kings paie without his fauour and what good shall the goodes of his subiectes doe him without their heartes and good will This knew the old counsellers of Salomon well inough and therefore when Rehoboam who succeeded Salomon asked them what course he should take to winne the heartes of the people they gaue him counsell to speak kindly vnto them at the first and they would be his seruantes for euer meaning that some token of loue or shewe of a kind affection towardes them would more preuaile with them than any thing els Shall the hope of Rehoboams loue make his subiects serue him for euer and shall not the assurance of Gods loue make vs serue him for euer Shall the kind words of Rehoboam the king of Ifrael win the heartes of his people for euer and shal not the kind wordes of Iehouah the king of heauen and earth win the hearts of his people for euer and for euer vnto himselfe besides that Rehoboam had neede to speake kindly to his subiects or els it is the worse for himselfe Iehouah needeth not to speake so for if we neuer loue him it is not the worse for him but for our selues yea if we be righteous we are righteous for our selues and if we all perish God wil not loose a whit of his glory shall we not then listen vnto the Lord when he speaketh so kindly vnto vs and hath displayed the flagge of Truce with My sonne the badge of loue vpon it When God commaunded Abraham to sacrifice his sonne Isaac he was ready to do it So deare was the loue of God vnto him but if all the world besides had persuaded him therevnto he would neuer haue yeelded God doth not commaund vs to sacrifice our sonnes but our sinnes least they sacrifice vs now if we thinke our selues as much beholding to God as Abraham was we wil not spare them though they be as necessarie for vs as our right hand or as profitable vnto vs as our right eye If Iudas had been the child of God as he was the child of perdition would he haue sold the loue of Christ for 30 pieces of siluer no nor yet for 30 thousande worldes but so it is with all Hipocrites and reprobate persons which are best knowne to the searcher of hearts They cannot be persuaded that God is their father in Christ their spirites are not assured by Gods spirit that God doth loue them They conceiue of the Lord as of their enemie and therefore as they could neuer feele the sweetenesse of Gods loue in their soules so they can neuer afford him their loue in their liues Whervpon it commeth to passe that the least temptation in the world the least feare of mans displeasure and the least shew of pleasure and profit doe easily persuade them to doe any thing against god against his glory against his word and against his feruantes as Baalam did who serued for the wages of iniquitie But the faithfull indeed hearing God calling them his sonnes and his daughters hauing the spirit of sanctification to assure them of their adoption they I say do fall into the reckoning of Gods vnspeakable loue in Christ vnto them howbeit not all at one time nor alwaies alike he that is not now may be hereafter but when they consider of it indeed they do therewithall resolue with themselues in token of thankfullnesse to serue the Lord in righteousnesse and true holines all the daies of their life yet still depēding vpon God by prayer and herein through Gods grace they are resolute whatsoeuer dislike of men or hinderance in the world or daunger to their owne liues they might purchase for their labor And thus wee see what an Orator the loue of God is Therfore when the Lord saith My son let vs looke for no more eloquēce to entice vs nor reasons to persuade vs for heare is eloquence inough reasons inow and learning inough and fathers inow to persuade any man that hath the spirit of God in him and whosoeuer doth not find the cords of Gods loue and authoritie strong inough to knit his hearte vnto the statutes of the Lord he hath good cause to suspect himselfe as yet that he is not the child of God Why My sonne in the singular number and not my sonnes NOw we will see why the Lord saith not My sonnes in the plurall number seeing as he speaketh to all his childrē but My sonne as if it concerned but onely one body This is partly for the particular encouragement and confirmation of euery one in his duety and partly for the particular comfort of euery one of Gods children when he shall be troubled for doing of his duety for when the Lord in particular shall giue euery one his charge then if any man be offended at him he may shew his warrant and say thus Sir the Lord did not speake generally to all least one should post it off to another but he speaketh particularly to me aswell as to another and therefore I am discharged for when the Lord speaketh indefinitly meaning none he excepteth none But in this particular kind of speaking the Lord doth binde