a hundred and twenty yeeres yet behold their miserable state they admit it no digestion but did as it were evomere send it forth againe for their soules were full of sinne the imaginations of their heart even altogether wicked Gen. 19.14 Though Lott proclaimed the voice of God to the wicked Sodomites that they should depart from that pernitious citie for God would destroy it alas they held it ridiculous they admit it no digestion for their soules were full of sinne Exod. 5.1 Though Moses delivered the expresse word of God to Pharaoh that he should let his people goe and free them from their grievous captivity alas his stomack would not beare it hee would give it no passage but t was loathsome unto him therefore hee replied Ver. 2. Who is the Lord that I should heare his voyce what is there any that can command me any to whom my Scepter should stoup for his soule was full gorged with horrid sinnes So though the Lord by his Prophet Ieremy Ier. 18.11 did plainly witnesse against the wicked ones of those times that he had prepared a plague for them that hee had purposed a thing against them and therefore invited them to returne from their sinister waies to prevent that fearfull stroke of his iustice alas they would none of it they admit it no digestion but returne it up again Ier. 18 1◠desperately answering Wee will walke after our owne imaginations wee will doe every man after the stubbornnesse of his wicked heart for their soules were full of sinne So our blessed Saviour gave that yongue Man in Mathewes Gospell a speciall Cordiall to revive his dying spirits Mat. 19.21 to cure that great disease the Philarguria of his soule but oh the misery of that fearfull sinne it suffers it not to worke upon him it sends it up againe alas he went away sorrowing Mat. 19.22 Faine hee would have retayned Christs blessed potion but the strength of his disease would not admit it therefore he bids a farewell to Christ Iesus Thus thirdly sinne is fitly compared to a fever It takes away the stomack of the soule and makes it unable to digest the most wholsome things Fourthly sin is fitly compared to a Fever propter inflammationem in respect of fierce and violent inflamation for as that virulent Maladie burnes and with its unnaturall heat torments all the vitall and spirituall powers so deales sinne with the soule for even oft in this life it fearfully inflames it burnes it and fills it full of wrathfull horror For although wicked and prophane persons doe many times passe by the remembrance of their sinnes either by lascivious discourses vaine societies dissolute sports or the deep habit of sinne for as Bernard speakes Bern Ser. 8. in Cant. Isid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an evill habit doth harden and as Isidore speakes makes us become even without sense and feeling But what oh yet sinne lieth at the doore it waits opportunity to plunge the soule with fearfull misery Gen. 4.7 pursuing the conscience as a swift hunting Nimrod Gen. 10.9 as a speedy footed Nimshi There was a time when Cains conscience had no feeling of that great sinne of murder which hee had committed nay though God spake to him and asked him Where is thy brother Gen. 4.9 which a man would thinke should have made Cain to have lookt downe upon his guilty conscience and to have stood amazed shakt and trembled at this voyce but alas it stird him not at all hee was stout and stood as it were at defiance with God as if he had done him the greatest wrong that could be so much as to insinuate such a matter with him Therefore he insolently replied I cannot tell am I my brothers keeper As if hee should say I hope you will not lay his death to my charge will you offer mee that indignity So that here Cain was without all touch of conscience his great crying sinne of murder troubled him not at all but what was this alwaies Cains state oh no at length you may behold the fearfull fury of this sinne so flame up in his soule and conscience that the extreame burning heate thereof did make him cry out My sinne is greater than can bee forgiven Gen. 4.13 Strange alteration of late he saw no sinne it troubled him not at all and now hee sees so huge a burning flame that hee thinkes all the ocean of Gods mercy is not able to quench it therefore he cries out My sinne is greater than can bee forgiven Againe there was a time when treacherous Iudas had no tast nor feeling of his wickednesse he plotted and practised against his most innocent Master he combined and conspired with the Scribes and Pharisees Christs most cruell enemies he concluded with them Mat. 26.14 to betray him into their hands and that for a meane and a base reward and what Vers 15. was hee toucht for this sinne oh no hee came into his masters presence with the rest of the Apostles and heard him openly divulge One of you shall betray me Ioh. 13.21 yet it stird him not at all it wrought nothing upon his fast clasped conscience but he was bold and questioned his Master Mat. 26.25 as if he had been as cleere a man as could be Is it I Master As if he should say I hope Master of all the rest you will not thinke that I would doe such a deed what I betray you I your servant an Apostle whom you have preferred to bee Treasurer and Keeper of your store what I betray you my Master my most loving Master an innocent Lambe a blessed Saviour oh pray thinke not that I would do such a deed Nay though Christ answer him and tell him plainely Thou hast said oh Iudas thou art the Man how smoothly and cunningly soever thou carrie it yet it moved him not at all all this while his conscience was asleepe and so on it goes Iudas takes his money Christ is betrayed he is condemned he must dye And what still asleepe Iudas oh no now the case begins to be altered now his sinne begins to rouse him up now it makes such a fire in his soule that he hath no rest but runs up and downe like a Mad man now the treacherous hier which was before more deare to him than his Masters life oh now he cannot indure it but up he takes it Mat. 27.3 4. and downe to the Priests and Elders hee goes throwes it them againe and cries out unto them I have sinned in betraying the innocent blood And thus hee runs to and fro in the fury of his inflamed sinne without all ease without all rest as if hee were in hell already untill at length he becomes his owne executioner the worst handes living executing the worst man living But what should I speake of these thus deeply wicked If Gods owne children shall dare to bee so bould to suffer sinne to
rest upon their soules oh in these it will breake forth into a fierie flame that will grievously scortch Holcâ—t in Iâ—br Sap. Peccatum inquietat hominem nec permittit habere pacem burne torment their consciences for sinne it disquiets a man generally all sorts of men and suffers them not to possesse any true peace of conscience When Adam had once committed sinne against God oh how hee was vext how his soule burnt with feare and trembling Gen. 3.9 so that hee ran away from God hee hid himselfe from his presence that God was faine to call after him Where art thou Adam When Ionah Gods owne Prophet had disobeyed the voyce of the Lord oh how hee was stung in conscience he had no rest he fled from place to place he shipt himselfe to sea he bestowed himselfe in the lowest houldes Ion. 1 1â— to hide himselfe from God and to passe by the furie of his burning sinne he betooke himselfe to sleepe but all in vaine hee is rows'd up againe for without the winde and the waves pursue him the Lott discovers him within his conscience huntes him with a fiery flame which makes him cry out Take me and cast me into the sea so shall the sea be calme to you for I know oh the force of a guilty conscience that for my sake this great tempest is come upon you This was Davids state Psal 38.3 4. which made him complaine There is no rest in my bones because of my sinne my iniquities are gone over my head they overwhelme mee and are as a sore burthen too heavy for mee to beare oh inflamed conscience This was Hezekiahs state which made him conclude That it broke his bones like a Lion Esa 38.13 14. and enforced him to cry like a Crane to chatter like a Swallow and mourne like a Dove nay which farre exceeds all comparison when that blessed Saviour that immaculate Lambe Christ Iesus which had no sinne inhesive sinne onely imputative ours none of his owne when hee in this kinde did beare our sinnes it made him grovell upon the earth Luke 22.44 it made him distil down drops of bloud Mat. 27.46 at length mournfully to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me So that sinne is fitly compared unto a Fever propter inflammationem