title come in seasons for it becomes brethren whether by Nature or Grace to helpe and further one another I beseech you c. In this obtestation are the forme and the matter of it to be considered The forme I beseech you exhort you call you to my help The matter containes two arguments whereby hee adiureth them to helpe him by their prayers By our Lord Iesus Christ and by the loue of the Spirit To beseech one for a thing is so to beseech as if you obtaine he may haue comfort by it if not the contrary For our Lord Iesus Christs sake is as if he should haue said as you desire to haue any benefit by our Sauiour if his loue may preuaile any thing with you see you pray for me For the loue of the Spirit Hypallage Martyr either by a figure as some the Spirit of loue or as you desire the Holy Spirit should loue you or for that loue which he hath shed abroad in your hearts or as you desire that the Holy Spirit should worke in you a loue to God and your brethren This manner of speaking is after a sort proper to Paul and indeed nothing can bee deuised to be spoken more graue See more hereof Rom. 12.1 more excellent more powerfull more diuine Some great matter it must needs be which Paul craues vnder these termes euen this that the Romanes would pray for him and yet Paul farre excelled the best of the Romanes in all grace The prayers of the meanest may bee profitable Obs and Paul shewes very great modesty and humilty in requiring them In this request that the Romanes should pray for him are two things 1. That which they should pray for in his behalfe 2. The amplification That which they should pray for is twofold First that he may bee deliuered from them which doe not beleeue in Iudea Secondly That his present seruice may bee accepted of the Saints The first was necessary 2 Thess 3.2 because in all places they chiefly withstood Paul These are called vnreasonable and wicked men The second also because euen the beleeuing Iewes were not so well affected to Paul and to the Gentiles among whom Paul preached as they ought to haue beene as may appeare in that vprore by them occasioned Acts 21.20 and so forward which was the beginning of Pauls greatest and last troubles Paul knew the Almes hee should bring might well bee accepted because of their necessity but desires they might receiue it with as much loue as hee and the Greeke Church offered it to them For this hee desires them to pray For he doubted that either they would not receiue it at all or not so kindly as hee wished For much is detracted from a gift which comes either from one or by one of whom we thinke not well and a trifle from a friend and by a messenger whom we affect is welcome The Amplification is threefold First from the manner in which they should pray for him that is they must striue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a military word noting such feruency as if for life and death Hee prayes for himselfe and desires them to helpe him as Aaron and Hur helped Moses Hee desires not the Emperours letters to bee procured for him nor their sharp swords but their earnest prayers The second is from the fruit of such deliuerance and acceptation which is double in the 32. verse 1. That he may come to them with ioy set forth by a correction by the wil of God That hee might be deliuered that hee might come to them that his seruice might be acceptable that hee might come with ioy By the will of God well put in because the euent of all things is in the hands of God and hee was not deliuered and that was by the will of God an helping cause of his comming The third from an Apostolicall benediction verse 33. The God of peace be with you Now three times in this Chapter doth Saint Paul pray for them and this compriseth all If God be with vs then haue wee the inexhaust fountaine of all goodnesse whether we vnderstand the collation of things good or a protection from things ill The God of peace that hee may bee appeased and peaceable towards them that they may haue peace of conscience And that they may be peaceable among themselues that they iar not about things indifferent The Seale of this benediction Amen Of which see Rom. 11.36.26 Beleeuers stand in need of the Prayers of their Brethren Doctr. and ought one to pray for another Almost in euery Epistle Paul requires the prayers of the Churches and alwaies prayes for them And we reade Iames 5.16 Pray one for another that yee may be healed and our blessed Sauiour taught euery one to say Our Father c. Giue vs forgiue vs lead vs not but deliuer vs c. It is the lot of good men many times Obser 1 to bee ill intreated by them of whom they deserue well This was the lot of Miltiades and Themistocles among the Athenians of Camillus and Scipio Africanus among the Romanes of Moses and Samuel among the Prophets in the Old Testament in the New Testament of our blessed Sauiour who came into his owne and his owne receiued him not but preferred a murderer before him and deliuered him to bee crucified Also of our Holy Apostle who gathered no small summe of money to relieue his Nation and yet they persecute him Thus is many a good Magistrate Minister Citizen vnkindly rewarded by them who ought to haue honoured them If it so fall out to thee Thou art not better then Saint Paul then Christ himselfe Be not discouraged neither let the vnworthinesse of others make thee to bee any whit the more negligent or to deale the lesse worthily in thy place by the example of Saint Paul who omitted no opportunity or care to doe the Saints at Hierusalem good though hee knew not whether they would accept it or no. The singular courage and constancy of Paul is to bee obserued Obser 2 who though he had some intelligence of troubles that should certainly befall him at Hierusalem yet hee shrinks not but with great resolution goes thither In euery City as hee passed the Holy Ghost witnessed that bonds and afflictions abode him But saith hee Act. 20.23 24. None of these things mouâ—me neither count I my life deare vnto my selfe that Imay finish my course and ministration with ioy And being at Caesarea he was warned by a Prophet of his bonds and that hee should by the Iewes be deliuered into the hands of the Gentiles whereupon the brethren with teares besought him not to goe vp to Hierusalem But he answered Act. 21.11 12 13. What meane you to weepe and to breake mine heart For I am ready not to bee bound onely but to dye at Herusalem for the Name of the Lord Iesus O worthy speech of an Apostle O Diuine Paul Let vs labour to bee prepared with such
is no discharge Naturall debts cannot be forgiuen No more can a man discharge his neighbour from louing him then a husband can discharge his wife from her coniugall faith or a father his child of his honour and dutifulnesse We must owe nothing but loue Doctr. Loue alone is a perpetuall debt Here are two branches 1. We must pay and discharge all our ciuill debts proued by the Law Exod. 22. of restoring things stollen trespasses done things committed to our trust borrowed or found Also by the story of the woman sometimes the wife of one of the sonnes of the Prophets 2. King 4.1.2.3.4.5.6.7 Elisha chargeth her to pay her debts ver 7. Iosephus affirmeth a Ioseph Artiq lib. 9. ca. 2. Sic Hieron Occelamp in Proph. Abdiam Lyra in locum Reg. Serrar ibid. that her husband was Obadiah Ahabs Steward who hid and maintained a hundred Prophets in the time of Iezebels persecution b 1 Reg. 18.4 and by that meanes came greatly indebted for the payment of which debts the Lord wrought a miracle by Elisha 2. We must alwayes owe and pay loue Ioh. 13.34 and 15.12 1. Ioh. 3.11 so Phil. 1.9 I pray that your loue may abound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet more and more More and more notes the quantity yet notes the perseuerance of it In the Iubilee all ciuill debts were remitted to the Iewes and we haue many payments for yeares and during naturall life but charity neuer faileth but is perfected in another world 1 Cor. 13.8 Is it lawfull to borrow or to buy for day It seemes no Quest because the Apostle saith owe nothing and we haue experience that hence come many suits and controuersies to which purpose Ieremy sometime complained Ier. 