euery one of his children in particular wholy to serue him and none els so therewithall he giueth vs to vnderstand that he hath a speciall eye and fatherly care ouer euery one in particular that is his childe and will surely protect and defend him as his childe against all annoiances watsoeuer than the which there can be no greater comfort whensoeuer the crosse shall come But we will first see how they doe binde vs wholy to God and afterwarde we will see how God hath bound himselfe to vs and euery one of vs if we be all his children as I hope we be Some thinke it lawfull to serue God and the worlde too to be of this Reiiglon and of that Religion too to goe to Bethell the house of God and to Bethauen the house of Idolitrie To goe with Barnabas and Barrabas and to ioyne with Simon Magus as with Simon Peter thinking themselues sufficiently discharged if they serue God a little now and then or if they keepe their consciences to themselues and giue God their heartes like Protestantes at large which thinke they need not heare a sermon because they heard seruice or they need not come in the after noone because they came in the forenoone or like the most which think when they haue heard a sermon they are then at libertie to do what they will or like those men which will heare a Masse and worshippe the crosse at the least in other countries that they may get commodities thereby but they will keep their consciences to themselues as our church Papists doe here amongst vs but all these men are deceiued for no man can serue ij maisters Therefore my good brother when any such temptations do beginne to fawne vpon thee Remember that God doth here call euerie particular member of the church
sea with his arme let him that can do these things come forth and describe the honours the priuiledges the riches the pleasures and the felicities of Gods children which are such as no eye hath seene no eare hath heard no tongue can vtter and no heart is able to conceiue What accompt we must make of Gods children BVt by this small tast we may learn in what accompt to haue the children of God because God hath thē in so high accompt himselfe for shall not wee honour those whom God doth honour shall anie man hate those whom God doth loue or despise those in whom the Lord doth take delight doe not we loue them which loue our children and doe not our heartes and hands too arise against them which misuse our children And shall not God who exceedeth all fathers in loue much more loue those which loue his children and shall not his heart and hand too arise in his heauie wrath and displeasure against such as misuse his childrē either in word or deede If we loue anie man wee loue his children also and for his sake we make much of them If wee loued him which begat saith S. Ioh. wee would also loue him that is begotten That is if we loue God we will loue the children of God be they neuer so poore and base in the eies of the world Therefore if wee loue not Gods children wee loue not God himself and if we loue not God we hate him and if wee hate him how shall he loue vs Alas to let passe the murtherers and persecuters of the saints of God in other countries how do we thinke to answere our rashe iudging and hastie condemning our vnchristian mocking and taunting our priuie nipping or bitter iesting our vncharitable censuring and our hard dealing which we vse one against another and yet all professing one God one father one sauiour one religion and all looking for one kingdome Are we not all the sonnes of God and children of the most high How is then that one doth hate and hunt another as though we were beastes or rather fiends of hell When Iosephs brethren sold their brother Ioseph they thought neuer to see him more much lesse did they looke to be told of their crueltie from his owne mouth but least of all did they dreame of any such matter when they should go to Aegypt for vittaile so many yeares after but yet so it fell out contrarie to all their expectations And when they heard him say which was a ruler in Aegypt I am Ioseph your brother whom you sold they looked one vpon another as men amazed but could not tell what to say for themselues such shame and cōfusion did couer their faces such feare and dread was on euerie side and their owne consciences within them were a thousand witnesses against them And is it not so with vs when we do euill intreat our brethren do we not thinke that we shall neuer see Ioseph more but we are deceiued for Ioseph our brother shal appeare not in Aegypt but in heauen to our shame and confusion if we repent not Steuens persecuters shall see the face of Steuen as the face of an Angell The rich glutton shall see Lazarus in Abrahams bosome when hee himselfe shall lie languishing in hell tormentes The Iewes which crucified the Lord of glorie