in respect of the burning heate it brings upon soule and conscience perplexing the very Saints of God yea as wee see often deeply plunging the most cauterized conscience Wicked men may for a while brave out their sinnes and pass them by with a senselesse heart despising casting off the testimony of their conscience Without remorse of conscience Senec. â—p 43 Oh te miserum si contemnis hunc testem as did those Gentiles which the Apostle tells us were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 past feeling by which as Seneca speakes they became the more miserable and inthralled yet this will hardly bee alwaies their estate sometimes the horror of conscience will broile up in their soules as an unquenchable fire for as Iuvenall speakes Iuvenal de scelerat Nocte dieque suum gestant in pectore testem they doe day and night carry their witnesse in their breasts which will sometime or other pierce them and make them to heare his voyce therefore faith the Prophet Esay Esa 57.20 The wicked are like the raging sea that cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt the filth of their sinnes and abominations to the most grievous terror of their soules Esa 57.20 For as Isidore speakes nulla gravior poenae quà m mala conscientia no greater punishment than an evill conscience Prov. 13.21 For there is no peace saith my God unto the wicked Hence it is that Salomon tells us That afflictions doe follow sinners even wrath anguish and horrour of soule they may seeke many meanes to passe them by but their wickednesse will lie in waite for them to scorch and burne them with unappeasable miserie Lastly sin is fitly compared unto a Fever propter privationem in respect of privation for as that fierce maladie doth often times deprive of all vitall power The axiom à privatione ad habitum impossibilis est regressus may well be said to be true in respect of this spiritual death and brings downe the body to the dust of the earth so is it with sinne it doth oft times so seaze upon the soule that at length it deprives it of all spirituall life and throwes it downe to eternall miserie never to bee recovered So that in this respect well may wee say that true is the axiom that from the privation to the habit the returne is impossible for whom sinne hath once totally slaine and throwne downe to the grave of miserable impenitencie there is no returne againe This was the estate of the aspiring Angells sinne slew them and deprived them of all spirituall life and threw them downe to eternall miserie never to be regained againe So deales sinne with all prophane persons who continue it and nourish it in their soules at length it utterly kills them takes from them all hope of life all hope of felicity all grace in this world all glory in the world to come and makes them owners of eternall thraldome Thus we see sinne is a desease and therefore first in a fivefold respect fitly compared unto a Fever Secondly the maladie of sinne is fitly compared to a Leprosie and that in regard of a threefold Sympathie Separation Infection and Curation Esa 59.2 This separation is not the least punishment that shall befall the wicked for if Absolom did desire rather to die than not to behold the face of his father David what great dolour shall it be to the wicked that they shall be separated from the presence of God and all the godly for ever Chrysost concludes that omnes poena non sunt illi poena comparari all punishments are not to be compared to it First it is fitly compared unto a Leprosie in respect of Separation for as that loathsome maladie doth occasion a man to bee separated from the company of men so deales sinne by the soule it doth cause a separation and that a most grievous one betweene the Creature and the Creator between God and our soules and therefore from all Grace and Glory from all holy men and Angells This the worthy Prophet declares to bee the force of sinne Your iniquities saith he have separated betweene you and your God and caused him to hide his face from you that hee will not heare This the last sentence to bee pronounced against the wicked doth plainely witnesse Goe yee cursed into everlasting fire Goe there is the separation of most grievous nature even from God and all the godly from all joy and comfort from all blisse and happinesse unto endlesse miserie Thus first sinne is fitly compared unto a Leprosie in respect of separation Secondly it is fitly compared unto a Leprosie in respect
mournfully confessing her sinne and her transgression which so inkindled compassion in this blessed Saviour that presently he pronounceth to her a comfortable absolution Thy sinnes are forgiven thee If therefore we will be the sheepe of Christ wee must heare his voyce humbly truely and mournfully confessing our impieties for to brave out sinne or to lay some colour upon it is to aggravate sinne and make it greater for as Chrysostome speakes malum est peccare Chrysost sed gravius negare aut indulgere it is evill to sinne but it is a greater evill to denie it or indulge it by any colour whatsoever No evill so great but a wicked man may lay some kind of colour upon it For what sinne is so vile that a wicked man may not lay some kinde of colour upon it The base drunkard may say it was companie that induced him to that foule pollution the savage murtherer may inforce it was furie and choler that moved him to that horrid act the damnable swearer may say it was rash inflamed passion that moved him to blaspheme the name of God The Adulterer may alledge it was lust and concupiscence that was the cause of his base wickednesse the greedie insatiable worldling that prosecutes oppression and with the teeth of fraud deceit and crueltie feeds upon living men how easily may he inforce that he doth it to maintaine his reputation to sustaine his charge to leave large revennues to his posteritie But alas these are foolish excuses the fruits of old Adam they doe not minuere but augere crimen they doe not diminish but increase the fault and therefore are never able to stand the tryall of Gods piercing iudgement Oh then as the true sheep of Christ heare his voyce humbly entirely confessing thy transgression Aug. Non crubuisti peccare erubescis confiteri for as Austine speakes wast thou not ashamed to sinne and art thou ashamed to confesse thy sinne oh let this be farre from a Christian heart Fourthly as a fourth speciall instance the true sheepe of Christ doe heare the voyce of Christ delightfully Oh t is a ioy a pleasure to their soules no voyce so welcome to them they long after it they hunger and thirst after it Psal 42. as David doth witnesse of himselfe who being in banishment and not able to come to the house of God to heare his voice he mournfully proclaimes that as the Hart desired the water brookes so his soule longed after God yea saith he my soule is a thirst for the living God oh when shal I come to appeare before his presence Bern. in Cant. Suavia ad gratiam foecunda ad sensus profunda ad mysteria Psal 19. Psal 1.19 And no marvell for as Bernard speakes his words are sweet unto grace pleasant unto the senses profound unto mysteries yea saith the Psalmist they are sweeter than honey and the honey combe and therefore concludes they were dearer to him than thousands of gold and silver And this for speciall reason Ioh. 11.43 44. Luke 7.14 15. Mat. 9.33 Mat. 8.32 Luke 9.42 for t is a precious treasure of admirable force and power for by this mightie voyce the voyce of Iesus Christ the dead were raised the dumb did speak the deafe did heare and divels did depart yea by this most powerfull voyce the hardned hearts of men that raged against this blessed Christ were so farre pierst Acts 2.37 that it did make them to cry out Men and brethren what shall we doe yea by this the darkned world eclipsed with the clouds of sinne Gentiles in the flesh Ephes 5.8 strangers from the covenant of promise Ephes 2.12 without God in the world by this powerfull voyce are made to be no more strangers nor forreiners Ephes 2.19 but citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Ephes 5.8 no more darkenesse but light in the Lord even professors of the Gospell of Iesus Christ Well therefore might the Apostle call this blessed voyce the power of God to salvation Rom. 1.16 well might he conclude that this is a lively voyce mightie in operation sharper than any two-edged sword entering thorow Heb. 4.12 even to the dividing asunder of the soule and the spirit In a word well may the sheepe of Christ delight in this voyce for it doth enrich their soules with incomparable happinesse true repentance with mournfull teares to condole their sinnes