instruct us And thirdly it teaches us the benefit of his offices exercising them in his state of humiliation and exaltation Fourthly It teaches us to know our duties to entertaine him rest on him glory in him only and that all other things are losse in comparison of him This knowledge is better than other knowledge in the effects it hath it being a transforming knowledge 2 Cor. 3.18 It makes glorious happy full of comfort carrying the spirit with it which changes us into his similitude and therefore is it called the word of the spirit In the fourth place it s better than other knowledge In regard of the depth of the knowledge and therefore called The manifold wisedome of God Ephes. 3.10 That a virgin is a mother God is become man this is farre above naturall reach and therefore Christ may well be called wonderfull Esay 9.6 who being God should be also man die rise and ascend farre above all power Fifthly This knowledge is a sweet knowledge and therefore excellent It telles us who were miserable and lost it telles us also of redemption of a kingdome of a Saviour How sweet are thy testimonies to my mouth Psal. 119.103 And if the promises here bee so sweet to us what shall then the accomplishment of them be to us hereafter This knowledge furthermore is excellent In regard of the continuance thereof the knowledge of other things dies with the things the world must perish and what use is there then of our skill in the nature thereof onely this knowledge abideth for ever working grace love heavenly mindednesse and brings us t is to glorie In the seventh place This knowledge of Christ teacheth us to know God aright his justice in punishing sinne his wisedome and mercie in reconciling us to him and in willing that Christ should become man and dye for us Neither could we know these things but by knowing Christ who is the ingraved image of his father Furthermore It teaches us to know our selves our filthinesse our ignorance in esteeming triâ—lingly of sinnes counting them veniall But great surely must the sore be that necessarily requires such a salve and such a Physitian as Christ and his blood to be shed for the curing thereof In the next place This knowledge is altogether sufficient in it self without all other knowledge and none without this to make a man wise to salvation both of soule and body and all men without this are but fooles For Use hereof This improves the shallow conceit men have of Divinitie that the knowledge is but shallow that every man may know it and that any man may soone have enough thereof But alas St. Paul had a large heart and had more inâ—ight into the deepe mysteries of this knowledge than such how ever they boast and yet he desires more and could not pierce to the depth therof for none ever could doe it but Christ Iesus onely Nay the very Angels they desire to pry and look into and to know more of these deepe mysteries 1 Pet. 1.12 It s therefore no shallow knowledge In the second place This ought to put us in minde to put apart times to meditate of the excellencie of this knowledge and to this end we are to emptie our selves of whatsoever fills us Especially we are to emptie us of sinne and of care for the world and the vanities thereof and the knowledge of them because both it and they shall all perish make no excuses of venturing displeasure or suffering discommodity true love pretends no delayes nor will indure them Behold Lord halfe of my goods I doe give to the poore and I doe restore to every man his owne said Zacheus In the next place We must call upon God to open our eyes that we may see and know his nature his offices his benefits and our duties to know more distinctly effectually and setledly to see the wonders of his law that we may be even ravished when we behold his fulnesse We In the fourth place are to frequent places where we shall have a fuller knowledge of Christ such places where the commerce is betweene Christ and the Church in the 5. Cant. 1. vers Christ had made love to his Church and woed her by his gracious promises she in the 2. ver being drowsie pretends excuses Hereupon Christ goes away but leaves a gracious scent of his quickening spirit enough to stirre her up to seek after her well-beloved that was gone to the 8. vers who asking after her well beloved those whom she enquired of enquired of her who he was and upon her description of him are enamoured with him and stirred up to seeke him also where by the way marke the benefit of conference Cant. 6.1 and are told that he is gone into his garden to the beds of spices that is into the congregation and assembly of his Saints If we will know Christ therefore wee must goe into these gardens where hee is ever present and there will he teach us And then shall we be stirred up to magnifie Gods goodnesse and mercie that hath reserved us to these times of knowledge and this marvailous light wherein we are more blessed than Iohn who was the greatest of those borne of women we see more than he saw Christ our Saviour already ascended to bee our eternall high-priest VERS 8. My Lord. THis is the end of all our knowledge to know Christ to be our Lord for else the Divels knew Christ Paul I know and Christ I know said he to those Conjurers but he could not know Christ to be his Lord. My Lord. Not onely for his title that he hath in me but My Lord for the title I have in him My Beloved is mine and I am his Mine he is for he made himselfe mine by redeeming me and paying the price for me My head from whom I receive force and vigour my husband my head of eminenciâ— briefly my Lord making me his and stirring up in me a love and desire to make him mine and to rest upon him by faith In the Covenant of grace therefore there is a mutuall consent betweene God and us he is ours we are his by faith to trust on him and by love to imbrace him which stirres up the whole man to obedience we may not think that this proceeded from a spirituall pride in the Apostle as though he thought himselfe the onely darling of Christ no they are the words of a particular faith and love in the Apostle not excluding others from the like for every Christian must labour for this faith that we may know Christ to be our Iesus our Saviour which we shall be assured of for if he makes us his hee will make us to love him and to say from our hearts my Lord and my head his love of us is the cause of our love to him we love him because he loved us first hiâ— knowlâ—dge is the cause of ours he chose us and therefore we chuse him and
if he loved me when I hated him surely now I love him he must needs love me Againe we shall know that we are Christs for then there will be a likenesse of Christ wrought in our hearts For that spirit that stirres us up to own Christ doth ever worke the Image of Christ in our soules as a seale it imprinâ—s on our soule the image of Christ in all graces of love meeknesse heavenly mindednâ—sse and goodnesse if we be the spouse of Christ we shall represent and shew forth his glory for the woman is the glory of the man Else what ere we boast wee are therein but hypocrites wee must forsake all in regard of Christ. VERS 8. For whom I have suffered the losse of all things HEre St. Paul confirmes his resolution and judgement of the value of Christ above all other things first he said he accompted him gaine and all other things losse lest men should thinke these were but brags he inferres he had suffered the losse of all for him and therefore did so highly esteeme of him and then it was he was for Christs sake stripped of all he was in want hungry naked went in danger of his death often nay he willingly suffered the losse of his priviledges he was an Apostle yet not worthy of the name as he sayes and for his care in his office though he were very diligent yet by it did hee not looke to merit he suffered the losse of all willingly he wrought this on his heart to lose all for Christ which is the dutie that a Christian must learne not to be onely a patient but willingly to lose to part with all and therefore wee are bidden to examine our selves to judge and condemn our selves and though the Lord hath not called us to the losse of all yet winne thus much of thy minde as to be prepared for to lose all when we shall be called thereunto and that in regard thereof we may say we have parted with all for in that we part with themin our affections God beholdes it and takes notice thereof and likes it and lookes for it and therefore he bids us leave all and follow him and if we forsake not all honour credit yea our lives we cannot be his Disciples VERS 8. And doe count them but dung SHewing his lothing of them and that he could not in dure the thought of them but did abhorre it as dogges vomit or dogges meat accounting it fit meat for none but such dogges as he spake before of if therefore we love Christ there will bee a detestation of those things that crosse the power of Christs merits in the same degree that we love Christ and we will expresse our degree of love of him by expressing the degree of hatred we beare to other things in comparison of him But why doth the Apostle so often inculcate these words To shew the expression of the largenesse of his owne heart and thereby to worke an impression thereof in the hearts of the Philippians Secondly to shew the power of the spirit that where it once leades it leades further and further to a higher degree of love of Christ that the longer he is loved the greater will love grow and more fervent so as the spirit constraines the person where it rules that he cannot but speake Acts 4.20 Thirdly to shew the excellencie of the subject he dwels upon it that we should thinke highly of it Also Fourthly to shew the necessitie thereof without which we cannot looke for salvation Fifthly to shew the difficultie of comming to this esteeme of Christ and to subdue our proud imaginations of our owne selves which however it will prove a hard and difficult matter Lastly in regard of the Philippians he knew it would be a difficult matter for them and therefore he sought out fit words to expresse the nature of the subject and the truth of his esteeme thus did the wise man Eccles. 12.10 11. who knew that the words of the wise man are as goades it s our dutie to take notice hereof therefore and to learne in what respect these outward things are good and to ranke them in their right places VERS 8. That I may winne Christ. TO winne Christ in this place is to get a more neere Communion with Christ a fuller assurance of him and a larger portion in him for St. Paul had Christ already and that made him desire a fuller injoyment of him though his heart was not large enough to entertaine all Christ yet he desired to be satisfied with his fulnesse First then it is here to be granted that Christ is gaine else why should the Apostle desire to winne him He is gaine I say both in himselfe considered and having respect to us In himselfe considered for no jewell is comparable to God-man to a Mediator he was inriched with all graces that the manhood was capable of But much more in regard of us for first he is our ransome from the wrath of God now we know a ransome must bee a gainfull thing and of no small price that must satisfie Gods wrath Secondly He is not only our ransome but our purchase purchasing Gods favour and heaven to us Thirdly he is our treasure for all things for this present life as also for a better in him are the treasures of heavenly wisedome and of his fulnesse we all receive grace for grace he is our comfort in trouble and direction in all our perplexities Fourthly he is of that precious vertue as he turnes all to gold all things are sanctified to us death grave crosses all which though we be not freed from yet he turnes them all to worke our good Fifthly by him we are made heires and have title to all things he is our Lord and hee that hath given Christ to us how shall he not with him give us all things so as in all our wants we may boldly come to the throne of grace Sixthly We by Christ gaine such offices as he himselfe had we are Kings we are Priests we are over the greatest of our enemies no more thrals to lust or to the world we may freely offer sacrifice for ourselves and others in the name of this our high-priest Seventhly we have communion with all that are good the Angels the Saints the Ministers they are all ours to defend and pray for us had the yong rich man this spirit of St. Paul he would have thought it the best bargain that ever he made though hee had parted with all if he had gotten Christ. But it may be said true Christ is gaine but what hope is there for us to attaine hereunto it may be as Paradise in it selfe yet kept from us by a flaming sword I answer no this gaine may be gotten which is the thing I propound to speake of Christ is a treasure in a field if any one will seek he may finde we had a Saviour before we were borne he was elected thereunto