shall one day look vpon him and see him in glorie whom they pierced And they which now set Gods children at nought because they are young men or poore men or more zealous or more religious or are not so prophane as themselues or will not run with them to the same excesse of riot shall one day see them set vpon thrones to iudge the nations and them which hated them Then shall the righteous stand in great boldnesse before the face of such as haue tormented him and taken away his labors When they see him they shal be vexed with horrible feare and shal be amazed for his wonderfull deliuerance Then they shall change their mindes and sigh for griefe of minde and say within themselues This is hee whom wee sometime had in derision and in a parable of reproch These are they whom we called fooles and asses puritane knaues beggerly rascals This is he whom we hated whom we molested whom we slandered On the other side also This is he shall some say whom we in the top of our owne conceit condemned for a time-seruer and a formalist This is the Church whom we schismatickes tooke for no church at all but in the pride of our heartes and in the furious spirite of a preposterous zeale wee counted no better than Sodom than Aegypt than Babilon than Baalamites not worthy the name of a church Then shal many prophane men say We fooles thoght his life madnesse his end without honor How is he counted amongst the children of God and his portion among the saints Full litle do many thinke of this alteration and howe soone it may come who knoweth Last of all whosoeuer looketh for heauē after this life must while hee liue make much of such as feare God saith the prophet he doth not say if they be rich or if they be in authoritie or if they may pleasure thee or if they be merrie companions c. But if they feare God we must make much of them whether they be poore or rich whether they go in veluet or in sackecloth whatsoeuer they be by occupation or profession or whatsoeuer we be our selues for the poore receiue the gospell saith our sauiour that is the poore are rich if they be godly And so much briefly for the excellencie of Gods children The duetie of Gods Children NOw let vs see what God requireth of his children whereby they may in some poore measure shewe themselues thankefull to his Maiestie for this excellent estate whereunto he hath called them As their dignitie is great so their duetie must needs be great because much is required where much is bestowed Therefore looke howe many titles so many dueties howe much honour so much obedience and looke how much the Lord hath abased himselfe to aduance vs so much are we againe bound to abase our selues that wee may aduaunce his glorie like Abraham who the more familiarly the Lord did talke with him the more humbly hee did cast downe himselfe in the feeling and acknowledging of his own vnworthinesse But what doth God require or what shall we doe If I be your father saith the Lord where is my honour Then honour is required and God looketh to be honoured of his children Honour thy father and thy mother saith the commandement that is heare them and regard them reuerence and obey thē feare them and loue them mantaine them and their credit to the vtmost defend their persons and their honest quarrels and take their part against all that rise vp against them If such honour be due to our earthly parents which
his sonne and to thee therfore he saith My sonne as if hee should say None may haue any interest in thee but I. Thou art mine thou art not theirs Thy creation is wholly mine thy redemption is wholly mine thy preseruation is wholly mine and therefore I looke that thy obedience and thy seruice and thy worship and thy bodie and thy soule and all should be wholly mine And good reason for do we not owe all to him of whom we haue receiued all Of God we haue receiued all that we haue for in him we liue and moue and haue our being doe we not therefore owe him our life our mouing and our being euē whatsoeuer we are or whatsoeuer we haue And is it not reason that if a man hath bought a thing wholly and wholly paid for it that he shuld haue it wholly to himselfe howe much more ought the Lord to haue the whole seruice both of body and soule seeing hee hath bought all and paid for all Therefore nowe we are no more our owne men but the Lords therefore hee saith My sonne As if he should say againe If thou hearkenest to anie hearken vnto mee if thou beleeuest anie beleeue me if thou louest anie loue me if thou fearest anie feare me if thou obeiest anie obey me if thou standest for anie bodies credite or glorie stand for mine If thou doest praise anie bodies workes praise mine and if thou returnest thanksgiuing to any returne them to mee and to my vse onely for now by vertue of the league and couenaunt wherinto thou and I