loue one God and the three persons of the Trinitie For the second we haue a more speciall charge 1. Cor. 16.22 There S. Paule saith If any man loue not the Lord Iesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha let him bee had in execration let him be excommunicate vnto death Which is also signified by Christ himselfe telling vs Mat. 10.37 that wee cannot bee worthy of him if we loue father mother wife children brethren sisters yea our owne liues aboue before or more then him The second branch of Christian charitie is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 brotherly loue peculiar belonging only to the sonnes of God The rule for this part is laid before vs Ioh. 13.34 Christ there hath given vs a new commandemeÌ„t that we loue one another as he hath loued vs that even so we loue one another Wee must loue one another that is wee must loue the whole Church and every member thereof all that are our brethren in the Lord the sonnes of God even the whole number of Gods holy ones and the blessed Angels which are in Heaven Al these must wee loue eveÌ„ as Christ hath loved vs. But how hath Christ loved vs Consider we these fiue things and it will be manifest See my second sermoÌ„ on Iames 4. p. 80. 1 Looke we vnto the cause which moued Christ to loue vs he loved vs because we were elected because wee were chosen in him by God the Father to bee his members and to bee saued by him For this cause hath hee loued vs with a peculiar loue aboue other men with such a loue wherewith hee loued S. Paule Gal. 2.20 for that we might liue vnto God we are crucified with Christ and so we liue yet not we now but Christ liveth in vs and in that that wee now liue in the flesh wee liue by faith in the Sonne of God who hath loved vs and giuen himselfe for vs. So peculiarly hath Christ loued vs. Therefore must wee also peculiarly loue our brethren in the Lord for that very cause because for ought wee can discerne and how can wee discerne spiritually being but flesh they are the elect and chosen of God the Father in Christ from before the foundations of this world to be saved by Christ 2 Thinke we of the time when Christ loued vs. Wee shall find that he loued vs first 1. Ioh. 4.19 he staied not for our loue we loue him because he loued vs first He loued vs first therfore must we also prevent one another in loue wee must not looke that our brethren first loue vs. For if wee bee friendly to them only who are friendly to vs what singular thing doe we Doe not even the heathen likewise Mat. 5.46 47. If we loue them onely which loue vs what reward shall we haue Doe not Infidels even the same We Christians must loue our brethren first 3 Let vs respect the qualitie of the persons whom Christ hath loued He hath loued vs Ioh. 15.9 Vs that is all all the elect Gentiles as well as Iewes Barbarians as well as Grecians bond as well as free women as well as men the base the poore as well as the noble and the rich For all the elect for all these for all vs he died when as yet we were his enimies when as yet we were sinners Rom. 5.8 Therefore must we also loue al men be they sinners or seem they righteous seem they our friends or be they our foes be they of what estate or coÌ„dition soever so it bee not evident that they are adiudged to bee partakers with the Divell and his Angels in the ever burning lake 4 Regard we the end why Christ loued vs hee loued vs for no profit of his own but for our soules health Therefore must we also loue others not for our own gaine but for their good So did Moses who prayed to haue his name rased out of Gods booke rather then that the sinnes of the people vnder his government should not be forgiuen Exod. 32.32 So did David who made his supplications to God for to lay the pestilence vpon him and his fathers house and to spare the people committed to his charge 2. Sam. 24.17 So did S. Paul who wished his own damnation to redeeme the reiection of the Iewes Rom. 9.3 Christ loued vs for our soules health not for any profit of his own therefore must we also loue one another for the good of others not for any our owne gaine 5 Consider we the measure of the loue wherewith Christ hath loved vs. It is a true loue for Christ is truth it selfe Iohn 14.6 It is a burning loue for Christ laid downe his life Christ shed his blood for his sheep Ioh. 10.15 It is an everlasting loue for Christ loues his owne vnto the ende Iohn 13.1 Therefore must our loue also to all the faithfull be true it must be earnest it must be constant Ioh. 13.34 Christs commandement is that we loue one another as he hath loved vs even so that we loue one another The third branch of Christian charitie is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the loue of our neighbours The rule for this part is laid before vs Levit. 