted and planted by our beleeuing doe come so to finde our selues to haue a most happie and ioyfull being in him which causeth vs not only to haue some ioy and reioycing but our ioy is made Ioh. 15. 11. full in him for there is no want in Christ but enough to be found for the making of our ioy full euery way for the fulnes of the Godhead and of all goodnesse is and dwelleth Coloss 1. 19. Ioh. 1. 16. in him that of his fulnes we may receiue euen this fulnes of ioy and of spirituall and heauenly consolation which he Ioh. 16. 24. himselfe willeth vs to seeke by prayer for to obtaine And so is the heart of the beleeuer filled with this ioy of the holy Ghost by Christ Iesus our Sauiour as it is more then the world or all the
suffice not let him answere Christs interrogatorie When the Sonne of man commeth shall he find faith on the earth If no faith surely as little repentance Shall then Gods Seedes men withdraw their hand because much hath been sowne alreadie when as so little comes vp Nay verily so many as truly beleeue on the name 1. Iohn 5. 13. of the Son of God wil acknowledge they stil neede Saint John should write vnto them that they may beleeue on the name of the Sonne of God as for the world that abides in vnbeleefe the truth of God where it shines most clearely shall haue that effect which Christ foretold the Spirit of Truth the blessed Comforter should haue at his comming euen to conuince it of sin because Iohn 16. 19. they beleeued not on him Neither I hope will the manner of handling vsed by the Authour and the kind of phrase farre from affectation or the entising words of mans wisdome I hope I say this will not offend any who are content their faith should stand not in the wisdome of men but in the power of God But I returne to you most worthie Knight to you principally I offer this Treatise this field if so I may call it wherein the Pearle of faith is discouered It is not for me to teach you how you are to account thereof your wisdome cannot but approue that high estimation the Merchant in the Gospel had of the Pearle This onely I wish that as you abound in outward treasures so you may be rich in the faith and consequently heire of the kingdome which God hath promised to them that loue him And certainely if that bee true that faith workes by loue then are you not without witnesse being well reported of for your loue to the truth and such as walke in the truth Onely goe on honoured Sir to deserue well and heare well of the Church of God If thus you shall bee content with those 24 Elders Apoc. 4. to cast your earthly dignitie at the feet of the Lambe improouing all to his behoofe to the aduancing his glorie and countenancing Religion If with that worthy King Dauid in way of thankfulnes to the Lord who hath done so great things for you you shall reflect your goodnesse vpon his Saints those excellent on earth this shall lift you vp in true honour and reputation among men in this world and be found to your immortal praise and glory in the day of the Lord Iesus yea vpon you shall come the blessing of those who blesse all such in the name of the Lord as are friends to Sion and seeke the peace of Ierusalem To this I from my heart say Amen and the Lord out of Sion blesse your Worship and grant you to see the good of Ierusalem all the daies of your life So for euer stands bound to pray and in what he may to be seruiceable to your Worship IONATHAN NEOVS THE PREFACE TO THE Christian Reader TO preuent that preiudice whereby the regard and benefit of many good bookes is much hindred we haue thought good to premit somewhat touching the Author the treatise it selfe and the reasons why it is committed to the presse First for the Author he may well be reckoned amongst the Worthies of Gods Israel who while he liued was as another a Act. 18. 24. Apollos an eloquent man and mightie in the Scriptures instructed in the way of the Lord and feruent in the spirit and spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord a man of indefatigable paines both in his priuate studies and exercises and also in the publique worke of his Ministerie to the great benefit of the Church of God ouer which the holy Ghost had made him an ouer-seer and finally he was a iudicious and pious Diuine well seene and practised especially in these points of faith and repentance wherof he hath here written So that the qualitie of the Author doth deseruedly commend the treatise as also the nature of the treatise may wel commend the Author with whom in the birth thereof it fared as with b Gen. 35. 11. Rachel who died in trauell whereupon though this abortiue orphan may in regard of the parent thereof well brooke the name c The sonne of my sorrow Benoni yet for our due esteeme vse thereof it may fitly by vs be called d The sonne of my right hand Beniamin The reasons mouing this our Author to write any thing for publique vse as one of vs hath obserued them from his owne mouth was first for that he being restrained from benefiting the Church by the ordinarie course of his ministerie hee was both willing and desirous to be seruiceable and helpfull to the same in what he might by this way and meane Secondly he seeing the people generally both pestered with many needlesse idle vaine pamphlets and multitudes of fabulous historicall discourses and also much encombred with manifold polemicall diuinitie tractats of curious and litigious points tending rather to contention and diuision then to godly edifying and that many good and necessarie bookes were more framed to giue satisfaction to the learned then to edifie the simple therefore that he might in a subseruient manner endeuour to supplie the preteritions of the latter sort of bookes and to helpe to iussle the former rotten rapsodies out of place he thought it expedient that treatises of such necessarie matter concerning the eternall saluation of all handled in so plaine a manner that the meanest may vnderstand should also be obtruded vpon the readers at the least if it were but to interrupt and hinder somewhat the reading of such bookes as be either hurtfull or vnprofitable Thirdly that he might leaue in speciall to that people and * Lee. congregation to whom he was a carefull Minister a particular remembrancer to bring to their minds some chiefe points of his former doctrine taught amongst them which upon their second meditations thereof they might the more affect and regard and also to bequeath some note of his good affection to his louing friends and well deseruing acquaintance this treatise did he entend and fit for them often to peruse and well to respect as the last farewell and loue-token of their deare friend Secondly for the treatise it selfe though it be imperfect both for the extent in parts and measure thereof and also for the manner and forme of the same so that now it commeth farre short of that perfection which was intended and would haue been performed by the Author if God had not taken him away before that he could finish or reuise it yet seeing for substance and matter it is touching iustifying faith and sound repentance without which none can be saued neither doth any perish but by defect and error in these two therefore is this discourse thereof most worthie the diligent perusall and consideration of all who may therein finde a new discouerie of the manifold slights of the diuell and deceits of the
to the depth or bottome of the same euen when such a thing is commanded as is both against nature of man and promise of God as was that giuen to Abraham as knowing Gen. 22. 3. 10. 1. Kin. 20. 35. 36 Leuit. 15. 37. that the commandement of the Lord requiring it at our hands is reason great enough to cause vs to obey his will being the rule of all righteousnesse and that commandement of God shall euermore be our sufficient warrant for whatsoeuer after that manner wee shall attempt Q. Come more particularly to the consideration of such duties as God hath commanded vnto vs in his Word And first seeing God doth command vs to fulfill all the righteousnesse which is set donne in his Law annexing both promises and threatnings the better to haue it performed by vs shew what is the vse that may bee made of the knowledge hereof A. The knowledge of this serueth most pregnantly first to vrge vs and call vpon vs not to content our selues with seruing God by halues doing something and leauing the rest vndone or doing many things with Herod Mark 6. 20. though not all things not yet many times the chiefest things that should be done but that we knowing how it is written concerning vs in the volume of Gods book that we are to doe all his will we answere out of the willingnesse Psal 40. 7. ◠and ready obedience of our harts with him that was a man after Gods owne heart My God I am contented to doe it or I delight to doe thy will Oh my God For which cause we are with him to get the Law of God into Psal 119. 