15.10 It is lawfull to borrow for necessity and conueniency Answ When Christ commands to lend Luke 6.35 hee implies a lawfulnesse of borrowing and without such things the life and state of man could not well consist As for suits and controuersies that is Non causa pro causa Indeed I reade that the Turkes haue few suits because they deale for ready money But the true cause of suits about buying and borrowing is our corruption of the creditour in exacting more then his due in the debtour for not keeping touch and not paying at his day or such like the meaning of the prohibition not simply to forbid all owing but rather admonishing to deale iustly to pay modo forma or otherwise to content Runne not into debt thou maiest borrow Vse 1 but if thou canst be free from borrowing vse it rather for it is a kind of bondage It is better to giue then to receiue So to lend then to borrow Borrowing is a fruit of sinne Deut. 28 44. as are sicknesses and other calamities from which the Saints in this world are not priuiledged It is a kind of basenesse to borrow Debere verecundum est Amb. l. de Tobia c. 21. non reddere verecundius though it be more base not to pay that which is borrowed See Pro. 22.7 To keepe thee out of debt labour hard in thy calling moderate thy expenses in diet apparell recreations be husbandly Here are such to be reproued who borrow here and there yet will abate nothing of their pleasures though they engage lands and houses for it It may be questioned whether such men and women be good wise I am sure they are not and that doe their posterity feele who are many times driuen to beg for their reliefe Pay that thou owest Vse 2 it is the commandement of God it is a point of conscience As thou desirest to free thy selfe from a snare so endeuour to free thy selfe from being indebted Pro. 61.2.3.4.5 It is against nature that one man should bee enriched by another mans losse The Aegyptians Athenians Romanes Iewes all Nations that haue loued faith and iustice haue seuerely punished such as haue refused to pay their debts It is the note of an vngodly man Psal 37.21 Three sorts of men deserue herein much reproofe 1. Such as will pay some as fiue shillings in the pound or thereafter But Paul requires to pay all the horrible cousenage herein deserues a seuere law 2. Such as it may bee will pay in the end but they will driue the creditour off from day to day Aquin. 2.2 q. 66 art 3. For Detinere quod alteri debetur eandem rationem habet cum acceptatione iniusta saith the Schooleman To detaine that which is due is all one as if you robbed your neighbour 3. Such which pay not at all but in stead of discharging their debts they discharge their tongues in euill and rayling speeches against their creditours when they demand their due when they borrow they speake saire when they should pay they returne euill and opprobrious language Reade Ecclesiasticus chap. 29. the eight first verses Loue is a debt Vse 3 and perpetuall It is not a thing indifferent but wee are bound in conscience to owe and pay it one to another Many will say they desire not a mans loue they care not for it neither then doe they care for Gods Commandement Some for their ciuill debts are much troubled and full of care the sight of a Sergeant much affrighteth them but who laments the want of loue in himselfe which is summum fidei sacramentum the broad seale of our faith as Tertullian speakes In the primitiue times there was so much loue that it was ad stuporem Gentilium but now there is so little that it may be ad pudorem Christianorum to the shame of Christians VERSE 8. For he that loueth another hath fulfilled the Law MAster Caluin saith That these words are a confirmation of our obedience to the Magistrate in which is placed not the least part of charitie Master Musculus annecteth these words thus Pay your debts otherwise you doe against law for whatsoeuer is against oharitie is against law These things are true yet because it appeareth that the principall scope of this eight verse and the two following is to perswade to charitie I take it to be without question that these words are a Reason of the exception or affirmatiue Precept in the former part of the verse Owe loue or loue one another The Argument is taken from the excellency of loue or from the definition of it set downe in the concrete in stead of the Abstract In it are to be considered the Thing or Person defined and the Definition The Person defined Hee that loueth another where wee haue the action louing the obiect another What loue is See Chap 12. vers 9.10 It is a beneuolous affection shewing it selfe in word and deed Another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee meanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neighbour Master Beza obserues that there is little difference among the Grecians betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sodalis a companion or fellow in the letters there is I confesse not much
alledged because adultery was a common sinne among the Romans Or for the feditie of it and odiousnesse doth he name it first and so among the fruits of the flesh is Adultery first named and among the fruits of the Spirit Loue. Galath 5.19.22 and in some part of the Ciuill law Faius in loc the title of Adulterie is next to the title of Treason to shew the hainousnesse of that sinne 3 The tenth Commandement is mentioned in this one word Thou shalt not couet whence it appeares that the commandement of not Coueting is but one contrary to the doctrine of Rome Is briefly comprehended is consummate or recapitulated Ambros August epist 29. ad Hieron as Orators in their Epilogue repeate the generall heads So that that which the Philosophers affirmed of Iustice is true of loue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In summe Charity is all vertue Charity is the Decalogue contracted and the Decalogue is Charity vnfolded A generall vertue diffusing it selfe into all vertues as the blood and spirits into all parts of our bodies The summe then is Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe In this wee haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The thing commanded to loue our neighbour and the Rule As thy selfe Neighbour Euery one that stands in need of our help by the proportion of the parable of the Samaritane Luke 10. knowne or vnknowne friend or foe this is a hard saying but it is law Good and bad the bad for communion of nature the good for communion of nature and grace Kindred and strangers Proximus non sanguinis propinquitate Aug. epist 52. sed rationis societate pensandus est c. saith Augustine Neighbourhood is to be esteemed not by the neerenesse of blood but by the societie of Reason Hierome brings the blessed Angels within this order of Neighbourhood Hieron in epist ad Gal. and indeed Charitie is as large as heauen and earth The Schoolemen make euen the Diuels and damned Valent. tom 3. Disp 3. quaest 3. punct 1. secundum naturam a part of the obiect of our charity not in the deprauation of their nature but in their essence not in their opposition to the Creator but in their relation tanquam res amici as part of the things or substance belonging to our friend that they be preserued and still exist that Gods Iustice might haue due execution vpon them As thy selfe both in the thing and in the manner In the thing as to wish the best to our neighbour as wee wish the best to our selues Luke 6.31 Mat. 7.12 expounded by our Sauiour As yee would that men should doe to you doe yee also to them likewise wishing the same good to be obtained and the hurt to bee auoyded by them as by your selues In the manner Truely without dissembling earnestly without remissnesse and coldnesse constantly without changing Wee must loue our neighbours as our selues Doctr. The very same words are Leuit. 