19. ver 11 13 15.16 acknowledged by the scribe Mark 12.33 and proclaimed by Christ himselfe to bee like that great commandement Mat. 19.19 c. This is the rule Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Thou shalt loue thy neighbour that is every man for so Christ expounds it vnto the lawyer shewing him by the example of the Samaritane who is his neighbour Luk. 10.30 Thou shalt loue thy neighbour not onely such as fancie thee or are thy friendes but thy enimies too Thou shalt blesse them that curse thee doe good to them that hate thee pray for them that hurt thee Thou shalt loue thine enimies Thy enimies I say not Gods enimies for Gods enimies thou must hate with a perfect hatred David is thy warrant Psal 139.22 Thou must not receaue thâ—m into house or bid them God speed such was S. Iohns counsaile to the elect Ladies childreÌ„ 2. Ioh. vers 10. who also in his first and generall Epistle chap. 5. vers 16. speaking of a sinne vnto death reigning in the enimies of God forbids vs to pray for it Whom God hateth we may not loue In him and for him wee must loue every man If we can knowe any to be of the number of the reprobate to whom God wil not pardon their transgressions we may not in our prayers desire forgiuenesse for their sinnes we may not pray for their salvation Rom. 11.34 But who knoweth the minde of the Lord Or who hath beene his counsellor He alone separateth the Goates from his Sheepe he alone knoweth who are his And this rule simply bindeth vs who cannot discerne betweene the reprobate and the elect to loue every man vnderstood here by the name of neighbour Thou shalt loue thy neighbour But how It followeth in the rule as thy selfe
man to be afraid of every d Arist de Repub lib. 7. small fly that passeth by of every litle noyse that a e Idem lib. 7. Moral mouse may make of his f Cicero De consulatu petendo Plato in Phaedone Plutarch Symposiac dec 7. owne shadow according to the old proverbes or of meeting his own soule as g Zenodotus Pisander was or of some thing I know not what to fall vpon him froÌ„ aboue if he come forth of his doores as h Plutarchus ex historiâ Pontici Heraclide Pet. Crinitus De honesta Disciplina lib. 15 cap 11. ArtemoÌ„ was or of the rustling of the leaues of trees as i Io. Xiphilinê° Nero was To feare so or so what can it argue else saue degeneres animos faint hearts Yet were not the Disciples of our Saviour Christ altogether exempted froÌ„ feareing so Twise were they touched with such feare once as they failed toward k Marke 6.45 Bethsaida against the winde a second time as they were together at Ierusalem in a certaine house with the doores shut vpon them Sailing vpon the water they l Matt. 14.26 cried out for feare being together at Ierusalem within doores they were m Luke 24.37 abashed and afraid But why so The thing obiected to them should haue bin rather a ioy reioycing to their hearts then any cause of feare It was no other then their LORD and Saviour CHRIST IESVS once walking on the Sea againe standing in the middest of them But they supposed he had beene a spirit and thence grew their feare It 's very true such was their supposall as its evident Matt. 14.26 and Luke 24.37 Yet hereby are they not excused Christ himselfe rebukes their feare by telling them of their want of faith And how can we imagine that Christs Disciples could be ignorant of the impossibilitie which a spirituall substance hath to be sensibly perceived Neither had they for any thing I find in Gods word at any time seene a spirit to moue them to that conceite Certainely illic trepidaverunt timore vbi non erat timor the wordes are in the Vulgar Latin Psal 13.9 and do somewhat varie from the fountaine yet is the phrase retained in our English Psal 14.9 you will giue me leaue to vse it it may serue to note all such as haue been holden in such fond feares There were they brought in great feare even where no feare was But I leaue them and this second kind of feare There is a third feare of as large an extent as any The well knowne peece of verse out of Statius speakes of it Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor as if in the mind of man there could not be any opinion of the being of a God vnlesse there were feare From this ground Gods haue beene multiplied I say not as the sands of the Sea but exceedingly It partly appeareth 2. King 17.30 where we find that the men of Babel had for their God Sucoth-Benoth the men of Cuth for theirs Nergal and the men of Chamath for theirs Aschima It 's added vers 31. that the Avims had their gods Nibchaz and Tartak and the Sepharvims theirs Adrammelec and Anammelec to whom for sacrifice they burnt their children in the fire I haue alreadie made mention of Astaroth for Sidon of Melchom for Ammon of Chemosch for Moab of Beelzebub for Ekron of Dagon for Ashdod I might further remember you of n Esai 46.1 Bel and Nebo for Babylon of o Num. 25.3 Baalpeor for backsliding Israel and of p 1 Sam. 7.4 Baalim a multitude of gods such as they were for the residue of nations I may well say a multitude for that with