6. our hearts hauing respect not to some onely but to all the commandements of the Law and to all the contents of those commandements so striuing hard after perfection and indeauouring with all our might to fulfill the whole righteousnes which God doth require at our hands whilest we make conscience of al our waies and of doing one dutie as well as another and shunning all sinne alike auoyding one euil as wel as another as those that desire to walke worthy of the Lord vnto all pleasing being fruitfull in Coloss 1. 10. euery good worke Secondly the knowledge of this that God requireth at our hands such absolute and perfect obedience to be performed by vs vnto the whole Law which he hath giuen vs as a most perfect rule of fulfilling all righteousnesse it being the very staple of all iustice and Legall worship required calleth to our remembrance what was the happinesse of that first estate of ours wherein we were set before Adams fall and what was the measure of holinesse and righteousnesse wherewith we then were indued and according whereunto we were made after Gods image euen such as answereth to the greatest perfection of holinesse and righteousnesse which this perfect Law of libertie can exact and require at our hands in the greatest rigour that it hath It calleth well to our remembrance what was the strength and power of grace that wee then had in vs whereby wee were perfectly able to doe the whole will of God and keepe all this Law without feeling any of the commandements grieuous or burdensome to vs. For doubtlesse God would neuer require the performance and fulfilling of all the righteousnesse of this Law at the hands of man as he now doth especially vnder so great a penaltie of the transgression thereof vnlesse he had first giuen power and abilitie vnto man sufficiently and well to performe and fulfill the same 3. Further the knowledge of so great a degree of righteousnesse and perfection of obedience to be required at our hands as is contained in this Law and therein commanded vnto vs we knowing by all experience our great inability to be any way answering thereunto it being now become vnto vs a thing wholly impossible in regard of the weakenesse that is in our flesh this may Rom. 8. 3. serue much to humble vs and cast vs downe with sorrow and griefe to bewaile the miserie of our present estate into which we are now fallen as vpon whom most heauily doth lye the guilt of the breaking of the whole Law wee being found transgressors of all the Commandements and for whom all the punishment that is threatned for such transgression doth daily abide and at all times iustly may bee feared lest it should be executed to our vtter destruction and euerlasting confusion if pardon and forgiuenesse be not had 4. Lastly the knowledge of all that is thus required at our hands ioyned with our owne knowledge by daily experiēce how little yea how nothing at all is performed by vs as ought to bee done of vs wee knowing withall what is the danger of euery transgression should make vs restlesse vntill wee might know how to bee discharged and how and by whom to haue all this righteousnes fulfilled for vs and all our sinnes and transgressions clearely remitted and for euer pardoned and forgiuen vnto vs the Law so being our Schoolemaster to bring vs vnto Gal. 3. 24. Christ. CHAP. IIII. The Euangelicall Commandement with the Christians practice and vse made thereof wherein there is the definition of faith with the proper obiect and speciall operations thereof Question YOu mentioned other commandements which are enioyned by God vnto vs to obserue beside these Legall precepts which doe respect the fulfilling of the righteousnesse of the law namely euangelicall whereby we are commanded to beleeue on the name of Iesus Christ the sonne of God promise being made to all that beleeue in him that they shall haue life euerlasting shew what may be the good vse and practice that wee are to make of the knowledge hereof A. Before we come to that it will not be amisse first briefly to consider what faith in Christ is and what properly is the obiect of it what is the speciall operation of faith by which it may be discerned and the worke about which it is principally imployed and the subject wherein it is placed What things are needfull to the making it vp what to the being and what to the well being and perfecting of it Then will we consider what vses may be made of the knowledge of this that God hath thus commanded vs to beleeue Q. Shew then first of all what is true faith in Christ A. Faith is a true and sauing knowledge of Christ Faith which causeth vs to lay hold and relie vpon him alone for saluation with a comfortable perswasion of the fauour and loue of God towards vs in and through him Q. What is the proper obiect of true faith and what is the operation of it and worke about which this faith is specially imployed A. Faith hath for her obiect the most pure and alwaies 1. Pet. 1. 21. being truth which is God himselfe and Christ our Sauiour who is the way the truth and the life the holie Ioh. 14. 1. 16. Scriptures also and
new borne either know or apprehend the time or the meanes in and by which it came to be first brought forth into the world though being once borne and endued with all the powers and faculties of the mind and made in euerie part proportionable with all the members of the body howsoeuer it cannot well vse either it is euen at the very first as absolutely and perfectly a true man as euer it shal be afterward when it can put the vnderstanding that is in the mind to the greatest vse and worke with the members of the body to the best purpose that it euer shall be able So is it with the faith of Gods elect that is once Iude 3. giuen to the Saints it is as true faith at the first and as truly existing and being after it is once begotten by the working of Gods Spirit and thereby planted and put into the hart of a Christian though in neuer so great weaknesse as euer it is or shall bee when it is growne to the greatest strength it euer can attaine vnto or bee of the most effectual and mightiest operation and working that it possibly can be of Again if we consider faith how it may be assailed euen after it hath bin once soundly wrought in vs and planted in our hearts by the strength of tentation and the forcible Luke 22. 31. working of Satan who desireth to haue vs that he may winnow and sift vs as wheat daily experience maketh manifest the truth of this that so may a mans faith be shaken and al feeling of comfort be made wholly to faile him that he who once with great ioy did apprehend the loue and fauour of God towards him in Christ Iesus may be as far from such feeling and comfortable perswasion either so farre as others can iudge or himselfe can any way apprehend as euer was Peter from that worthie confession of Christ and of the faith hee had in him which hee once made profession of and which was so greatly approoued Matth. 16. 16. 17. 18. and applauded by our Sauiour himselfe when afterwards he did most vnfaithfully cowardly and dastardly denie him and falsely forsweare him yea curse and banne himselfe Matth. 26. 70. 72. 74. if euer he knew him And yet through the vnchangeablenesse of Gods purpose and grace whose waies are euer mercy and truth to such as feare him and his workes without repentance neuer to be called backe againe who neuer can denie himselfe though we may be vnfaithfull 2. Tim. 2. 13. and hardly can beleeue the faith of such a Christian howsoeuer soarely it may bee shaken by the force and strength of tentation so as vnbeliefe may seeme to haue gotten the vpper hand and feeling to be quite lost that hauing wholly let goe the hold thereof yet is it no more destroyed from hauing any further being nor can bee more made finally to faile him in whom it was euer soundly wrought at all then did the faith of Peter vtterly faile which was so vpheld by the promise and prayer of Luke 22. 32. Christ our Sauiour as it was not possible for all the gates of hell to preuaile against the same though they sifted it Matth. 16. 18. neuer so winnowed it to the ful This comfortable perswasion then in the heart of a beleeuing Christian which accompanieth the true knowledge and laying hold of Christ and riseth and floweth from them both it is not so much felt and perceiued at the first being and beginning of faith as after some time of continuance when faith by daily growing hath attained to some good measure of strength it then is found to manifest it selfe to the much quieting of the heart in the which it is so felt This is but the comfortable progresse and growing of faith the proceeding of it on as I may say from faith to faith as the Apostle speaketh And as in a word was noted before Rom. 1. 17. 1. Pet. 1. 