19.18 Gal 5.14 and Mat. 22.39 Where our Sauiour being asked by a Lawyer which was the Great Commandement answered that the loue of God was the first and great Commandement and that the second was like vnto it which is the loue of our neighbour Like vnto the first in three respects 1 In forme that is truly For God must be loued with all the heart and our neighbour as our selfe 2 In time wee must alwaies loue God and so wee must our neighbour 3 In difficulty it is hard to loue God aboue all because our hearts are so much vpon the world and as hard to loue our neighbour as our selues because our hearts are set so much vpon our selues Whether may I loue my neighbour more then my selfe Quest or no In regard of the affection Answ loue must be equall but in regard of the effect in outward things I may at some time prefer my neighbour before my selfe and serue him first not so in spirituall things I must wish my neighbours saluation as well as mine owne but I must seeke my owne first May I loue one neighbour more then another Quest Appretiatiuè as they say we may Answ as Iacob loued one of his children Ioseph one of his brethren and Christ one of his Disciples It is lawfull to loue our selues Vse 1 and yet there is an euill selfe loue of the which the most part are sicke There is a naturall selfe loue and a morall The naturall is the Rule of our loue to our neighbour the morall is that which is forbidden in the law which destroies the loue of our neighbour Nature requires the law allowes and grace denyes not that we should loue our selues amore recto with a right loue Neither can he loue his neighbour well who doth not so loue himselfe euen as he can neuer write a right line who writeth by a wrong rule Many say they loue their neighbour as their owne soules and therein they may say true and yet be far from the fulfilling of the law or they care not to damne their owne soules as well as their neighbours Learne to loue thy selfe as thou oughtest that God may commit thy neighbour to thee whom thou maist loue as thy selfe To loue a mans selfe is not curare cutens to pamper the body to giue a mans selfe to liberty and pleasure but curare animam to haue a care of the soule to loue God and our selues in God For He that sinneth hateth his owne soule Pro. 8.36 and hee that enticeth his neighbour to sinne hateth his neighbours soule And hee will neuer be profitable for another who is vnprofitable for himselfe He that loues a garment hates the moth that eates it so he that loues his owne soule and his neighbours will hate sinne which destroyes it Let him loue me who loues himselfe in goodnesse The Godly mans loue is the best loue Here diuers are to be reproued Vse 2 1 They that loue themselues onely There is a City of God and a city of the Diuell The City of God beginnes in the loue of God and increaseth to the loue of our neighbour the city of the Diuell beginnes in the loue of our selues Aug. in princ lib. de Ciuit. Dei and ends in the contempt of God and our neighbour such were Caine and Nabal 2. They which loue some of their neighbours but not all This man is mine enemy I cannot loue him But Christ commands thee to loue him and he is thy neighbour Loue him that he may be thy friend That man is wicked and his sinnes offend me Thinke that thy sinnes offend others and yet thou wouldest they should loue thee Consule Zanch. in explic ca. 2. ep 1. Ioh. Loue him but not his faults and because hee hath faults hee hath so much the more need of thy loue that thou mayst reclaime him Euill men are to be loued as sick men we run to the Physitian for loue to the man not for loue of his sicknes to helpe the man and to destroy
a thing to be attained in this life True charity is not to do hurt but good to our neighbour Vse 1 to doe good rather then to receiue else it is selfe loue not the loue of our neighbour I must loue my neighbour for his owne sake A man loues his horse his meat c. for the good hee receiues by them but we must loue our neighbour for himselfe otherwise wee put no difference betweene a neighbour and a horse now the best good wee can doe for our neighbour is to bring him to God and saue his soule All the Law is comprehended in loue and loue doth no ill Vse 2 but keepes all the commandements as a good mother tends all her children and carefully nourisheth them Loue is a Mother the ten commandements are her ten children she forgets none is vnkinde to none neglects none fulfileth all Dauid had an instrument of ten strings loue is that instrument the tenne strings are the tenne commandements if one string bee out of tune the harmony is marred so the breaking of one commandement destroyes loue and corrupts it as one dead flye the pretious ointment of the Apothecary The law is copulatiue founded and comprehended in charity Iames 2.11 vertues are coherent He that said Doe not commit adultery said also Doe not kill Endeuour then to keepe euery commandement if thou wouldest auoyd the curse of the law For then shall I not bee ashamed saith Dauid when I haue respect to all thy commandements Psal 119.6 Charity is a good Catholike Charity fulsils the law Vse 3 Out loue is discerned by our obedience to the law If you say Charity suppose doing good for it is as possible to separate heate from the fire and light from the Sunne as good workes from Charity Many speake of charity and deepely protest it but words will not carry it It is the shame of Christians that charity is so much in our tongues and so little in our hands There are many which without any wit can turne house and land into smoake as our idle Tobacconists but to turne the fume and breath of loue into workes requires wit and grace too Shew me thy faith by thy charity and thy charity by thy workes Let vs not loue in tongue onely but in deed and truth saith Saint Iohn 1 Ioh. 3.18 Ama vt videam let mee see thy loue as well as heare it for a verball loue is like a painted fire for shew not for vse Loue is a substantiue it must bee seene felt and vnderstood Charity is a beautifull Lady which desires to be seene she is no Nun she is not of that religion she is conuersant abroad doing good to her neighbours Faith alwayes keepes within to defend the conscience but charity is alwayes without feeding the poore visiting the sicke c. The proper act of faith is to receiue of loue to giue and distribute of faith to doe our selues good of loue to doe good to our neighbour and this is the fulfilling of the law As the Moone among the lesser stars Vse 4 so is charity among the graces called a more excellent way 1. Cor. 12.31 then things greatly excelling I would we were sicke of loue as the Church in the Canticles and yet loue is not a sicknesse Cant. 2.5 but the sanitie of the soule What is loue more then other vertues Loue is the comfort of life If a poore man liue in a towne where loue is he cannot want for loue will vndoe all locks and if a rich man want loue towards his poore neighbour he is as if he had lost the key of his money cupboard If a wicked man dwell where loue is hee shall haue good counsell good admonition good examples good prayers c. If a man be rich and not beloued his life is miserable c. Loue is the spirit of pietie and good life Non faciunt bonos aut malos mores nisi boni vel mali amores as our loue is Aug. Macedoni epist 52. so are our manners said Augustine Loue is the life of faith Iames 2.17 Bern. ser 2. de Resur 24. sup cant He that doth any hurt to his neighbour though he be not a fratricide yet is fideicida a killer of faith said Saint Bernard Loue is the strength of the Common-wealth A Citie diuided cannot stand Matth. 