be entered thy hearing is mine thy faith is mine thy loue is mine thy feare is mine thy obedience is mine thy praises are mine in body and soule and in euery part and member therof thou must be wholy mine and no bodies else and therefore remember that I do not call thee Our son as though some other were my partner in thee but I call thee My sonne because I will not giue my glorie vnto any other Wilt thou bee content that thy wife as Iob sayth shall grind vnto another when she is married wholy to thee Thou wilt not And will the Lord take it in good part if thou deuide thy loue betweene him and another seeing he hath maried thee wholy to himselfe No surely hee will not be serued by the halfes hee will be a sole father and a whole father or els no father hee will haue thee his sonne onely or els no sonne at all hee will haue all our seruice or els none of our seruice And if the diuell hath any interest at all he shal one day haue interest in al without repētance for he taketh possession of the whole man by some one member of the body or by some one affection of the heart as men take state of a house by the ring of a dore And hee keepeth possession aswell by the loue of one sinne if it raigne in a man as by a thousand euen as men keepe possession of a house aswell by one man within or a childe as by a thousand if they be not expelled God hath a remnant in Israel more than Eliah knoweth of but they are such as bow not their knees to Baall neither doe they kisse him with their mouthes If we doe but hold vp our hands to an idoll saith the Church of God in captiuitie doe wee not deale deceitfully with Gods couenant and shall not God search this out yea though we keep our heartes for God as wee thinke so iealous is the Lord ouer his glorie that hee can abide no halting in religion Againe My sonne to teach vs that wee be not our owne men but our fathers which is in heauē If we be not our own men but the Lords then we must not be at our own appointment but at his in euery thing To euery one of his children God hath appointed a place a stāding while he liueth in the world to some in the Church and to some in the commonwealth Our whole taske is appointed by God how much and how long euerie one must worke in his place God must appoint looke how farre euerie one is to go by his heauenly fathers direction so farre must we go no further We must tarrie till God doth send vs and no longer and we must speake all that our father in heauen doth bid vs but no more Moses must keepe sheepe vntill God send him to Pharao and then he must go to Pharao be hee neuer so slow of speach Ionas must not go to Niniuie vntill he be sent neither may hee go to Tharsis when hee is sent to Niniuie Saul must not touch the Amalekites vntil he be commanded but when he hath his commission from aboue he may not spare Agag though he be a king neither anie of the cattell be they neuer so fit for sacrifice Balaam must not go when God bid him stay though the king of Moab send for him neither must he curse when God doth bid him blesse if he might haue mountaines of gold for his labour And when the Lord doth cast any office vpon his children then they are not onely Gods Children but also Gods officers I haue said yee are gods that is you are of my appointing and you are in my stead And then the Lord saith to one My sonne thou art now my Magistrate to rule for me to another hee saith Thou art nowe my Minister to teach for me to another Thou art nowe my Steward to giue for me to another Thou art now my Captaine to conduct for mee to another Thou art now my Souldiour to fight for me c. But remember that you are mine still and not your owne nor at anie bodies appointment but at mine And therfore see that you gouerne as I haue taught you for your gouernment is my gouernment See that you iudge as I haue appointed you for your iudgment is my iudgment See that you teach as I haue prescribed for your doctrine is my doctrin and see that you fight when I bid you fight for your battailes are my battailes When our Sauiour Christ sawe Caesars marke vpon Caesars coine hee bad that Caesar should haue his due but so as God also must not loose his right If Caesar must haue that which is marked out for Caesar shall not God haue that seruice that worship those officers and such orders as he hath marked out for himselfe verely if we giue them or chaunge them with the world or the deuill which haue no right in them wee shall follow too if we repent not What shall we doe then why what if the world say giue mee thy heart Say thou mayst not it is the Lordes alreadie What if vaine plaies and filthy speech woulde haue mee to lend them my eares denie them and say that they are for the holy thinges of God What iflying and deceite would haue the vse of my tongue and sit in the