the weake Christian for every crosse strikes at his heart and at the foundation of his faith making him presently doubt of Gods love and favour to him Sixthly A growne Christian he is experienced to finde out Sathans devises and plots and can put a difference betweene the motions of the flesh and the spirit and therefore knowes what corruption to weaken and what grace to strengthen when as new beginners for want of practice and experience sees not these things and therefore ere hee is aware runnes into many offences and lookes for no remedie Seventhly A well grounded Christian can withstand the bitter blasts and oppositions of this world nothing could move Paul nor separate him from the love of God but a weake Christian either is blowne away or at the least shaken with every blast as it is in yong trees newly planted Eightly A grounded Christian beares with the infirmities he sees in others he pities them and helpes them if he can but judges not of them as those that are weake who for the most part are captious you that are spirituall must restore saith the Apostle those that are weake with the spirit of meeknesse Gal. 6.1 So as it is the weake ones that are scandalized and as they are soone offended so doe they soone give occasion of offence to others by their ill example but the growne Christian indeavours to live free from offence in the least things hee is watchfull against Satans wiles Ninthly a perfect man doth most of all others see into his particular wants and lookes hence after a further degree of grace and therefore the Apostle bids such as are perfect to forget things past not to looke on those that are behinde but to see what is yet before to bee attained unto and to presse forward thereunto Tenthly A strong Christian is of abilitie and indeavour still to beget other Christians It s the propertie of a growne creature to beget its like a weake Christian hath enough to doe to looke to himselfe there may be many more signes named but these will suffice Le ts come to the meanes whereby we may grow to this strength and perfection And first of all we must know there must bee an order we are to grow in fundamentall graces in the first place for we water not the leaves but the root of our plants and the graces that are the foundation of all workes being gotten and diligently cherished the workes which are but as leaves will soone put forth The maine fundamentall grace of all is faith which we are principally to looke after First in getting assurance of our salvation to this end walke holily for many live in sinnes against conscience and so can have no assurance of the pardon of their sinnes and how dead and blockish are they David though a man after Gods own heart yet losing the comfortable assurance by his sinning against conscience of the pardon of sinne thought Gods holy spirit had quite forsaken him therefore he prayes Take not thy holy spirit from mee Psal. 51.11 Therefore labour for assurance of pardon of sinne for where the soule is wounded with the guilt of sinne it cannot inlarge it selfe in love but is possest with a fearfull expectation of judgement but when the soule is assured of the pardon of its sinnes it breeds love to Christ and there it s said of Marie shee loved much for many sins were forgiven her In the next place we are to labour for faith in the promises of the forgivenesse of sinne and Gods goodnesse to us that hee will give grace and glorie and that wee shall want nothing this will put courage into us And as we are to labour for faith so also for love which is cherished by meditation of Gods mercies and his love to us and this will set us on fire in all good workes and so much of this grace as wee have in us with so much strength and intention of spirit shall wee indeavour to please God in all things and this argument the Apostle used to stirre up the Corinthians 1 Cor 7.1 Having these promises le ts clense our selves from all filthinesse perfecting holinesse in the feare of God In the next place Whatsoever wee doe le ts labour to doe it with the best advantage labouring to practice and exercise as much grace and as many as we can as in giving give in zeale to Gods honour in love to mercie towards our brother that is in need and in regard of justice we owe it to him God hath commanded us to give him and he will reward it for we lend to the Lord when wee give to the poore If we are to abstaine from any evill we are to abstaine from it with a perfect hatred thereof and consider how it will offend it will breake peace of conscience and dishonour religion scandalize those that are weake dishonour God and bring shame to our selves yea wee must remember that the talents that God gives us do increase in the use of them the more we strive to doe things exactly the more perfection we shall attaine to in the use of performances Thirdly Let us not neglect litle things either ingood or ill omit no occasion of doing good and take heed of the least beginnings of ill abstâ—ine from all occasions and appearance of evill for though in comparison they seeme small they are of great consequence Fourthly Wee must keepe our affections to holy exercises and meanes for God workes by meanes neglect none for so much perfection thou losest thereby and consider what meanes will fit our disposition when we are indisposed are we dull in prayer then reade if that will not be endured then use the communion of Saints and still remember that we be not wearied with prayer for God sends not his away emptie and that those things may be the more effectuall observe some motives to stirre us up And to this end consider the priviledge of a perfect Christian He is as Mount Sion which cannot be moved if wee tell him of death it s his hearts desire tell him of afflictions he is resolute he lookes for them he knowes he lives Gods childe and so he shall die when a weak professor feares afflictions feares ill tidings feares death and when it comes seekes for comfort and hardly findes it Secondly a perfect Christian is a beautifull example and makes others in love with Religion he is throughly exercised and practised the weakling is scandalous makes men offended at Religion soone takes offence soone stumbles and gets many knockes so as his life is bitter Thirdly the perfect man honours God and gets him much glorie by hearing reading praying and such duties now as parents love those children best that are most like unto them so those whom the Lord findes like unto him hee will make them more neeâ—e to him in likenesse Fourthly the perfecter a man is the more neere communion he hath with Christ and hath
by private friends Nay canst thou desire this search that thou maist know thy â—inne more and more for this end that thou mayst truely hate it with a more perfect hatred Canst thou truely appeale to God as Peter did to Christ thou knowest that I love and preferre thee above all It is a sure signe of thy sinceritie which the world cannot have and therefore when they see their sinnes laid open they spurne at the ordinances and spite the Minister and their true friends that put them in minde of their faults accounting them as their onely enemies Surely they shall never be able to indure the search of God hereafter and the last day when he shall lay them open they shall be overcome with shame A fourth signe is That at the houre of thy death this spiritual worshipping of God will give thee content when nothing else can Thou mayst say with comfort as Hezekiah did Lord remember how I have walked before thee in sinceritie When down-right affliction comes outward verball profession vanisheth with all the comforts thereof then perisheth the hope of the hypocrite Two things upheld Iob in comfort in his great extremity he was first assured that his redeemer lived and secondly he knew his innocency in those things that his friends charged him with and such times will fall on us all either at the time of death or before when nothing but innocencie and sincerity shall be able to uphold us Labour therefore for sincerity and spirituall worship Worship God in spirit but let it be done outwardly also But first bring thy heart and intention to what thou dost and that will stirre up the outward man to its duty and for the performance hereof follow these directions First learne to know God aright For worship is answerable to knowledge for how can we reverence God aright when we know neither his goodnesse nor his greatnesse how can we trust on God when we see not his truth in the performance of his promises in the Scriptures and in our owne experience those that doe not these know not God for as the heart affects according to knowledge So also its true in divinitie as we know his justice wee shall feare as we know his mercy wee shall love him and as we know his truth we shall trust on him Psal. 9.10 They that know thy name shall trust in thee and in other places of the said Psalme the Lord is knowne in the judgement he executeth vers 16. Secondly know God to be the first mover and cause of all men ordinarily feare the creature attributing that to it which belongs to the Creator But God he is the giver of all and Christians looke on the secondary means as to the first author and ground of all the rest they behold the Magistrate as in God feare them no otherwise but in the Lord. Atheists they will not sticke at any sinne whatsoever to get the love of those that may bring them any worldly commodity A Christian hee pleases and seekes the love of him that can make enemies friends when he lists and when it s for our good he knowes in him we live move and have our being Thirdly make much of spirituall meanes God he works by meanes by his word attend to it it works love feare joy and reverence in us and therefore no marvaile if those that neglect these meanes are not acquainted with these graces of Gods spirit 4 Fourthly Lift up thy heart to Christ the quickening spirit 1 Cor. 15. Our hearts naturally are dead Christ is our life when thou art most especially called to love to feare to humilitie pray to him to move thee and