vpon him that he though he were God and man was in such an agony that his sweat was like drops of bloud yet doe all men remaining in their naturall state and not being born againe go vnder their own inherent sinnes originall and actuall how long so euer they haue continued in them and howsoeuer they haue multiplied and aggrauated them they goe vnder them I say as lightly without any sense or feeling of the waight and burden of them as though indeed they had none at all Is not this an euident argument of extreme deadnesse For what do they that are once dead feele whatsoeuer is laid vpon them To speake all in a word and not to stand any longer vpon particulars the Apostle from other scriptures doth not only say that we are dead vnto all goodnesse but also that in euery part member of our whole man we are aliue vnto all euill For thus he describeth the naturall state of all men There is none righteous no not one There is none that doth vnderstand there is none that seeketh God They haue all gone out of the way they haue been made altogether vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one their throat is an open sepulchre they haue vsed their tongues to deceit the poison of Aspes is vnder their lips Their mouth is full of cursing and bitternesse Their feet are swift to shed bloud c. Rom. 3. 10. By these things we see that though naturall men do liue yet as it is said of the widdow that liueth in pleasures that she is dead whiles she liueth 1. Tim. 5. 6. so it may be said of all naturall men liuing in the pleasures of sinne that they are dead whiles they so liue This our liuing vnto sinne and in sinne being dead to all goodnesse may in some sort be called a spirituall life not as spirituall is opposed to carnall but in two other respects first because it is from that vncleane spirit Mark 1. 23. 7. 25. 26 who is not only the father of lies Ioh. 8. 44. but also of all other euill secondly because all the workes of a sinfull life are performed to the same vncleane spirit Therefore the Apostle saith not only that we are naturally dead in trespasses but also that wee walked in them after the Prince that ruleth in the aire that is according to his commaundement and prescription Ephes 2. 2 Our Sauiour also saith that such sinnes are the workes and lusts of the diuell Ioh. 8. 41. 44. And as Idolaters are said to sacrifice to diuels 1. Cor. 10. 20. so all wicked men may be said to do all that they doe vnto diuels Thus we see in part the miserable and wofull state of all naturall men For what is more fearefull then death when Saul did but heare only by the father of lyes in the likenesse of Samuel and therefore the rather speaking the truth that he might the more confirme Saul in his error touching the raising of Samuel when I say Saul did but heare that the next day hee should be deliuered into the hands of the Philistines and bee slaine how did it affect him How did it strike him with feare verily so that he fell straightway all along vpon the earth and there was no strength in him yea so that neither the woman the witch that had raised vp the diuell in the likenesse of Samuel nor any of his own seruants with him could scarce fasten any comfort vpon him 1. Sam. 28. 20. c. If the very tidings of this naturall death be so fearefull how much more fearefull is that spirituall death before spoken of Hauing thus in part shewed our naturall misery by these things spoken of our spirituall deadnesse let vs now see the change that is made in vs by our incorporation into Christ in our adoption and regeneration Let vs therefore vnderstand that in our said regeneration and new birth by Iesus Christ we are deliuered from that our foresaid miserable state As before we did beare the image of the earthly man so now we beare the image of him that is from heauen heauenly that is of the Lord Christ As Christ in his diuine essence is the brightnesse of the glory of the father and the ingraued forme of his person Heb. 1. 3. so we in quality being made partaker of the diuine nature and being in Christ made new creatures and being also the workmanship of God in Christ Iesus created vnto good workes that wee should walke in them as hath been before shewed by seuerall scriptures we are by this meanes made like to Christ Iesus and consequently also to God himselfe As therefore the Apostle saith that naturally we are dead in sinnes and trespasses so hee saith in the same place that God which is rich in mercy through his great loue wherewith he loued vs euen when we were so dead by sinnes or in sinnes hath quickned vs or made vs aliue in Christ Ephe. 2. 4. 5. Where let it be obserued that the word quickned is only expressed originally in that Note fift verse and that although it be interposed by translators in the first verse for perspicuities sake as they thought yet it is rather there to be omitted and that that first verse is rather to be read with the last verse of the first chapter of Christs filling all things in all things or with all things that is with all gifts fit for euery one so that the verb filled is rather to be vnderstood in the first verse then the verb quickned and that first verse to be vnderstood as an amplification of the generall handled in the end of the former Chapter by the particular instance of the Ephesians as if he should haue said As Christ hath generally filled all things giuen vnto him by the father with all gifts fit for them so particularly he hath filled you that were by nature dead in your trespasses and sinnes and so he describeth by that occasion their naturall state vers 1. 