21. out of that which is set downe by Peter from the faith that we haue by beleeuing in Christ to come to beleeue in God and to haue faith and hope in him reckoning vpon all fauour and mercy from him CHAP. VI. The vse that is to be made of this that God hath giuen the Commandements both of the Law and Gospell for the attaining of eternall life Question COme now to shew what vse we are to make of the knowledge of this that beside the commandements set downe in the Law for the fulfilling the righteousnesse thereof promise being made that if we shall so doe we shall liue thereby we haue another commandement inioyned vnto vs in the Gospell for our belieuing in the name of the onely begotten Sonne of God with promise likewise made in the same Gospell that all that belieue in him shall neuer perish but haue life euerlasting A. We are occasioned hereby to obserue the inestimable goodnesse of God towards mankind for his saluation so many waies being vsed by the Lord for the recouering of this most wofull creature so lamentably fallen that yet he might not perish for euer but liue and bee saued in the end First for that in giuing forth his Law he would euer treate about life with so rebellious a traitour as man had shewed himselfe to be against his Creator and would offer any conditions of peace or make any couenant at all for life and safety with such a rebell deseruing so often to die yea and that euerlastingly but such was the first couenant of the Law giuen by the Lord vnto Deut. 4. 13. 8. all mankind to be obserued by them wherein it pleased the Lord to enter into this couenant with man that howsoeuer by his transgression he had deserued to die without any mercy yet if he would now obserue these his Statutes and keepe the commandements which he had set downe in his Law hee should for all that liue and be saued thereby Doe this saith the Lord and thou shalt Leuit. 18. 5. Rom. 10. 5. liue which was done to let man see his vnabilitie to keepe this Law and thereby to driue him to seeke for life by the new Couenant made in Christ Secondly whereas the conditions of this first couenant Rom 8. 3. Gal. 3. 21. 22. Heb 7. 18. 19. Gal. 2. 16. Rom. 7. 10. of the Law were found much too hard to bee stood vnto and to bee kept by any man that so he might liue and be saued by so doing for by the deeds of the Law no flesh can euer be saued for by reason of sinne that commandement which was ordained to life is found to be vnto vs to death Herein the goodnesse of God did yet super-abound that it would please him to couenant with man the second time for life and saluation making a new couenant which is said to bee a better couenant then the Ier. 31. 31. 32. former because it is stablished vpon better promises our Sauiour
therefore came into the world in the fulnes of time that hee might become the author of saluation to all that should beleeue Heb. 5. 9. in him who is Iesus our Lord. Who are we that we should controll the wisedome of our heauenly Father in thus dispensing out his owne gifts which are alwaies most freely bestowed and can neuer by any be deserued especially seeing the Lord is God onely wise who alone knoweth both what is meetest for the measure and when 1. Tim. 1. 17. is fittest for the time for any to receiue grace from his hands vpon whom it shall be his good pleasure to bestow Why faith is not seene any grace at all It is not vnknowne to the Lord how depraued our nature is how deeply infected and enuenomed wee are with most poisonfull and deadly corruption so as it is hard for any grace to bee put into vs which we shall not be found to spot and defile wee are apt to abuse not only the gifts of nature which God hath giuen vs but the supernaturall graces also and gifts of his spirit bestowed vpon vs yea euen this gift and grace of faith it selfe which is a gift of gifts and grace most gratious that God doth bestow vpon those whom hee loueth best then the which none is either more pretious or excellent in selfe nor none is more soueraigne or sauing vnto vs. Which howsoeuer it hath vertue in it according to the naturall working thereof to purifie our hearts yet Acts 15. 9. being once placed and planted in our hearts such is the strength of corruption that it meeteth with there as it becommeth polluted it selfe and that with all other graces put into vs as our best workes that doe goe from vs and are done by vs they all by being once in vs and by comming so from vs are but as spotted and polluted Isai 64. 6. cloathes are Let the Lord bestow this most pretious faith vpon vs which is called the faith of Gods elect which Tit. 1. 1. is so pretious as whosoeuer hath once receiued it can neuer perish afterward if alwaies vpon the first bestowing of it vpon vs and at the very first being of faith in vs we should vndoubtedly know that we had true sauing faith which is auaileable euen in the least measure and degree thereof to saue euery soule that truly is possessed with it it were possible yea and that very likely too vnlesse wee were better aided with a second grace giuen that we might abuse this first so as the knowledge thereof might cause vs become negligent in further vsing good meanes to attaine to greater degrees of faith and increases thereof because we would thinke a little would be sufficient and serue our turne well enough Contrary to that which he that is the author of our faith would haue to be done of vs who setteth vs a worke euer to desire and daily to pray to God for the more encreasing of our faith Euen as we are also willed not to be wanting to our selues in building vp and edifying our selues in our most holy faith Iude 20. Not without iust cause then is it that the Lord is found to take this vsuall course with many of his children whom he full dearely doth loue that in this point of hauing the assurance of their saluation by the liuely feeling of sauing faith to be in them hee holdeth them off for a long time before he granteth them herein their desire though they desire nothing more earnestly and long for the finding and feeling thereof euen to the very fainting of their hearts giuing to them that which is most needfull for them to haue which is faith to be saued though withholding from them that which might be thought most comfortable for them to haue in regard of their owne feeling namely the assurance of faith for saluation And though the Lord knoweth that such his children desire to know nothing sooner nor nothing more then to know themselues to bee of that number that are appointed to life and saluation for euer yet doth he see it fit not to acquaint them too soone with what hee either hath done for them in the free electing of them Eph. 1. 4. before euer the world had any beginning or what hee hath now wrought in them by putting faith into them for the making their estate safe for euer in the matter of their so much desired and longed-for saluation because he well fore-seeth such is our pronenes and readinesse to abuse euen Gods best fauours and mercies bestowed vpon vs that if we should know too soone that all were wrought and made sure by God himselfe for our euerlasting saluation we our selues would take little paines to make sure our owne saluation to our selues whereas the Lord would haue this to be the worke of euery man that we our selues should worke out our owne saluation as with our owne hands and that not without feare and trembling too This is a worke inioyned vnto all and a dutie that is to be done and practised by all not onely of them that are the weakest younglings that are but as infants in the faith and babes in Christ but of those also that 1. Cor. 3. 1. Eph. 4. 13. 14. are the strongest and of ripest age that are growne men in the faith and haue attained to the greatest degrees therein For though the Lord as seemeth best to his wisdome doth in a differing manner dispence of this grace of sauing faith to such as shall be heires of eternall saluation to some he giueth to haue a lesser and to some to haue a greater measure therein some to haue great doubting remaining with their true beleeuing others to bee more comfortably perswaded and at times also most vndoubtedly Rom. 8. 38. 39. assured of their obtaining saluation with God for euer and that with so great a certaintie and clearenes as nothing can make them at all to doubt or call the matter once into question yet who so hath the greatest assurance of all hath no such assurance as will allow him to be carnally secure or exempt him from passing the time of his 1. Pet. 1. 17. dwelling here infeare or free him from an awfull kind of trembling also euen then when he hath his greatest comfort and is in the midst of his chiefest reioycing seeing these are both coupled and commended vnto vs to bee vsed together to serue the Lord with feare and to reioyce Psal 2. 11. with trembling which may occasion the very best neuer to be idle nor vnfruitfull in the Christian conuersation neuer to slacke their diligence by adding vertue to vertue stil to make sure to themselues their eternall election and neuer to withdraw their hand from the labour of this blessed worke of euer working out their owne saluation and that not without some feare and trembling also Which if they should be wanting in and faile to doe and by abusing