12. as stones without morter in a building so are men without loue in a Common-wealth Loue is the Nurse of the Church Ephes 4.16 So Tertullian Corpus Ecclesiae fibula charitatis connexum crescit in deum The body of the Church being buttoned and knit together in loue groweth vp in God Loue is the soule of the law Where there is loue Aristot Ethis l. 8. c. 1. Cic. l. de Amici there needs no law but where there is law there needs loue as Heathen wise men haue obserued Nay loue can doe more then all lawes There are good lawes against theft murder drunkennesse whoredome c. and yet there are many offenders but if there were loue none of these euils would be done to our neighbours Will a man take away his life whom he loues and for the sauing of whose life hee will venture his owne it cannot bee and so of the rest Thus and much more excellent is loue as the tongue of Angels is nothing without loue so it is not sufficient to commend loue The law therefore non dispendium sed compendium consecuta est hath not lost but gotten by being reduced into one precept of loue Let vs labour for loue The Corinthians had abundance of knowledge but they wanted loue and were rent into Schismes we are sicke of the Corinthian disease I wish wee were truely humbled for it that we might be healed If thou wishest well to the Church of England liue in loue If thou wishest well to thine owne soule and desirest to keepe the law Chrysost hom 33. in 1. Cor. loue thy neighbour Magnus Doctor charitas said Saint Chrysostome Loue is a great Doctor It will teach vs to obey the Magistrate to reuerence the Minister to reliue the poore to doe good to all and hurt to none and to doe these things Iames 2.8.12 Galath 5.13 willingly and freely Therefore called a royall law and of libertie by Saint Iames yea it makes vs very seruants to our neighbours as Saint Paul affirmes The Lord giue vs this loue VERSE 11. And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleepe for now is our saluation neerer then when we beleeued HEre begins the third and last part of this Chapter which sheweth our dutie toward our selues which is Temperance This part containeth two Exhortations The first concerning the manner of performing the dutie required in this verse The second concerning the things themselues about which this dutie is conuersant in the rest of the verses The manner is that it be done not sleepily and negligently but
the sicknesse 3 They which loue dissemblingly Aug. ep 54. as Ioab and Iudas who will speake faire to a mans face and cut his throat behind his backe 4 They which loue and loue but their neighbour is neuer the better for their loue their loue is fruitlesse as is the faith S. Iames speakes of 5 They which loue not good men their best neighbours their truest friends thou must loue a wicked man much more him that is godly thine enemy much more him that is Gods friend Wee ought to pray and striue to loue our neighbours as our selues Vse 3 if all would doe so it would be a golden world Euery Science hath his principles the proper principle of Christian discipline is charity And there is nothing so vsefull and profitable as Charity Chrys hom 51. ad Pop. Ant. A better good then all riches a greater good then health and light said Chrysostome Suppose ten men to loue each other as themselues and so a hundred a thousand c. None of the ten is one alone but euery one is ten Charity contracts ten into one and multiplies one into ten None of the ten can liue in want for euery one hath ten harts to care for him twenty eies to see for him twenty hands to worke for him and twenty feet to trauaile for him Neither can any of the ten be conquered for offend one and offend all c. Thus S. Chrysostome VERSE 10. Loue worketh no ill to his neighbour therefore is loue the fulfilling of the law THis verse may be referred both to the 8. and also to the 9. verse as a probation of either If to the latter end of the 8. then it containes a Syllogisme onely there is a Crypsis of the Maior Thus That which doth no hurt or worketh no ill to his neighbour fulfilleth the Law But loue doth no hurt to his neighbour Therefore is loue the fulfilling of the Law The argument is taken from the proper effect of loue If you referre it to the 9. verse then it proueth by the same argument that all the law is comprehended in the loue of our neighbour Thus To doe no ill to our neighbour is the summe of the whole Law But loue doth no ill to our neighbour Therefore loue is the summe of the Law or the whole Law is comprehended briefly in loue And then out of this is inferred according to the 8. verse that Loue is the fulfilling of the Law So in this verse are two propositions the second inferred out of the first and the first the ground of the second The first proposition Loue worketh no ill to his neighbour The arguments disposed in this proposition are the cause loue and the effect denyed doth no ill amplified by the Patient to his neighbour The affirmatiue effect doth any good but the negatiue is set downe that it may haue the better correspondence with the 9. verse where onely negatiues are repeated but the affirmatiue is included and so by a figure lesse is said and more is signified Loue not onely doth no hurt but also doth good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but because this is not alwaies in the power of him that loueth he saith not doth good but not euill and in this the other necessarily to be vnderstood for as one saith well subtrahere debitum bonum est malum Caietan to subtract or not to doe the due good is euill Loue the holy loue of my neighbour proceeding from the loue of God No ill mischiefe damage hurt or sinne for in the second table euery sinne is to the hurt of our neighbour Ill is either of omission or commission and either are three-fold 1. in fact 2. in word 3. in desire 1. In fact three waies 1. either about his single person in the sixth commandement 2. or his person conioyned in the seuenth commandement 3. or his goods in the eight commandement 2. In word in the ninth commandement 3. In desire in the tenth commandement He that loueth will breake none of these either in committing or omitting The illation Therefore loue is the fulfilling of the Law What loue and what law The loue of our neighbour and the whole law or decalogue for though in proper speaking the loue of our neighbour is but the fulfilling of the second table yet the loue of God is necessarily supposed because that flowes from this and so sometime the loue of God is named alone where both are vnderstood for the necessary connection of the tables Also the Apostles brings forth the commandements of the second table rather then of the first because it is more easie for vs to discerne true obseruers of the law by the second then by the first Charity toward our neighbour is the fulfilling of the law Therefore Charity simply Therefore our loue to God is to bee demonstrated by our loue to our neighbour The doctrines are two according to the propositions in their very words The second that loue is the fulfilling of the Law is proued before verse 8. The first that loue doth no ill to his neighbour 1 Cor. 13.5 6. Charity thinketh no euill it reioyceth not in iniquity Also it is proued from the rule Ephe 5.29 No man hateth his owne flesh but cherisheth himselfe and true loue is to our neighbour as to our selues Also from the contrary To doe ill is to breake the law But loue is the fulfilling of it Non potest peccari per illam qua legis est perfectio Amb. in loc We cannot doe ill by that which is the perfection and fulfilling of the law said Ambrose The Papists from hence inferre two things that wee can keepe the law and that we are iustified by charity To the first He that loueth keepeth the law but how euen as hee loueth if he loue perfectly hee perfectly keepes the law if imperfectly then he keepeth it imperfectly But we cannot keepe it perfectly in this life which is necessary to iustification as they meane keeping Deut. 27.26 Jam. 3.2 for Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things written in the Law and in many things we offend all We know in part onely and according to our knowledge is our loue Though in the regenerate there be a perfection of parts yet not of degrees in this life Aug. tom 7. l. de Natura et gratia contra Pola c. 70. Saint Augustine also saith thus Charitas inchoata incheata iustitia est prouecta prouecta iustitia est Charitas magna magna iustitia est Charitas perfecta perfecta iustitia est Our righteousnesse is according to our charity which is not perfect in this life To the second Perfect fulfilling of the law may iustifie But loue in the concrete is not such fulfilling but in the abstract The Apostle here propounds that which ought to be in the concrete but not that which is Perfect fulfilling is propounded to vs as a patterne to the which we ought to conforme not as
