seeing our miseries are such in our temporall condition in respect of getting keeping losing why then I may justly say what is there in this vale of tears that may deserve our love or be worthy of our affection Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity saith Solomon and wee our selves know that we are certain in nothing here but in an uncertain course of things and a continuall interchange of joy and sorrow Why then should these vanities and vexations like so many bewitching Cirees transform us into swinish quality that we should delight rather to ly wallowing in the miry mudde and puddle of worldlinesse then to be translated into the glory and blisse of Paradise why should they like so many Sirens with their deceitfull musick and melodie stop our course and stay our journy when we should be travelling into our own country why should they intice us to lie floating on the troublous and dangerous waves of this world when we should be striving to get into the Haven and Harbor of rest why should they so much deceive us as to make us make this our Paradise where wee find nothing but misery and here to settle our hearts where there is nothing that can satisfie our desire Love not the world saith Saint John nor the things of the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Here is the privative use here is that we must not do what is the positive use what is that we must doe Our Saviour teacheth both together Mat. 6.19 Lay not up for your selves treasures upon Earth ther 's that we must not do but lay up for your selves treasures in Heaven there 's that wee must do It is Heaven that is our Country and inheritance on earth wee are but pilgrims and strangers It is Heaven where we shall have the fulnesse of joy there all our comforts are crost with cares Learn therefore of Saint Phil. 3.8 to count all things loss and to judge them to be dung that wee may win Christ Or if ye can not reach that perfection to despise the world yet at least labour and strive that yee may be able to use the world as though yee used it not and to have your conversation in Heaven And so much of the discovery of mans vileness out of the consideration of his temporall estate and condition in respect of the miseries of his life The same also will appear in respect of the shortnesse of his life For mans dignity and honor in his creation was in his being the Image of God and that was partly in his immortality whereof during his innocencie he was capable Potens non mori having a possibility not to die His immortality therefore and length of life being then his honor and excellencie it must needs follow by the rule of contraries that his mortality and shortness of life is his dishonor and vilenesse But out of the Scriptute also it may bee shown that long life is an honor and short life a dishonor a reproach and vilenesse unto man For in the ninteenth of Lev. ver 32. it is said Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man And in the Commandements Ex. 20. the only promise of reward expressed is that of long life That thy daies may be long in the land c. And as this is a reward and honor so on the contrary short life is a punishment and dishonor For 1 Sam. 2.32 when God would execute judgement and justice upon Eli one of his greatest punishments was that there should never be an old man in his house but his seed should be cut off before it should be ripe And often in the Scriptures we find long life as a blessing to the god ly and short life as a curse to the wicked on the one side promised on the other side threatned Let us look then upon the shortnesse of our life and consider the vileness of our condition therein Ye know Moses his accompt Ps 90.10 The daies of our years are threescore years and ten and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years yet in their strength labour and sorrow He accounts it the utmost of our age but a little For to that purpose he closeth therewith this for it is soon cut off and we fly away It is soon cut off as if he should say It is a time of no considerable endurance But as touching the shortnesse of mans life the heathen man Tully by the twilight of nature could see to say thus Lib. de senect Quid est in vita hominis diu what length is there in the life of man Mihi quidem ne diuturnum quidquam videtur in quo est aliquid extremum me thinks there 's nothing long or lasting which hath an end For indeed when that is once come then 't is all nothing But Saint Augustine goes farther and saith Conf. lib. 11. cap. 15. that the life of man is neither long nor short but that it is not at all Quo pacto illud longum est aut breve quod omnino non est How can that be long or short which at all is not Praeteritum enim jam non est futurum nondum est For the time past is not now and the time to come is not yet So that then we can count our life nothing but the same to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that same instant present moment of time Now which the Philosophers make an end of the time past and the beginning of the time to come which is indeed so near to nothing that wee can hardly make any thing of it For now we live and now again that time is past And again Now we live and now again that time is past Dum loquimur fugit invida aetas saith the Poet whiles we speak our envious time flies away Yea sooner then we are able to pronounce that one syllable Now it is a hazard a doubt and question whether we live or no. So short and swift and slippery is that time which wee may boldly venture to call our life that it is gone before we can speak it yea before we can think it It is even swifter then conceit And therefore to shew the shortnesse and swiftnesse of our life the Scriptures do set it forth by the shortest and swiftest things as namely a weavers shuttle Job 7.6 a Post Job 9.25 a tale that is told Ps 90.9 And yet these shadowes and types short and swift as they are they are too long to measure the shortnesse of mans life For though the shuttle flyeth swiftly yet sometimes it lyeth still before the quil of yarn be quite spent though the Post rideth or runneth speedily yet sometimes hee baites and rests before he comes to his journies end though a tale passe quickly yet it hath some stops and pauses before it comes to the last full point But the life of man flyeth swiftly and never