and their transgressions Now saith Chrysostome teares are the sponges of sinne Chrys Lachrimae sunt spongia peccatorū to wash them and purge them cleane away It doth enrich them with true faith to apprehend Christ Iesus by which they are made one with him Rom. 10.17 Ioh. 17.22 1. Cor. 12.27 Ephes 1.22.23 Ephes 4.15 16. Ephes 5.23 Rom. 8.17 the mystical bodie of that mysticall head and therefore heyres and co-heyres of his eternall kingdome Hence it is that the worthy Prophet doth conclude them to be blessed that live in the house of the Lord to be partakers of this heavenly voyce Blessed saith he are they that dwell in thy house Psal 84.4 they will ever praise thee Yea hence was it that it was such a speciall ioy to his soule to heare any speake of recoursing to those holy places as himselfe doth plainly witnesse I reioyced when they said unto me Psal 122.1 2. we will goe unto the house of the Lord our feet shall stand in thy Courts O Ierusalem O worthy affection prudently directed for as Augustine speakes Aug. in soliq Divina dulcedo quae omnem praesentem mundi amaritudinem toll it in this voyce there is a divine sweetnesse which takes away all the present bitternesse of the world all contempts and disdaines all distresses and afflictions fills the soule with such a secret inward consolation that it makes it conclude with the Apostle Rom. 8.18 that the afflictions of this life are not worthy of the ioyes that shall be revealed yea it so assures it that it makes it able to say Rom. 8.38 39. that neyther death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate it from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus For this heavenly voice the pledge of Gods favour the anchor of the faithfull it is so fastned to their soules by the strength of Gods spirit Bern. that as Bernard speakes it is not broken off by any disease by decrepit age by the intercourse of things by the change of times briefly not by death it selfe but shall rest as a sure comfort and consolation upon the soule for ever Oh therefore Esa 52.7 as the Prophet Esay speakes how bewtifull are the feet of those that declare and publish this message unto the mountaines that is to the sheep of Christ whose affections are lifted up from the dirtie vallies and
the equitie of God in punishing sinne First the blindnesse of man in corrupted nature from the pluralitie of the sinnes committed for the Apostle saith not they committed some thing worthy of death but things worthie of death Secondly the patience of God that he forbears to throw them downe to death though they commit things worthy of death Thirdly the equitie of God that hee throwes down none to death but for things worthy of death And first for the foremost the blindnesse of man in corrupted nature intimated from the pluralitie of the sinnes committed It is a grievous and a miserable estate to commit any thing worthie of death that is of eternall death the due reward of sinne Gen. 2.17 Rom. 6.23 for what is the force of eternall death oh exceeding grievous It doth not only sever a man from all joy from all blisse and glorie but loads him with all woe and miserie inwardly with the sting and worme of conscience to torment him outwardly with burning fire for ever to afflict him and yet never consume him for as S. Augustine speakes the motion of the heaven ceasing there shall be no passion materiall but spirituall Aug. l. 21. de Civit. Dei Cessante motu coeli nulla fiet passio materialis sed spiritualis But man blinded with corrupted nature discernes not this whence it comes to passe that he doth not only cōmit some thing worthy of death but things worthie of death even manie foule and odious sinnes thereby increasing the eternall wrath and judgement of God against him For as the sinne so shall be the punishment manie sinnes manie punishments One sinne may bring thee to eternall condemnation but many sinnes will aggravate the judgment and heape up an increase of wrath We know what the Lord speakes by the Prophet Esay Esa 28.17 that hee will lay judgement to the rule and Christ himselfe tells us that as Babylon hath sinned Rev. 18.7 so shee shall bee rewarded But corrupted man hee takes no knowledge of this therefore hee goes on every houre increasing his judgement for everie houre hee commits things worthy of death Oh thinke you if wicked Pharaoh had truly discerned that the multiplying of sinne had multiplyed the judgements of God against him As we may see from Exod. 3. to 14. would hee then so often have opposed the expresse voyce of the Lord Or thinke you that if pernicious Abab had truely understood that his deepe heape of sinnes would have drawne a deepe heape of judgements against him 1. King 21.25 would hee have committed so many things worthy of death would he have sold himselfe to commit wickednesse Oh by no meanes Or can we thinke that if that Epicure spoken of by our Saviour Christ had truely discerned that his heape of impieties Luke 16. his pampered feeding his unhallowed drunken discourses his cruell uncharitable affection that would heare no plaint nor mourning of poor distressed Lazarus that yet did crave but the crummes that fell from his Table thinke we if hee had truely discerned that his foule heape of sinnes would have brought upon him such a heape of punishments as to force him to cry out for one drop of water such a drop as might hang but on the tip of a finger Vers 24. and that poore Lazarus should bring it whom before he held so base as not worthy of the crummes that fell from his table and that to coole but the furie of his tongue onely a small request only one dip of but the tip of a finger to coole only the raging heat of one small part oh slender ease and if it had beene granted but can we thinke that if hee had truely understood that his so great heape of sinnes would have acquired so great a heape of iudgements that ever he would have contracted them oh void of question hee would not Or shall wee thinke that if the ungodly creatures of these times that runne headlong the path of sinne and wickednesse did cleerly see their miserable estate would they then commit so many things worthie of death to the daily increase of their punishment would they so violently reiect all exhortations all motions of the spirit and so furiously heape up sinne upon sinne adding not onely rebellion to their sinnes but strength to their rebellions oh void of question they would not But alas they are covered over with the darke veyle of sinne and corrupted nature so that they doe not truly discerne their miserable estates This was the condition of the Gentiles for although they knew in the generall that they which committed such things were worthy of death yet in the particular application they failed for in the soule of man two things are to bee considered the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respects the understanding which comprehends certaine principles of nature as that murther adulterie and such like be sins and worthy of punishment the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respects the conscience which makes the assumption or particular application after this manner But we have committed such things therefore we are worthy of punishment Now observe wee that in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or generall apprehension of the understanding the Gentiles discerned these things to be sinne and worthy of death but in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or particular application of the conscience they greatly failed namely that they were guiltie of these and therefore that eternall death belonged unto them From all which cleerly appeares the veritie of my first observation the blindnesse of man in corrupted nature intimated from the pluralitie of the sins committed for in this estate hee goes on in sinne hee commits things even many things worthy of death to heape up judgement and to aggravate his punishment Oh what shall this then inforce unto us but earnestly to labour for the grace of Gods spirit to purge and drive out this corrupted nature for were men once truly seasoned with the strength of heavenly grace it would make them mourne and deplore their sinne and transgression Psa 6.7 as blessed David speakes of himselfe Every night saith he did I make my bed to swim and watered my couch with my teares and no marvell Seneca for vulnera clausa plus cruciant wounds being stopt they are the more grievous but saith Chrysostome mournfull teares are as it were the spunges of sinnes to wipe them and wash them cleane away Chrys Lachrimae sunt spongia peccatorū Yea grace that worthy vertue would make them see the odiousness of the intertaine of sinne how displeasing it is to God and burthensome to the soule as wee may cleerely see in religious Ioseph who being truly seasoned with the graces of Gods spirit would not be drawne to commit wickednesse by any perswasion but in contempt of it breakes forth Gen. 39.9 How should I commit this wickednes and so sin against