yeeld thy selfe to him and then shalt thou pray in spirit as it is said in Iude 20. heare in spirit doe all in spirit doe outward workes of thy calling in spirit for a true worshipper will out of spirituall grounds doe all outward works of his particular calling as well as the workes of his generall Christian vocation Let us therefore doe all things from our hearts to God and to our neighbour else will not God accept of our workes It is the Iew inwardly who shall have praise of God The want of this sincerity hath extinguished the light of many a glorious professour and thereby hath brought a great scandall upon the true worshippers of God in spirit VERS 3. And rejoyce in Christ. THe word rejoyce implyes a boasting or glorying of the heart manifesting it selfe in outward countenance and gesture as also in speech it also implies a resting on and contenting in the thing we glory in proceeding from an assurance that we glory in a thing worthy of glory for they are fooles that delight in bables Observe hence therefore That those that will worship Christ aright must glorie in him For the worship of Christ is a thing that requires incouragement and nothing can worke this incouragement like the glorying in Christ and therefore Paul in the first part of his Epistle to the Romans having shewed that God had elected them freely and had begun the worke of sanctification in their hearts he comes in the 12. Chapter I beseech you saith he present your selves as a holy living and acceptable sacrifice to God And in Tit. 2.11 The grace of God teacheth by incouraging us to deny ungodlines to walk unblameably soberly righteously and godlily in this present world And therefore whensoever wee grow dull or dead think of the great benefits that we have by Christ and it will quicken us and all our performances In the next place observe That Christ is the matter and subject of true glory and rejoycing and onely Christ for they well goe together a full and large affection with a full and large object boasting is a full affection the object is every way as full First as he is God and man he is God full of all things he is man full of all grace and void of all sinne he is Christ anointed to performe all his offices he is a Prophet all-sufficient in all wisedome in him are the treasures of wisedome he teaches us not onely how to doe but he teaches the very deed he is our High-priest he is the sacrifice the altar and the Priest and he is our eternall Priest in Heaven and on earth on earth as suffering for us in Heaven as mediating for our peace Who shall condemne us it is Christ that dyeth yea rather that is risen againe who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 He is also our King he is King of all King of kings and Lord of lords a King for ever and at all times subduing all rebellions within us and all enemies without us and he is all these so as none is like him and therefore is worthy of our glory Secondly Christ is communicative in all these he is Prophet Priest King for us he is God man he is Christ for us he
of abundance and he may live in the world though not to the world which is a dutie easily spoken of yet not easily performed neither was it easily wrought in our Apostle who being a persecutor of the Church was powerfully altered and changed from Heaven and thus doth God deale with his children whom hee doth first cast downe and afflict that they may finde by experience that these outward things can stand us in no stead it may be hee suffers them to fall into some grievous scandalous sinne that they might see the bodie of sinne that lies in them and seeing no good nor help in themselves their desires are stirred up to the imbracing of some better thing wherein they may finde comfort then doth God reveale Christ to us to whom he will have us to flie and say Lord what wilt thou have mee to doe So as this power of changing our selves is not in our selves but it is an almightie power If we thinke therefore that wee are selfe-lovers goe to God present thy selfe in the meanes and then our eyes shall be opened to see and discerne good and evill For God hath promised to annex his spirit to the use of the meanes if that wee in obedience submit our selves to them VERS 8. Yea doubtlesse and I count all things but losse THe words containe a kinde of correction as if in few words he had said All things whatsoever I formerly boasted in nay my very priviledges I count them not onely dung but I doe count them to be losse to me nay I have suffered the losse of them all in comparison and for Christ my â—ord Yea I desire to expresse the earnest intention of my affections by my desire to win him to know hâ—m to be found in him and to formable to his death In generall observe The Apostles resolution and zeale his assured certainty his large heart being not able to expresse his affection but by many words viz. his love of Christ and hate of all outward things whatsoever Therefore we also in maine fundamentall points must be resolute carrying a full saile as in the truth of the thing there is a certainty so in us there must be an assured perswasion thereof For even from these uncertaine irresolute hearts comes Apostacie men being not grounded are carried about with every winde of doctrine and hence also comes different measures of grace in Christians some say with Paul Doubtlesse others are of doubting hearts But the end of the word is to settle us Ephes. 4.13 And though it be never so true yet if we not beleeve it though the foundation be sure yet if we not build on it the tru hand force of it is not good unto us In the second place fâ—om the Apostles example We are to learne in fundamentall truthes to be zealous The Apostle speaking of any thing that â—eâ—kes competition with Christ for value how doth he vilisie it that he hath not words sufficient to eâ—prâ—sse his fervent hatred thereof For zeale is such an affection as causes a constant hatred against any thing that opposes that which we intirely love even such a hatred as will cause us not to indure to heare of it And God therefore promiseth Ephraim he shall so abhorre Idols as he shall not have to doe with them And indeed a jealous God and a zealous heart doe well agree when wee have to doe with any one that opposes God in his â—ruth we are not to be cold but to be zealously affected In the third place Wee are to learne to bee large hearted in expressing our affection wee beare to the truth and therefore we are to bee ashamed of our shortnesse of breath in speaking or meditating of Gods honour and glory and his truth But particularly from our Apostles esteeme wee may learne That Gods children have sanctified and regenerate thoughts and esteemes For with new soules they have new eyes new senses new affections and judgements what they saw before to be gaine they see now to be losse Beasts we know conceive not of mens matters neither doe weake simple men of state matters that which weake silly men admire the Apostle scornes and contemnes Moses accounted of the afflictions with the children of God more than of the pleasure of Egypt We may observe this as a marke to know our estates by what is high in thy esteeme is honour riches pleasure or the like thou art not yet throughly sanctified for if thou wert thou wouldst have a sanctified judgement But some may say did Paul esteem all things to be losse yea his good workes I answer good workes in their own nature are good but weighing them with Christ as Paul did they are also drosse and dung Secondly it teaches us that wee are not righteous or justified by any workes ceremoniall or morall either before or after our conversion The Papists alledge works as meritorious we contrarily doe disclaime them As to that purpose I say they you meane ceremoniall works we say no we meane also morall For Paul was unblameable as concerning the works of the law and yet counts them dung O say they St. Paul meaned those works before his conversion and not those after his conversion I answer yes all things in respect of Christ I doe now account them as drosse and losse To prove this the fuller If nothing after conversion bee perfect then cannot they intitle us to heaven but all our best works in state of regeneration are imperfect to prove this See the examples of David a man after Gods owne heart Psal. 143.2 None righteous in thy sight and who can say his heart is cleane And Esay 64.6 Wee are all as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse as filthie ragges O but Bellarmine sayes the Prophet speakes this in the person of the wicked I hope he will not put the Prophet into that number for he saith wee and our and our righteousnesse not our ill deeds and all our righteousnesse Nay of himselfe in particular Esay saith as much in Esay 6.5 And besides the wicked doe not use to pray as the whole Chapter is to that end And Daniel also includes himselfe in his confession Dan. 9.20 And to prove this by reason We know that weake and corrupt principles must needs produce imperfect effects now the principles of all our motions are evilly affected our understandings memomories affections all are corrupt and weake Corruptions make combates in all parts of the soule and body in whatsoever therefore we doe there is flesh and spirit and their owne Authours agree hereunto as Ferus and Catharen a Cardinall of their owne sayes there is donatajustitia and inhaerens When the question is what we must leane to it must be onely on Christ and his righteousnesse wherewith from him we are indowed And a Pope of theirs Adrian the fourth saith that all our righteousnesse is as the reed of Egypt which will not onely faile us if we rest on it but will pierce our
necessarily die and how can we receive grace from Christ as our head but by union of our selves to the bodie whereof Christ is the head It must be our dutie to beware of all manner of seducers and to this end let us First get fundamentall truthes into our hearts affect and love truth for want hereof the Easterne Churches were given up to Mahomet and Antichrist ruled over many in these Westerne Churches because they loved not the truth 2. Thes. 2.10 For none are seduced that are not cold in love Secondly let us labour to practice that wee know and God will give us a fuller measure of knowledge whereby we shall learn to finde and know seducers Ioh. 7.17 If any man will doe his will he shall know Thirdly Pray to God for wisedome to discern of Schismes and Heresies and ill disposed persons God hath promised us any thing that is necessary for our strengthening and bringing us to Heaven God will not deny us so necessary an aide as this is Fourthly let us looke that we keepe in us a holy feare and reverence of God Psal. 15.12 What man is he that feareth the Lord him shall he teach in the way he shall chuse And those things are we duly to observe the rather because we shall ever finde seducers it will ever be a hard matter for men to finde the way to Heaven And though the doctrine and profession of Religion be not ever in all places opposed yet shall we ever finde the practisers thereof maligned As it is in these dayes where none are accounted of to be Protestants that are not loose libertines and thus instead of Concision from Religion they joyne that with it which is quite contrary to the power thereof Beware also of such for their courses of life are as pernicious as fundamentall errors for none shall be saved for his knowledge VERS 3. For wee are the Circumcision IN these