2. 3. and then he describeth our new and spirituall state in the 4. and 5. verses by Iesus Christ But to leaue this place and to returne to the former point of Christs freeing vs from spirituall death and quickning vs and making vs aliue againe Paul saith further that Christ hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospell 2. Tim. 1. 10. which Gospell is therefore called the word of life Ioh. 6. 68. Philip. 2. 16. Our Sauiour likewise saith Verely verely I say vnto you the houre shall come and now is when the dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue For as the father hath life in himselfe so likewise hath he giuen to the sonne to haue life in himselfe Ioh. 5. 25. 26. viz. to bestow life vpon all that the father hath giuen vnto him Ioh. 10. 28. 29. Euery where saith Paul againe we beare about in our bodies the
be likewise said of the worke of our adoption and of the loue of God in making vs his children This is the Lords worke and it is maruellous in our eies This circumstance noted by this word is to bee ioined with the former word Behold the more to prouoke vs to long after the knowledge of the excellencie of the children of God especially after that knowledge that is by experience sense taste and feeling as it were of the excellencie thereof For no man so well knoweth this excellencie or can so well speake or write thereof as he that is partaker of it and findeth the sweetnesse of it in himselfe For this is that white stone promised to them that ouercome wherein is a new name written which no man knoweth sauing he that receiueth it Reu. 2. 17. The rather is this to bee ioined with the former word to make vs more desirous of getting this title and the more carefull to keepe it being gotten yea to carry our selues according vnto it All men doe gaze vpon the honourable titles of the world and are in great admiration of them but no man almost doth once looke after this yea euery man almost in respect of the contempt wherein this name is with the world afterward to be spoken of in handling this obiection is afraid to be called or knowen by this name As many of the chiefe Rulers that beleeued in Christ for feare notwithstanding of the Pharises durst not professe him Ioh. 12. 42. so many hearing so much as often times they do of the dignity of Gods children haue some desire and could be content to bee the children of God but fearing the world and the great men in the world especially such as to whom they doe specially belong are loth to be seene to haue any minde or affection that way But of these more afterward Thus much of the second word in this text preparing vs to thinke the more highly of the dignity of the children of God heere spoken of The third word is Loue. Behold what loue This word setteth foorth the fountaine or principall cause of making vs the children of God to be the loue of God So it is said to bee the cause why God sent or gaue his onely sonne for vs Ioh. 3. 16. and. 1. Ioh. 4. 9. wherof we shall heare more afterward If the loue of God be the fountaine of sending his sonne then also it is of our making or adopting to bee the children of God For whence is it that we are made the children of God Is it not by Iesus Christ It cannot bee denied and it shall afterward bee more plentifully prooued Heerein the Lord differeth from men for men cannot properly bee said to beget children of Note loue There may be and is in men a desire of children but there cannot properly be a loue of children till children bee begotten and borne For how can men loue them that haue no being at all in nature But God is said to loue vs and in loue of vs to make vs his children or to beget vs againe to himselfe and so his loue towards vs is before we are borne againe or begotten againe vnto him As this loue of God was before the action of our regeneration so it continueth euer after Gods loue is vnchangeable As Christ is the same yesterday to day and for euer Heb. 13. 8. so is God in his loue towards them whom he loueth yea there is not only no change in him but also with him there is no variablenesse nor shadow of turning Iames 1. 17. But being to speake of this loue againe afterward this in this place shall be sufficient thereof The fourth word heere to be obserued is the Father As the former word setteth foorth the originall cause of our being the children of God so this setteth foorth the authour thereof and the subject of that loue before spoken of and that to be not onely God barely considered in his diuine essence but as he is inuested with the title of a Father To speake more plainly The loue before spoken of whereby wee are made the children of God doth not come from God as he is God only but as he is a Father and that first of all as he is the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ And therefore when the Apostle Peter speaketh of this matter euen of our regeneration he saith not only Blessed be God but hee saith further euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which of his abundant or rich mercy hath begotten vs againe 1. Pet. 1. 