blood not for his friends but his for his enemies behold a wonder It caused the Lord of life to be billed as St. Peter speaketh Act. 3.15 and the Lord of glory to be crucified as St. Paul speaketh 1 Cor. 2.8 Behold a wonder yea it is so wonderfull that it is supra omnem creaturam ultra omnem mensuram contra omnem naturam above all creatures beyond all measure contrary to all nature Above all creatures for it is above the Angels and therefore above all others Beyond all measure for time did not begin it time shall never end it place doth not bound it sinnes doth not exceed it no estate no age no sex is denyed it tongues cannot expresse it understandings cannot conceive it Contrary to all nature for what nature can love where it is hated can forgive where it is provoked can offer reconcilement where it receiveth wrong can heap up kindnesse upon contempt favour upon ingratitude mercy upon sinne Well therefore and much more justly then David may wee make use of that speech and say to Christ Very kind hast thou been to us O dear Saviour thy love to us was wonderfull And now I can no longer stand in admiration of this wonder for behold another wonder offereth it self to take me off from this and that is the wonderment of our lack of love to him for his so wonderful loving us doth make this also to be a wonder that we should lack love to him The Scripture saith that in doing works of love unto our enemy we doe heap coales of fire upon his head Rom. 12. Love is compared to fire in heaping love we heap up fire Now the property of fire is to turne all it meets withall into its own nature fire makes all things fire the coale maketh burning coales Prov. 26.21 And is it not a wonder then that Christ having heaped such abundance of the fiery coales of his love upon our heads we should yet remain key-cold in love to him what mettall are we made of that Christs fiery love cannot work upon us or enflame us Can a man take fire in his bosome and his cloathes not be burnt or can a man goe upon coales and his feet not be burnt Prov. 6.27 And is it not a wonder then that we can take the fervent fire of Christs love into the bosome of our memories that wee can remember it and passe over it with the feet of our cogitations that we can thinke upon it and yet receive no heat or inflamation from it Moses wondered why the bush consumed not when he saw it all on fire Exod. 3.3 but behold I shew you a greater wonder we walk like those three children in the fiery furnace Dan. 3. even in the midst of Christs fiery love flaming round about us and yet alass how little true smell of that sweet fire is there to be felt upon us But there may be some reason rendred of this wonder namely because we are too much overwhelmed with the love of the world for as love is compared to fire so the world is compared to the sea Now the sea is a contrary element to the fire and doth hinder the working of it So long then as wee lye soked in the love of the world the love of Christ cannot inflame us Let us therefore rouze our selves and shake off from us this waterish worldly love that so wee may bee fit matter for Christs fiery love to work upon that our hearts being hot and the fire being kindled within us it may break forth continually in our tongues and in our hands in our words and in our works to his praise and glory Thirdly the consideration of Christs sufferings doth move us not onely to admire his love to us nor onely to be ashamed of our lack of love to him but it doth also move us to love those that are like him in suffering the poor and needy the miserable and afflicted are lively images and resemblances and therefore also should be remembrances to us of Christ When we meet a man that is like some friend of ours we rejoyce to doe him all the love and kindnesse that we can for our friends sake whom hee doth resemble And shall wee not also rejoyce to shew love and kindnesse to the afflicted and miserable seeing they doe so lively resemble their chief and best yea indeed our only true friend Christ Yea they doe so lively resemble him that hee speaks of them as if they were himselfe and puts himself in their stead I was hungry and yee gave mee no meat thirsty and ye gave mee no drink for in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren ye did it not to me Mat. 25. It is then a great presumption and a shrewd suspition that wee never took Christ for our friend or that now wee have forgotten our friendship if we shew no love or respect to those who are so well like him And if we shew our selves so forgetfull of him here as to take no notice of him in his so lively images it will be just that hee also forget us hereafter and answer us with Nescio vos I know you not Fourthly the consideration of Christs sufferings doth move us not only to admire his love to us nor onely to love him again nor onely to love those that are like him in sufferings but further also to love and embrace his very sufferings themselves cheerfully and comfortably to entertain misery and affliction seeing it was the speciall ornament wherewith Christ was swadled at his birth clothed in his life and crowned in his death We use to make much accompt of those robes and ornaments which our loving friends were went to wear therefore some doe superstitiously worship the reliques of Christ and of his Saints but behold misery and affliction is the chiefest relique that Christ hath left behind him for with it he clothed himself at his birth as with a garment and wore it all his life and never put it off until he dyed It was the first and the last thing that he wore he never slept nor waked without it If then we love and make accompt of Christ we wil also love and make much accompt of this relique which he hath left behind him wil think it rather a grace then any disgrace unto us Never was Jacob more gracious and acceptable to his Father Isaac then when he stood before him clothed in the garments of his rough brother Esau then the Father smelling the savour of the elder brothers garments said behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed Gen. 27. And never are we more gracious and acceptable to God our heavenly Father then when we stand before him clothed in the rough garments of Christs miseries and afflictions for then especially we become noisom to our selves and to the world and therefore then especially we are as a
fully come For now and not before did his servants receive his full name in their foreheads being baptised in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And now being made known to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his triple unity revealed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of speciall excellencie he is become to us a King and we to him a Kingdom For now especially hee hath vouchsafed to specifie his Church by the name of his Kingdome Mat. 11. Hee that is least in the Kingdome of God that is in the state of his Church after this third revealing of himself This is the compleat mystery of godlinesse God is manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit 1 Tim. 3.16 And as In him so also By him to us is the Trinity especially perfected For this God of order allwaies observeth order as ad intra in his personall proprieties so ad extra in his outward works The Father creating the Son redeeming the Holy Ghost sanctifying And what had the former two works been without this third The Son of God had his two-fold marriage one personall with his flesh the other mysticall with his Church and in each the Father was the Donor the Son the Receiver there wanted not Bride or Bridegoom or giver But who could be worthy to be the minister in these holy conjunctions None but the Holy Ghost He was the Minister in the personall marriage For the word was made flesh but how he was conceived of the Holy Ghost Conceived the flesh supernaturally formed the Word hypostatically united And in the mysticall marriage likewise he is the Minister For if any man have not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his But as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the Sons of God For this is that spirit of adoption by