the assurance they haue at one time become secure at another growing to presume by an ouer-weening that should be within them there is no such promise to be found in the whole book of God made to any that are most preferred in Gods fauour and that haue allowed them the best assurance that may be of their saluation The strong faith may haue feares and doubts for euer but through such default that assurance may be ouertaken with feare and trembling againe yea with a horrible feare comming vpon them and they shaken with another manner of trembling then before would haue been sufficient and haue serued the turne Wee reade of no mans faith better graced or more secured or vnto which greater promises were made euen by our Sauiour himselfe then was the faith of Peter and profession that he made thereof which was not onely approued of by him but Peter was pronounced blessed for the same out of Christ his owne mouth and the same secured by a most gracious promise made thereunto that Mat. 16. 16. 17. 18. the gates of hell should neuer preuaile against it Howbeit when Peter began to presume and to haue an ouerweening Mark 14. 31. 37. 38. 68. 70. 71. of himselfe when hee became carelesse and secure neglecting by prayer and watching to safegard his faith he entred into tentation his faith was dangerously winnowed and most soarely shaken Dauid who was a man of an inuincible courage and of a most noble and heroicall spirit a man of that resolution and so strongly holding fast the confidence of the hope he had in God as he cared not for thousands nor ten thousands of them Psal 3. 6. that should set themselues against him who feared not though he should walke through the valley of the shaddow Psal 23. 4. 6. dow of death but reckoned that goodnesse and mercie should follow him all his daies and that he should dwell vnder Gods protection in his house for euer All this was during such time as he kept his integritie and continued his diligence and paines taking in such religious exercises and holy endeauours whereunto he had been wont to inure himselfe which made grace so happily to grow in him and his comfort so greatly to abound But when he once came to giue ouert is so blessed a course and began to grow carelesse and negligent in the best things setting himselfe to seeke after his sinfull pleasures and the satisfying of his lusts when in his prosperitie his heart began to be lifted vp by an ouerweening of his estate promised vnto himselfe and presumed that he should neuer be remoued then God hid his face and with-drew his Psal 30. 6. 7. comforts from him and how then became he troubled then were the ioyes that he was wont to haue in God vtterly Psal 51. 8. 11. 12 to seeke then in stead of all that confident and comfortable boldnesse hee was wont to haue in his heart fearefulnesse and trembling began to come vpon him and an horrible feare to ouerwhelme him then began the Psal 55. 5. arrowes of the Almightie to be shot at him which stooke so fast in his sides that hee was made to roare out for the Psal 38. 28. very disquietnesse of his soule then he that was wont to call others to praise God for his mercies began to doubt of Gods mercies for himselfe whether they were not come wholly to an end whether he were not cast off for euer Psal 31. 22 which in his haste hee did not sticke both to thinke and also to speake Yea that great Apostle Paul himself that elect and chosen vessell of the Lord who so gloriously did triumph and insult ouer all the greatest enemies of Rom 8. 33. 34. 35. 37. our saluation that wee haue challenging them all to doe their best and their worst for doing vs any harme and shutting vp that whole matter with that great assurance of faith that constant resolution that full and vndoubted perswasion that there was nothing present nor to come that euer should be able to separate vs from the loue of God in Christ Iesus hee was not voyd of all manner of weakenesse he was not freed from all kind of fearing and trembling but as haue other the seruants of God hee had also his weakenesse which hee could not be freed from when Satans messenger was sent to buffet him though he 2. Cor. 12. 7. 8. prayed earnestly vnto God for the remouing of the same he felt that strength of naturall corruption at sometimes Rom. 7. 24. ouer-mastering him that made him crie out of himself as of a most miserable man He serued the Lord in all humilitie Acts 20. 19. at Ephesus as himselfe saith with many teares and tentations he professeth he was among the Corinthians in 1. Cor. 2. 3. weakenesse in feare and in much trembling he saith when he was come into Macedonia hee had no rest in his flesh but was troubled on euery side he met with fightings without 2. Cor. 7. 5. and felt terrors and feares within he had care and took paines as well as doe other the seruants of God to looke to the maine point of the safetie of his owne saluation by taming and keeping vnder his own body and bringing it into 1. Cor. 9. 27. subiection left by any meanes when he had preached vnto others he himselfe should become a cast-away It is not for None must be secure any then let their assurance be what it will be to cast off all manner of feare or care but let euery one that thinketh he standeth take heed that he fall not nay he that standeth indeed and standeth by faith yet let him listen to the counsell giuen by the Apostle thou standest saith he by Rom. 11. 20. faith be not high-minded but feare Though such cannot fal finally away and their faith faile for altogether yet may they fall so fearefully and into such a decay of their faith as in regard of their owne feeling the comfort of their faith may be wholly gone and lost for a time yea and it is possible so lamentable may their fall be that for so great a degree of assurance of faith and measure of comfortable feeling as they had before they shall neuer haue againe nor during their whole life-time fully recouer all their losses which they haue sustained by so wofully falling And who would not feare and tremble if it were but at the thoughts of this thing that through a mans owne carelesse negligence such a case as this may too truly befall him This then is the work which euery one bee hee weaker or stronger in the faith must be ready to put his hand vnto and must neuer be willing to pull his hand from it againe after hee hath once begun to fall a working nâ—mely to worke out with feare and trembling Phil. 2. 12. his owne saluation Not that the saluation of
course all the daies of a mans life time but what is this to the strengthening of a mans faith or to the furthering of his comfort while he doth line or how doth it helpe a man to better assurance of his saluation against feare and doubting A. Yes doubtlesse this worke yeeldeth sweete comfort it will quit well all the cost of whatsoeuer paines shall be taken about the same a man may very comfortably reape and eate the fruite of these his holy labours euen all the while he is in the trauaile of them who working the worke of God by labouring to beleeue for the obtaining of saluation and ioyning vertuous liuing with his true beleeuing the more laborious hee is in taking paines about this worke and the better it is wrought the more doth his comfort increase the confidence of his hope euer growing stronger as his life is found to be made better if to faith be added vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godlinesse and to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse and to brotherly kindnesse loue seuerall labours to be bestowed about the ending and finishing vp of the whole and great worke of our saluation if 2. Pet. 1. 5. 6 7. 8. 10. these things be in you saith the Apostle Peter and abound as you shall not be idle and vnfruitfull so shall you be sure neuer to fall There is a common and most dangerous disease that taketh hold of the whole stocke and race of all mankinde wherewith all are tainted and insected without exception of any he only being excepted that is higher then the heauens and euer separated from sinners which is the harder to be holpen because it is an hereditarie euill and wee haue taken it from our parents We all are sicke of that sore disease of the falling Falling sicknes sicknesse we are in danger of falling in euery place we know not where we know not when nor wee know not how wee may fall How would men troubled with that kinde of disease make of a receipt that were good against the falling sicknesse to keepe them from falling Peter hath here giuen vs such an excellent receipt as will make a preseruatiue remedie most soueraigne to keep vs from falling we may be bold vpon it the better and the more comfortably receiue it from his hands because hee that prescribeth it was one that was sicke of the disease himselfe and that fell grieuously and yet was cured of it The remedie is made of these simples that are here set downe How then are these graces worthie the looking after that wee may gather them and get them the greater quantitie is euer the better and put them all together that they may haue their kindly working in vs and wee by them may so worke in our owne saluation How comfortable is the labour wee take about them in daily practising of them since Peter doth warrant vs that so long as we are found so doing wee shall be sure neuer to fall If after this manner then we shall keepe a working we see that good assurance may be gotten by our so doing and we shall be sure comfortably to worke out our owne saluation till that which is most sure in it selfe be also fully assured vnto vs. The further a man goeth holding on this course and keeping still his hand at this blessed labour as his saluation doth still gather vpon him and is much neerer vnto him then when he first beleeued Rom. 13. 