if thy brother be grieued with thy meate now walkest thou not charitably In this part of the verse by it selfe considered wee haue two parts a Supposition and an Accusation The Supposition If thy brother be grieued with thy meate The Accusation Now walkest thou not charitably Grant the Supposition and the Accusation holdeth take away the Supposition and the Accusation is of no force To vse indifferent things as meat apparell c. is lawfull if charity put not in a barre wee must set more by our brothers grieued conscience then by the vse of our libertie in such things We may at no hand forgoe our libertie in such things for it is a part of the purchase by the blood of Christ but the vse of it In the Supposition we haue the thing supposed Griefe and the Amplification from the subiect grieued thy brother and from the obiect with thy meate Griefe is a passion whereby the appetite doth abhorre with perturbation euill present whether so indeed or in apprehension This affection is naturall and good if it be directed vpon the right obiect which is sinne with the appurtenances and that it be in due measure and to the right end The subiect thy brother whether strong or weake for it is against charitie either to grieue other but here the brother grieued is the weake one who three wayes lyeth open to griefe by the liberty vsed by the strong 1 By the sinne of the strong as the weake supposeth for this he is grieued thinking that thereby God is offended and the soule of his brother in danger 2 By reprehension taking indignation to be reproued by the strong for the retaining of differences of meates dayes 3 By being drawne by the example of the strong to doe against his conscience which breedeth griefe post factum after the deed done With thy meate that is thy libertie in eating meats supposed by the weake to be vnlawfull Now walkest thou not charitably Though in other things yet now thou walkest not charitably in this particular He condemneth not the strong as to be without charitie altogether but to step awry herein The Imputation is great because charity is the Rule of our life To vse things indifferent to the griefe of our Brother Doctr. is against charity Or To giue scandall is against charity because thereby my brother is grieued 1. Corinth 8.12 To sinne so against the brethren is to wound their weake conscience May I in nothing grieue my brother Quest Yes in somethings I may Answ as by seuere reprouing him for sinne that he may be brought to godly sorrow vnto repentance Thus did S. Peter pricke the hearts of the Iewes Acts 2.37 So Paul tels the Corinthians that though hee made them sory by a Letter he did not repent though he did repent Looke how the affection of a father is in the correcting of his child he is grieued to beat him and yet hee is glad if it doe him good so was Paul toward the Corinthians it neuer repented him that he had made them to grieue in asmuch as it profited them to repentance and saluation It is not against charity for Ministers to reproue sharply and for Magistrates seuerely to punish notorious offenders nay it is true charity to correct them vnto their amendment and to neglect this is want of charity let disordered persons be grieued let drunkards and such like smart for it that if it be possible they may be thereby brought to repentance and so be saued But to vse our liberty in indifferent things to the griefe of our brother and so to stand vpon it as not to omit the vse of it for our weake brothers sake is vnlawfull and against charity Yet here are two cautions to be remembred Note 1 It must be in such indifferent things the vse whereof is not determined by the authority of the Magistrate as in it selfe it is indifferent to sit or kneele at the Communion but if the Magistrate determine the gesture by his authority then though our brother bee grieued we are to vse that gesture For not to obey the Magistrate in a lawfull command is a sinne The vse of our liberty is not in our power 2 The brethren grieued must be weake ones Sarcerius in locum If they bee stiffe and obstinate in their opinion we are not bound but may nay sometimes we ought to vse our liberty before them as we shall note afterwards The phrase is to be obserued If thy brother be grieued Obs 1 he saith not thou grieuest thy brother to note that the fault is rather in the patient then in the agent And therefore weak ones are to know that it is no vertue in them to bee scrupulous in euery thing and to be grieued at their brothers lawfull liberty but a sinne which is to be amended by knowledge and charity Faith giues liberty Obser 2 but charity is a binder Omnia libera per fidem serua per charitatem I may doe all things by faith I may eate of any meats or abstaine I may weare any colours in my apparell c. But by charitie I must doe or not doe that which most makes for the peace of the Church and the good of my brethren Paul by faith may circumcise Timothy by charity he will not circumcise Titus We must haue great care of the weake Vse 1 A mother loues all her children but shee is most tender ouer them that are sicke A man most fauours that part of his body that is hurt or weake Euen nature much more grace teacheth not to hurt but to loue our brethren Weake brethren are not to be contemned but to be tolerated if so be they grow not peruerse and obstinate We ought not to strike the strong but to fall vpon him that is sicke and weake is no credit To grieue a weake brother is to wound him What more inhumane thing then to wound a brother Especially being sicke and weake yea and to wound not his head or face but his very conscience the weakest part in him and the pretioussest whose hurt cannot be without great danger Off with that hayre away with that apparell those colours c. which wound thy weake brothers soule We must haue care of all Vse 2 not to grieue any Griefe is a sicknesse a consumption of the soule hee that giueth iust cause of griefe is accessory after a sort to his brothers death Hee that careth not how he grieues the godly by his cariage is no true Christian for without loue wee are no Christians How many are they which by their beastly liuing make the hearts of good Christians sad Who that hath but a mite of pietie can abstaine from griefe to heare the blasphemies to see the drunkennesse and wretched behauiour of wicked men If thou walkest in these sinnes know that thou offendest God and grieuest good men and then is the Diuell pleased and his angels Luke 15.7 euen as the good Angels reioyce at the
pop Anteoch euery little filing the least ray is of great value Singuli sermones syllabae apices puncta in diuinis Scripturis plena sunt sensibus In the diuine Scriptures euery word syllable accent point is full of sense said S. Hierome e Hieron com in 3. ca. Ep. ad Ephes The Anabaptists are here confuted Vse 2 who refuse the Old Testament Also the Papists to be taxed for diuers points 1 For equalling vnwritten traditions to the written word in authority 2 For denying lay people as they call them to reade the Scriptures lest they should thereby proue Hereticks but in very deed lest the common people by that light should discerne their impostures and therefore whereas the Councell of Trent licenced young men to reade the Bible hauing a certificate from their Curate of their wisdome and sincerity the Pope after restrained that liberty 3 For holding the Scriptures not to be necessary but onely to the well and more conuenient being of the Church They make them necessary no otherwaies then riches to our life or a horse to our trauaile but we hold them as necessary as our daily bread for life and as our legges for trauailing on foot Though when God spake face to face to the Patriarcks and by dreames c. there was not such necessity of writing yet now those meanes being ceased S. Iude said Iude v. 3. it was needfull for me to write The Scripture is necessary for all Vse 3 for learned and vnlearned for old and young if they desire knowledge comfort and hope Quae nullis animis nullis non congruit annis Esp in 2. Tim. Lacte rigans paruos pane cibans validos Saint Augustine saith His praua corriguntur Aug. Velus Ep. 3. parua nutriuntur magna oblectantur ingenia Here ill dispositions may find for them amendment weak ones for their nourishment good ones for their delight Let the vnlearned study them that they may come to knowledge and the learned that they may be put in mind and stirred vp to doe according