whom we cry Abba Father Rom. 8. He worketh the application of Christ unto us by faith and of us unto Christ by love and so is that marriage made The father is our Physitian the Son our Physick But the Holy Ghost is that blessed Apothecary which applyeth of this salve to every sore and administreth portions of this portion distributing to every one severally even as he will 1 Cor. 12.11 The Father was the sacrificer the Son the Sacrifice but where was the fire Wis 16. This charitas Dei this loving spirit this love of God Tit. 3.4 or rather this God Love for God is love 1 Jo. 4.8 was that heavenly fire wherein this sacrifice was finished For God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son Jo. 3.16 And through the eternall spirit Christ offered himself without spot to God Heb. 9.14 The Son is the arme the Holy Ghost is the hand the Father the body from which they issue or are derived And as in the body naturall the eye cannot say to the hand I have no need of thee 1 Cor. 12. Yea the feeble members are so necessary that to the lesse honorable members we give more abundant honor so in this body of bodies this fountain of beings the holy deity the plurality of persons is no waies needlesse but their perfection consisteth not lesse in their Trinity then in their unty And lest we should think the Holy Ghost because he is the third in order to be the third in honor behold what abundant honor we are to give him The arm and hand work together and at once with the body and in and with the same strength yet the perfection and consequently the honor of the work more immediately belongeth to the arme and most immediately to the hand This Holy Ghost is the holy hand of God by which all the works of God are to us most immediately perfected With a mighty hand a stretched out arm he brought his Israel out of corporall bondage And with that stretched arme the redemption of the Sonne and this mighty hand the operation of the Holy Ghost he bringeth his Israel out of spirituall bondage I cannot shew you all the fingers of this hand for they abound yet not superfluously like that monstrous creature who had six upon each hand 2 Sam. 21. but richly as it becometh the Creator being Lord of all to be rich unto all Let it suffice that some of these fingers are expressed in the Scriptures Exo. 8.19 Pharaohs inchanters spake concerning the plague of lice This is the finger of God there is medius the strong finger of Power Exo. 31. Moses received the two Tables written with the finger of God there is Index the pointing finger of wisdom Lu. 11.20 Christ saith If I by the finger of God cast out Devills there is medicus the healing finger of mercy These are not those writing fingers in Belshazars vision Dan. 5. they write no fearfull inditement but they are those dropping fingers Can. 5. which droppe down pure myrrhe blessed distillations of grace and mercie to blot out the old handwriting that was against us Yea this hand enableth them on whom it resteth to prevail with God by holy wrastling as Jacob did Gen. 32.28 and to make violent entry by force into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 11.12 No marvell that Christ saith It is expedient for you that I go away Joh. 16.7 Why that the third person might take his course and turn that God unto us-ward might be perfected In him in respect of revelation By him in respect of application and operation Again this feast of the comming and appearing of the Holy Ghost is to us the feast of feasts the speciall feast We may compare it yea with reverence be it spoken we may preferre it to the feast of the Nativity in the former respects Namely in our own behalf this being the consummation of that unto us the Catastrophe the last scene of that divine act of the blessed Trinity In that feast God unchanged in himself descended unto man In this man changed and renewed from himself is lifted up unto God In that God became partaker of the humane nature in this man is made partaker of the divine nature In that one man was made the Temple of God 1 Cor. 6.19 in this every one of the faithfull is made so feverally and all-together jointly Eph. 2.21 That was begun secretly in the Virgins womb and accomplished obscurely in a stable This was done openly and publickly at a great feast and a solemn assembly In a word as the beginning without the end were vain so the end would not be without the beginning Therefore let no man put asunder that which God hath joyned together Yet exitus acta probat unto us the end and consummation is all in all Be it so then and let Saint Bernards player teach us the use of it Ser. 3. in Pent. that I follow it not further Solemnitatem praecipuam hodie celebramus utinam devotione praecipua Wee celebrate a speciall feast to day God grant we do it with speciall devotion that God
may truly use Jacobs words here and say This is none other but the house of God and this is the gatef heaven Gen. 28.17 Two things we may especially observe in the Text the matter and the manner the substance and the circumstance of the businesse here related The matter and substance is the coming and appearing of the Holy Ghost in sensible forms The circumstance is manifold chiefly it may be referred to the time when and the persons to whom this apparition was made With these points of the circumstance I will begin so to make way to the substance of the matter which is the larger and weighter point and part First then for the time And when the day of Pentecost was fully come This day as it is commonly held was the day of the publishing the Law upon Mount Smai In memory whereof the Jews kept a solemn feast which they commonly called The feast of weeks Deut. 16.10 It got also this name Pentecost because of the number of fifty being fifty daies after their Pascha the fiftieth day after their coming out of Egypt they received the Law and that day they kept this holy feast in remembrance thereof And this day was the fiftieth after Christs resurrection For it is plain that Christ suffered on the Jews preparation day of their Passeover and that the Passeover that year fell on the Sabbath which is therefore called An high day or the great Sabbath Joh. 19.31 and that they reckoned their fifty daies from the first of or after the Sabbath Lev. 23.11 15. which was Christs rising day the first day of their week So then this Pentecost was the fiftieth day from their Passeover exclusively and the fiftieth from Christs resurrection inclusively What then Behold the truth answerable to the figure that shaddow fulfilled in this substance As on the fiftieth day after their Passeover and their deliverance from corporall bondage under Pharoah they received Legem timoris the Law of fear upon Mount Sinai so on the fiftieth after day the accomplishment of our Passeover the Lamb of God slain and risen and our deliverance from the spirituall bondage under Satan we received Legem amoris the Law of love upon Mount Sion For Christ also is a Law-giver even the giver of a new Law as he himself speaketh Joh. 13.34 A new commandement give I you What That ye love one another Which yet is not a new or another Law but the fulfilling and consummation of the old Love is the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13.10 The end of the commandement is love 1 Tim. 1.5 This Law was given when the Holy Ghost was given For the fruit of the spirit is love Gal. 5.22 The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost Rom. 5.5 God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of love 2 Tim. 1.7 This is that Law of liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free Gal. 5.1 Free in regard of the outward man because the inner man is accepted In my mind I serve the law of God though in my flesh the law of sin Rom. 7.25 Free not in the tie of obedience which is still upon us but in the tax of disobedience that is punishment which he hath taken from us Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Well then brethren ye see your calling the sum of all is love Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart love thy neighbour as thy self the sincerity of the inside Truth in the inward parts Psal 51.6 For he is an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile Joh. 3. 