aggravation of their wickednesse and is thus inforced to us in that they not onely committed things worthy of death themselves but favoured them that did the same It was a grievous wickednesse for them themselves to commit things worthy of death by their owne proper sinnes but to favour and patronize the same in others was most intolerable and declared them to be even of an incurable nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word used here by the Apostle doth not signifie merely an assent but an approbation or patronizing or as some reade an applauding of others in their wickednesse which was a thing common amongst many of the heathen So â—iscator for they mainetained and defended publikely those things which by the light of nature they knew to be sinnes and to deserve death as Fornication Idolatrie yea Murther it selfe as amongst divers others we may see in Anaxarchus Aristander and Calisthenes who when Alexander had slaine his friend Clitus they became patrons of that horrible wickednesse For the first an Epicure perswaded all things was lawfull for Kings the second a Stoick referred it wholly to fate and destinie the third used morall and civill perswasions onely but none of them laid open unto him the greatnesse and foulnesse of his sinne but did sooth him and defend him in that his horrid wickednesse Briefly for the further manifesting and opening this great and odious guilt consider we how many waies we may become partakers of the sinnes of others which wee may reduce unto twelve particulars 1. Iubendo First therefore understand wee that iubendo by bidding and commanding a wickednesse to be done we become to participate of that wickednesse So Saul became guilty of the murther of innocent Abimelech and his associats 1. Sam. 22.18 because hee did command this wickednesse to be done Dan. 3. So Nebuchadnezzer became guilty of the peoples Idolatrie in falling down and worshipping the golden Image because he commanded it to be done Mat. 1. So wicked Herod became guiltie of that great slaughter of infants done in Bethlehem and in the Coasts round about because hee commanded that bloody stratagem to be acted So also that Herod spoken of Mar. 6. Marke 6. became guilty of the death of that bright shining light Iohn the Baptist because he commanded it to bee done Thus first iubendo by commanding a wickednesse to be done we become guiltie of the sinne of others 2. Obediendo Secondly obediendo by obeying such unlawfull commands wee become to participate of the sinnes of others Dan. 3. This Shadrach Meshach and Abednego knew right well and therefore no violent threats nor terrors could draw them to yeeld to an unlawfull command This the worthy Apostles knew most cleerly wherefore when the Priests and Elders commanded them that they should teach no more in the name Iesus Acts 4.18 20. they plainly answer We cannot but speake the things which wee have seene and heard This was the fault of treacherous Doeg by which he became to participate of the wickednes of Saul for although Saul coÌ„manded his footmen that stood by him to slay Abimelech his associates not a hand was stirred nor foot moved to that bloudy action 1. Sam. 22.17 18. but assoon as he spake to Doeg he became presently a readie instrument to execute his cruell unlawfull coÌ„mand This also was the fault of Ioab for David writing to him that Vriah should be put in the forefront of the battell 2. Sam. 11.15 16. and that there should be a reculing backe from him that he might be smitten and dye presently hee consents unto this unlawfull command sinisterly to betray the life of an innocent man and so became to participate of that bloody sinne 2. Sam. â—4 So also when David commanded him to number the people though hee misliked it and his conscience told him it was an evill yet he desisted not but became the instrument of this sinne This was also the fault of those corrupt Iudges 1. Kings 21. 1. King 21. for pernicious Iezabel writing a letter to them in Ahabs name that they should get two wicked men to sweare against poore Naboth that they had heard him blaspheme God and the King and so to stone him to death they performed it with all expedition and so became guilty of that crying sinne the shedding of the innocent blood of poore Naboth oh how much better had it beene for them to have undergone the frowne of Iezabel and the anger of Ahab than thus to have enthralled their soules with the guilt of a grievous crying sinne And thus we see obediendo by obeying the unlawfull commands of others wee become guilty of sinne and wickednesse Thirdly consulendo by giving advice and counsell unto sinister and ungodly passages wee become guilty of the sinnes of others 2. Sam. 15. So Achitophel was guilty of the conspiracie of Absolom against his Father David 2. Sam. 16.21 2. Sam. 17.1 Ver. 14. because hee did advise and counsell him therein So in like manner the youngsters of Rehoboam were guilty of his violent answer to the people of Israell 1. King 12. and consequently of the rending of the ten Tribes from the two because they did advise and counsell him to that virulent replie So also pernicious Herodias became guiltie of the death of Iohn the Baptist Marke 6. because she did counsell and advise her daughter to make that the subiect of her request And so wee may see in the twenty third of Ieremie those false Prophets were guilty of the sinnes and errors of the people Ier. 23.26 27. because they did advise them to false and evill things the deceits of their owne heart Thus consulendo by advising and counselling unto evill we become culpable of that evill Fourthly adiuvando by giving any helpe or assistance unto evill wee become guilty of the evill whether it bee personally 1. King 22. verbally or manually First personally so was Iehosophat guilty of the sin of the Idolatrous King of Israell because he did personally assist aid him in his rash violent enterprise Againe verbally we become guilty of this sin when wee yeeld any assisting speeches to exasperate or set forward an evill So were the Edomites guilty of the crueltie of the Babylonians against Ierusalem Psal 137.7 because to exasperate and set forward the mischiefe they cryed out Downe with it downe with it even to the ground So in like manner were the Israelites guilty of the abomination of Baal Iudg. 6.29 30. whilst they used strong assistant speeches for him who hath done this thing who hath thus dishonoured Baal as to break downe his Altar and when they finde it was Gideon the sonne of Ioash Ver. 31. they cry out Bring out thy sonne that hee may dye that Ioash was faine to say Will yee plead the cause of Baal will you use assistant speeches for him and so participate
Zophar in Iobs Historie Iob 20.12 c. When wickednesse is sweet in the mouth of the wicked when they hide it under their tongues when they favour it and will not forsake it but keepe it close in their mouthes then shall the meate in their bowells bee turned and the gall of Aspes shall be in the midst of them and the substance they have devoured they shall vomit it God shall draw it out of their bellies Thus wee see it cleere that the state of man may well be deciphered by a Race whether wee respect quantitie or qualitie his naturall life or his corrupted nature And thus much for the word Runne in the Abstract as it simply impies a Race Come we now to consider it in the Contret with the coherence of the Text as it implies a certaine speciall kinde of Race And because in every Race two things are specially remarkable the terminus à quo and the terminus ad quem the place from which and the place to which wee bend our passage consider wee therefore here in this spirituall Race the thing from which wee are to runne and the thing to which we are to speed our course And observe we That that from which wee are to bend our passage is the loathsome sink of sin our heape of foule corruptions And this for speciall reason for as the Prophet Esay speakes Esay 59.2 sinne makes a divorse between God and us Your iniquities saith he have separated betweene you and your God and have caused him to hide his face from you Sinne oh t is odious in Gods sight for as the Psalmist speakes Psal 11.5 his soule abhors all them that love iniquitie yea Hab. 1.13 saith the Prophet