words and those that follow our Apostle describes who are truely circumcised We are the true Israel the circumcised Sonnes of Abraham who are members of Christ. The Philippians they were not circumcised outwardly yet were they truely circumcised they had the truth of it even as they that were under the cloud and in the Sea were said to be truely baptized in the Cloud and in the Sea The Sacraments therefore before and after Christ were in substance all one as the Church was one and the same they may be said to be baptized as we and we circumcised as they the difference was only in the outward Ceremony and shew which the Church being then young had need of It is the same Religion cloathed diversly Bellarmin saith that their government was carnall the promises to them were carnall but it is carnally spoken of him Heb. 11. The Fathers before Christ had respect to the recompence of reward and in vers 35. they accepted not deliverance that they might obtaine a better resurrection are these carnall promises The Anabaptists they presse rebaptizing not considering that the same Covenant was before Christ and after in substance So as every true Christian is spiritually circumcised being once regenerate before indeed he is uncircumcised and a spirituall leprosie over spreads all his frame of body and minde which must be washed pared and cut off Wee must part with uncircumcised hearts eares and lippes that is such eares as doe delight themselves to heare corrupt lewd discourse such a tongue and lippes as delight to uâ—ter and let out words savouring of a rotten and uncircumcised heart such eyes as doe delight thâ—mselves in the beholding of lustfull and sinfull â—bjects whereby the heart is kindled inâ—o vaine dâ—sires I say a Christian must circumcise himselfe his heart and those parts that are uncircumcised before hee can ever thinke to goe to Heaven whither nothing that is corrupt or uncleane entreth Religion therefore is no easie thing Circumcision is painfull and bloody Mortification is very hard corruption it must be cut off though the blood follow else it will kill thee at length Wherefore wee are also to labour for circumcised hearts to understand Gods truth his will and commandements Cut off all extravagant desires who by litâ—le and little take away comfort and communion with God it s no mercy therefore to spare them Circumcise thy eyes pray with David Turne away mine eyes from regarding vanity Stoppe thy â—ares at the charming of such objects as may infect thy soule we can never injoy that beatificall vision hereafter if we weane not our selves from the liking of these things And though we cannot while we are in this house of clay come to that perfection we should yet indeavour to it earnestly and God will accept our very indeavours and will further them yea we shall get the victory at length If sinne begins to fall it shall surely fall the house of David in us shall grow stronger and the house of Saul shall dayly be weakened The meanes to this dutie are First know thy sinne and thy particular sinne by thy checks of conscience and by the checks we receive from our enemies who will spie what they can in us thereby to scandalize us As also observe what thy thoughts worke most upon what is the maine thing that generally takes up your cogitations When thou hast found out thy sinne Make it as odious as thou canst For Circumcision implies a thing that is odious and superfluous now all sinnes that be cherisht in us may well be odious to us for that it hinders us from all good and clothes us with all evill and makes all outward things evill to us who otherwise are no further ill than as they strengthen our corruptions It hinders us from all good duties pride of heart and corruption doe dogge us this made Paul cry not of temporall bonds but of the bonds of sinne and of death Who shall deliver me wretched man that I am saith he Rom. 7.23.24 Thirdly having found out thy sinnes and the abominablenesse of them Complaine of them to God as Hezekiah did of the blasphemous letter that Senacherib wrote and challenge the fruit of Gods promise For hee that bids us circumcise Deut. 10.16 Promised that he himselfe will doe it Deut. 30.6 Faith in the promises is an effectuall meanes to attain to them Men come with doubtings they see a great deale of corruption they think their labour is vaine they cannot be releeved against them they are deceived Touch but thou the hemme of Christs garment flie to God in his name and thou shalt finde this issue of sinne though not wholly dried up yet much abated And here is the excellencie of Faith that assures us of all the promises concerning sanctification here as concerning glory hereafter VERS 3. Which worship God THe Apostle places â—ircumcision before worship for unlesse there bee a cutting off we cannot bring our corruption to performe duties of Gods worship aright The words containe a description of
a Christian by his proper act Worship and by the proper object thereof God and by his most proper part in spirit And the word Worship is taken for the inward worship of God commanded in the first Commandement also comprehending our feare love of God and joy in him issuing from the knowledge of the true God All our obedience issuing herefrom is worship of God including our duties to man in obedience and relation to Gods Commandement The ground of this obedience and worship is the relation betweene God and the reâ—sonable creature being the Image of God now this image being lost in the fall of our first parents wee must worship him not onely as our creator and maker but as reconciled to us in Christ as he hath made us anew Secondly we are to worship him as the well-spring of all grace goodnesse excellencie and greatnesse Thirdly As he doth communicate all unto us he is ours Christ is ours all is ours this should carry our soules to love him be his as he is ours especially to be his in Spirit By which is meant the reasonable soule understanding will and affections And Secondly with sanctified understanding sanctified will and sanctified affections Thirdly with all our strength spirit life and chearfull readinesse Wherefore God is the proper object of spirituall worship Trust on him love him joy in him invoke and pray to him and to him onely not to the Virgin Mary Saints or Images as the Papists doe Mat. 4.10 Him onely shalt thou serve as Christ saith because our commandement is onely from him and extends onely to him The promises are onely from him he onely is present in all places he onely supplies our wants and he onely knowes what our wants are and how to helpe Saints are not present in all places they cannot heare many at once nay they cannot heare our prayers unlesse they be present they are finite creatures they have no infinite properties Christ he bids us invites us to come to him he hath promised to heare us and to ease us And further God knowes the secret wants which the Saints cannot know no wee our selves know them not and therefore are we to goe onely to God in all our necessities because it is most gainfull for us to goe to him that can helpe us nay we owe him this honour by going to him to acknowledge his omnipresence his willingnesse and ability to doe good VERS 3. In Spirit THe Apostle in these words shewes the manner of true worship by the most proper and fit part of a Christian to wit his Spirit that is as soule truely sanctified lively and cheerfully with a willing and ready mind fitly disposed Contrary to outward false and hypocriticall worship And the reason is Because God is a Spirit and therefore must be worshipped in spirit Secondly it is the best part of a man and God who challenges all and that justly looks especially that he hath the best part Thirdly the Spirit hath a being of it selfe and praiseth loveâ—h and rejoyceth in God when it s out of the body and the body is stirred up to this duâ—y onely by the spirit it being of it selfe senselesse as a blocke and outward worship without inward is but the carkasse of worship The Prayer of a wicked man is abominable because he regards iniquitie in his heart Psal. 66.18 And this spirit of ours without the spirit of God cannot worship him and therefore every one that is not changed makes God an Idoll This may deprive all such of comfort as care not for this spirituall worship thinking they have done enough if they have mumbled a few idle words over God accepts it no more than if they had sacrificed a dogges head as he saith Esay 66.3 And verily what other is Poperie but a bodie without a soule when they worship in blinde sacrifices in a strange language Is this a spirituall worship when they neither know what they doe nor say Let us shew that we are not of their number Come we with love and with the intention of all our affections and this will sway the whole man body and soule and so shall we worship him in truth and not in hypocrisie as many doe that bring their Idols with them their mindes are on their pleasures and riches though their body be present before God And it hath ever been an error in the world this limiting and tying Gods worship to outward worship of the body with a kinde of ceremonious gesture and it is very much liked for such like Reasons as these are First the outward gesture as holding up hands bending the knee casting up the eyes they are things that may easily be done Secondly they make a glorious shew in the eyes of the world its a commendable and good quality to be religious especially if they bee observed so to be Thirdly its beneficiall to men when as hereby they are knowne to be no Atheists and therefore not that way uncapable of preferment or the like Fourthly outward worship satisfies conscience a little men know they must worship God and goâ— to Church that these are means to save men and thâ—y thinke that in doing so they stoppe the cryes of their consciences Alas Alas these sleepie blinded consciences of theirs will â—t length awake and will accuse them for the outward ceremonious hypocriticall worship of him that requires the spirit to worship him with But some men may say how shall we know whether we serve God in spirit or no I answer observe these properties First Wâ—ether thou lamentest thy defects in the best actions thou dost and art not puffed up with conceit of the sufficiencie of thy performances Paul found this in him for although he lived being a Pharisee as concerning the Law unrebukable yet when he was converted he saw much corruption which before he knew not and laments and bewailes it Rom. 7. Secondly Examiâ—e thy selfe whether thou makest conscience of private closet duties Of prayer in thy studie when none sees thee Of thy very thoughts Dost thou serve God with thy affections and thy very soule Dost thou weepe in secret for sinnes yea for thy secret sinnes Dost not thou doe good duties to be seene of men as the Pharisees did Contrariwise wilâ— thou omit no place nor time but alwaies and in all places thou wilt worship God This must be done for God is alwayes and for ever God and he is in all places in private as well as publike and therefore a Christians heart must be the Sanctum Sanctorum where God must remaine present continually and therefore he makes conscience of and is humbled for the least sinnes yea those that the world esteemes not of and counts them as niceties and that in as great a measure as ordinarily men are for the greatest sinnes they commit Thirdly Canst thou indure the search of thy selfe and thy infirmities by all meanes by thy selfe by others by the word