47. Truth of heart supplyeth defect of hand for ye are called into liberty Gal. 5.13 The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath freed us from the law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 And where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3.17 Stand fast therefore in this liberty of love Gal. 5.1 As free and not having the liberty for a cloak of malitiousness but as the servants of God 1 Pet 2. Not usin your liberty as an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another Gal. 5 13. For indeed Love is the bond of perfectness Col. 3.14 binding not onely us one to another for the unity of the spirit is in the bond of peace Eph. 4.3 but binding us unto God and God unto us For he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 Joh. 4.16 and that not for a time but for ever For this Law is not written with ink or in tables of stone corruptibly but in fleshly tables of the heart yea in the immortall table of the soul incorruptibly For though tongues cease or knowledge vanish away yet love never falleth away 1 Cor. 13. Now abideth Faith Hope Love but the chief of these is Love For Faith apprehendeth the promise hope attendeth the matter but Love sealeth and assureth confirmeth and strengtheneth both Again this coming of the Holy Ghost was the fiftieth day after Christs Resurrection and therefore the tenth day after his Ascension for he ascended not till the fortieth day Act. 1.3 and then he made his last promise of this which he now performed Ye shall be baptised with the holy Ghost not many daies hence Act. 1.5 He deferred it till the tenth day and on the tenth day he fulfilled it He deferred it till the tenth day that they might be exercised with expectation and whetted with delay For Gods delaies are nothing else but whettings His delay of judgements to the wicked is a whetting of his anger For if a man will not turn he will whet his sword Psal 7.13 Yea he will fourbish it that it may consume Ezek. 21.28 But his delay of grace to his children is a whetting to their zeal For the Physitian by restraint of dyet gaineth stomack health and strength unto his patient And God who best knoweth what is best for us by denying or by deferring grace oftentimes gives grace unto his children Else why did not St. Pauls threefold petition prevaile for his deliverance from that buffeting messenger of Satan but that he might receive a sufficiency of grace to strengthen him 2 Cor. 12. And else why did the prayer of the woman of Canaan suffer likewise a threefold repulse but even to whet her importunity and constancy that at the last she might receive that acclamation O woman great is thy faith Mat. 15.28 Again as untill the tenth day so no longer then the tenth day did Christ defer his promise but on that day he did fulfill it for God is not slack as some men count slackness 2 Pet. 3.9 Not so slack as to forget his promise Hath he said and shall he not doe it hath he spoken and shall he not accomplish it Numb 23.19 No but heaven and earth shall sooner passe away Patientia est non negligentia Aug. de ver ap ser 20. then one
Because God hath prized us so highly we should not disesteem or sleight our selves but carefully passe the time of our dwelling here in fear 1 Pet. 1.17 18 19. 10. Q. Why to our neighbour A. Because God hath so dearly loved us 1 Joh. 4.10 Sect. 4. Of our receiving our Remedy 1. Q. HOw doe we receive the remedy which Christ hath wrought for us A. Onely by Faith Ioh. 1.12 Ioh. 3.16 Rom. 10.4 2. Q. But doth not faith work by love Gal. 5.6 A. Yes outwardly to the world and inwardly to our self in point of its own probation but not upwardly to God in point of our justification there Works are shut out Rom. 3.28 Eph. 2.9 3. Q. But though our Works have no hand in receiving our Justification yet do they not help to make us acceptable to God A. No more then the wiping with a filthy ragge would cleanse our faces Is 64.6 4. Q. But is there no worth or virtue in our Faith for which it receiveth our justification A. No for we are said to be justified or saved by Faith Rom. 3.28 and through Faith Eph. 2.8 but never for Faith for the price is onely Christs satisfaction Act. 4.12 Is 53.5 And to say we are justified by Faith is but a Figurative speech for Faith doth justifie us no otherwise then our hand doth feed us and that is but as a receiving and an applying instrument 5. Q. And doe you by your particular faith receive your own justification to your self A. Yes or else my faith were no better then the Devils I am 2.19 6 Q. But is it not enough at least for the ignorant to beleeve as the Church believeth in implicite Faith A. No for the just shall live by his faith Heb. 2.4 And in the Creed we are taught and required every one to professe and confess the particulars of our faith 7. Q. And have you any assurance in your particular Faith A. Yes though in much weaknesse Mark 9.24 and reluctation of the flesh Gal. 5.17 For Faith is the ground of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 8. Q. How can you have particular assurance having no particular warrant or promise to you by name A. Because the Covenant of Grace was made indefinitely to all beleevers every beleever may and must take and apply the same unto himself in particular as Iob 19.25 Iob. 20.28 Gal. 2.20 9. Q. What followeth or may be gathered out of this doctrine of our justification by Faith onely A. Humiliation and Confirmation 10. Q. How or why Humiliation A. Because in our justification we are meer and bare receivers and have nothing to boast of 1 Cor. 4.7 Luke 17.10 11. Q. How or why Confirmation A. Because we build not on the sand of our own merits but on the foundation of Gods knowledge 2 Tim. 2.19 Gal. 4.9 and on the rock of Christs perfection 1 Pet. 2.6 7 8. Sect. 5. Of the proof of our Faith 1. Q. WHat need is there of proving our faith A. None in respect of God for he knoweth what is in man Ioh. 2.25 and worketh whatsoever is good in man Iam. 1.17 but in respect of the Church and of our selves 2. Q. What is the proof of our faith outwardly to the Church A. It s good fruits Gal. 5.6 2 Cor. 5.17 Iam. 2 18. 