Habacuck his eyes are pure eyes and can behold no wickednesse that is to favour it Sinne as much as in it lyeth is distructive of the very nature of God or approve it wheresoever And no marvell for sinne as much as in it lies is distructive of the very nature and essence of God that is though not really yet intentatively although not in respect of the reall inferring of an evill for nothing can be opposed to God immediately in himselfe Nil Deo immediate in seipso opponatur contrariè vel privative Impius omnino vellet Deum peccata sua aut vindicare non posse aut nolle aut ea nescire Bern. Serm. 3. de resurrect Dom. either contrarily or privatively yet by attempting it and therefore in regard of will and affection for as Bernard speakes a wicked man would by all meanes that either God could not revenge his sinnes or that hee would not or that hee did not know them to be revenged of them therefore great reason all sinne should bee odious in Gods sight as endeavouring as much as in it lieth to destroy the very nature of God for if that could befall God which a wicked man desires he could not be God it would destroy his Deity Rom. 6.23 Hence therefore it is that the Apostle worthily concludes that the wages of sinne is death and that not onely temporall and corporeall but eternall of soule and body for ever And this also most iustly for what can be more equall than that there should bee an eternall and an infinite punishment imposed upon that which carries with it a certaine kinde of infinitie But sinne doth carry with it a kinde of infinitie though not * Non secundum Physicam entitatem physically or intrinsically yet morally and extrinsically or avertively and obiectively avertively as it is an evill turning man from an infinite good Peccatum non est infinitum in genere morali ut est malum hominis sed ut est malum avertens ab infinito bono Peccatum contra Deum commissum quandam habet infinitatem ex infinitate divinae Majestatis tanto enim offensa est gravior quanto major est ille in quem delinquitur Aquinas obiectively in regard of the person against whom it is committed for as Aquinas speakes the offence is so much the greater by how much the person is greater against whom it is committed as therefore God is the obiect against whom sinne is committed so sinne carries with it a certaine kinde of infinitenesse In a word many are the instances of Gods loathing and abhorring sinne and wickednesse Gen. 6.13 We neede never speake of the old worlds many sinnes for which she was absorpt swallowed up with a generall deluge Gen. 7. â—â— wee neede never speake of Sodomes heape of crying sinnes Gen. â—8 â—0 Esay 9.18 for which she was destroyed with fire from Heaven for as the Prophet Esay speakes wickednesse burnes like fire all wickednesse whatsoever Alas Gen. 19.24 for one sinne Adam was throwne out of Paradise and became a prey to Satan Gen. 3.19.23 a terrour to himself a scourge to his posteritie obnoxious unto death even a threefold death corporeall spirituall and eternall nay looke we upon the second Adam Christ himself that immaculate lambe which had no inherent spot of sinne no sinne of his owne Esay 53.5 sinne onely imputative and no more for hee was wounded for our transgressions and was broken for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him Matt. 26.39 yet when this blessed Saviour beheld the wrath of God against this sinne Luke 22.44 it made him grovell upon the earth it made him distill downe sweat like drops of bloud it made him mournfully complaine My soule is heavy round about unto the death it made him earnestly intreat Father Mat. 26.33 if it be possible let this cup passe from me From all which it is cleere that sinne is loathsome in Gods sight all sinne whatsoever what then can be more fit for us than to runne from the sinke of foule corruptions daily mortifying them The terminus ad quem or a place unto which we are specially to bend our Race 1. Cor. 2 9. and as it were leaving them behinde us continually more and more bending our whole course unto the blessed state of glory This is the second branch the terminus ad quem or place unto which wee are to speed our passage Oh this is a blessed state indeed such as the eye hath not seene such as the eare hath not heard nor can come into the heart of man to conceive Rev. 21.4 where as Iohn speakes all teares shall be wiped from their eyes where neyther death nor sorrow 1. Cor. 15.28 nor paine shall ever have anie entrance but God shall be all in all Rev. 22.4 Psal 16.11 and they shall behold the face of God before whose face saith the Psalmist there is the fulnesse of joyes at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore pleasures so absolute and full of delectation that when Peter had but some glimmering tast hereof in the transfiguration of our blessed Saviour upon mount Tabor it so ravished his
they doe not truly understand the word of God but are apt to pervert it and abuse it to the deep dishonour of God and burthen of their owne soules But those that are the sheep of Christ they heare his voyce intelligently with understanding and knowledge for these Iohn 4.26 they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are taught of God that is Iohn 16.13 of the spirit of God which teacheth them all things as Saint Iohn speakes and leads them into all truth that is all truth necessary for salvation Therefore the Apostle Paul tells us 1. Cor. 2.15 that he that is spirituall discerneth all things that is all things pertinent to spirituall happinesse Hence it is that our Saviour saith in Mathewes Gospell to the affected with his spirit Mat. 13.11 To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdome of Heaven to you that are inspired with my spirit From all which it is cleere that the true sheep of Christ doe heare his voyce Intelligenly with true understanding and knowledge And let it be here observed that wee meane not a meere theoreticall Iam. 2 19. or bare historicall knowledge which is in the very Divells and may bee often found in ungodly men Iohn 2 4. but wee speake of a knowledge practicall according to Saint Iohn who tells us That if wee say wee know God and yet keepe not his commandements wee are liars Bern. sup Cant. Serm. 36. Sunt qui scire volunt eo sine tantum ut sciant turpis curiositas est sunt qui scire volunt ut sciantur ipsi turpis vanitas est qui prosecto non evadent substannantem Satyricum scire tuum nil est nisi te scire hoc sciat alter Per. Sat. 1. Nazianz 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist in primis metaphys ter◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 8.1 Arist 5. ethic 3 cap. Variaâ—uÌ„ rerum scientia sine morum cultura honestatis nil aliud est quam gladius in manu hominis suriosi Mat. 13.13 Esa 6.9 10. and the truth is not in us For those then that seeke to know onely that they may know or that seeke to know that they may bee knowne or that seeke to know that they may pervert and abuse Gods sacred truth and take his weapons to fight against himselfe these heare not the voyce of Christ Intelligently with true knowledge but to the dishonour of God and prejudice of their owne soules Therefore Gregorie Nazianzen doth well conclude Knowledge is the greatest decor and ornament of life but saith hee if thou use it not well it is the greatest evill It is true that the Heathen man speakes All men by nature desire to know but it is most ture that the Apostle speakes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge if it be not watered with the dewes of Grace is apt to puffe men up and to transport them from all true rules of Pietie Therefore the very Philosopher worthily tells us that the knowledge of divers things without practice is nothing else but as a sword in the hand of a mad man Briefly for those stupidious hearers who as our Saviour speakes doe see and yet perceive not that heare and understand not whose hearts are waxed fat in wickednesse whose eares are dull of hearing which doe as it were winke with their eyes lest they should see with their eyes and heare with their eares and understand with their hearts c. for these they are frozen in the dreggs of their iniquitie and doe plainely shew they are no sheep of Christ for the Text is cleere His sheep doe heare his voyce that is Intelligently with true understanding and knowledge Thirdly his sheep doe heare his voyce humiliter humbly confessing their sinnes and acknowledging their transgressions Prov. 28.13 for they know that to bee true that Salomon recordes That hee that hides his sinnes shall not prosper but hee that confesseth and forsakes them shall have mercie yea they know that the