the cost of but a little frankinsense they haue provided for the ofscowring of men for drunkards harlots and theeues gods to protect them I will not disquiet your Christian eares with naming of theÌ„ For though there bee that are named gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be many Gods and many Lords as St Paul himselfe confesseth 1 Cor. 8.5 yet knowing it to bee true which he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that an Idole is nothing in the world wee must with him make our further confession that vnto vs there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Christ Iesus by whom are all things and we by him This one God is the true obiect of the feare which now I speake of For he is fearefully regarded by the eies of al men in some by the eies of faith in the rest by the eies of nature By the eies of faith q 1 Pet 1.5 in such as are kept by the power of God through faith vnto salvation by the eies of nature in such as God hath giuen vp r Rom. 1.28 to a reprobate minde to doe things inconvenient The faithfull feare God and the faithlesse feare God but not alike Aristotle in the 2. booke of his Oeconomickes and 2. chap. to shew what feare a good wife should owe vnto her husband speaketh of two kindes of feare the one accompanied with shamefastnesse and reverence the other attended with enmitie and hatred The first is such a feare as wherewith a good sonne honoureth his father or a good subiect his ruler the other such as wherewith a lewd servant is affected towards his Master or a rebellious subiect towards his governour A distinction well knowne to every novice in the studie of divinitie it being so commonly much vsed by such as doe either write or speak to this argument Wherefore to passe it over in few words I note briefly touching the faithfull that the feare of God in them is such a feare as the good child honoureth his father with a feare waited vpon with loue reverence puritie ingenuitie freedome of spirit ever beholding God in the gratious light of his countenance howsoever sometimes the cloudes of displeasure may seem to hide that grace away As for the faithlesse the feare of God in them is such a feare as is the feare of malefactors towards severe righteous Magistrates a slauish feare a feare full of hatred malice contumely and reproche a feare flying and abhorring the sight of the LORD in regard he is a God of vengeance as hee is called Psal 94.1 He is such a God as hauing put on the garment of vengeance for cloathing and being clad with zeale as with a cloake will come shortly and f Rev. 22 1â— bring his reward with him to giue every man according as his worke shall be to the faithfull who by continuance in well doing haue sought glory and honour and immortalitie eternall life but to the faithlesse who haue disobeyed the truth and given credit to vnrighteousnesse to every such soule indignation and wrath and tribulation and anguish a iust and full measure in the ever burning lake Now it is no hard matter to determine as well of the
best endeavours that your preaching be not turned into dumbnes your hearing into deafnesse your beliefe into infidelity Since you haue confessed your sinnes be ye not vnwilling to forsake them also For to confesse your sins with your lips and say with Pharaoh Saule Iudas We haue sinned will nothing profit you vnlesse your hearts also be ready to say with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Dan. 3.18 We will not sinne For it is most true which SolomoÌ„ hath Prov. 28.13 He that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper it followeth but he that confesseth forsaketh them shall haue mercy Not he that confesseth only but he that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall haue mercy And last of all since you haue beene sanctified with the blood of the Testament beware O beware that you account not that blood an vnholy thing for so doing you tread vnder foote the Sonne of God and despite the Spirit of grace It is without controversie better for vs 2. Pet. 2 21. never to knowe the way of righteousnesse then after we know it to turne from it THE SEAVENTH SERMON HEBR. 10. VER 29. 29 Of how much sorer punishment suppose yee shall he be worthy whâ—â—h â—reâ—deth vnder foot the Sonne of God and couÌ„teth tâ—e â—â—â—od of the Testament as an vnholy thing wherewith he was sanctified and doth despite the Spirit of grace IN my former Sermon the despiser of Christ and his Gospell was out of this 29 verse discovered by certaine markes First to bee somewhat like vs that loue Christ Secondly to be much vnlike vs. He is somwhat like to vs that loue Christ for hee is sanctified with the blood of the Testament Againe he is much vnlike to vs that loue Christ for 1. He treadeth trampleth vnder foote the Sonne of God 2. Hee accounteth the blood of the Testament a vulgar a coÌ„mon an vnholy a prophane thing 3. He despites the spirit of