sought not his owne it was his communicative goodnesse that drew him from Heaven to take our nature Thirdly he is present and ready to doe all good for us he is present with us to the end of the world nay Fourthly we are his members he is in us we are his wife nay we are him Saul why persecutest thou me 1 Cor. 12. We are all one body with Christ. Fifthly We are even whiles we are here glorified with Christ he is our husband if hee be honoured we his spouse also are advanced if he be our King we are his Queene if the head be crowned the body is honoured and Sixthly all this is from God and freely comes from him Christ is anointed by the spirit and sent from the father 1 Cor. 1.30 He is made of God wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption to us And Ioh. 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father who hath sent me draw him and it is further said that God sealed him So that we may rejoyce in Christ because that thereby we come to joy in God for he reconciles us to God who called him to this office which was witnessed at his baptisme when as the whole Trinity bare witnesse thereof But it may be questioned What may wee not joy in any other thing else but in Christ. I answer there may be two causes of our joy One principall the other lesse principall We must onely rejoyce in Christ as the maine and principall cause of our happinesse But we may rejoyce in creatures so farre forth as they are testimonies of Christs love and in peace of conscience as comming from Christ and in the word of God as it is the Gospell of the revelation of Christ to us For use We may observe this doctrine as a ground of the necessitie of particular faith For none can boast but the boasting must arise from a particular faith which onely is the true ground of every mans particular assurance Secondly let it serve as a direction to every Christian that will rejoyce let him goe out of himselfe and rejoyce in Christ his King his Priest and his Prophet let him observe what he hath done for him and what he will doe for him and thereby see himselfe perfectly happy and In the third place Let us first boast that we have Christ and then in his benefits and blessings that folloâ— him First rejoyce that we have the field then rejoyce in the pearle And therefore the Apoâ—tle sayes not rejoyce in faith or in obedience but in Christ who being once mine how shall I not have all things with him Those that are burdened with sorrow for their sinne let them consider Why doe they grieve doe their sinnes trouble them Christ hee came to dye for sinne he is their high-Priest he came to save sinners Doth the devill accuse them let them know Christ chose them he pleades for them who can lay any thing to their charge Christ he is dead risen nay he is ascended into Heaven Are they troubled with crosses That is the best time to rejoyce in Christ. We joy in tribulation Rom. 5.3 When nothing comforts us then hath Christ sweetest communion with our hearts St. Steven when the stones â—lew about him and Paul in the dungeon had the most sweet consolation and comfortable presence of Gods spirit that upheld them Nay in death wee may glory most of all it lets us into that state into that sweet society with our Saviour and the Saints the very hope whereof doth now sustaine us and cause us to glory here as in Rom. 5.2 And death now is but a droane the sting is gone all enemies are conquered In the fifth place See wherein the glory of a man of a nation of a kingdome consists it is in Christ and that which exhibites Christ. What made the Iewes rejoyce marke the prerogatives they had Rom. 9.3 Adoption covenant promises and Christ. What made the house of Iuda so famous and Mary so blesse her selfe All generations shall call me blessed Christ that vouchsafed to proceed out of her loynes and from that stocke Abraham rejoyced to see Christs day though he saw it a farre off by the eye of faith And what should we glory in above the Iewes above other nations but in this the vaile is taken away Christ shines and we have the Gospell in its puritie This the Apostle lookes for in the Corinthians 2 Cor. 2.3 Having confidence that my joy is the joy of you all Now what was Pauls joy God forbid saith he that I should rejoyce but in the crosse of Christ Gal. 6.14 Let us not therefore rejoyce in peace or plenty fortified places or the like No if we had not Christ to rejoyce in we were no better than Turkes Happy is the people whose God is the Lord for in him shall we have fulnesse of joy and comfort make use of this in time of temptation When the divell would robbe us of our joy fly to Christ oppose him against all oppose the second Adam against the first he came to doe what ever the other did undoe Learne to see the subtilty of the divell and thine owne heart and fill thy heart with the Scriptures and with meditations of the promises and they will cause our love to be so fervent as all our service of God will seeme to be easie to us As the time that Iacob served seemed nothing for the love he bare to Rachel But how shall wee know whether wee rejoyce in Christ or not I answer by these signes First when we glorie see the ground whence it arises whether from God reconciled to us or not If otherwise remember that of Ier. 9.23 Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome nor the strong man in his strength all such rejoycing is evill But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord. Secondly If we glory in the Lord it will stirre us up to thankes What we joy in we will praise if we joy in Christ we shall like the Spouse in Canticles ever be setting forth the praises of our beloved Thus did Paul Ephes. 1.3 and Peter 1 Pet. 1.3 and therefore where deadnesse and dulnesse is it shewes no true Christian joy Thirdly Our glorying will be seene in dutie delight ever implies the intention to doe any good worke and diligence Fourthly if we glory in Christ aright we shall not indure any addition to Christ and therefore we shall abhorre that Popish Tenent which puts so many additions to Christ in the meritorious worke of our salvation A true rejoycer in Christ sees such all-sufficiency in Christs merits and worke that he abhorres purgatorie and such trash and so much the more by how much his glorying in Christ is the more fervent and sincere Christ is our husband we are his spouse if we cleave to any other than
seeing once their blindnesse might be the more able to confound them as being not a whit inferiour to them in any outward respect whatsoever when they were of their beleefe In the fourth place God having to deale with men of a desperate condition suffers great and famous men to be in ignorance nay to be persecutors that after their conversion they might comfort weake Christians and therefore let them comfort themselves doe they finde that their sinnes are many and great Paul was a Pharisee a persecuting Pharisee and continued so a long while Nay after his conversion he complaines of a body of sinne and yet found mercie and therefore doe not despaire But to proceed wee see what St. Paul was and what now he is how his judgement is quite contrary to that it was for where grace is it makes men opposite to themselves and therefore this re-creation is called a new creature Paul quite contrary to Saul and yet both one person Out of which we may gather First That a man before conversion hath ever that which is his gaine for wee are prone to thinke too highly of naturall things and our esteeme shall be grounded upon probabilities rather than we will lose our esteeme of them For we know this outward gaine is easily gotten the duties are easily performed faire outwardly and will procure praise from men which is all we naturally looke for Secondly observe hence That that which we before conversion thought gaine is indeed losse and unprofitable nay it is dangerous for things may in use be good but in abuse dangerous Riches are good in use but in abuse mammon and thornes as Christ termes them Circumcision and Sacrifices and Baptisme in themselves were good and many things are still good yet when we trust in them and neglect inward graces sacrifice is no more acceptable than a dogges head Good workes are in their proper nature good yet if wee relye on them they stoppe the way to Christ. So as it is our wicked and abusing affections that hath brought an ill report on the good creatures of God so as to us they are drosse and dung nay losse these termes doth the holy spirit give to alienate our affections from these earthly things an outward civill and conformable life are by our too high esteeme of them stoppes staying many from Heaven for while they tell themselves they live honestly and justly doing no wrong they suppose themselves to be very Saints and looke no further But every true Christian knowes his infirmity and the more he is inlightened the more hee sees his darknesse he knowes these things cannot be gaine to him For first he knowes they are meaner than the soule these are earthly the soule is from heaven these are outward the soule is spirituall and therefore is onely satisfied with spirituall and heavenly comforts Secondly A Christian sees these things are fading arising of nothing and tending to nothing contrarily he knowes his soule is eternall and requires comforts that may last with it for ever For those that joy in these outward things when they leave him or he leave them as of necessitie he must its true they vanish to nothing but he cannot but must continue comfortlesse for ever and undergoe the just wrath of God Furthermore a Christian doth not only know these things to be no gaine but he also knowes them to be losse For that 's losse which a man findes by experience to be losse when his understanding is awakened But all things outward what ever they bee whether that a man is a Christian by profession or that hee is a Preacher who hath good utterance and is imbraced of the people and approved of or what priviledge else soever when the conscience is awakened they breed more horrour at the houre of death when we are to give an account of them and they set us further off from Christ. A prophane person is nearer conversion than a proud Pharisee as Christ saith the publican and harlots goe before you into the Kingdome of God the reason is because they that are thus outwardly affected sing peace to their soules wheÌ„ as the prophane man hath no starting holes of excuse his vilenesse being more manifest Secondly God detests such boasters more than those that are outwardly prophane and therefore Christ inveighes against such ever Woe to you Pharisees Hypocrites and often threatens such with the punishment that is provided for hypocrites as if those were the men which his soule abâ—orred and for which onely hell was prepared But how shall we be qualified that outward things may not be hinderers of us First looke to the foundation of all conversion consider the nature of God and his law by them we shall see a further degree of holinesse than the best of us can attaine to The excellencie of Gods nature is such as Gods children have beene ashamed to be in his presence As Iob when God spake abhorred himselfe Peter when he saw the power of Christ said Depart from me Lord for I am a sinfull man We are therefore to thinke often of the presence of God before whom ere long we must all appeare Secondly Bring thy selfe to the spirituall meaning of the law as Paul did Rom. 7. See into thy thoughts and behold the uncleannesse of thy heart Thirdly converse with those that are better than thy selfe and compare thy selfe with them Not as the Pharisees who compared themselves with the Publicans and herein are many deceived and by undervalewing others they over-valew themselves For things compared with lesse they seeme somewhat but with bigger seeme nothing it ought not to be so with us let us compare our selves to that rule that we live by and to such examples as we are to follow Compare we our selves with Christ our righteousnesse with his and then shall we see our wants Fourthly Practise that which Christ so much beates on that is selfe-deniall hate father mother world nay thy selfe or never thinke to come to Christ they will be losse to thee unlesse thou account them losse the young rich mans wealth made him a loser the love of the praise of men kept the Pharisees that they could not beleeve Whosoever nourisheth any lust it will rule him and his affections that he shall make it his gaine be it never so vile in it selfe But St. Paul being guided by another spirit casts away all and so must we if we will not lose Christ and suffer shipwracke cast away these commodities that loade us and hinder us in our course Neither is it meant here of an actuall casting away of our goods thereby to establish the foolish vow of povertie But herein is meant a judicious discerning of the true worth of these things in comparison of Christ and from thence a preparation and arâ— solved minde to part with all that may hinder us from the injoyment of peace of conscience and the love of Christ. For a man may have a weaned soule in the middest