3. God was alwaies the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ in the distinction of persons in the diuine essence and so Iesus Christ as the second person in the Deitie was alwaies the sonne of the Father euen before all times so that there neuer was any time when the one of these two persons was not the Father and the other the Sonne Secondly this loue heere spoken of commeth from God not only as he is the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ but also as by Iesus Christ he is our Father To speake this also a little more plainly the Apostle heere speaking of himselfe and of them to whom he did write not only as the people of God nor as the workes of God but as the children of God it was therefore the more sit that hee should describe God by such a title as was most answerable to that respect wherein he speaketh of himselfe the writer and of them to whom he did write These being as they were the children of God it was more answerable to the word children that he should say Behold what loue the Father hath giuen vnto vs then Behold what loue God hath giuen vnto vs. For the word God doth more fitly answer to the word creatures or people and the word Father is a plain correlatiue to the word children Now although euer sithence the creation and sithence the first time that there were any elect and beleeuing men God was alwares their Father yet as God was not so knowen to bee the father of our Lord Iesus Christ in the old Testament and before the mearnation and manifestation of Christ in the fleth as â—â—thence so God also Note did not so plainly open and manifest himselfe to be the father of the elect as he hath done sithence the time of the Gospell And therefore wee finde this title Father ostener attributed vnto God in respect of Christ and of the elect in the new Testament then in the old In the old Testament he is most called and made knowen by the name of The God of Abraham the God of Izaak and the God of Iaacob but in the new Testament he maketh himselfe knowen by the name of The Father of our Lord Ieâ—us Christ and of them that by faith are made members of Christ and flesh of his flesh euen one bodie with him As the grace of God which bringeth saluation vnto all men is said especially to
though this phrase of shewing loue be more apt yet the other phrase of giuing loue is more naturall and agreeable to the proper signification of the woâ—d heere vsed And it is not to be doubted but that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it of purpose first to exclude all merits and worthinesse of our selues for dâ—seruing this loue of God towards 〈◊〉 making vs his children and to shew that this loue of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aâ—d without any respect of any good in vs. So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words loue and giuing lâ—ue are as much as the word 〈◊〉 other places which is all opposed to merits in vs in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God 〈◊〉 is called election of grace and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 be of grace it is no more of worke or else were gâ—â—â—e no mâ—â—◠〈◊〉 but if it be of workes it is no more grace or 〈◊〉 were worke no more workes Rom 11. 5. 6. So in the same 〈◊〉 it iâ—â—aâ—d in these me epistle before that are the children were borne viz. Iaâ—cob and Esau and when they had done neither good nor â—uiâ—l that the purpose of God might remaine according to election not by â—â—â—kes but by hâ—m that calleth it was said vnto her The elder shall sâ—â—ue the younger Rom 9. 11. 12. And 〈◊〉 afterward he concludeth So then it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy vers 16 Can there be a more plaine and manifest opposition and contrariety then this is Verily it is so plaine and manifest that all the cauilling and quarrelling wit in the world cannot wash the same away Touching â—ustification it is said that God hath saued vs not by the workes of righteousnesse which wee had done but according to his mercy Tit. 3. 5. And againe By the workes of the Law no flesh shall be iustified Rom. 3. 20. and that we be iustified freely by his grace verse 24. Touching both our iustification and calling whereby wee are made the children of God the same Apostle also saith that God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace 2. Tim. 1. 9. In all these places and touching these points who seeth not a most euident opposition of Gods grace to our worthlnesse and that Gods grace doth exclude our worthinesle I grant sometime grace mentioned and sometime mercie and that there is some distinction betwixt grace and mercie as afterward shall be shewed yet there is also such affinity betwixt them that as two brethren being very like one another are sometimes taken one for another so also these two words in this argument especially are confounded and the one vsed for another Now let it bee noted that I said grace was opposed to our Note worthlnesse â—ot to all worthinesse When we heare that God hath freely of his owne loue made vs his children this indeed excludeth al worthinesse of vs and in vs from being any cause of making vs the children of God Notwithstanding if wee looke to Christ Iesus and to that that he hath done it is certain that God hath not either saued vs freely or freely maâ—e vs his children saue in the sending or giuing his sonne freely and of his owne onely loue grace and mercy for the sauing vs and for the making vs his children that so by adoption we might be capable of saluation Otherwise if we looke to that