3. Q. How necessary is that good fruit Obedience to true faith A. As necessary as the soul is to the life of the body I am 2.26 4. Q. What reason can you shew for this A. Because love is of the nature of fire 5. Q. And what do you infer from that A. That the fire of Gods love wheresoever it is received by faith will inflame Ps 39.3 and purifie Act. 15.9 6. Q. What inward proof is there to our self and our own conscience A. The testimony of Gods Spirit Ioh. 4.13 Rom. 8.16 7. Q. How is that wrought known or found A. Descendendo by showring down comforts Ps 72.6 and ascendendo by exhaling Graces Gal. 5.22 for so Iacobs dream Gen. 28.12 is fulfilled in Christ Ioh. 1.51 8. Q. What followeth for instruction of our practise out of this doctrine of the necessity of good works A. That we must take heed of denying God our selves Tit. 1.16 and of setting others awork to blaspheme him Rom. 2.23 24. 2 Sam. 12.14 Sect. 6. Of the helps of our Faith 1. Q. WHat speciall help have you of or to your faith A. The Sacraments for therein Christ is offered to us both by word and action 2 Q. How long have Sacraments been in use A. From the beginning 3. Q. What Sacraments had Adam A. The tree of Life pawning life to his obedience and the tree of knowledge of good and evil pawning death to his disobedience Gen. 2.9 4. Q. Had these any relation to Christ and the covenant of Grace A. No for there was yet no need because no sin 5. Q. When began the Sacraments of Grace A. Circumcision began by Abraham Gen. 17.9 and the Passeover by Moses Ex. 12.3 6. Q. Why are these ended and taken away A. Partly because Christ was the end of the Law Rom. 10.4 and the body of those shaddows Col. 2.17 and partly because God fitteth his Church according to its age and quality with spirituall as the Nurse doth her child and the Physician his patient with corporall food and Physick 7. Q. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church A. Two onely as generally necessary to salvation that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. 8. Q What say you then to those 5 which the Church of Rome will have also to be Sacraments Confirmation Pennance Extreme Unction Orders Matrimony A. That they be not Sacraments First because Christ did neither partake nor ordain them Secondly because they be not all alike common to all for Orders can belong but to one profession Thirdly because they crosse and oppose one another as Orders and Matrimony which cannot agree together as they suppose 9. Q. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament A. I mean an outward visible sign of an inward and spiritual Grace given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and as a pledge to assure us thereof 10. Q. What do you shew or touch in this answer A. The nature of a Sacrament that it is an outward sign of an inward grace The Author that it is from Christ The Effect that it doth conveigh and assure the Grace which it signifieth 11. Q. Doth then the outward sign alwaies give and confirm the grace which it signifieth A. Not properly of it self and by the very action but instrumentally where it pleaseth God to make it effectuall for Simon Magus was in the gall of bitternesse after Baptism Act. 8.13.23 Whether Judas did communicate is controverted and Iudas after the Lords Supper if he received it was a lost child of perdition Joh. 17.12 12. Q. Why then doth your common Catechism say that in Baptism you
suffer Indeed such a true and proper sufferer he was for so himself confesseth I lay down my life no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again Joh. 10.17 And again to say plainly he suffered what is it but to shew his innocencie that he had not offended For if hee had been a malefactor or offender it should have been said rather he was punished or he was executed And so it is most true for so it followeth in the next words of the Text the just for the unjust And again to say peremptorily he suffered what is it but to set him forth by the way of excellency for the chief and archsufferer and that not onely in respect of the manner of his sufferings that he suffered absolutely so as never did any but also in respect of the measure of his sufferings that he suffered excessively so much as never did any And so also wee may well understand and take it For to him doth well belong that lamentation of the Prophet Lam. 1.12 O vos omnes qui transitis attendite videte si dolor est ullus sicut dolor meus O all yee that passe by attend and see if there be any sorrow like to mine Behold then in saying nothing else but Christ hath suffered 1. He implyeth that he alwaies suffered constantly without intermission 2. That he onely suffered patiently without opposition 3. That he properly suffered voluntarily without compulsion 4. That he innocently suffered wrongfully without just condemnation 5. That he principally suffered excessively without comparison And is it not enough then that he saith Christ hath suffered but will ye yet ask what Nay but I pray you be satisfied and rather of the two ask what not For what sufferings can ye think on which he suffered not Sufferings in birth he suffered them Sufferings in life he suffered them Sufferings in death he suffered them Sufferings in body he was diversly tormented Sufferings in soul his soul was heavie unto death Sufferings in estate he had not where to rest his head Sufferings in good name he was counted a Samaritane and a devillish Sorcerer Sufferings from heaven he cryeth out My God my God why hast thou for saken me Sufferings from the earth he findeth for his hunger a fruitlesse Fig-tree Sufferings from hell he is assaulted and encountred with the Devill himself He began his life meanly and basely and was sharply persecuted he continued his life poorly and distressedly and was cruelly hated hee ended his life wofully and miserably and was most grievously tormented with whips thorns nails and above all with the terrors of his Fathers wrath and horrors of hellish agonies Ego sum qui peccavi I am the man that have sinned but these sheep what have they done So spake David when he saw the Angel destroying his people 2 Sam. 24.17 And even the same speech may every one of us take up for our self and apply to Christ and say I have sinned I have done wickedly but this sheep what hath he done Yea much more cause have we then David had to take up this complaint For David saw them die whom he knew to be sinners we see him dye who we know knew no sin David saw them dye a quick speedy death we see him die with lingering torments David saw them dye who by their own confession was worth ten thousand of them wee see him dye for us whose worth admitteth no comparison David saw the Lord of glory destroying mortall men we see mortall men crucifying the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 How then have not wee more cause then David to say I have sinned I have done wickedly but this innocent lamb what hath he deserved to be thus tormented But let us not goe on with Davids words to adde as he doth there Let thy hand I pray thee be against me and against my Fathers house Let us not desperately offer our selves to condemnation when we see redemption fairly freely fully offered unto us rather let us sing Maries Magnificat My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour Let us take heart of grace courage and comfort in