11. so doth hee by thus proceeding gather also vpon his owne saluation and fasteneth euery day better hold vpon the same for to be more vndoubtedly assured of obtaining it in the end so that the longer hee thus liueth the more comfort he still reapeth and the more groweth hee to bee setledly confirmed in that that he first beleeued Q. But if the working out of our owne saluation after the manner as you haue spoken would bring vs any comfort or further increase our assurance of saluation why doth the Apostle adde that we must doe it in feare and trembling A. That feare and trembling which the Apostle there Feare and trembling needfull speaketh of is not contrary to the boldnesse of faith or to the assurance of saluation and of God his vnchangeable election whereby those that are once knowne to be the Lords are sure for euer to remaine his but dependeth rather vpon these and is to be ioyned with the same For as the saluation of the faithfull is safe and sure in it selfe so hath the Lord appointed that in such as shall be saued by meanes of this awfull fearing and trembling which as a double bridle holdeth them hard in and keepeth them from sinning and by this carefull endeauouring and working the things that are good and meet to be done both that same assurance of saluation shall be euer maintained in it selfe and likewise be made the more sure vnro them that are most strict to hold on in this course and keepe themselues close within the compasse of these lysts and limits thus set them without daring once wilfully to aduenture any way to breake out of them This feare and trembling may well haue and indeede ought to haue this good and holy vse to humble vs and to breede a watchfull circumspection and care ouer our selues in all our waies and cause vs by a holy iealousie of the hidden corruption that is within vs and of the many infirmities that hang about vs to preuent the danger of those sinnes that otherwise we might fall into but not wholly to dismay vs or put vs out of heart which might enfeeble our hands to goe on with this worke This should worke a care that may driue away securitie not a feare to take away the boldnesse of faith but a feare of falling into sin lest thereby we should offend our mercifull father and he hiding his countenance we should then become troubled and loose our former comfort not a feare of falling from grace and from out of Gods fauour for euer that so he should take his mercy from vs for altogether Feare and trembling in the working out of our owne saluation may stand vs in this stead the better to looke about vs that nothing be wanting which is necessary in this respect to be done lest we should faile in the end and fall short of our reckoning When wee haue once begun to take vp this course and are entred vpon that way that should bring vs to life and happinesse or passing on with feare and trembling as wee are a going may become a good meanes to cause vs to set straight steps and make euen Heb. 12. 13. paths to our feet lest that which is halting should be turned out of the way They may well serue as two sharpe spurres to both our sides to pricke vs forward and cause vs to trauell the harder ply vs the faster making speed in our way lest we should
time he doth enter into plea with them or hold and maintaine any controuersie against them that then his course is to put this more vpon the triall of such mens liues then vpon the disposition of their hearts more to stand vpon what is seene to come from them then to stand arguing the case whether it bee true that they say they haue or haue not this or that vertue or vice within them Like as it will also be the course that the righteous Iudge of the whole world will take in that great assize according as himselfe in part hath made it knowne afore-hand vnto vs when all men shall be made to appeare and shall bee put vpon their last triall euen the triall of life and of death the triall will passe and the iudgement will bee giuen vpon them either for guilty or guiltlesse not so expressely according to what hath been in their hearts as according to what hath appeared in their liues and what hath been found to haue been the deed and workes of their hands as namely he telleth vs they that haue done Iohn 5. 29. good shall goe into life euerlasting and they that haue done euill vnto euerlasting fier and it will be said go you cursed Mat. 25. 34. 41. you gaue me no meat you did not visite me come you blessed you fed mee and you clothed mee And this is that which the Apostle also saith wee must giue an account 2. Cor. 5. 10. according to that we haue done in our bodies Hee saith not according to that we haue had dwelling and abiding in our hearts for the plaine manifesting of the one will be sufficient and enough to make the other well enough knowne So that though we are not iustified by our workes yet shall we be iudged by them they being the infallible testimonies of our vnfained faith in Christ Iesus and though workes doe not iustifie vs yet workes doe iustifie that that must iustifie vs euen our faith by which we beleeue to be saued that it is a liuely faith and a faith that is not fained therefore doth Iames bring forth his workes to manifest his faith by as the directest course that can be taken and the most ready to haue faith made knowne by Now if any thinke he can doe otherwise and without workes get his faith to which he trusteth to be manifested and made knowne to bee God hee calles him forth to doe his best in shewing how that can bee performed shew me saith hee thy faith without Iames 2. 18. works and I will shew thee my faith by my workes Which he so speaketh not that any can possibly do it but that their folly may the rather be laid open and the more discouered that so doe thinke it They bee the workes which come from faith that must both shew faith and iustifie it to be true Faith is operatiue and worketh by loue if any will find out faith let him seeke after the measures Gal. 5. 6. of his loue to God and to his Saints If any would know whether hee bee elect or no to eternall life let him gather the knowledge thereof from the effectualnesse of his calling and sanctification of his life for by these Pcter leadeth the Christians as by the hand to the finding it 1. Pet. 12. out We must not soare alost to know whether or no we be elected If any man would know whether the Sunne shineth or no let him looke vpon the ground to see the reflexion of the Sunne-beames from thence and not vpon the body of the Sunne which will but dazle the more his sight As then we gather the cause by the effect the paterne by the picture and by the forme of a seale printed in waxe we easily vnderstand what is the very forme and fashion of the seale it selfe so by the true and proper effects of liuely faith we conclude the existence and being of true faith it selfe and the same effects like seales doe imprint and stampe the image of Gods election in vs. Q. But may not faith as well bee found out by the causes which causeth faith as by the effects which faith worketh and bringeth forth As for example the publication of the promises of the Gospell made to poore sinners calling all that are wearie and heavie laden with the burden of their sinnes to come to Christ promising they shall bee eased and promising that all that doo beleeue in Christ they shall never perish but haue euerlasting life and withall commanding vs that wee doe beleeue in the name of Iesus Christ the Sonne of God 1. Iohn 3. 23. Now if with the publishing of such promises out of the Gospell preached and declaration of such acommandement giuen the Spirit of God who is the onely efficient cause and worker of this grace shall be pleased to ioyne his owne working with the word of that preaching and so open a doore of faith to the poore sinnâ—r that heareth such promises as he shall not onely assent vnto them but lay hold of them also and assume them to himselfe and taking God at his wora beleeue indeed that hee shall haue his sinnes pardoned and his soule for euer saued May not a poore sinner so beleeuing find out this way that he hath true faith indeed without any further inquiring or making any more question about the same A Yes doubtles and no way better then thus if so be he Faith knowne by causes can after this manner apprehend and feele that so he doth beleeue for now he hath set his foot vpon that rocke that will neuer faile vnder him but beare vp his whole building and giue him a sure standing for his faith to rest vpon now hath hee come to the very ground worke of his beleeuing and hath laid open to himselfe the foundation to the bottome whereupon his faith is set so firme sure that it is not possible it shall bee moued to the ouerwhelming thereof for euermore And therefore he may comfortably cheare vp his heart as did the Apostle against euery obiect of feare or discomfort that might stand before him at any time to dismay him and say with him I am not ashamed neither doe I passe at all for this for I 2. Tim. 1. 12. know whom I have beleeued and vpon what I haue grounded my so beleeuing and I am perswaded that hee that hath thus promised is both able and faithfull to doe that he hath promised and that hee will also performe it But if it be well marked this faith euen by this search is not found out by the causes alone but by that which is caused by it and by that which it is in hand with to effect and worke in the heart of that beleeuer in whom it is so wrought for it is in hand with this worke to bring the sinner to his Sauiour to ioyne the soule that hath sinned to Christ that hath saued it by an vnseparable vnion