promise of Gods mercie and favour is limited with this condition as Saint Iohn doth plainely witnesse 1. Iohn 1.9 If saith he wee acknowledge our sinnes he is faithfull and just to forgive our sinnes therefore no acknowledgement no pardon But saith Chrysostom confessio reddit Deum propitium Chrysost in Psal confession makes God to be mercifull This the blessed Prophet David doth witnesse unto us by his owne experience bending his speech unto God I acknowledged my sinne saith he and thou forgavest the punishment thereof Psal 32 5. August Wherefore Augustine gives worthy advice dimitte Satanam teipsum accusa ut accusatione tua veniam habeas let Satan goe and accuse thy selfe that by thy accusation thou maiest obtaine pardon for the Apostle tells us plainely 1. Cor. 11.31 If wee would judge our selves Bern. we should not be judged Oh saith Bernard judicatus non judicandus already judged and not to be judged Gloss Quando homo detegit Deus tegit Aug. Quando homo tegit Deus denudat for as the Glosse speakes When man discovers God covers but as Augustine speakes When man covers then God discovers As we may see clearely in pernicious Cain hee braved out his sinne when God asked him for his brother hee insolently replied Gen. 4.9 Am I my brothers keeper But God discovered his bloudy treacherie to the perpetuall horror of his soule and conscience Iosh 7.18 So sacrilegious Achan cunningly concealed his private thieft but God by lott discovered him 2. Reg. 5. â—5 to the utter ruine of him and his whole family It was easie with Gehazi to deny his symonicall bribes smoothly answering Thy servant hath beene no where 2. Reg. 5.27 but God discovers it to his Master Elisha and makes him the instrument to denounce a grievous scourge against him and his posteritie for ever Acts 5. Ananias and Saphira may closely conceale their Hypocrisie they may boldly and impudently denie their private fraud but God will manifest it and by the mouth of his Apostle deprive them of all vitall power And in these our times many such may we behold that are farre from that humble hearing of Christs voyce as intirely to acknowledge their sinnes and transgressions but are apt to braue them out with a proud and an arrogant countenance And therfore doe plainely shew they are farre from being the sheepe of Christ for they doe humbly heare his voyce acknowledging and confessing their transgressions yea they are apt mournfully to cry out with the prodigall child Father Luke 15.18 19 wee have sinned against Heaven and against Thee and are no more worthy to be called thy children And indeed when was it that sinfull Mary found peace to her soule but when shee kneeled at the feet of Christ Luke 7.48 and powred forth even a flood of teares to wash the feet of Christ and wipt them with the haires of her head therein
God Oh therfore labor we earnestly for the graces of Gods spirit be infused into us to drive away the darksome clouds of corrupted nature and to make us see the odiousnesse of the entertaine of sinne and the speciall worth of grace and pietie for the naturall man discerneth it not 1. Cor. 2.14 And because the word of God is the ordinary meanes to worke this upon our soules for which cause the blessed Gospell of Christ is called the ministration of the spirit 2. Cor. 3.8 Rom. 1.16 1. Pet. 1.23 2. Tim. 3.15 the power of God to salvation an immortall seed able to beget us anew and to make us wise unto salvation oh therefore frequent we it diligently and heare we it with all reverent attention for the happie infusion of heavenly grace Pro. 13.13 for hee that despiseth this sacred truth shal be destroyed Pro. 28.9 he that turnes his eare away from it his very prayer shall be abominable it shall bee easier for Sodome and Gomorrah at the day of judgement than for that man Mat. 10.15 Ier. 29.18.19 the Lord will make him a curse an astonishment a hissing a reproach among all nations And thus beloved in Christ Iesus wee see the first point the blindnesse of man in corrupted nature intimated from the multiplicitie of sinnes for hee commits not onely some thing but things even many things worthy of death Come I now unto the second point the patience of God in executing revenge upon the wicked intimated in this that though they commit things worthy of death yet hee forbeares and doth not presently throwe them downe to death The Gentiles committed things worthy of death even many things worthy of death eternall death yet God with patience did forbeare and did not presently execute upon them the strength of his justice nor cast upon them his finall wrath Rom. 6.23 when yet as the Apostle speakes The wages of sinne is death even of any sinne whatsoever Behold then here the greatnesse of Gods patience sinne is committed yet God forbeares nay sinnes things worthy of death many loathsome and odious sinnes yet God forbeares to execute the due deserved stroke of his justice that well might Chrysostome say Chrysost Deus quasi invitus compellitur cum magno dolore peccatores condemnare Ezek. 33.11 God is as it were against his will with great sorrow compelled to condemne stubborne-hearted sinners and to throwe them downe to eternall death for as himselfe doth seriously protest hee doth not desire the death of the wicked but doth earnestly invite them Turne you turne you from your evill waies for why will yee dye oh yee house of Israell Aug. Aversos benigne revocat cuÌ„ ferire potuit praemia promittit Oh saith Aug. he calls back the averse and froward spirits and when he might strike them with the final stroke of his justice he rather doth promise them rewards to move them to revert turne from their evill waies God is patient toward man intensivè extensivè durativè though they commit things worthy of death Thus God is patient sparing man in sinne sparing man the subject of sinne long sparing him though he hath committed things worthy of death How well therefore might this instruct us to bee cautious that wee no longer abuse the patience of our God but now presently revert from our evill waies and turne unto his blessed Majestie for God himself tells us My spirit saith he shall not alwaies strive with man Gen. 6.3 When God would prescribe repentance to that spacious citie of Ninive Ion. 3.4 he offords it but forty daies Yet forty dayes and Ninive shall be destroyed And to his owne particular people hee limits them onely a moneth A moneth saith he shall devoure them with their portions Hos 5.7 Oh that then wee would even now returne from our evill waies and turne to this loving God abusing his patience no longer for wee have his own word Zach. 1.3 Turne unto me saith the Lord of Hostes and I will turne unto you Oh if we turne to him with mourfull hearts deploring our transgressions how soone will hee turne to us speaking peace to our soules and consciences Psal 51.17 for a contrite spirit is a sacrifice unto God yea these Christ himselfe invites Come unto mee all yee that are wearie and laden you that growne under the burthen of your transgressions and I will refresh you Mat. 11.28 I will speake peace to your soules and comfort to your consciences But if we will yet bee so pernicious as to despise the patience and long sufferance of our God by which he would lead us to repentance Rom. 2.4 oh then remember wee what Salomon tells us Eccle. 8.12 13. that though a sinner doe evill an hundred times and God prolong his daies c. yet it shall not bee well with the wicked c. God will not alwaies spare him Aug. Tunc Deus iâ—ascitur quando non irascitur Gen. 19.23 24 for as Austine speakes then is God angry when hee seemes not to bee angry We may see that when the Sunne did rise upon Sodome and there was no expectation of judgement then the Heavens were opened then fire and brimstone was poured out upon it utterly to destroy it Mat. 3.10 Oh take we knowledge therefore that now the axe is laid unto the root of the tree if we will yet bring forth no fruit no true repentance for sinne but wee will still abuse the patience of our God and still commit things worthy of death that it is just with him to hew us downe and cast us into the fire even eternall fire never to bee extinguished And thus much for the second point the patience of God in executing revenge upon the wicked intimated in this That though the Gentiles did commit things worthy of death yet God did patiently forbeare and did not presently throw them downe to death Come wee now unto the third point observed in the matter of this pollution the equitie of God in punishing the wicked exprest in this that he throws down none to death but for things worthy of death they committed things worthy of death Sinne is the cause of Gods wrath and mans miserie Esay 59.2 Your iniquities saith the Prophet Esay have separated between you and your God your sinnes have hid his face from you Lam. 3.39 Iude ver 6. Wherefore saith the Prophet Ieremie is the living man afflicted man suffereth for his sinnes For sinne the Angells were throwne downe from Heaven for sinne Adam was thrown out of Paradise Gen. 3.24 Gen. 6.7 Gen. 19.24 Cassio Tantum unusqulsqua repellitur dividitur à Divinitate quantum ejus peccata cumulantur and a curse denounced against him and his posterity for sinne the old world was drowned and Sodome and Gomorrah burned oh saith Cassiodorus so far is every one repelled and divided from the