faith for Christ hath blotted out the hand-writing that was against us and hath nailed it to his crosse and hath spoyled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in the same cross Col. 2.14 And so much for the second generall part or branch of the Text his sufferings hath suffered The third and last part is the occasion of his sufferings for sins Look how largely he spoke before of his sufferings in a generall word hath suffered meaning all sufferings so largely he also speaketh of the occasion of his sufferings in a generall word for sinnes meaning all sins But take this all with this restraint namely for all mens sins And let this all againe bee thus expounded for all mens sins competently and sufficiently but onely for all the Elects sins actually and effectually For first it appeareth that he suffered for no sinnes of his own for the Text here denyeth him to have any in that it calleth him just the just for the unjust And it is also plain that he suffered not for lost Angels sins for he in no sort took the Angels but he took the seed of Abraham Heb. 2.16 And why not them as well as us seeing they were the more noble and excellent creatures They were celestial spirits we earthly bodies dust and ashes They were immediate attendants upon God as it were of his privy chamber we servants of his lower house of this world farther remote from his glorious presence Their office was to sing Haleluiahs songs of praise to God in the heavenly Paradise ours to dresse the Garden of Eden which was but an earthly Paradise They sinned but once and but in thought as is commonly held but Adam sinned in thought by lusting in deed by tastting in word by excusing Why then did not Christ suffer for their sinnes as well as for ours or if for any why not for theirs rather then ours Even so O Father for so it pleased thee Mat. 11.26 We move this question not as being curious to search thy secret counsels but that wee may the more fill our hearts with admiration of thy goodnesse towards us and be the more tankfull for thy favour joyfull in thy mercy and cheerfull in thy love acknowledging ourselves more bound unto thee for that we have received more bounty from thee then even thine Angels thy noblest creatures So then Christ hath suffered for the sinnes of Mankind onely and that as aforesaid of all Mankind if we respect the sufficiency of his sufferings so that if any be not benefited by it the defect and fault is not in it but in their not apprehending and applying it Else why is it thus largely said in this indefinite speech
fragrant field unto the Lord. I speak not this to perswade any man wilfully to make himself miserable for our Saviour himself hath pronounced it to be A more blessed thing to give then to receive Neither doe I speak to commend or justifie the counterfeit zeal of those that mock the world with a false shew of wilfull poverty whiles shutting themselves up in a Cloister that they may seem to forsake the world they do indeed enjoy it in all superfluity Or at the least the worst of their misery is no more then that which that holy man prayeth for Pro. 30.8 Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me If they have no excesse they are sure to feel no want but to be sufficiently provided for both for back and belly so long as they live there and are they not then very zealous think you in binding themselves to such a misery But my speech is to hearten all those with comfort on whom God hath layd affliction that they may bee so far from impatience as rather to rejoyce in tribulation Rom. 5.3 because it was their Masters common lot and portion for the Disciple is not above his Master nor the servant above his Lord it is enough for the Disciple to be as his Master and the servant as his Lord. Yea not onely the afflictions of life but death it self and the grave should be welcom and acceptable to us for Christ also hath passed them and by suffering hath sanctified them unto us so that the curse of death is turned into a blessing and the grave is become a bed of rest Rev. 14.13 and that Prophecie Is 11.8 is fulfilled The sucking child shall play upon the holt of the Asp and the weaned child shall put his hand upon the Cockatrice hole There is now no danger to Gods children in the hole of death that is the Grave for death hath lost his sting and cannot hurt us so that we may triumph and say O death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but thanks be to God which hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. In the last place let us learn not onely to admire Christs love to us nor onely to love him again nor only to love those that are like to him in suffering nor onely to love his sufferings themselves but withall to hate sin which was the occasion of his sufferings Sin was the occasion of Christs sufferings for had not Adam sinned Christ had had no cause or need to suffer If therefore wee love him wee cannot chuse but hate that which was to him the occasion of such a miserable life and such a shamefull painfull and cruell death David 2 Sam. 23. being an high Captaine though he longed for the water of Bethleem yet would not tast it when hee had it because it cost his three souldiers the hazard of their lives thathe might have it Much more we being servile souldiers though our soules long for the sweet waters of sin yet should we forbear to tast it because it cost our high Captaine Christ not the hazard but the very loss of his life that we might not have it God shewed Moses a tree wherewith he might make the bitter waters sweet Exo. 15.25 but behold I shew you a tree wherewith ye may make the sweet waters of sin to become bitter Look upon the tree of Christ remember his Cross and the pains he suffered thereon and the false sweetnesse of sin will quickly vanish and ye shall rightly rellish the bitterness of it If the delight of any sinne offer it self unto you cast Christ his Cross into it do but remember his sufferings for sin and all sin will presently grow distastfull For how can it choose but be hatefull to us if we consider how hurtfull it was to him The Jews would not put those thirty peeces into their Treasury because they thought them to bee the price of blood Mat. 27.6 but therein I must say they were deceived for Judas for that money did rather sell himself and his own soul then Christ or Christs blood For Christ was sold before even God had sold him before to death for the sin of man For when in the fall of man the devil offered sin unto God then did God threaten Christ unto him namely That the seed the woman should break the serpents head Gen. 3. And had not Christ been so sold before to death for sin not all the treasure in Jerusalem nor in all the world could have bought him Seeing then that Sin was the true and proper price for which Christ was sold how unworthy are wee the name of Christians yea how much worse are we then Jews if we suffer this price of blood to come into the treasury of our hearts If therefore any motion of pride arise in thy mind answer and tell it thou art the price of blood If any temptation of lust be offered to thine eyes answer and tell it thou art the price of blood If any provocation of anger or revenge be urged to thy hands answer and tell it thou