shall therefore be rent out of the booke of life because they haue wronged and abused Gods booke and pulled and rent the Scriptures to a cleane contrary end and purpose then was meant or they euer were written for These apprehend Christ because hee first did apprehend them and knew them for his owne as a good shepheard knoweth his flocke so the Lord knoweth who are Ioh 10. 14. 2. Tim. 2. 19. his and he giueth then againe to know that hee is theirs and so to make claime vnto him according to the stipulation of the new Couenant betweene Christ and the redeemed he saith to them you are my people and they Hos 223. saying to him thou art our Lord thou art our Christ thou art our Redeemer It is well obserued by a godly Perkins in Gal. 4. 9. man and learned Diuine of our time that the workes of grace and fauour in God imprint their image in the hearts of them that belong to God in whom they are wrought There is a knowledge in God whereby hee knowes who are his this knowledge brings forth another knowledge in vs whereby we know God to be our God There is an election in God whereby hee chuseth the Elect to be his people which worketh in them another election whereby they chuse God to be their God The loue whereby God loues vs workes in vs another loue whereby we loue God againe Christ apprehends 1. Ioh. 4. 19. Phil. 3. 12. vs to be his redeemed that workes in vs the apprehension of faith whereby we lay hold vpon him to be our reredeemer and by this saith he we may know that we belong to God if we finde any such impression of Gods grace in vs. These then know Christ to be their Sauiour because he first knew them to be his owne whom he would redeeme they are his and he calleth them by name and cheareth them at the heart by saying vnto them as it is in the Prophet Feare not I haue redeemed thee thou art Isa 43. 1. mine They lay hold of him because hee layeth hold of them holding them by his right hand and holding also Isa 41. 10. 13. Psal 73 23. 1. Sam. 15. 26. 27. 28. Luk. 19. 5. 9. their right hand that he may euer helpe them They doe not lay hold of him as Saul did vpon Samuel that turned away from him and would haue been gone but as Zacheus did welcome Christ vnto his house who first bespake his owne entertainment and was desirous to come to his house and brought saluation with him when hee came They laying hold of Christ lay hold of him who doth not at all belong to them not was euer giuen them or appointed for them no more then childrens bread belong Mat. 15. 26. to dogges though they sticke not to snatch it from them for though Christ died for the sinnes of the world yet intentionally he did neuer lay downe his life for hypocrites and vnbeleeuers who shall die and perish for all him though he hath done enough to saue them onely by meanes of their owne vnbeleefe because they doe not truly and rightly beleeue in his name and therefore their Ioh. 3. 18. chalenging of Christ to be their Sauiour and claime that they make to the benefit of his redemption is no more iust then was the claime that the harlot made who was not the owne mother to the liue child that was none of 1. King 3. 22. hers These lay hold of him and by faith doe apprehend him as hauing of all others the greatest interest in him and all lawfull right to claime him for their owne as who was prepared set apart and appointed for them before the world had any beginning and in the fulnesse of time Galath 4. 4. Luk. 2. 11. was sent to be borne of a woman and to bee borne a Sauiour vnto them and therefore they may iustly say and ioyfully proclaime it before Angels and men as Isaiah sets it downe that vnto vs a child is borne and vnto vs a sonne is Isa 9. 6. Ioh. 3. 16. Gal. 2. 20. Ephes 5. 25. giuen euen giuen by a double donation one from the the Father another from himselfe which gift hath been published by proclamation throughout all the world established in blood sealed in Sacraments and the performance thereof witnessed vnfainedly both by Angels and men Now what is more free then gift and who is more faithfull then God and Christ who are the giuers to see the grant and gift performed Euery good Christian therefore and true beleeuer haue a free deed of gift to shew out of the Court-rolles of the Scriptures whereby to proue the title and claime they make to Christ for being theirs to be most lawfull and iust and therefore they may challenge and claime him by as good right to bee their owne as may the bride challenge the bridegroome to be hers after he hath giuen himselfe to her and she on the other side giuen her selfe vnto him by mutuall promises and by faith and truth to each other plighted in which those promises are giuen and receiued and that before sufficient witnesses that are able to witnesse and testifie the same and so may sing ioyfully with the Spouse in the Canticles without feare of controlment by any my beloued is mine and I am his and his desire is vnto Cant. 2. 16. and 7. 10. me They as temporary beleeuers and time-seruers doe Mat. 13. 21. lay hold of Christ and let him goe againe as Apostatates and back-sliders reuolt from him and fall away so making Ioh. 2. 19. themselues liable to that danger which our Sauiour Christ threatneth will befall to such as abide not in him Ioh. 15. 6. which is the true vine which is that as withered branches they shall be cast into the fier and burned and culpable of Heb. 10. 26. 27. 29. and 6. 4. 5. 6. â— Cant. 3. 4. such a sinne as will neuer be forgiuen These lay such fast hold of him with the Spouse as hauing once found him and gotten to lay hold vpon him they neuer more will let him goe not giuing him ouer till they haue brought him home and carried him into the inmost roomes and chiefest chambers of their hearts that they may haue him dwelling in their harts by faith that they so enioying his presence there and happy fruition Mat. 28 20. Ioh. 14. 18. according as our Sauiour himselfe hath promised to be euer with his to the end of the world and neuer to leaue them Orphans may haue the sweet lasting comfort thereof and solace themselues therein with infinite and vnspeakable contentment If there should bee question made to them as our Sauiour made to Peter and the rest whether they also with others would goe away their answere Ioh. 6. 67. 68. 69. vnto him will be as Peters was Lord to whom should wee goe thou hast the words of eternallife and we
bee condemned with the world what should let but that as they are at peace with God by being iustified by faith so they should reioyce euen in their tribulations also Yea as Saint Iames willeth count it all ioy when they fall not into some few but into great varietie and multitudes of them Which if any shall be so farre from doing as they shall rather despise the chastening of the Lord contrary to the counsell giuen Heb. 12. 5. by the holy Ghost they shall but as the Prophet Ionah speaketh forsake their owne mercy Ionah 2. 8. CHAP. XXV The difference of ioy in the last dimension or the longitude thereof and how the ioy of sound beleeuers is permanent and inducing the ioy of hypocrites transitorie and fained THe fourth and last dimension wherein the ioy of true beleeuers and of such as are but hollow and vnsound in the faith may appeare farre to differ betweene themselues is in respect of the longitude and length of time for the continuance and enduring thereof The one is transitorie and fading which according to the vnsoundnesse of them that haue it will not last long but is momentany and of short abiding like a morning cloud and as the early dew which when the Sunne ariseth Hos 13. 3. passeth soone away the triumphing of the wicked is short and the ioy of the hypocrite is but for a moment as speaketh Zophar Iob 20. 