which Christ did for vs being so freely giuen or sent in the world in our behalfe it is certaine that Christ Iesus by his passiue and actiue righteousnes that is by those things which hee suffred and by that obedience which otherwise he performed vnto God his Father for vs hath both iustified vs and also purchased this honour for vs of being the children of God Though therefore wee haue this honour freely and only of Gods free grace in respect of our selues yet it is not so free in respect of Christ his sending only of Gods free grace excepted because as we shall afterward heare more largely Christ hath most deerely bought all that wee haue and most sweetly paid for it in the satisfying the iustice of God in our behalfe Thus much for the first consideration why the Apostle vseth this phrase that God hath giuen vs this lone of calling vs his children The second consideration is for the distinguishing of vs from Christ Iesus and to teach that though wee bee the children or sonnes of God yet there is great difference betwixt Christ and vs in this behalfe Christ as hee is the second person in the Deity is the Sonne of God immediately by nature by communication of the whole essence of the Father vnto him and from all eternitie before all times so that there neuer was any time when God was not his Father c. as hath beene before said As Christ also was man he was the Sonne of God by miraculous conception of the holy Ghost and by a most wonderfull coniunction of the godhead and manhood together hypostatically in one person But we are the sonnes or children of God immediately and only by grace by gift by adâ—ption in by and through Christ Iesus being incorporated and ingrafted into him that is in himselfe the naturall the eternall the only sonne of God hauing no fellowes either amongst men or amongst Angels Therefore hee is called Gods owne Sonne Rom. 8. 32. his first be gotten Sonne Heb. 1. 6. and his only be gotten Sonne Iohn 1. 14. and 3. 16. and 1. Iohn 4. 9. Now as heere it is said that God hath giuen vs this loue to be called his children so it is also said that to as many as receiued him that is Christ hee gaue prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name Ioh. 1. 12. In which place the holy Ghost sheweth the meanes more plainly whereby we are the sonnes or children of God namely by receiuing Christ by faith and by being through faith ingrafted into Christ Howsoeuer therefore wee bee called the sonnes of God as well as Christ yet there is great difference betwixt Christ and vs in this behalfe and Christ is in a farre more excellent maner the Sonne of God then either we or the Angels can claime the same title and prerogatiue Let vs heere note one thing more viz. that the Apostle Note speaketh not in the present time saying doth giue but in the time past saying hath giuen This obseruation is not to bee vnderstood onely of the first actuall beginning of our adoption and regeneration but also of Gods eternall election of vs thereunto before the making of the world For so the same phrase in the same tense importeth elsewhere The Father that hath giuen them vnto me c. Iohn 10. 29. As thou hast giuen him power ouer all flesh that he should giue eternall life to all them that thou bast giuen him Iohn 17. 2. And againe I haue declared thy
elders of the Iewes vnto our Sauiour in behalfe of his sicke seruant Luc. 7. 3. was it not to doe the more honour to our Sauiour If the sending of such honourable messengers were some honour to them to whom they were sent what shall we thinke of Gods sending his owne sonne to vs and for vs to make vs his children Doth not God thereby greatly honor vs verely it cannot be denied sith the sending of Christ was more then if he had sent all the Angels in heauen For Christ is made so much more excellent then the Angels by how much more he hath obtained a more excellent name then they Heb. 1. 4. This is so much the more because God sent not his sonne in glory and to liue here in glory but in basenesse and in forme of a seruant cloathed with our base nature yet purged from all corruption as soone as it was separated in the wombe of the Virgin to be that which afterward it was and so to liue a while in pouerty in shame and in all contempt and at the last to be put to the most shamefull death of the crosse as though he had been a worme and no man or as though he had been the vilest man that had before come into the world Were it not a very great honor to a poore yea to a trayterous subiect being somewhere in captiuity bondage and great misery if his Prince should abase his only sonne and send him disguised in base apparell and to vndergoe much pouerty and other hardnesse with shame also and contempt for a time for the redeeming the said subiect and to bring him home to the Court of the Prince there to eat meat with the Prince his sonne and to be accounted as a companion of his How great then is this honour that God hath done vnto vs in sending his own sonne and in exposing him to many yea to all indignities to redeeme vs that we might receiue the adoption of sonnes Before I proceed any further let me here insert another principall cause of our regeneration viz. the mercy of God This may seeme to be all one with the loue of God before handled And indeed it is so like thereunto that it is often confounded therewith so that the word loue is often taken for mercy and mercy is often