sides St. Cyprian saith also that he is either Superbus or Stultus that sayes or thinkes he is perfect And good reason for that which shines in the eyes of mâ—n in Gods esteeme is base In thy sight shall no flesh be justified Now there are divers degrees of judgements in Gods judgement none shâ—ll be justified nor in judgement of lâ—w for in many things we offend all and for the judgement of the world what is it if it cleare us can that â—cquit us if God and the law condemns us for the judgment of our owne consciences if they be cleared they will condemne us Yea the Papists are not satisfied in their own consciences for this point For if there may be a perfect fulfilling of the law in this life by a mans owne inherent righteousnesse why doe they teach the doctrine of Doubting as necessary to salvation But how ever they may brâ—bble in schooles to maintaine this their assertion yet when death comes they must flye those shifts and lay hold onely on Gods love Some will say what are the graces of Gods spirit are the sacrifices the sweet odours and ornaments of the spouse are these dung I answer Things admit of one esteeme simply considered and of another comparatively starres in the day are not seene yet in the night are great lights So workes in regard of Christs workes are not visible are nothing but in themselves are good Secondly I say there are two courts one of justification another of sanctification in the Court of justification merits are nothing worth insufficient but in the Court of sanctification as they are ensignes of a sanctified course so they are jewels and ornaments But the ignorant Papist objects against us saying that we discourage men from good workes because we doe so basely esteeme of them I answer A sick man cannot eate meat but it breeds humours that strengthens the disease shall he therfore forbeare all manner of meats No for meat strengthens nature and makes it able to overcome the power of the disease So by reason of our corruption we have within us we halt in every good worke we put our hand to shall we not therefore worke at all Yes for notwithstanding our weaknesse though we merit not any good yet God he over-lookes the ill-nesse of our workes and accepts and rewards the good that is in them giving us comfort and assurance of our justification by the sanctified fruites which though imperfect yet are true To conclude Seeing we cannot have Christ putting any confidence in outward things Let us labour to get an esteeme of the weaknesse and imperfections that are in them as also in our persons and actions that wee may hunger after Christ. To this end dayly renew we our repentance and examination of our hearts and when we doe any good Examine what weaknesse want of zeale want of affection or attention hath possessed us in our performances of praying hearing reading the Word and the like and want of watchfulnesse in our courses and then shall we be of St. Pauls mind all will be naught And take heed of spirituall pride and conceit of any good in us for it hinders spirituall comfort from us Let us meditate of the greatnesse of Gods love to us and the infinite reward and it will make us ashamed of our weake requitance of Gods love to us Consider the multitude of our sinnes before the time we were called and consider of our pronenesse to spirituall pride let us by all meanes abase our selves For those that God loves he will have them vile in their owne esteeme for it is his method First to beate downe then to raise up And therefore Iohn he comes thundering Hypocrites generation of vipers Then comes Christ Blessed are the poore those that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse as if onely they were blessed that feele their wants We must disdaine any other titles to any good but onely in Gods mercy and accordingly give the glory of all to him Thus did the Church militant Not to us not unto us Lord but to thy Name and thus doe the Church triumphant Rev. 7.12 Honour glory and power bee to the Lambe those that doe not thus are no members of the Church Last of all Let us take heed of extenuating sinne the Papists tell us of divers sins that are veniall such are surreptitious thoughts taking of pinnes stealing of points and the like these they call veniall But we must know to admit that sinne as a sinne to be veniall is a contradiction though God doe pardon it for that is out of his free mercy these surreptitious stealing motions that unawares doe creepe into us though the Papists doe make them of small account God may punish with his fierce indignation Moses his anger kept him out of Canaan Adam his apple cast him out of paradice every sinne is a breach of the law the least sinne soiles us we must give account of idle words and the wages of any sinne though never so small is death VERS 8. For the excellencie of the knowledge of Christ Iesus THat is either all things are losse to me that hinder me from the knowledge of Christ Iesus or all things are losse in comparison of Christ Iesus Wherefore before wee can know Christ as we ought wee must know all other things to be losse for when we learne to know Christ aright we then cast those things out of our affections which would else keepe Christ out of our heart Wherefore it s no wonder that great Schollers should bee erronious in many points of Religion for looke to their lives and we shall see them envious and ambitious they maintaine Idols in their hearts they account not those things losse which must be losse or else they must account Christ losse Secondly This knowledge of Christ is an excellent knowledge better than the Iewes who had all their knowledge shadowed out in ceremonies but this is unvailed and therefore Christ said Blessed are the eyes that see those things that you see And as the estate of the Church growes more excellent now than before Christs comming and shall be most excellent hereafter in heaven even so our knowledge doth and shall grow in its excellent perfection It s better also than humane arts and sciences not in regard of the Authour for all knowledge is from God but First in regard of the manner of revealing therof for whereas we come to the other by the light of nature and reason this is inspired into us by the spirit Secondly In regard of the matter of this knowledge which is farre beyond the other for this teaches the natures and person of Christ God and man in one person which may swallow up the thoughts of man Great is the misterie of godlinesse In the next place It teaches us his offices that he is a King to rule over us and deliver us a Priest to make us acceptable to God a Prophet to teach and
God what if we part with them if it be for his cause he will bring us to a better life which shall not be taken away from us and this life we must part with ere long and thus we ought to worke on our selves by often meditating of them as the Saints have done In the fourth place we are to labour to strengthen three graces in us especially Faith to assure us that wee are the children of God and that we have heaven and all things belonging thereto laid up for us and we are to labour to see more and more into the valew of them and then we are to strengthen our Hope which makes us cheerfully to undergoe and doe any thing for Gods cause through our expectation of that which faith beleeves Lastly let us cherish our love of Christ this made St. Paul desire to be dissolved and to bee with Christ which was best of all And this love comes from Faith and Hope and these together will breed a largenesse of heart that cares for no worldly thing and will bee daunted with no affliction or crosses what ever But how farre are we here from did St. Paul part with life It pertaines not to us no not to leave a new fangled fashion nor an oath whereby wee teare Gods name dayly alas where is faith what corruption is here overcome which of us will ever be of Paul or Davids minde to become vile or base for Gods cause where is he that will indure a scoffe or scorne for religion let us beg of God this large spirit and large affections the children of heaven have a free spirit basely esteeming all worldly things Zacheus when hee is called cares not for his goods nor Paul for his priviledges The Stoicks commend this resolution in men to be willing and readie to die alas crosses and afflictions Paul esteemed not so as he might attaine to the resurrection of the dead these are the things that the Stoicks feared most and it was the feare of these made them so willing and readie to die together with a base servitude to pride but a Christian heart is more noble it not only feares not these but it contemnes them yea cares not for life without afflictions but with joy can undergoe all manner of torments Let us therefore take heed how wee quiet our selves in our earthly dwellings here supposing our estate to be happie surely it is the maine ground of Apostacie wee shall never come to see the price of religion nor the excellencie of a peaceable conscience nor the vanitie of these things so long as we blesse our selves in them And contrarily let us exercise our graces in the dayly trials we meet with here doth favour of great men doth pleasure profit or honour crosse and oppose thy conscience let the peace thereof be preferred above all evermore else shalt thou never come to Pauls holy resolution And dreame not of a vaine emptie faith thou hast no more than thou dost practise it s not Lord Lord that will prevaile at the day of judgement but Christ will be ashamed of them at the day of judgement that made no more account of him while they lived than to preferre every vaine idle wanton delight and pleasure before his honour VERS 12. Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect IT is a correction of the Apostle hee formerly spake of his desire choice and esteeme of Christs death and resurrection and the force thereof hee found in him Now lest secret insinuating proud conceits might arise either in himselfe or in them concerning his holinesse hee crosses them with a Not as shewing that the best estate of Gods children in this world is imperfect there is ever some thing to doe or suffer some lust to conquer or some grace to strengthen There is no absolute perfection but onely in God himselfe yet in Christians there is a kind of derivative spirituall perfection which consisteth chiefly in the parts a Christian hath this perfection he hath all grace in some measure we have no other perfection no not so much as perfectio viae though the Papists say they have it indeed we are so far from it that never could Christian keepe the rules of nature much lesse can we attaine to the perfection of obedience to the law for by it we are all cursed nay in Christ none attaines to evangelicall perfection of grace so as thereby wee can be justified as by a worke of our owne for our righteousnesse is but in part and this perfectio viae which they boast of so much differs not from their perfectio finis no more than love to a man raised by good report of him differeth from love caused by the good I finde in him by personall communicating with him and this is onely in degrees in nature they are the same love But why or how is it that there is no perfection of grace in this life Because there is and ever shall be in us during this life a perpetuall combate betweene the flesh and spirit so as one weakens and hinders the other Paul at the best found a law in his members warring against the law of his minde Rom. 7.23 the flesh continually lusting against the spirit Gal. 5.23 Hindering us from doing good or in doing good or in doing thereof from doing it in a right manner But the Papists object love is the fulfilling of the law we may love ergo we may fulfill the law and consequently be perfect I answer love in the abstract being perfect is the fulfilling of the law but in this or that subject it s not perfect Pauls love nor Peters love was not the fulfilling of the law They urge further all Gods workes are perfect ergo the grace that is in us It s true Gods workes are perfect but in their times when they are finished grace at length shall be perfect in us Secondly all Gods workes without us are perfect as justification and glorification they are perfect for we are perfectly justified even now but his workes within us such as are his sanctifying graces are not perfected till our time of glorification for he suffers the old Adam to be within us for divers reasons so long as we live in this earthly Tabernacle For use hereof observe this as a ground for justification by faith Paul Rom. 5.9 proves that even now he was justified and in this place he denies and disclaims absolute perfection and therefore could not be justified by it and therefore must needs be justified by faith if it were his case it is much more ours who come not to that measure of the fulnesse of grace that hee attained to Secondly this may serve to comfort Christians that finde themselves burthened with diverse wants with dulnesse and frowardnesse of spirit and with manifold corruptions and are induced thereby to call in question their Christian estate let them looke upon a better patterne than themselves they may bee growne
the greater fruit of Christs love and findeth peace of conscience and joy in the holy spirit to such as these Christ hath promised to come and sup and feast and refresh with his graces for even to this end Christ came to make us holy and pure that he might present us to himselfe a glorious Church Ephes. 5.26.27 and therefore that Christ may attaine to his end in us let us indeavour unto perfection Fifthly our estate hereafter should move us hereunto we looke for a new heaven and a new earth and we desire to be ever with the Lord in that heaven wherein dwelleth righteousnesse and therefore we ought to be diligent that we may bee found in him in peace without spot and blamelesse It is the Apostle Peters argument 2 Pet. 3.13.14 and therefore as many of us as be perfect let us be thus minded that we cannot goe farre enough we must strive still on to perfection VERS 15. And if in any thing yee bee otherwise minded God shall reveale even this unto you ST Panl aymes at the comfort of those that are weake implying that every Christian stood not in this pitch of disposition with the Apostle and yet they were not to be discouraged God will reveale the same minde to them also in his time In which words we may observe first that some Christians see not so farre as others neither at some times so well as at other times but are like the man in the Gospell they see at the first men walke like trees and after see things more plainly The way of the righteous shineth more and more unto the perfect day as the light doth saith the Wise man Prov. 4.18 And as the Church grew to knowledge by degrees so do we for we first know things in generall at the first Peter knew not that the Gentiles should be called Acts 10. And the Disciples were at the first weake and subject to many infirmities and therefore we must take heed of judging and censuring others and also that we discourage not our selves by reason of our weaknesse God willin his time strengthen us and it may be call them Secondly observe it is God reveales this unto such It is God that must take away the vaile first the vaile of the thing opening our understandings by reading and hearing and thus the thing it selfe is made fit to be knowne then he opens the vaile of the heart and affections to imbrace and love the things It s God that opened the heart of Lydia let us therefore beare with the ignorant though Gods time is not yet come it may hereafter Secondly Ministers when they come to preach must pray that God would take away the vaile from the peoples eares and hearts and people when they come let them pray that God would open their hearts and not come in the strength of their owne wit knowing that God openeth and shutteth none can open or shut till hee doth it In the third place wee may observe that God in mercie will doe this for us hee will open our hearts he will reveale though not every particular truth yet all necessarie truthes according to our estates some stand in need of more than others as Ministers ought to have more than people and Governours are to have a larger spirit than other inferiours yet all shall have sufficient Therefore for our necessities let us goe to God he hath promised to leade us and with David pray Lord open thou mine eyes that I may see the wonders of thy Law he hath promised to anoint our eyes with eye salve and it s his office to guide us he is our Prophet to instruct us In the next place observe that if any man belong to God he must at one time or other bee thus minded as Paul was to hate all things as vaine to strive on to perfection to make conscience of the least offences yea of idle thoughts and words of loose wanton behaviour to know he is not perfect enough vigilant enough to look how farre hee is short of that pitch of perfection he ought to attaine unto not to content himselfe that he hath out-gone others these things they shall know either here in time of triall and temptation or at the houre of death when no man ever repented of his goodnesse or forwardnesse in Religion nor of his care or constancie in good courses And therefore let us be stirred up to bee of the same minde now and if any man shall think with himselfe because God will reveale this therefore he will neglect meanes and stay till God inspires this minde into him let such take heed if they love goodnesse they will set about it presently but if they quench the good motions of Gods spirit God will take his spirit from such Beg that God would now change thee for thou art not master of thy thoughts if we now put off God till we die its just with God to suffer us to forget our selves let us bee well affected for the present and though wee see not so cleerly as wee should doe let us attend the meanes and though we cannot grow in religion yet let us not thinke it a shame but allow and uphold such courses else is our estate desperate Observe further this speech as its a discoverie of a moderate spirit in the Apostle there are some graces that seeme in shew to crosse one another as zeale and moderation but they doe not for zeale when it meets with a fit subject for moderation can bee moderate Paul condemnes not but hopes and it s an example for our imitation love beares all and hopes all whiles God suffers why should not wee suffer Christs spirit will not breake the bruised reed in whomsoever it is God hath a time for such as we condemne even as he had a time for us and therefore wee must use all meanes wayting if at any time God will give us repentance 2 Tim. 2.25 Ministers must not be harsh with weake Christians its Gods worke to bow affections and not mans And secondly when wee have used all the meanes we can wee must depend on Gods providence and therefore we are to fetch grounds of toleration and patience towards others from Gods love and wisedome who reveales the seed sometimes long after The Papists they checke us for want of meanes to reduce men into unitie and to compound controversies they brag of the Popes power this way but it s but a brag for why doe they not conclude their owne They are farre more happie than the Church was in Christs time hee sayes offences must come Paul sees there must be errors hee could not compose all God must reveale it in his time But how doe they compose differences by excommunication imprisonment and death and this by the censure of an ignorant man perhaps which is brutish and unfit for the Church of God For our part we want no meanes but the effect or successe we must leave to God we are not