5. the Naamathite but the other is lasting comfort and termelesse ioy which will endure as long as the daies of heauen and is so firmely fixed and deeply rooted in the heart of him that is sound in the faith as it is found able to endure the skorchingst heate and most feruent Sun-shine of the hottest persecution without any withering The ioyings of hypocrites the chearing and lightning Ioy of hypocrites â—ut short of their hearts are but as the flashes of lightning in a dark night which though they may bring some light for a time yet the darkenesse is doubled afterward the candle Prou. 13. 8. Amos 8. 9. of the wicked saith Salomon shall soone be put out yea their Sunne goeth downe ouer them euen at noone and the Lord will darken their earth in the cleare day their ioy is but as their hope is which is as soone blowne away as is the flower of a dried thistle There are none that seeme to haue greater forwardnesse greater delight and ioy in good things for a time then haue temporary beleeuers Marke 4. 16. 17 Our Sauiour Christ compareth them to the seed that is sowne in stoâ—ie ground which vseth to come vp hastâ—ly as soone and sooner then other and to shew as greene and goodly for a time but yet wanting depth of earth neuer commeth to perfection but is quickly withered and soone commeth to nothing againe their delight and ioy in the best things is not constant they may delight and ioy in one Sermon and loath the next they heare againe they may with Herod reuerence Iohn Baptist to day heare gladly Mat. 6. 20. his preaching and feele some ioy at the Sermon and yet to morrow doe as bad as he did who added that to all his other euils that he put Iohn into prison out of which there Luke 3. 20. was no bailing of him till he had paid his head for a ransome Yea their ioy is so deceitfull so false and durelesse as it will not last long in any thing they may bee as pleasant and iocund for a time as was Agag when hee said the feare of death was gone and then in a moment and turne of the hand feele nothing but the bitternes of death and vnauoideable sorrowes vpon them and then their hearts like Nabals will soone die away in them and become as heauy as a stone The light of their ioy is soone put out in darkenesse and all the shining thereof ouercast of the sudden with some sad remembrance or but the Iob 18. 5. 6. heare-say of a danger the light of the wicked shall be quenched and the sparke of their fier shall not shine their ioy being but as the shining of some great light when it is ready to goe out which may shine with a great though not with a long blaze and then all of the sudden ere one bee aware it is quite extinguished and seene to goe out againe and then as the candle stinketh more being put out then if it had neuer been lighted before so they that haue once loued the truth and had ioy therein if they leaue so to doe or loath it afterward if they wilfully reiect 2. Pet. 2. 21. it and turnâ— away againe from the holy commandement they are then 〈◊〉 to greater iudgement and become more odious both to God and man then if they had neuer knowne and embraced the same Who was hotter in 2. King 10. 16. zeale then Iohn for a time what delight and contentment tooke he in that he did how was he conceited for it and prided himselfe therein in so much as he called in others to come and see and behold what zeale he had for the Lord and yet he was but an hypocrite this was not sound neither lasted it in him Iudas seemed to begin well and made a shew of leauing all as well as did the rest to follow Christ but he was a foule hypocrite he held not out as he seemed to begin wofull was his end he being one of the twelue to whom power was giuen against unâ—leane spirits to heale all manner of sicknesses and diseases being Mat. 10. 8. sent forth as well as the rest to vse this power it is like hee had great ioy as well as the rest in seeing such things to be effected by him according as it is said that the Disciples whom Christ sent forth returned againe with great ioy because the diuels were subject vnto them but this ioy Luke 10. 17. did not last long in Iudas but was changed into a most desperate sorrow wofull and fearefull was his end Alexander the Copper-smith was thought a while to haue ioined with Paul and as some think to haue suffered in his Acts 19. 33. case to haue bin neare vnto martyrdome but he soone fell from the faith and lost al the loue the ioy and delight that he had in the truth making shipwrack of al so as the Apostle 1. Tim. 1. 19. 20. deliuered him vp vnto Satan and doubted not directly to pray against him Saul while things went to his mind was content for a time to aduance Gods religioÌ„ he was turned Prophet on the sudden the people with much wondring saying one to another is Saul also among the 2. Sam. 10. 11. 1. Sam. 11. 15. Prophets he serued God with the people offering peace offerings and had great ioy in so doing he was so hot vpon Gods seruice as he was impatient of tarrying till Samuel might come to offer the sacrifice and therefore
leaue one sinne by the power of the ministery of the word then twenty by being beaten from them by constraint of outward trouble and affliction especially when the knowledge of Gods inexpressable loue vnto vs in Iesus Christ is manifested and brought to light by the Gospell preached so as thereout we are made to know how God hath so loued vs as he hath giuen his Sonne Christ Iesus vnto vs to be our Redeemer and so hath giuen vs to him to bee his redeemed yea that he hath giuen his owne selfe vnto vs to be our most louing Father reconciled vnto vs in Christ Iesus and giuen vs againe power by him to become his children with boldnesse to cry Abba father to him by the spirit of adoption which we haue receiued from him when the knowledge especially the sense and feeling of thâ—se thing◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hearts with sorrow and griefe for 〈…〉 committed that euer we should haue 〈…〉 gracious and a Father most kind 〈…〉 spoken when of a child-like affection 〈…〉 towards him with sorrowing deeply for hauing offâ—nded him and are found as The soule that is drenched with teares of true repentance receiueth such a tincture and die of grace that will neuer after out good natured children that haue soft and tender hearts to bee grieuing sobbing and sighing in euery corner for angering our Father so as our teares may bee perceiued not to be teares of fullennesse or stubbornnesse but of kindnesse and dutifulnesse towards him when looking vpon him whom we haue pierced with our sinne wee shall be found to mourne before him as one that mourneth for his onely some and shall be in bitternesse for him as one that Zach. 12. 10. is in bitternesse for his first borne And when on the otherside the Lord looking graciously backe vpon vs as he did vpon Peter that looke of his shall pierce our Luk. 22. 61. hearts in remembring all his kindnesses causing vs then with Peter to goe out and weepe bitterly When our sorrow groweth thus and is caused after this manner to arise and when the change of life following hereupon taketh also his beginning from the like ground which is that the appearing of the grace of God which bringeth saluation vnto all men is that that teacheth and moueth Tit. 2. 10. 11. yea after a sort compelleth vs to denie vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and to liue godly righteously and soberly in our whole life time following then is such a sorrow a true godly sorrow indeed and such a conuersion and repentance following thereof vndoubtedly sound and vnfained which safely may be rested on and trusted vnto indeed I denie not but that Gods seruants both may and ought to haue sorrow and griefe of heart when Gods chastisements are vpon them and when they are wounded and smitten by his hand but that must not bee the principall cause of their sorrowing nor that which should cause their sorrow most to abound not the punishment but the fault is most to be respected of such and ought principally to be lamented and bewailed by them I doe also acknowledge that the terrour of Gods Law denouncing plagues and punishments and threatnings of vengeance to all that are transgressors thereof may so strike and astonish for a time the hearts of Gods humbled and deiected seruants as there can bee felt of them no other then a seruile and slauish feare of death and condemnation trembling before the fiercenesse of Gods wrath whose angry countenance they behold frowning vpon them and his hand lifted vp bending the blow at them which they feare will strike them dead at his feet Then is their sorrowing little differing from that worldly sorrow that causeth death they sorrowing because they can see no way of escaping but of necessity as they thinke they must haue their portion with the diuell and the damned in eternall hell fier But this kind of sorrowing and fearing is not that which they doe euer abide in nor no longer then the Lord seeth it most expedien for them for their better humbling and then it is taken away againe with that spirit of bondage that made them so to feare and their worldly sorrow becommeth changed into godly sorrow that causeth in them repentance vnto life and their slauish and seruile feare into a sonne-like and a child-like feare causing them to feare the Lord not so much because of his wrath as for that there is mercy with him with which fearing there is ioyned boldnesse and the spirit of adoption giuen them which causeth them to feare after that painfull manner no more Legall contrition then is not any part or cause of repentance in Gods children but onely an occasion thereof and that by the meere mercy of God for it selfe is the sting of the Law and the very entrance into the pit of hell The Law and the Gospell although in some sort they teach one thing yet they perswade not by the same arguments The Gospell perswadeth by the death of Christ who hath loued vs and giuen himselfe for vs that we might be saued by him this the Law neuer knew nor yet taketh knowledge of but it perswadeth with terrour and feare of iudgement but the Gospell hath a more sweeter voice and in a more amiable manner calleth vs to repentance and amendment of life and our Sauiour Christ commeth with blessing vs to turne vs from our iniquities Our godly sorrowing then for sinne which causeth repentance in vs and a turning from our sinnes it Ier. 32. 