justice when we be come to that height of wickednesse as not only to defend our owne proper sinnes but to applaude and patronize the sinnes of others Briefly since this evill is so great since by this and by manie other wayes as hath beene made knowne unto us we become partakers of the sinnes of others to the heavie burthening of our soules and the deepe exasperating of the wrath of God against us Oh let it impresse within us these necessarie dueties First of all to be cautious to work out our salvation even with feare and trembling Phil. 2.12 casting farre from us the unbridled raines of dissolute affections of all carnall presumption and securitie Secondly that we would intreat the heavenly Father to purge out of us the leaven of our corruption and daily to weaken in us the strength of sinne that doth so much presse us downe Hebr. 12.1 and hang so fast upon us that so considering our wayes we may everie one of us in our severall places both superiour and inferiour everie day turne our feete more and more unto Gods sacred testimonies And lastly Psal 119.59 Bern. Ve mihi misero cum venerit dies judicii aperti erunt libri in quibus omnes actiones meae cogitationes praesente Domino recitabuntur tunc demisso capite pro confusione conscientiae stabo trepidus anxius utpote commemorans commissa scelerorū meorum cum dicetur de me ecce homo opera ejus that we would be moved earnestly to desire him to prevent in us the participation of the sinnes of others for if as Bernard speakes in his owne person our owne proper sinnes be so grievous that they be able to make us stand before the Tribunall seat of Christ trembling and heavie with heads hanging downe for shame and confusion of conscience as remembring all our wickednesse when it shall be said unto us behold the men and their workes how much more then when the foule heape of other mens sins shall be laid to our charge which wee have wilfully contracted upon our soules and made them ours by participation How fit is it therfore that to prevent this great miserie wee would cry out with worthy David Let us not commit wicked workes with them that worke iniquitie let us not eate of their delicates but keepe us Lord from their snare even from the grins of the workers of iniquitie Ver. 9. setting not only a watch before our lippes Psal 141.3 and keeping the doore of our mouthes but guarding everie part of us preserving us as the apple of thine owne eye setting us as a seale upon thine heart Cant. 8.6 Psal 92.13 and as a signet upon thy arme that we thy servants may flourish in thy courts by a strength of grace in this life and by a state of glory in thy everlasting kingdome for ever The which pious care that wee may attaine to that glorious rest the heavenly Father be pleased to ingrave upon our soules and consciences for the precious merits of his onely Sonne Christ Iesus To which Father and Sonne with their most holy Spirit three persons and one indivisible essence be all praise power and glory of all creatures in heaven and in earth from this time forth and for evermore FINIS 1. COR. 9.24 Runne so that yee may obtaine THe Apostle in this present Chapter doth very diligently set forth beloved in our Saviour Christ how farre we are to discend from that Christian libertie which otherwise we might lawfully use when it tends to the edifying and gaining of them that be weake In which respect he saith I am made all things to all men Ver. 22. that I might by all meanes save some By which speech we are to understand that the Apostle reflects upon things in their owne nature Indifferent but not upon things Dogmaticall for when the Apostle makes speech of points of Doctrine Gal. 1.8 we may see he is of another minde Whosoever saith he shall teach otherwise c. let him be accursed Besides we are to distinguish betweene the observation of things and the opinion of them for concerning the first the Apostle was contented to give way to the weake Iewes and Gentiles to win them to the Gospell wherfore he saith I doe all things for the Gospell sake 1. Cor. 9.23 For although the Ceremonies were to end in the death and resurrection of Christ Aug. ep 19. ad Hier. as then breathing out their latest breath yet the Apostles would not presently profanely cast them away as loathsome dead carkases but would rather religiously by degrees bury them yet so The Apostles gave way for a time to legall ceremonies indulged both Iew and Gentile for edification sake not with an opinion of necessity but that by this indulgence they might the better win them to the truth of the Gospell lest contrary to our Saviours example they should have quenched the smoking flax and broken the bruised reed Act. 16.3 Gal. 2.3 Rom. 14.19 Gal. 4 10 11. 1. Tim 4.1.3 as they did it for edification sake to draw on the weake and ignorant to entertaine the Gospell which was yet but in the cradle of infancie but not with any opinion of necessity as if they were necessary to salvation or to give way to the stubborne to whom the truth was cleerly revealed but yet would wilfully refuse it for although for avoyding of offence hee did circumcise Timothy yet hee utterly refused to circumcise Titus when it was urged as a matter of necessitie Hence it was that writing to the Romanes he permitteth free liberty concerning meats and observations of daies as things indifferent in their owne nature either to be used or not to bee used according as the strength of their conscience did perswade them for the conserving of peace and the edifying one of another But in his Epistle to the Galathians hee vehemently reproves this libertie because they observed it with an opinion of necessitie as being necessary to iustification and to obtaine salvation Hence it was that the Apostle to Timothy doth call the abstinence from meates the doctrine of Divells that is being commanded and inioyned as a necessarie part of Gods worship From whence we may see it cleer that the Apostle made himselfe all to all concerning things in their owne nature indifferent for edification sake to gaine the weake and that for a time onely untill the Gospell were more cleerly knowne unto them but not in points of doctrine or with any opinion of necessitie as if they were any part of Gods worship or necessarie to salvation In which the Apostle gives us this generall instruction That we use our Christian libertie not scandalously but to the edification of others And now the Apostle having shewed his practice he comes to this worthy Morall exhortation Runne so that yee may obtaine as if he should say Strive and contend so to frame all your passages to the glorie of God
and the benefite of others that you may at length possesse a Crowne of immortall glorie Thus beloved you see the scope of the Apostle you see his worthy exhortation most fit to be recorded in the soule of every Christian Run so that ye may obtaine In which I might consider the action and the limitation thereof the action in the word Runne the limitation in these wordes so that yee may obtaine or we may consider in them the materiall the formall and the finall the materiall in the word Runne the formall Runne so the finall that yee may obtain or if this be too prolixe we may by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bury the finall in the formall and so present unto you onely matter and forme the matter in the word Runne the forme so that yee may obtaine And first for the matter Runne Which I may consider first in the abstract as it implies a Race secondly in the concrete with the coherence of the Text as it implies a certaine speciall kinde of Race and first for it in the abstract The state of man in this world may fitly bee compared to a Race whether wee respect quantitie or qualitie the naturall life of man or his corrupted nature First Aug. Quid est vita praesens nisi quidam cursus ad mortem Chrysost in Ps the naturall life of man what is it but a speedy Race that is soone run Oh saith Augustine