stand in the presence of God and for their strength incomparable or else aske Senacharibs host The pleasures of the sons of men are such as the worlde doth affoord carnall securitie worldly prosperitie fleshly delightes beastly sensualitie with pride ease fulnesse of bread and such like the pleasures of the childrē of God is such as the world can neither giue nor take as the louc of righteousnesse delight in the law of God patience in affliction loue of the saints which excell in vertue and such like The riches and treasures of the sonnes of men are golde and siluer houses and landes lordships and manners rents and reuenewes and such like which theeues may steale or mothes may eat or rust may fret or fire may consume or water may ouerflowe or time may weare or death may end but the riches and treasures of Gods children are the word of God Gods fauour forgiuenesse of sinnes freedome from hell and the diuel liberty with the saints the spirite of contentation peace of conscience continual ioy in the holy Ghost and a kingdome of glory in heauen such like which no theefe can steal no rust can fret no fire can consume no water can drowne no plague can infect no time cā weare nor death can ende The ornamēts which the children of men haue to commend them vnto the worlde they are of the worlde and such as the word doth like of as gold and siluer silkes and veluets iewels and precious stones sumptious and rich attyre beautifull faces comely bodies ripe wittes smooth toonges c. These are also bestowed vpon many of Gods children but they haue better ornaments than these Their liues are adorned with holinesse and righteousnesse with vertue and religion their bodies are attyred with chastitie and sobriety their frontlets are modestie and shamefastnesse their robes are grauitie and wisedome their bracelets are mercie and compassion their wordes are the wordes of grace their lippes are the dores of knowledge and their hearts are the store-houses of vnderstanding Before the world in themselues they are blacke as though they had lodged among the pots but before the lord in Christ they are white as the Lillie and comely as the curtaines of Solomon Behold saith Solomon the beloued of Christ is faire yea behold shee is faire indeed her eyes are like the doues her haire is like the flock of goates which looke downe from the mountaines of Gilead her teeth are like a flock of sheepe in good order which go vp from the washing her lippes are like a threed of Scarlet her talke is comely her temples are within her lockes as a piece of Pomegranate her necke is as the tower of Dauid built for defence her breasts are as two young Roes which are twinnes feeding amongst the lillies She is all faire and there is no spot in her The loue of Christ hath threescore queens and of damseles without number to wait vpon her the doue of Christ is alone and vndefiled she is the only daughter of her mother and she is deere to her that bare her the daughters haue seene and coumpted her blessed yea euen the queenes and concubines haue seene her and they haue praised her shee looketh foorth as the morning faire as the moon pure as the sunne and terrible as an armie with banners The rich Iewels of Gods children are sweete fruites of the holyghost as loue ioy peace long suffering meekenesse patience temperance c. for the spirit of God is in them which is a spirit of knowledge and vnderstanding a spirit of councell and courage and a spirit of the feare of the Lord by which they are led as by the hand of God by it they stand as by the staffe of God by it they are instructed as by the mouth of God and by it they are corrected as by the rod of God For want wherof the sonnes of men are most miserable when they seem to be most happy their aboundance seemeth nothing their libertie is bondage their peace is warre their rest is sorrowe their health is sicknes and their life is death Their laughter is but from the teeth outward Their feasts are like the feasts of Balthasar and their honour is like the honour of Haman They feare any thing but not sinne they loue any thing sauing God they ioye in euery thing so it be not goodnesse like the swine which had rather wallow in the stinking puddles of mire than in a sweete bed of Roses They sleep as a drunken man in the top of ship mast in a mightie storme in the midst of the sea their head is fraught with aboundance of care and their hearte with continuall feare Their foes they hate their friendes they suspect they trust no body they haue no ioy of any thing they possesse they are a burden to thēselues their whole life is vanitie and vexation of spirit when sicknes cōmeth they lye like blocks they rore like Bulles and they die like beastes and as they serued the Deuill all their life time so they looke euery houre when they shall goe to hell But the children of