art the price of blood If any greedinesse of gain move thee to wrong or oppression answer and tell it thou art the price of blood And whatsoever sin thou art tempted to answer and tell it thou art the occasion of my Saviours death thou art the price of Christs blood thou mayst not therefore come into the treasury of my heart O blessed Lord and sweet Saviour we do even with astonishment admire thy passing great love towards us we pray thee also by the fervent fire of thy great love that is upon us to kindle in us true love to thee again yea to all that are like thee in thy sufferings yea to thy sufferings themselves that we may patiently bear them whensoever they befall us But make us truly to hate sinne that was the occasion of thy sufferings We beleeve O Lord that by thy blood thou hast washt us from the guilt of sin wee beseech thee also make us more and more effectually find and feele that by thy spirit thou doest purge us from the love of sin that so our consciences may be comforted in all our life and especially in our death and our soules and bodies eternally saved in the life to come by and thorough thy all-sufficient sufferings and satisfactions For which unto thee with the Father and the Holy Ghost three persons one eternall God wee render all possible praise and thanksgiving and desire all honour and glory might and majesty may be ascribed for ever and ever Amen Finis Serm. 2. Trino-uni gloria Per me Gulielmum Gaium Martial At male si recites incipit esse tuus A SERMON preached at the Visitation held at Campden May 4. 1636. Text. JOH 13.17 If ye know these things blessed or happy are ye if ye doe them
everlastingly an ext ensive and distributive flowing of goodnesse from God even unto us even before we were How not actually to us because of our not being and yet actually in him because of his decreeing not actually in regard of our participating yet actually in regard of his determining and disposing and by purpose decree actuall exhibiting For Gods grace was given us in Christ before the world began 2 Tim. 1.9 And he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world Eph. 1.4 And he hath loved us with an everlasting love Jer. 31.3 No doubt both waies everlasting as wel without beginning as without ending And what shall I need to shew the continuall flowing and streaming of his goodness when as we cannot be ignorant that in him we live and move and have our being Act. 17.28 Yea that by him all things consist Col. 1.17 O come hither and bring forth your goodnesse all ye that professe to have it shew it by this light measure it by this rule try it by this touch namely whether it hath any flowing or streaming or no For what goodnesse was there ever lockt up or buried in it self The Heathen concluded virtus in actione that virtue consisteth in action let not us Christians then talk of goodnesse without action or expression but let it have its course according to its kind let the stream appear both temporally and spiritually Temporally for though Charity beginneth at home yet it is not bounded nor ended there but rather there taketh the rule and measure of its extent namely thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Spiritually for though we must worship God in spirit and serve him in secret yet not without both lighting and drawing others Not vvithout lighting others for our light must so shine before men that they may see our good works Mat. 5.16 Not without drawing others for we must consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works and to exhort one another Heb. 10.24 What then do those Monopolists those inclosers of good the Laick Cofferer the Clerick cloysterer who resolve to live onely to themselves the one for this worlds sake th' other for the next What doe they but invert the order and pervert the nature of goodnesse and make it run ordine retrogrado the quite contrary way nothing outwardly but altogether inwardly to themselves What are they but barren trees which suck up the substance and the sweet juice and moysture both of earth and heaven onely to increase their own sap but not to bring forth fruit and therefore deserves that censure of the fruitlesse tree Cut it down why cumbreth it the ground Luk. 13.7 What are they but savage monsters and of that cruel Lyons kind of whom it is said omnia te advorsum spectantia nulla retrorsum He entertained all comers into his den but let none come forth again Yea in a word Judas may bee a sufficient glasse to both kinds of ingrossers they may see themselves in him and fear his punishment he received much both temporally and spiritually hee had both kinds of income but wanting vent and having no right use or utterance it brake him at the last he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out Act. 1.18 But what is this stream of this fountain here expressed Have all we received Note here the Nature and the Objects how and to whom it runneth 1. The nature how Received It is not Inherited it is not purchased it is not earned 1. It is not Inherited for in Adam all dye 1 Cor. 15.22 We are by nature the children of wrath Eph. 2.3 2. It is not purchased For who hath given to him first and he shall be recompensed Rom. 11.35 3. It is not earned for when we have done all that ever we can doe we must say we are but unprofitable servants we have done but our duty Luk. 17.10 What is it then The true property of a stream is here in Grace It runs not compelled not procured but freely and voluntarily all men even the best men are but receivers so is the Text All we have received It is not of our selves but altogether of God It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 We are as meerly passive in the first receipt of Grace as the earth is in the receipt of the running or overflowing or dropping water as meerly passive in our new making as in our first making not like the half dead man Luk. 10.30 who had some motion in him to help himself but like Lazarus so stark dead as even become stinking ripe You hath he quickened that were dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2.1 The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Joh. 5.25 Where then is our piety where is our humility where is our charity Where is our piety towards God both in tongue and hand in word and deed in thankfulnesse and in all holynesse What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord even now in the presence of all his people Ps 116.12 Where is our humility in our selves inwardly and outwardly towards God and towards man in respect of corporall temporall spirituall eternall goods and riches prerogatives and preheminences that no man presume above that which is written that one swel not against another for who separateth thee and what hast thou that thou hast not received If thou have received it why boastest thou as thou hadst not received it 1 Cor. 4.6 Where is our charity toward our neighbour for If God so loved us we ought also to love one another 1 Joh. 4.11 His free dealing with us is for our imitation to exercise it one to another Be mercifull as your heavenly father is mercifull Luk. 6.36 Freely have ye received freely give Mat. 10.8 Not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a chearfull giver 2 Cor. 9.7 Secondly with the nature how note also the objects to whom this stream of Grace doth flow all we here is a certainty we and yet a generality all A generall certainty then or certain generality if ye will ye may call it First certainty for we implyeth a certain number it hath relation to some expresse company This certainty may be taken both waies both on Gods part and on our own both to God and to our selves To God for he is not subject to any ignorance therefore not such ignorance as to give he knows not to whom No but the foundation of God remaineth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth who are his 2 Tim. 2.19 Whom he knew before them he predestinated Rom. 8.29 Therefore to whom God affordeth not this stream of Grace them he is said not to know Mat. 7.23 I never knew you depart