39. 40. 2. Cor. 7. 1. is a gracious effect of the Gospell and a part of the new Couenant which the Lord promised to make with vs in the latter dayes Thus the sorrow of true conuerts differeth cleerly from the sorrow of hypocrites in that which causeth either CHAP. XXXI How the sorrow of true beleeuers and hypocrites differeth in that which is caused by either THey differ also no lesse in that which is caused by either And to name the chiefe and principall difference at the first the one causeth death and the other causeth life and that is a difference broad enough for euery one plainly to discerne The worldly sorrow of hypocrites causeth death two manner of waies either by making men too secure or by filling them too full of dreadfull horrour and hellish feare either by making them to presume too much and so they come to perish that way or by making them to despaire too much and so they come to be ouerwhelmed and drowned in perdition that way When hypocrites are brought by the feare of Gods iudgments or by the feeling of them to be much troubled and vexed with griefe and sorrow in their hearts and to expresse their inward heauinesse by an outward great humbling of themselues after the manner that Ahab was seene to be before the Lord they grow so conceited in themselues for that they haue done do so flatter themselues with a vaine hope that that which was feared shall
in against them If a child hath offended his father by euill doing and his father knowing it shall call him to an account for it it is not for the childe to goe and seeke how he may excuse himselfe by laying it vpon some others by telling this or that lye vnto him for that will but more offend him but his way is to downe vpon his knees to confesse plainly the fault to shew his griefe for it and to craue to haue it forgiuen This will soonest purchase pardon from his father and so being forgiuen he goeth away cleered of the fault This cleering the Apostle mentioneth twice in one verse in the same place and maketh it to be the last and blessed effect which all these graces together where they are found to be wrought will at the length bring foorth in him that truly doth repent and that is they will cleere him from all his sinnes There is no better cleering to bee got from sin then by soundly repenting that will cleere him before God who harh promised to pardon all the sinnes of such to take away all their iniquities to couer their transgressions and neuer to remember such their sinnes any more in such sort as if they should be enquired for they should not be found and if they should be asked after there should be none now if God doe iustifie who shall condemne Repentance is the best way of cleering any sinner in like manner before men who if he be once found to haue truly and soundly repented indeed and to haue giuen that satisfaction which in some cases is necessary to be giuen then let his sinne haue been neuer so grieuous they ought to forgiue it to cleere him of it and to vpbraid him no more by the same Sound and true repentance is the best way of cleering any sinner and of defending of him against the strongest accusations that sinne it selfe or Satan can lay in against him for though they can iustly lay to his charge that he hath done such a sinne yet hee can as readily cleere himselfe againe from that accusation by answering that hee hath vnfainedly repented for that sin and obtained pardon for the same which hee hath readie to shew for his lawfull discharge against all that list to challenge him or call him further into any question The sinner that hath truly repented for his sinne hath alwaies such an answere as this to make vnto Satan euen when he is most troublesome vnto him for such sins as cannot be vndone he may say vnto Satan Tell me not what I haue been and what I haue done but what I am and what I doe and what I would doe I was a rebellious sinner but I haue obtained grace truly to repent and to leaue my sinne soundly to be conuerted and changed from that I was and now to become a new and another man I am no more what I was and I would yet be better then I am There is a double kinde of cleering away sinne there is a cleering of the guiltinesse of sinne by pardon for the same and a cleering away of the filthinesse of sin by purging and cleansing sinne away He that hath committed sinne as well open before men as before God is to seeke to cleere himselfe as before God so before men by free acknowledging of the same humbling themselues for it and shewing themselues to haue truly repented of it The third grace caused by godly sorrow is indignation This followeth godly sorrow that men are set in a chafe and put into a heate with feruent anger and indignation against their sinnes and themselues for committing of them to make them fret in their mindes to be at defiance with sin and fall out with themselues for being so grossely ouer seene and as men when they are angrie one with another they will not stick to fall a railing one vpon another so are they ready to giue themselues hard tearmes to say What a beast was I what a foole thus to be ouerseene how was I bewitched I think I was mad as Paul saith he was mad in raging against the poore Church Yea how impatient such haue bin with themselues hath bin made to appeare by some outward gestures of smiting their bands on their thigh tearing their haire of their head and from their beards rending their garments which Ezra 9. 3. sheweth they could not keepe quiet with themselues And as for their sinnes by which they haue offended God there is nothing so deadly hated and abhorred of them as are they they can neuer more abide them their blood riseth and their hearts swell against them where euer they see them Neuer did Amnon more loath Thamar 2. Sam. 13. 15. after he had satisfied his filthie lust with her when he could not abide her presence any longer but commanded she should be thrust out of the doores and the doores bolted against her that she might come in no more insomuch as it is said the hatred wherewith he then hated her was greater then the loue was wherewith hee had loued her before then these true penitent seruants of God do loath and abhorre most those sinnes which before they were knowne to haue loued best so as they cared not if they neuer saw their faces more and it is an endlesse vexation and torment to their conscience but to thinke of them and of the vile euils that they haue cōmitted with them so as they can haue no rest till they haue rid them away out of their sight thrust them out of the doores of their hearts cast them out of their hands as things most loathsome that cannot longer be abidden and in detestation of them bid them get them hence barring vp all passages so to keepe them out as there may be no place left open by which it might be possible for them returning euer to get any entertaiment there againe Their angrie carriage towards their sinnes that haue deceiued them most is not vnlike the rage of some men when they come once to see how they haue been oft abused and vndone by filthie queanes and harlots that haue enticed them they then grow impatient and can no more abide them they are ready in defiance of them to spit them in the teeth to slit their noses and giue them whores markes and send them away disgraced that none may euer more be deceiued and abused by them but know them what they are So doe these deale with their sinnes they doe not only loath them themselues to spit in their faces thereby to shew in what degree they doe abhorre them but they cast all the shame and disgrace vpon them they can to make others in like sort to loathe them and not to be deceiued as they haue been by them they so brand and marke them that al may be warned to take heed of them and not to indanger themselues to bee mischiefed and spoyled by them This is that which the Prophet sheweth shall be