to that they know If thou beest faint here are the Flaggons of wine and apples of Paradise to comfort thee if thou beest strong and healthfull in grace here is the salt which will keepe thee from putrifying and corrupting If the Diuell assault thee here is the Riuer out of which thou maist choose thee smooth stones to repell and throw him vnder thy feet If thy lusts rebell here is the Sword to cut them off If thou beest sicke here is the Apothecaries shop of Cordials Conseruatiues and Restoratiues It were infinite to trauaile in this commendation Let vs all reade the Scriptures and learne them let vs teach our children to say Hosanna Timothy knowing the Scriptures from a child proued an admirable man Get thee a Bible at the least a new Testament it is the best implement of houshold As he is a simple Souldier that wants a sword so hee is a very sory Christian that wants a Bible The booke of the Scriptures giuen for our learning Vse 4 also to teach vs patience and consolation and hope They are Gods letters to vs to make vs not onely more learned but also more godly Apply the Scriptures to thy life and turne the words into workes or thou losest thy labour Many the more they know the nearer they are to hell because they liue not according to their knowledge As meat plentifully eaten and vndigested destroyeth the body so much knowledge not digested into works damneth the soule Therefore If you know these things happy are ye if ye doe them Iohn 13.17 VERSE 5. Now the God of patience and consolating grant you to be like minded one towards another according to Christ Iesus 6. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorifie God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ THese two Verses are a Prayer for vnity and peace among the now dissenting Romanes It is a singular light and ornament of Pauls discourse It is brought in by a Prolepsis as if some should say to Paul you haue brought many strong reasons but doe you euer thinke to bring the weake to yeeld to the strong or the strong to forbeare their liberty for the weake by arguments no they are too much heat in the controuersie to heare reason To this Paul may be supposed to answer that which corruption denieth praier obtaineth Now the God of patience and consolation vnite their minds For he is able to make the Lion and the Lambe so to dwell together that a little childe may lead them In this prayer are two things The thing prayed for and the Amplification The thing prayed for to be like minded which implieth a vnion of their thoughts iudgements sentences affections this we call Concord which is a ioyning together of hearts that as they are concorporated into one outward profession Ephes 3.6 so they may be coanimated as I may say into one inward loue in Christ The Amplification is diuers 1 From the Author God the Father of the raine c. but especially the giuer and maintainer of vnity and peace God is here described by two effects Patience and Consolation Of Patience before Consolation because by diuine dispensation the way to mount Thabor is by mount Caluary Of Patience and Consolation together Because of the abundant sweetnesse and comfort which hee powreth into the hearts of his children vnder the Crosse But why of Patience and Consolation here rather then of Faith and Hope Because in prayer it is most comely to suite the thing wee pray for with attributes to God accordingly The strong were not patient toward the weake nor the weake toward the strong for if they had been so they might in time better haue vnderstood the Doctrine of Christian liberty If hot spirits would haue patience they should not so much ouershoot themselues and the Church should haue more peace 2 The persons which should be like minded one towards another the strong with the weake and the weake with the strong not onely with them of their owne party but also of the other that so parting and siding may be taken away 3 According to Christ which you may call the Kind of vnity an vnity in truth and godlinesse Agreement is a thing indifferent in it selfe but good or bad according as the things are in which the agreement is The agreement of drunkards and theeues c. is against Christ but this according to Christ. Or you may say according to Christs example and commandement which seemeth to be fittest for this place because of the Argument of Christs example of which this prayer is an illustration and because this implyeth the other 4 From the End of like-mindednesse which is the glory of God and this is amplified two wayes First from the instrument of this glory which is double the Inward Anselmus one minde the Outward one mouth that is Quando vnus idem sensus sermo per
bore with our manifold infirmities and yet doth beare The persons receiued vs here is a great Emphasis miserable sinners enemies c. that wee might be admonished not to make nice to receiue our brethren The condition to the which we are receiued Glory set forth by the owner and author of it God Acts 7.2 Ephes 1.17 called the God of glory and the Father of glory elsewhere that is to be partakers of the heauenly glory with himselfe By Christs example we are kindly to loue one another Doctr. Ioh. 13.34 1 Thess 4.9 Ephes 5.2 There ought to be inwardnesse and friendly familiarity vpon all occasions Vse 1 betweene them of the same Church and faith though in countrey farre distant one from another much more betweene them of the Church in the same kingdome in the same towne enioying one and the same ministery A foule thing it were if such should not loue agree and receiue one another Thy brother hath not offended thee then doe not reiect him or he hath offended thee yet receiue him for Christ receiued thee when thou hadst ten thousand times more offended him Receiue yee one another Paul commands it the Spirit commands it Christ Iesus himselfe commands it and giues vs an example Let vs no longer study for dissension but for peace and loue Let vs not quarrell for circumstances as if the substance of Religion were contained in them we may peraduenture thinke it zeale but it can be no good zeale which is contrary to the precept and example of Christ For wee see by experience that contentions about such things as haue beene spoken of draw our affections one from another that we are more ready to separate then to receiue or be receiued We many times are together in the same place and duty of prayer but not like minded one to another which is fearefull Dost thou receiue a rich drunkard Vse 2 c. and reiectest a poore beleeuer Beware lest Christ refuse to receiue thee The foot of a beleeuer is better and more honourable then the head of a wicked man and if Christ vouchsafe to receiue him into Paradise disdaine not thou to receiue him into thy company Christ hath receiued vs to the glory of God Vse 3 Without Christ wee are inglorious base contemptible as the wormes of the earth nay as the very dung of the streets Wee were created glorious but wee abased our selues by transgression we haue all sinned and come short or are depriued of the glory of God Rom. 3.23 Now our Lord Iesus hath receiued vs From whence from shame from slauery from the Kilnes mouth burning bricke as the Israelites from the very bottome of misery whither to the glory of God Joh. 17.5 22 24 to the glory that himselfe had with the Father before the world was By what meanes Euen by his Agony end bloudy sweat by his Crosse and passion by his pretious Death and buriall c. Tantae molis erat So much did it cost to bring vs to glory Let vs not be ashamed of him in his glory which was not ashamed of vs in our basenesse let vs receiue him in his word and Sacraments that we may be fit for that glory O the happinesse of such which beleeue Vse 4 and liue in peace and vnity and holinesse Behold what glory our Master hath put vpon vs that we should be the children of God and fellow heyres with him in that glory If thou liuest wickedly thou shalt neuer haue the glory to enioy his presence in that kingdome If thou beest a drunkard a filthy vncleane liuer c. shouldest thou enter into that glory Auaunt wretch into hell and shame euerlasting if thou repentest not Doest thou looke that thy very body should