God are most happie when they seeme to be most miserable Their peny seemeth a pound their pound seemeth a 100 pound In want they haue aboundance in prison they find libertie in sicknes they haue health in warre peace in labour rest in sorrow ioy in death life and after death they possesse the kingdome of heauen The reason is this where the spirite of God is there is perfect libertie where a good conscience is there is a continuall feast and where the light of Gods countenaunce doth shine there is more ioye of heart than when corne and wine and oyle is encreased Can the children of the wedding fast while the Bride-grome is with them And can the children of God miscarrie while God their father is by them The loue of earthly fathers is transitorie and vncertaine like the loue of Saul to Dauid but whom the Lord loueth he loueth for euer Worldly fathers do many times repent them of that which they bestow vpon their children but the gifts and calling of the Lord are without repentance But what do I goe about to set forth the hid honours the excellent state and the great priuiledges of the children of God which are giuen and bestowed not according to the basenes of our heartes and affections but according to the worthinesse and honour of his maiesty that adopteth Verely all that can be said of them is but a tast of them and when we haue done we are to beginne againe if we had the time of another world and the tongues of men and Angels to helpe vs. For who can measure the sea with aspoone who can put the cloudes into a bottell who can gather the windes in his fist who can number the sandes by the sea shore or who can reach the depth of the
dore of my lips tell them they are be spoken alreadie and trueth must haue the vse of both What if vncleane thoughtes come a wooing to thy minde tell them that thy minde is for holie meditations and therefore there is no place for them What if vncleannesse her selfe desire but a nightes lodging in thy bodie and seate in thy heart for loue or for money Tell her that thy body is the Temple of the holie Ghost and thy heart is the Lords chaire of state and therefore let her loue and her money perishe togither with her selfe What if couetousnesse or vsurie or vaine-glorie come Whosoeuer come shape them all the same answere though they bring their friendes with them to persuade thee or aucthoritie to commaund thee euerie one may not come into the kinges Courts euery one may not presume into the presence Chamber much lesse into the priuie-Chamber but none may sit in the Princes chaire of estate but the Prince only Neither may the kings officers be at euery bodies cōmandement Our bodies and our soules be the kinges courtes all the members of our bodies and al the powers of our soules are the kinges officers wheresoeuer thou art thou art in his presence chāber but thy conscience is his priuy chamber thy hearte is his throne of state Therefore let not euerie one in but let the feare of God stand in euery corner and at euery entry like the kinges guard and if any offer to come in which haue nothing to doe there let the guard tell them that there is no place for them all is taken vp to the kinges vse If that will not serue the turne thrust them out by the head and shoulders and if they turne againe vpon thee hew them in pieces with the sword of the spirite yea if thou find Iezabell in the kinges chamber cast her out at the windowes and let the dogges eate her If Haman himselfe be there couer his face and hang him vp for what shall such doe where the Lord of hostes should sit and raigne All this is in generall but now more particularly suppose I bee a man of wealth and countenance likely to beare office in the church of God or in the common wealth what if I be called to the place of a chiefe Maiestrat amongst the people may I not refuse it Thou art not thy owne man but the Lords the calling is not mans but Gods therefore thou maist not refuse it But what if ease and selfeloue would persuade me to buy it for euer Tell thy ease and thy selfeloue that thou art not at their appointment but at the disposing of thy heauenly father If this be not sufficient tell them that Esau sinned in selling his birthright and if thou shouldst sell away the gouernement from thy shoulders thou sellest not thy own right but Gods right the churches right the common wealths right the Princes right the poore mans right with the right of the widowes fatherles and Orphans for when God doth set a man in that place all these haue interest in him therefore let no man buy it off but rest vpon God least he become more prophane than Esau but what if trouble and daunger be like to follow then say as Mordecay saide vnto Hester what canst thou tell whether God hath aduaunced thee for the deliuerance of his people what if thou say as Hester