grace The consideration of such his markes may occasion vs to touch two questions 1 Because the reprobate not all of them but such only as are deepest in Gods displeasure such as doe sinne against the holy Ghost are in this place said to bee sanctified with the blood of the Testament it may be asked How farre forth a man may be so sanctified how farre a man may goe in the profession of the Gospell and yet be a reprobate 2 Because they that haue giuen their names to the strumpet of Babylon do vpon this place build their doctrine for the finall relapse of the Saints of God I shall not erre from the meaning of my text if I answere this second demande whether a Sonne of God sanctified with the blood of the covenant may fall away Of these at this time The first marke wherewith men swallowed vp of so monstrous a sinne are here noted is common to them together with the elect and chosen of God They may bee sanctified with the blood of the covenant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some read it per sanguinem foederis in the Vulgar and Erasmus it is per sanguinem Testamenti Wee may not disallow of either of these readâ—ngs For though the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe properly signifie a testament and is often so vsed Heb. 9. yet also it fitly answereth to the Hebrew woâ—d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifieth pactionem viventiuÌ„ conventionem inter â—iâ—entes an agreement or covenant betweene the living In which sense it is vsed by the expositors of the Old Testament in many places I cite only one 1. Sam. 11.1 When Nahash the Ammonite had besieged Iabesh Gilead the men of the citie said vnto him as the Seaventie doe expound it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make a covenant with vs and wee will be thy servants These two significations of this word doe very fitly agree with the respects of that covenant which God hath made with his people For it respecteth God it respecteth man God was displeased because man had sinned Hence was it necessary that an agreement should be made God was to be appeased man was to make satisfaction God required and that worthily the paine of death for satisfaction of which durst man haue adventured to make payment needs must he haue been swallowed vp thereof Nothing then remained for the making of this agreemeÌ„t betweene God vs but that the Sonne of God very God very man should interpose himselfe Which already is performed For he being in the forme of God Phil 2 6. and thinking it no robbery to be be equall with God hath made himselfe of no reputation hath taken on himselfe the forme of a servant was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and being thus humbled hee hath vndertaken to satisfie his angry Father for vs and in fulnesse of time became obedient to the death to that death of the Crosse and so hath wrought our reconcilement And now hee sitting at the right hand of his Father in the highest heauens holdeth for vs in possession an eternall inheritance and because the right of this inheritance is purchased by him for no lesse price then the shedding of his most pretious blood hence it commeth to passe that the agreement reconciliation and atonement the covenant made betweene God and vs that he will be our God and we shall be his people may beare the shew haue the name of a Testament For he that made it was dead though now he liueth and liueth for evermore It was not the blood of buls nor of calues nor of goats nor the ashes of a heyfer that could make vs acceptable to the Lord but the blood of Christ who through the eternall Spirit offered himselfe without spot to God that is it that purgeth our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God And for this cause is Christ the mediator of the new Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.15 in which chapter this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is often vsed in the same signification for this cause I say is Christ the mediator of the new Testament that through death which was for the redemption of the transgressions in the former Testament they which were called might receaue the promise of eternall inheritance In regard of Christ theÌ„ whose death hath made the covenant betweene God and vs to bee of force this covenant may very fitly be called a Testament and this respect of him that dyed for vs warranteth both those expositions that for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we may read either Covenant or Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The blood of Christ which in the conceite of the Nestorians differeth nothing from the blood of any other creature and is in the iudgement of such as sin willingly after that they haue received the knowledge of the truth but common blood as it were the blood of any other man this blood of Christ is here called the blood of the CovenaÌ„t or the blood of the