taken for loue when there is speech of the dealing of God with men especially in the matter of election calling and saluation This may be obserued in diuers places before alledged and therefore I stand not vpon it But although there be great similitude betwixt them yet Note they are also to be distinguished For first of all both are in God towards man but both cannot be in man towards God Loue may be and must be in man towards God but it is very absurd to say that a man may shew mercy vnto God Againe the loue of God hath respect vnto vs as being only the creatures of God euen base creatures such as were altogether vnworthy so great honour of being made the children of God But the mercy of God hath respect and relation vnto vs not only as we are creatures base and vnworthy of the foresayd loue but also as we were miserable especially polluted with infinit 〈◊〉 yea dead in all sinnes and trespasses more then vnworthy of his fauour euen such as had deserued his euerlasting displeasure and indignation as hauing been traitors and rebells against him in the highest degree Furthermore the loue of God is in order before the sending or giuing of Christ being the cause both of our election and also of sending or giuing Christ Iesus as hath beene shewed touching election out of Ephes 1. 5. 6. and touching the sending of Christ out of Ioh. 3. 16. But the mercy of God is only in Christ Iesus and for Christ Iesus his sake as afterward shall appeare Whereas it is said that we are elected in Christ that is not to be vnderstood simply of election itselfe but rather of the ends whereto we are elected viz. adoption and saluation To speake simply of election itselfe it was meerly of the free loue of God and the efficient cause thereof was only in God himselfe And so God hauing eternally decreed our saluation did also at the same instant decree the meanes of our saluation namely the giuing of his only sonne to be made man for vs. We were first in order elected to be saued and then Christ was appointed and at the same instant destinated to be the person by whom we should be saued Therefore as Peter saith that the Iewes had put Christ to death by the determinate counsell and foreknowledge of God Acts 2. 23. so he calleth Christ alambe vnspotted c. ordained before the foundations of the world 1. Pet. 1. 20. Notwithstanding this priority of decreeing our saluation before the sending of Christ was decreed must be vnderstood of a priority in order in the nature of things not of a priority in time For both being eternall and before all times to wit the decree for sauing vs and the decree for sending Christ to worke out that saluation for vs one could not bee before an other in time For in things eternall there can be neither priority or posteriority in time Thus then we see a plaine distinction betwixt the loue of God and the mercy of God either in our election or in the worke of regeneration or in any other thing That the mercy of God was one of the principall mouing causes of our regeneration viz. which moued God to worke this worke in vs it is manifest also by the testimony of Peter For he in his first Epistle and Chapter hauing after his Apostolicall maner saluted the Christians to whom he wrote maketh this entrance into the rest of the Epistle saying Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ who according to his abundant or rich mercy hath begotten vs againe c. 1. Pet. 1. 3. Is it not in these words plaine that the Apostle doth make the mercy of God a principall cause first mouing God to beget vs againe So the Apostle Paul in the worke of our saluation ioineth together the mercy of God and the washing of the new birth Tit. 3. 5. So also particularly speaking of his owne conuersion from blaspheming and from persecuting and oppressing of the Church to the true feare of God and loue of his Saints he attributeth the same to the mercy of God saying I was a blasphemer and a persecuter and an oppressor but I was receiued to mercy or I found mercy By the mercy of God here I vnderstand the pity and compassion that God tooke vpon vs beholding vs in our miserable state by nature being blind deafe dumb lame sicke dead c. as hath been said and so his bowels of compassion being moued towards vs and neuer ceasing to worke as it were in him till by the worke of our regeneration he had released and discharged vs from
no other fountaine then at the word of God By the same meanes from time to time hath the Lord comforted his children Abraham Isack Iacob Dauid Hezekiah Paul and other in their afflictions euen by his word and by speaking vnto them When Iohn also wept much because no man was found worthy to open to read and to looke on the booke which before he had seen in the right hand of him that sate vpon the throne c. how was he comforted Not inwardly only by Gods spirit but outwardly also by one of the elders speaking vnto him and saying Weep not behold that Lyon which is of the tribe of Iuda that roote of Dauid hath obtained to open the booke and to open the seuen seales thereof Reuel 5. 