before the comming of Christ as that the Gospell should bee preached in all places that the conversion of the Iewes might be hastened and the downefall of Antichrist might speedily come to passe And this hope will also incourage us and put us forward that in our severall callings and standings we should helpe on the performance of them as much as is in our power to performe by helping on the building of the Church and the inlargement of Christs kingdome and the confusion of his enemies Lastly this hope will worke in us a sweet and comfortable carriage in all estates and conditions carrying us through all impediments with courage For yet a little while and hee that shall come will come and will not tarrie and hee will come full handed My reward is with me saith Christ and lest we should thinke it long before he comes hee told us long agoe that those were the latter dayes and that the ends of the world were then come upon them Doe men then molest us persecute and vexe us let us be comforted hee comes that will tread all our enemies under our feet Do we find that we have but short spirits that our graces are but weake let us not dishearten our selves hee that keepes heaven for us will give us necessarie graces to bring us thither if we want goe to the God of faith and love hee hath promised to give us his spirit to make all grace abound in us never to leave us nor forsake us till he hath perfected his worke in setting us with him in glorie But to proceed to the object of this expectation it is Christ who is described unto us by the Saviour whom hee calles also Iesus which signifies a Saviour and this he doth to impresse it the deeper into his affections But some may say Christ hath saved us already what need is there therefore of his second comming I answer it is to perfect our salvation for redemption of our bodies and glorious libertie are reserved to his second comming wee looke not that he should die any more but appeare as a Lord of glorie in glorie without humiliation for sinne having already gotten victorie of it The observation is that Christ is a Saviour and the Saviour by way of excellencie he saves all that are of his mysticall body from all evill and preserves them to all good hee saves their bodies and their soules now from the power of all evill and hereafter hee will free them from all evill he is the everlasting Saviour while we live here his bloud runnes continually this is the fountaine opened for the house of Iudah for sinne and uncleannesse in it are we cleansed from the guilt and damnation of sinne what would wee have more Wee are kept by faith to salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 Let this raise up our soules Are wee swallowed up with the sense of any miserie Let us know that we trust a Saviour that is every way absolute that invites those that are sicke with sinne to come unto him and how can wee escape if wee neglect so great salvation Heb. 2.3 Away therefore with all â—opish conceipts of meriting by our works All glorie must bee given onely to his mercie all that hee did for us was to the glorie of his grace Ephes. 1.6 Lastly this should comfort us when wee thinke of the last day to thinke withall that he shall be our judge that is our Saviour and therefore should cast away all terrour from us knowing that our head will not destroy his members but that hee our husband being a great King will also crowne us his spouse with a glorious crowne therefore when wee see the fore-going signes come to passe let us lift up our heads knowing our redemption draweth neere To goe on in the next place Christ is not only our Saviour but he is our Lord wherein we may see the Apostles Christian wisedome hee useth such titles as may most of all strengthen his faith and affection of the present meditation which being a point of the resurrection a thing seeming contrarie to reason to flesh and bloud hee strengthens himselfe in this consideration that he is the Lord who haâ—h all power and authority committed to him Math. 28.18 Secondly he is Lord by title of redemption so as we are no more our owne but his for he hath bought us with a price Thirdly he is Lord of the world and of the divell by conquest Heb. 2.14 Fourthly hee is Lord over his Church by marriage hee is our husband governing his Church with sweetnesse and love He is also the Lord by way of excellencie above others depending on no creature hee is Lord of Lords Secondly he is Lord of body and soule and conscience punishing with terrors here and damnation hereafter Thirdly he is Lord eternall hee indures for ever and cannot die Fourthly he is such a Lord as cannot abuse his authority he cannot tyrannize his grace and vertue are of equall extent with his power Fifthly he is a holy Lord holy holy holy Lord God of Sabboth that is Lord of hosts In all these hee is farre above any earthly man yea above all creatures And therefore it s a sweet estate to bee under government and rule They then that are Lords here on earth must consider though they rule and are above others yet are they under the Lord thus did Ioseph Therefore they must rule but in the Lord it is his will that must rule their wils Secondly this should comfort Christians that they have such a Lord as is Lord of Angels at whom the divells tremble whom stormes windes seas sicknesse death and all creatures doe obey Yet wee cannot challenge this comfort but upon condition of our obedience the Apostle joynes Lord and Saviour together to shew that he is a Saviour onely to those that take him for their Lord to governe and rule them as he is our Priest he must also be our King he comes by water to purge and wash us as well as by bloud to suffer for us The wicked they will not have this man rule over them but they shall not say nay God wil be a Lord over them ruling by his power with a rod of iron hee will bruise them in peeces none shall deliver them If we will avoid this miserable estate let us make him Lord in us thus shall we crowne him and then he will crowne us with himselfe VERS 21. Who shall change our vile bodie THe words are plaine and shall need no exposition therefore wee will briefly come to the doctrines And first we may observe hence That our bodies are base and thus are the bodies not onely of wicked prophane men but of the servants and dearest children of God all are vile and that in these respects First in life our originall is base wee are dust and to dust wee must returne and our continuance is full of change subject to diversitie of estates sicknesse health paine ease
Christian is partaker of his desire other men desire high matters God knowes to what end but they leave them in the dust but when a Christian dyes hee is then partaker of his desires in fulnesse But it will be questioned does a Christian ever know he is called I answer sometimes a Christian staggers a little either being not an experienced Christian or through sight of corruptions and temptations but setting these aside a Christian knowes his calling and will live by his rules for it is not onely a calling but it workes a disâ—position and therefore if we finde it not attend we on the meanes of the Gospell which is called the Kingdome of heaven and it will bring us into a good estate and shew us our estate also which being once made knowne to us wee may assure our selves it will remaine with us for ever which also may bee gathered from this that its a high calling for nothing can breake any one linke of that chaine made by God and demonstrated in the 8. of the Rom. But to proceed this is the calling of God for by nature we are dead and it can bee none but God that revives the dead God together with the voice of his Ministers sends his quickening spirit giving eares to heare and understandings to understand Againe wee are not onely dead but in thraldome under the devill it must needs bee one that is stronger than this strong man that must dispossesse us of him This calling is Gods calling in Christ and that is first as our head God lookes on us as we are in him and he elects us as in Chriâ—t For from eternitie he appointed so many to be members of Christ as he meant to save we are called and justified in Christ he must be ours before his obedience be ours we are sanctified in Christ we muâ—â— be in him as branches in the vine partaking in the quickning sap and juyce of his grace and when we are glorified we must be glorified as being of his members Then wee are called by Christ who is the Authour of this holy calling and lastly we are called through Christ as our mediatour and thus chiefly is it meant here not through workes as the Papists will have it no Christ is the author and finisher of our faith in him are we crownâ—d as the body iâ— said to bee crowned when the head is let us therefore cheâ—ish this communion with Christ by all meanes for thereby wee shall communicate with him of his fulnesse VERS 15. Let us therefore as many as bee perfect bee thus minded ST Paul hee proceeds to others If any of you be perfect as I am bee you also thus minded as I am perfection in this place is not meant of that perfection wee shall have hereafter or should have now or legall perfection but he is said to bee perfect that is in his growing estate increasing more in grace righteousnesse and sinceritie or it may bee meant of perfection in regard of degrees comparatively whereby one out-goes another that is but a novice in Religion such are those that can rule their affections and can live in a setled course of holinesse called in Heb. 5.14 men of full age for there are children in Religion new entered into Christsschoole then those that are come to full age surely are exercised to discern good and evill and then those that are come to their full pitch in heaven betweene whom and the former there is no more comparison than is betweene the Sunne and a starre for light so as in regard of the Saints in heaven the best here are imperfect yet in regard of the beginners they may be said to be perfect however wee may safely gather this That in Christianitie there are degrees of holinesse divers grounds some bring 30. fold some 60. Let this comfort those that discomfort themselves in regard of their imperfections grace must be at the first as a grain of mustard seed and therfore let such with patience attend the meanes and trust God for the issue Secondly we may observe that there is a kinde of perfection attainable in this life which we ought to strive to the reason is that in all things God hath ordained a set pitch beyond which they cannot come and to which they all tend and as it s in nature so in grace though he hath appointed to every one his severall portion and measure of grace here yet a pitch he also hath set to all which wee are to ayme at to grow better still though in this life we cannot attain to it and the reason is because we know not how God wil exercise us he doth exercise all his children but some with greater trials than others besides wee have a perfect God and a perfect word that is able to make the man of God perfect to every good worke and these are not given to us for nought and therefore it s a shame for a Christian to sit down at any degree upon pretence of imperfection we see plants in nature desire growth that they may be able to stand in and withstand storms And where this spirituall nature is and this new creature there will bee indeavour to increase in strength to undergoe and overcome all temptations and hinderances whatsoever And to know whether wee have this perfection or not There will ever be a base esteeme of these outward earthly priviledges and honours nay of the good indowments of our mindes counting them losse in comparison of Christ and this will worke a sure setled hope in Christ evermore Againe there will be a perfection of holinesse a neglect of things passed and an earnest indeavouring to things before to presse to the price Thirdly a perfect Christian desires the comming of Christ but the weake one ever cries let me O Lord recover my selfe before I goe from hence hee has not that assurance of his good estate that a well growne Christian hath Fourthly a perfect Christian hath sweet communion with Christ and can goe to God with boldnesse without feare of judgement or terrour of his presence where as the weakest are driven to God by feare others by hope this man comes to God being moved by a sweet disposition of love Fifthly a strong Christian is not moved with any change either of prosperitie or adversitie weake braines are soon overturned with strong waters so weake Christians are soone drunken with prosperitie But a strong Christian in any prosperitie is pliable and fit for any thing David in the middest of all his royalty saw a greater blessednesse than honour and riches Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin and in whose lippes is no guile Psal. 32. In adversitie also a sound Christian will not shrink knowing God caÌ„not be changed though his estate may alter and therefore he can want as well as abound growing strong in patience as in other Christian graces But it is contrary with