said to her selfe I will take it vpon me pray you for me and if I perish I perish I am not at my owne appointment but at the appointment of my heauenly father But suppose that I be a minister of God and set ouer Gods people to teach them the waies of the Lord maie I not turne them ouer to another if ease or profite doe call me surely no for if thou bee at Gods appointment thou must keep thy stāding looke to that flock ouer which the holy ghost hath made thee an ouerseer What if mens traditions would borrow a roome in my study turne them out and tell them that thy study is onely for the law of God but what if popular praise and vain-glory would persuade me to make a shew of painted eloquence and humane learning tell them that thou art not set there to seek thy selfe but Gods people not thy owne glory but the glorie of him that sent thee But imagine that I am a priuat man and haue a trade to liue vpon and a family to looke vnto then follow that but what if I see thinges out of order in the church may I not helpe to put them in order againe or may I not leaue my trade and become a minister Surely by praier and supplication thou maiest help but keepe thy standing for thou art not thy owne man to forgoe thy place at thy pleasure As for the ministery it is to be born by such as haue gifts and calling for it as the Arke was to be carried by Leuites and not by Oxen. But what if the Arke be readie to fall may not I step to and hold it vp Thou art not thereunto appoynted Therefore take heed Vzzah least thou fall thy selfe before the Arke Therefore let euerie one keepe his place and standing that God hath set him in And if anie body doe claime anie interest in vs more than our heauenly father hath graunted him let vs answere him as our Sauiour Christ did the deuill Auoide for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serue And thus we see how these wordes doe binde vs particularly and wholly to our heauenly father and our discharge when we haue done our duetie to God How these wordes My sonne doe serue for our consolation NOw we will see for the comforting and strengthening of our faith how the Lord in these wordes My sonne doth binde himselfe to his children which thing being duely considered will cause vs through the grace of God to beare with patience whatsoeuer crosse shall fall vpon vs in the discharging of those dueties which our heauenly father hath laid vpon vs in our seuerall callinges yea if we fall into the reckoning of it wee will not onely goe cheerefully away without fainting vnder the burthen but euen despise and set at naught all reproches and slaunders all mockes and iestes all losses and hinderances and death it selfe for the excellent glorie and glorious libertie of the sonnes of God for as this white flagge doth shewe vs that we are not our owne men but the Lordes so in the same we may also perceiue that the Lord hath a speciall care ouer euery one of his children in particular If wee be wholly his then is hee wholly ours if wee be not sonnes for our selues but for him then he is a father not for himselfe but for vs. Therefore saith the Lord My sonne which is all one as if hee had said I am thy father as thou art my son thou art mine and I am
with heauen not because we haue wrought them our selues as the aduersaries of the grace of God doe teach but because they are sanctified in the couenaunt of Gods grace and washed in the bloud of the vnspotted Lamb Iesus Christ therfore we hold and hold truely that all those spots and blots which remain in our imperfect obedience must be couered with the vnspotted holinesse and perfect obedience of Iesus Christ as with a garment that no part of our filthy nakednes may appeare in the pure presence of him whose eyes can abide no vncleannesse or els we can neuer be saued Therefore we hold againe and that according to truth that all our righteousnesse is vncleane and polluted in the puddle of Originall corruption in the loines of the first Adam but it is clensed in the pure fountaine of Iesus christ his obedience the second Adam It is onely begunne here and in part perfourmed but it shal be finished and made perfect in the life to come and that in Christ Iesus in whom all our poore endeuours and small beginnings shal be accepted that little good which is in vs is matched with much euill yea euery good motion when it commeth from the father of lightes is of a brighte and liuely colour but so soone as they come into our vessels they chaunge their colour and looke of another hue There is neuer a praier that we make but hath his wants of feeling or want of humbling or faith or reuerence or something is wanting and it is stained with the contrarie There is neuer a sermon that we make or heare but hath some stain and pollution in vs There is neuer a grace that we say but is