5. Here is a double argument to proue the word of God to be the word of comfort First because Iohn in his heauinesse is comforted by the speech of one of the elders vnto him Secondly in respect of the matter of the said speech viz. that there was one found to open the booke and the seuen seales thereof For thereby the holy ghost signifieth that without opening of the book before shewed to Iohn there was nothing to haue comforted him Whatsoeuer benefits therfore whatsoeuer friends whatsoeuer outward delights whatsoeuer learning or other thing men haue yet nothing will soundly comfort them that are heauy hearted or exercised with feares but the word The woman in the Gospell healed of her bloudy issue for healing whereof she had spent all that she had vpon the physitians and was nothing the better doth sufficiently iustifie this For when our Sauiour hauing so healed her for nothing euen so perfectly healed her that she sensibly felt her selfe to be healed when I say our Sauiour hauing thus healed her did but aske who had touched him because he had felt vertue to goe from him she had no more comfort then before but for all the benefit Note of health so miraculously wrought in her she was possessed with great feare and trembling till she came to our Sauiour and till he spake vnto her saying Daughter be of good comfort thy faith hath saued thee Luk 8. 47. 48. So then the former benefit did not comfort her though she had long desired it yea it seemeth she had more feare then before but the word that our sauiour spake was it that tooke away the feare and which did comfort her I might here also speake of Belshazar in what case he was Dan. 5. hauing no comfort in the word but of him and other like more afterward In the meane time let vs vnderstand that the word hath comforts of all sorts and for all afflictions of this life and of the life to come for body and for soule Is any of Gods children poore he can comfort himselfe with the word saying Feare the Lord yee his Saints for no good thing wanteth to them that feare him c. Psal 34. 9. So with those manifold comforts Mat. 6. 25. c. Luk. 12. 32. c. So also with the examples of Iacob Gen. 32. 10. of Elija of the widow of Zarepta and of the other widdow of one of the sonnes of the Prophets before mentioned and with Gods mighty prouidence towards the Israelites in the wildernesse in feeding them with Manna and quailes and in giuing them water out of the rocke Is any child of God in disgrace or in base condition he can comfort himselfe with 1. Pet. 5. 5. and 6. and with the examples of Ioseph Dauid Ester and Mordecai whom the Lord raised vp from the dust and made to sit with Princes yea and some of them to be Princes Is any of them in prison He can comfort himselfe with the examples of Ioseph Ieremiah Peter and Paul who were not only in prison but whom also the Lord most mightily deliuered out of prison Hath any many and great aduersaries He can consider that If God be with him he need not feare who is against him Rom. 8. 29. and that The Lord is alwaies at hand Philip. 4. 6. And how the Lord deliuered Iacob from Esau and from the Sechemites and Dauid from many mighty enemies Is any sicke and sicke vnto death He can call to mind how Hezekiah being so and told also by the word of God that he should die was vpon his praier miraculously restored to health and had his life drawn out for fifteen yeeres more 2. Chron. 32. 24. c. He can also remember that Dauids soule was deliuered from the graue Psal 103. 4. and that Epaphroditus being sicke and neere vnto death God had mercy on him Phil. 2. 27. Hath any man lost all his goods in one day yea children also c. He can comfort himselfe with Psal 24. 1. and with the example of Iob who hauing lost goods and children did not only say The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken Blessed be the name of the Lord Iob. 1. 21. but who also had all and more then all restored vnto him at the last Iob. 42. 10. Is any man heauy loaden with his sinnes doth he feare the wrath of God and euerlasting condemnation and doth he not find or feele any comfort yea doth he feele the terrors of death Oh how may he comfort himselfe with the doctrine of Gods mercy Psal 103. 9. c. before handled with the end of Christs comming to heale them that are sicke not the whole to call sinners not the righteous to repentance Mat. 9. 12. 13. to seeke and to saue that which was lost Luk. 19. 10. that euery one that beleeueth in him might not perish but haue euerlasting life Iohn 3. 6. with the words also of the Prophet Ho euery one that thirsteth c. Isai 5. 5. 1. with the words of our Sauiour Come vnto me all ye that are weary and laden and I will refresh you Mat. 11. 28. And lastly with the examples of such as haue found comfort in such an heauy condition and against great and many sins viz. of Dauid of Salomon of Manasses of Peter of Mary Magdalen of Zacheus of Paul and of diuers other Seing then the word of God hath such excellent and such sweet comforts for euery malady for euery affliction for euery heauinesse who can sufficiently expresse the dignity and prerogatiue of the children of God thereby For they only can receiue comfort by it The childrens bread doth not belong to whelpes Mat. 15. 26. Neither do the holy things of God belong to dogs neither doe such pearles become swine Mat. 7. 6. All this hitherto said of the word is the more both in respect of the writing thereof and also of the preaching thereof In both these respects I say the prerogatiue of the children of God by the word is the greater For as touching the writing thereof howsoeuer the Papists would perswade that it was written onely by the voluntary accord of man not by any expresse commandement of God 〈◊〉 and that therefore it