for it overspreadeth all the world there is depth for it extendeth from heaven to earth But with what line or plumet shall we measure or take these dimensions hear Saint Paul Eph. 3.18 when he had prayed for the Ephesians that they might be able to comprehend what is the bredth and length and depth and height he addeth as the sum of all what And to know the love of Christ so that there is no measure of Gods love but his love no cause rule or reason of his will but his will He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy Rom. 9.15 he loved Israel onely because he loved them Deut. 7.7 Talke not then of universall grace or power of will in all men to repent and believe to begin to hold and to break at their pleasure Talk not of inherent grace of our own which doth gratum facere that our own righteousnesse doth make us accepted and hath part in the work of our justification Away with all such conceipts for we see here the current of grace runns as it were within it self It is grace in beginning and grace in proceeding and grace in concluding Gods will and work still and not our own It begins no small measure the seed of the word the first fruits of the spirit but at length pro ripis littorae pulsat It becomes an unmeasurable Sea which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can enter into the heart of man Wherefore let us resolve here to set up our rest saying with David This shall be my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have a delight therein Ps 132. And seeing we cannot search or measure this fountain this stream these banks for the love of Christ passeth knowledge Eph. 3.19 Aristoteles non capit Euripum Euripus capiet Aristotelem let us cast our selves wholly into it seeing in following this stream of grace we are come to the Sea of glory now in our meditation let us rest and dwell therein constantly by our contemplation untill our souls be loosed from these bonds of flesh be carried with full wind and tide into the full fruition and eternall possession thereof Which the Lord grant to us all c. Finis Tract 5. Trino-uni gloria THere is a sermon set forth in print upon this same last text Jo. 1.16 preached by that learned and reverend Divine Mr. Dr. Preston which Sermon God knowes I never saw or heard of till long after this was finished Neither am I any whit the more asham'd of this notwithstanding in some few things we have met and hit on the same or very like notes or touches W.G. Three SERMONS here set forth in one continued Tract or discourse upon Act. 2. ver 1 2.3 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from Heaven c. WHatsoever is difficult and hard to be understood and apprehended the same is more hard to be expressed and uttered For the apprehension of things is the soules immediate work she doth it her self therefore therein she is more full and free But the expression of things is her secondary and mediate work wrought by Organs Instruments and meanes therefore therein she must needs be more scant and weak Tusc quest li 1. Therefore Cicero a free and fluent speaker saith Fieri ante potest ut recte quis sentiat id quod sentit polite eloqui non possit A quick apprehension may be weak in expression Now there is not any thing no not the things that are most common and familiar to us that do not yeeld some difficulty and hardnesse to be understood and more to be uttered Thine owne things and such as are grown up with thee canst thou not know saith the Angell to Esdras concerning the wind and the fire and the day 2 Esd 4.10 For even in the creature the Creator hath so involved himselfe that we cannot look readily upon those visible things but our eyes must needs be dazeled with his invisibility And if the Sun-beams be so resplendent what eye then can behold the body of the Sun it self If the nature of the creature be so unsearchable how shall wee be able to think of him who is the Creator of all And if to think be so transcendent how much more to speak rightly of him is it impossible Wherefore Cornelius Mussus calleth it Concio in ser 2. Pent. Antiquum à maximis theologis celebratum adagium an old and common adage amongst the greatest Divines what De deo dicere verum periculosum To speak truth of God is a dangerous thing And if this be true indefinitely taken and in generall how much more specially and in particular Namely concerning his personality And if of the Trinity absolutely it may astonish us to think or speak how much more respectively of this third person For if that mystery of Father and Son be so ineffable and above relation that the Prophet saith Who shall declare this generation Is 53.8 Notwithstanding wee have the words begetting and being begotten to help to expresse it doth not the being of the Holy Ghost seeme more incomprehensible seeing neither to be made created nor begotten belongeth unto him but to proceed It may so seem but in it self it cannot so be For we may say there are three who are incomprehensible the Father the Son the Holy Ghost but not three incomprehensibles but one incomprehensible therefore not different in degree We may not through our infirmity tax God of infirmity to make him subject to magis minus as if one person were greater or lesse then another for they are Coeternall together and Coequal Be it so then In themselves they are and must be one and yet unto us I may presume with reverence to say this revelation of the third person is the speciall revelation This feast continued after Christ 1 Cor. 16.8 Act. 20.16 at least suffered and morals survive Ceremonies and this feast of Pentecost the speciall feast of the Church First it it is the speciall reveration For wee could not be able to behold that ilustrious mystery of the Trinity but by the inlightning help of this third person That is the body of the Son this the speciall beam to guide us thereunto Or rather If I may dare so to spaek for fearfull ye see it is to speak herein the speciall mean or medium through which we may look thereon I say especiall not in regard of God in whom there is no difference but in respect of us to whom his works do differ Especially then to us the revelation of the Trinity is perfected in and by this third person the Holy Ghost First in him for without him there were not a Trinity God in revealing him hath fully revealed himself The Father was revealed by the Creation the Son by the Incarnation but till this fulnesse of time came God to us was not