likewise blemished for want of some grace our whole seruice is idle and vnprofitable for when did we talke without vanitie when do we giue without some sauour or other of Hipocrisie when do we heare without wearines or when do we pray without tediousnesse and when we doe pray for pardon what toies and fancies do stain our prayers that when we haue praied we had need to pray againe that God would forgiue our prayers for do we not thinke least of God when we pray vnto him and doth not our deuotion commonly end with our prayers If we suffer any thing is it without some impatience and distrust will not a little murmuring and grudging against God haue a hand in the matter will we not appoint our heauenly father either where to strike or when or with what or how long or how much or how litle or one thing or other as though he knew not what to doe without vs And when I pray you doe we rest hartely well contented with his good pleasure and will If we obtaine any thing which we desired doe we not still desire more like Achab If we doe any euill alas how cherefully how speedely and how easily doe we commit it but if we doe any good wo be vnto vs how faintly how rudely and how slackly do we goe about it in our owne causes how hoate are we in Gods causes how cold are we in excercises of prophanenesse how bold but in the excercises of holinesse how bashfull is the best of vs and that which God doth most abhorre do we not waxe proud of those good things which God doth worke in vs and by vs as children are proud of their new clothes which their parents do put vpō them or of saying a grace which with much ado their parents haue taught them In one word that litle good that is in vs is it not matched as I said and manie times ouermatched with muche euill And that litle that is in vs or done by vs it is of the Lord also that worketh both the will and the deed And whē he doth reward that what doth he but crowne his owne gifts in vs and that according to that promise and couenant which hee sware to our forefather Abraham and his seede for euer So that wee may now safely conclude as Paule doth It is neither in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie All this and much more being considered how should we doe if wee were not first the sonnes of God in Christ our Lord would our workes abide the triall of Gods iustice Alas poore wretches that we are the least staine of thought though it were neuer cōsented vnto would send vs packing to hell for euer But now being first the sons of God by Iesus Christ being assured of Gods loue in christ and pleading nothing but his mercy onely in the merites of Christ wee may be bold to go vnto our heauēly father for if any man sin wee haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righteous whose righteousnesse pleadeth for our vnrighteousnesse through whose stripes we are healed through whose bloud wee may be bold to enter into the holy place with him the Lord is well pleased in him the Sonnes of GOD are well accepted and without him wee are wholly reiected Therefore saith Saint Iohn Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that is in the faith of the Lord Iesus for they shall rest from their labours and their workes shall followe them that is God accepteth of them and their workes which are in the Lord but none els By this place our Papistes woulde prooue that our workes doe merite heauen But from hence wee may gather more truely that none haue a right faith in Christ but those which haue good workes to accompanie them when they dye in the Lord. But to gather heereupon that they merite wee cannot for then they shoulde goe before our being in the Lord and be a cause thereof but nowe we see that they followe our being in the Lord. Againe the workes doe not beautifie the man in the Lord but the man in the Lorde doth beautifie the workes as the Temple sanctified the golde that was vpon it but was not sanctified by the golde and as the Altar sanctified the offering that was vpon it but was not sanctified by the offering And this is not because hee hath done them but because they are done in the Lord by faith without which whatsoeuer is done is sinne and the Lord in him by his spirit doth sanctifie them vnto himselfe Last of all the Argument doth not hold our workes are rewarded therfore they merite for then none should be rewarded but he that did merite first then the seruant should be before the heire because hee taketh more paines than the other doth and yet the heire hath the land because he was the sonne before So we are first borne the sons of God by faith in Christ and so we are made fellow heires with him of Heauen and then followe good works not as a cause why we should haue th' inheritance but as fruits following from a thankefull minde But they of the popish Church being