be a vessell of such glory deforme it not with sinne repent make thy hands and thy heart cleane this is the generation of them which enter into their Masters ioy and glory VERSE 8. Now I say that Iesus Christ was a Minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God to confirme the promises made vnto the Fathers THat Christ hath receiued vs all is here proued in this and in the verses following The Argument is taken from a Distribution thus Hee that receiueth Iewes and Gentiles receiueth all for all men may be so distributed But Christ hath receiued Iewes and Gentiles Therefore c. That he receiueth the Iewes is proued in this Verse and that hee receiueth the Gentiles in those which follow The Argument whereby he proueth the assumption of the Iewes is taken from the destinate end of his humiliation which was to confirme the truth of God and the promises of the Fathers thus Hee who became the minister of Circumcision to confirme the truth of God and the promises of the Fathers assumeth the Iewes But for such end was Christ the minister of the Circumcision Therefore c. In this Verse are two parts a Description of the humiliation of Christ and the end thereof The humiliation of Christ in these words Iesus Christ was a minister of Circumcision not that he administred the Sacrament of Circumcision Iohn 4.2 as neyther did he baptise but because by his comming he sanctified Circumcision and all other Shadowes and Ceremonies Faius and made them effectuall as a learned man expounds which sense if it be admitted it affords this Obseruation If the Sacraments be effectuall vnto vs Obser to confirme vs in grace and to worke vs vnto a power against sinne vnto godlinesse it is a signe that wee are receiued but if wee being baptised and comming to the Lords Table are not so enabled it is a signe we are not receiued But there is another more apt interpretation which the most doe follow and that is to take Circumcision for the Circumcised the Abstract for the Concrete meaning the Iewes to whom that Sacrament and Ceremony was commanded So often with Paul as Rom. 4.12 Gal. 2.7.8 The Minister of Circumcision implying a meane and laborious seruice as our Sauiour speakes of himselfe The sonne of man came not to be ministred vnto Mat. 20.28 but to minister and giue his life a ransome for many For the truth of God to confirme c. In these words is the end of his humiliation which is double the vtmost end for the truth of God the next to confirme the promises made vnto the Fathers For the truth of God That God might be iustified in his sayings and promises To confirme the promises made to the Fathers of his comming and of the effect thereof to make good vnto them eternall life And so the New Testament is a fulfilling of the Old These Promises were made to Adam Noah Abraham and to the Iewes that Christ should bee the saluation of the world and hee came in the fulnesse of time to make them good Not but that the promises were of vertue and force to Adam but the Action or Passion from whence such vertue came was performed at the
with our brethren 1 King 1. as Dauid with Adoniah we see them and suffer them to runne into hell it selfe and neuer will say why doe you so for displeasing of them Admonish one another but wisely Vnto this two things are necessary goodnesse and knowledge the first that we may be willing the second that wee may be able to doe it He which admonisheth without goodnesse is malitious and ambitious he that without knowledge is inconsiderate and foolish VERSE 15. Neuerthelesse Brethren I haue written the more boldy vnto you in some sort as puting you in mind because of the grace which is giuen to me of God IN this Verse beginnes the second part of Pauls answer which is a correction in which he shewes how that by a kind of necessity he was enforced so to write vnto them and herein Paul sets vs a copy of a most louing modest courteous and ciuill manner of writing In it there are 2. parts 1. an affirmation 2. a confirmation The affirmation in these words I haue written the more boldly vnto you in some sort where we haue first the fact secondly the manner of it The fact I haue written The manner the more boldly in some sort In some sort ex parte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not on the part of some nor I haue written in part that is imperfectly as Stapleton would haue it nor in part of the Epistle nor referring it to the words following in part putting you in mind as Faius though this be very good yet it is sufficiently there implied with a quasi but more boldly in part in some sort or as wee vse so he what boldly More boldly this boldnesse is to be referred both to the seuerity and to the prolixity of his Epistle The nice and dainty stomackt Romanes could abide neither not the first because they were great ones not the last because they were learned Neither can great ones endure plaine and sharpe reproofes nor learned ones long and tedious discourses Verbum sapienti Our Apostle is sharpe and seuere to the Gentiles in the first Chapter to the Iewes in the second to Iewes and Gentiles in the 11. and 14. Chapters And if we measure his Epistle by the due proportion of a Letter it seemes rather a booke then a Letter The confirmation is in the rest of the words wherein Paul excuseth not himselfe as Siracides in the beginning or the author of the Machabees in the end of his worke but iustifies and auowes his boldnesse yet with such sweetnesse as becomes his Apostolicall brest and is for our imitation Boldnesse is confessed not culpable but commendable There are two arguments of iustification The first taken from the persons writing and written vnto the second from the causes of writing The persons appeare in this word Brethren a terme much vsed by Paul but scarce in any place more forcibly and to purpose then in this I am saith Paul your brother the force of my loue hath extorted this both seuerity and prolixity When friends meet they draw out the time in discoursing a day seemes but an houre and in the end they are loath to part and he is no true friend who when he sees there is need will not admonish his friend The causes are two Finall Efficient The Finall as putting you in minde He saith not to teach you being ignorant nor to correct you being disordered but to put you in mind being a wise and very good people The word signifies in the double composition a light and secret putting in mind as by a becke or holding vp of the finger by which euen the diligent are admonished which is farther allayed by a quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were that the curstest among them might haue no occasion to be offended The efficient is his calling duty thereby enioined which calling is in the last words of this verse more generally set downe according to the grace giuen to me of God and more particularly in the next verse In the generall we haue the quality it is a Grace the Author giuen of God Grace that is speciall fauour with the gifts issuing there from fit for the Apostolicall function This and these are from God and it is as if Paul should say By Diuine Grace I am appointed a Preacher an Apostle and a Teacher of the Gentiles and you are the top of the Gentiles 2 Tim. 1.11 therefore I could not omit to write vnto you more boldly it may bee you thinke but not then is warrantable and fit it being from God Ministers must faithfully and diligently performe their office Doctr. 1 Cor. 4.2 It is required in Stewards that a man be found faithfull 1 Cor. 9.16 Necessity is layd vpon mee yea woe is mee if I preach not the Gospell Read also the 4. Chapter of 2 Tim. ver 1 2. A modest and ciuill writing and speaking Vse 1 exceedingly becomes religion Saint Paul excelled all others herein who if euer any knew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to change his voice Gal. 4.20 and to attemper his style that he might profit Some are so sowre and rigid that they account ciuill and well nurtured language dawbing with vntempered morter and interpret that to bee zealously spoken which is vnciuilly and rudely But Paul teacheth and practiseth otherwise as in that his famous Apology in the 26. Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles verse 25 26 27 28 and 29. As also in all his Epistles 1 Tim 5.1 2. Blanditiis enim obtineri solent quae authoritate non possunt Amb. in loc Tim. To this belong those instructions hee gaue Timothy that hee should not rebuke an Elder but intreat him as a Father younger men as brethren c. Wee preuaile many times more with gentle then with rough speeches The very beasts are tamed more with gentle stroking and coyeing then with fierce blowes The best need to be put in mind euen the Romanes Vse 2 a wise and good people Acer et ad palmae per se cursurus honores Si tamen horteris fortius ibit equus A free horse if you remember him with the spurre will the more eagerly put forward 1 Joh. 2.21 I haue not written vnto you saith Saint Iohn because you know not the truth but because you know it 2 Pet. 1.12 13. And Saint Peter writeth I will not bee negligent to stir you vp by putting you in remembrance of these things though you know them and be stablished in the present truth and againe to stirre vp your pure mindes by putting you in remembrance 2 Pet. 3.1 So also Iude verse 5. This is profitable and safe Phil. 3.1 A Garment double died holds the colour the surer so decies repetita placebunt manebunt often teaching the same things deeply imprints them God bids vs remember the Sabbath in the fourth Commandement Christ bids vs remember Iohn 15.20 We are all dull to learne that which wee should doe and flow
teeth It is the duty of Christians to receiue strangers Vse 2 so did Abraham and Lot and others The Israelites must loue strangers Deut 10.19 and Christians may not forget it Heb. 13.2 But Christian strangers which professe true Religion must be receiued in the Lord and as it becommeth Saints Doe good vnto al men but specially to the houshold of Faith saith S. Paul elsewhere So of true Protestant Christians there must be a speciall and honourable regard The Saints are consecrated to God looke what difference we make betweene the Lords day and the other dayes of the weeke so much ought we betweene the Saints and other men as there is another manner of vse of things holy and of things common O happy England which knowest not what it is to bee a stranger But there may a storme arise and for thy fruitlesse profession driue of thy Children into forraine parts as in the dayes of Queene Mary therefore receiue thou strangers especially the persecuted members of Iesus Christ In the middest of the Noone-day make thy shadow as the Night to hide the outcasts of the Lord Let them dwell with thee and be a couert to them from the face of the Spoyler Esay 16.3 4. as the Prophet Esay admonisheth Moab Whatsoeuer is done to such strangers Mat. 18.5.6 25.34 seq Christ accounteth done to himselfe eyther by way of offence or defence It is a gainfull office to receiue such as witnesseth the example of Abraham Lot the Widow of Sarepta and others And I am perswaded that England fares the better for kindnesse shewed in dangerous times to French and Dutch strangers long may England be a Sanctuarie refuge and harbour for the persecuted Saints For hee that receiueth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall haue a righteous mans reward Mat. 10.41 Let vs remember therefore the monition of Saint Peter 1. Pet. 4.9 Vse hospitality one towards another without grudging and in these times of domesticall peace and forraine troubles let vs cheerefully and with a liberall minde and not Nabal-like relieue such as fly vnto vs. Account it no small blessing if God by his prouidence send one of his poore Saints a stranger to thee to be relieued and say after the words of Elizabeth Luke 1.43 Whence is it that a brother of my Lords comes vnto me God honours thee if he giue thee such occasion and commits to thy trust such a Iewell Make such thy friends that when thou failest they may receiue thee into euerlasting habitations Vouchsafe them a roome in thy house whom Christ disdaines not a place in Paradise and if it were needfull euen wash their feete knowing that the foote of a true beleeuer is more honourable then the head of the proudest wicked man on earth The Romanes must assist Phoebe in all her affaires Vse 3 Such loue ought to be betwixt beleeuers that they ought to support vphold and by all kind offices further one another As one hand washeth another so wee being members of the same body ought mutually to be helpfull Wicked men will take part with wicked men and ride and goe in the behalfe one of another yea euen the Deuils back and second one another much more ought Christians to countenance and further one another but alwayes in that which is good onely and among good things in spirituall chiefly It is iust that such as haue by their place birth Vse 4 authoritie goods countenance prayers counsels example labors or otherwayes done good whether of superiour or inferiour rancke should be singularly respected vpon all occasions The Church is a debter vnto such But such as haue beene no way seruiceable of due can expect no such regard much lesse may they who haue wronged and disgraced the Church and members thereof by their cruell and euill life VERSE 3. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Iesus 4. Who haue for my life layd downe their owne necks vnto whom not onely I giue thankes but also all the Churches of the Gentiles THe second part of this Chapter beginnes in these Verses and is continued to the end of the 16. Verse and againe in the 21. V. and so to the end of the 23. In the verses betweene the 16. and 21. is the third part of this Chapter This part is nothing but salutations which are eyther from Paul or from sundrie others A Salutation is a signification of our loue whereby wee wish all temporall and spirituall welfare to our brethren Barac Imperatiuum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hebrew word as also a Greeke word are vsed to this purpose both at meeting and parting of friends The Greeke word in this place implyes the performance of such courtesie and well wishing The Latine word comes of a terme which signifies health Salus The reason of Pauls saluting so many here is threefold 1 That he might winne them by such courtesie the readilier to entertaine and follow the good admonitions giuen them about indifferent and other things in this Epistle and for a preparation against his comming 2 That the Romanes might take speciall knowledge of these aboue the rest that they might imitate their graue and peaceable courses and follow their counsell 3 That these persons saluted by the praises which Saint Paul giueth them might be prouoked to perseuere in such praise-worthy vertues for euery commendation implyeth a secret admonition of perseuerance These things premitted our order in handling of this part shall be first to note the generall Doctrine of Salutations and then briefely to passe it ouer making some few obseruations out of some of the verses To Salute our friends Doctr. present or absent is a courtesie not to be neglected This is to be proued by the practice of holy men of all times of Iethro and Moses Exod. 18.7 of the Angell to Gideon Iudges 6.12 of the Angell to Mary Luke 1.28 So Christ commanded Matth. 10.12 and practised Iohn 20.19 so Saint Paul here and in other of his Epistles So Peter 1. Pet. 5.13.14 Christians are not to omit this dutie Vse it being a singular meanes to adorne our profession and to nourish loue and whom should blessing better become then the Heires of blessing But see it be from the heart There are notwithstanding two exceptions hereunto 1 The first Luke 10.4 Our Sauiour chargeth the seuentie disciples sent forth to preach to salute no man by the way By which prohibition hee doth not vtterly take away such complements as the Anabaptists from that place but sheweth that they were to vse no delay but to set all other occasions aside and speedily to attend the preaching of the Gospell When friends meete they are loth to part and therefore such courtesies to be omitted when weightier matters are to be performed When we should preach or heare or resort to the Congregation to publike prayer c. it is then no time of visiting friends entertaining them with discourse or