what is this present life but a certaine course unto death Every step wee tread saith Chrysostome doth tend unto a privation therfore Iob concludes My daies saith he are more swift than a Runner Iob 9 25 26. they have fled away and seene no good thing they are passed as the most swift ships and as the Eagle that flieth to the prey Hence it is that in the seventh of his Historie he compares the life of man to a hireling Iob 7.1 and in the foureteenth Iob 14.2 unto a flower and a shadow which doe soone passe away and is of no continuance And Moses compares it to a dreame Psal 90.5.9 that is soone had and soone forgotten and to a word that doth fade and vanish away in the very sound therof yea God himselfe bids the Prophet Esay proclaime to the world that this vitall power it is but as grasse that doth soone wither way Esay 40.6 Cry c. that all flesh is grasse and all the glorie thereof as the flower of the field So that we see it cleer that the state of man in respect of his naturall life may well bee said to bee as a swift Race that soone speedes unto an end Which might well serve as a caution to the secure Nabals of these times to whom it is common with greedy pursuit to prosecute the world 1. Sam. 25.11.38 to bar their hearts against all remorsefull charitie and to involve themselves in deepe impietie without any sense or feeling of the sicklenesse of their estates Psal 73.19 which are subiect suddenly to perish come to a fearfull end Againe this might well bee a remembrance to the pampered Libertines of these times with whom it is familiar to cheere their soules in luxurie Luke 12.19 20. never considering the voyce of Gods spirit to the Epicure Thou foole this night shall thy soule be taken from thee Againe if we consider the state of man as for his naturall life so also for his corrupted nature it may fitly be compared unto a Race for how prone are men cloathed with the cloudes of vicious nature to prosecute sinne oh how swift are the ungodly unto evill how speedy are they in this Race when any are about any thing that is good oh how long are they in determination how slowly doe they bring it into action We see in divers it is long before they have so much as a determination to leave sin but when doe they proceed to practise oh how slow are they in this kinde Wee may often heare the ungodly say when God doth execute some stroke of iustice upon them Oh if we be delivered from this destresse wee will never doe as we have done but wee have seene it fare with divers of these even as it did with obdurate Pharaoh Exod. 9.27 28. who when the hand of God was upon him then he sends for Moses and Aaron to pray for him then hee cries out acknowledging his wickednesse I have sinned the Lord is righteous but I and my people are wicked then hee concludes Ver 34. hee will bee obedient to Gods voyce hee will let the people goe but let the Lord withdraw his hand of iustice but a while and hee will harden his heart againe and become more rebellious than ever he was before Such steps may we sometime behold in ungodly persons some determination to leave sinne but how intolerably slowly doe they bring forth the practise thereof So that we may see it cleer it is a long time in divers before they determine any thing that is good but to proceed from determination to practice oh how rare are they in this kinde But in the case of sinne and wickednesse we may see it farre otherwise Gen. 4.8 Cain was speedy to determine his Brothers death and hee was speedy to put it in practice Herodias was speedy to determine her cruell revenge against Iohn Baptist Marke 6.19.24 and she was swift to put it in action preferring her determined revenge before the halfe of a Kingdome Yea the blessed Evangelist doth witnesse unto us that when the wicked and bloudy Iewes had got the Coate of Christ into their hands Ioh. 19.23 24. they speedily determined what they would doe with it and presently they put it in practice they cast lots for it but oh that the Coate of the righteous should ever come into the hands of the wicked But here wee may see it cleere that the ungodly are speedy in the course of mischiefe This Salomon doth plainely confirme Their feet saith he doth runne to evill Prov. 1.16 Yea saies the Prophet Michah they imagine iniquitie upon their beds Mich. 2.1 and assoone as the morning yeelds light they practise it speedy in the determination speedy in the execution of evill Oh how great experience have we hereof in these our corrupted times wherin we may behold many not onely as the Prophet Esay speakes to draw iniquitie with cords of vanitie and sin as it were with cart ropes Esay 5.18 or as Iob speakes to drinke it in like water Iob 15.16 but to runne the Race of sinne like speedy feeted Nimshi's casting away all feare of God all regard of his worship all respect of his sacred word never fixing an eye upon it but when they make it a cloke for their base designements But let these know that are so swift in the course of evill that that shall bee true of them for ever that the holy Ghost sets downe of them by
terrene prosecutions Thirdly as the third thing necessary we must run patienter patiently that so wee may obtaine Oh this it must be as it were the Anchor of a Christian soule Gen. 22.10 to make it firme and stedfast against the high swelling waves of this world it must be as a Iacobs staffe to helpe us to passe the jorden of this earthly mansion for many are the rocks and rough the passages incident in this way subject to hinder this spirituall Race Gen 14.12 It was no small obstacle that Lot did meet withall when hee was captivated amongst the heathen and all he had was taken from him Oh how rough a way did good Eliah meet withall when hee was so wearied in the passage of this Race 1. King 19 4. that hee vehemently desired an end of his daies crying out unto God Oh t is now enough oh Lord take my soule I am no better than my Fathers Ionah 4.3 Oh how rockie was that passage that Ionah meet withall in this Race when he was so perplexed that he ernestly intreated the Lord to take his life from him concluding it was better for him to dye than to live Oh how stormy and full of bitternesse was that passage wherein the Prophet Ieremy was so wearied Ier. 20.14 c. that he was forced into those deepe imprecations Cursed be the day wherein I was borne cursed be the man that shewed my Father a man child is borne unto thee Oh that my mother had beene my grave or her wombe a perpetuall conception Oh how great a neede was here of patience as an anchor to withstand the fury of this tempest But most remarkable is that worthy example of Iob Oh how many rockes did he meete withall Iob 1. fiercely affronting him in this holy Race all his goods taken from him all his children slaine in a moment Iob 2.7.8.9 his very wife offensive to him his servants rebellious his vitall and spirituall powers disturbed Iob 19.15 his body disastered from the crowne of the head unto the soale of the foote and which was most grievous his neighbours contemned him Iob 19.19 and his familiar friends became dangerous enemies to accuse him for an hypocrite as a man rejected of God to inthrall his soule in deepe despaire Oh rough and troublous passages oh high and swelling rockes but how climbes hee these why patience the attending handmaid of a lively faith becomes his stay and strong support which made him thus to conclude amidst his many miseries Iob 19.25 c. I am sure that my Redemer liveth and hee shall at the last rise up upon the earth although after my skin the wormes destroy this body yet I shall see God in my flesh I shall behold him in me mine eies shall see him and none other c. In a word many are the rockes and sinister the passages hindering and perplexing the Saints of God in this holy Race within them they have inborne corruptions strugling and striving without them they have Sathan supplanting the world inducing the ungodly some seducing some oppressing some scoffing and contemning all conspiring and combining to overthrow this Christian Race So that patience had need bee the soules continuall attendant to helpe her in these deepe distresses for as the holy Ghost speakes Psal 34.19 Many are the tribulations of the righteous but here is the comfort to settle in their soules the patient induring of them the Lord will deliver them out of all Psal 37.6 Therefore saith the blessed Prophet Waite patiently upon the Lord and hee shall bring forth thy righteousnesse as the light and thy just dealing as the noone day and hee spake it by good experience Oh saith he Psal 40. I waited patiently upon the Lord and hee inclined unto mee and heard my cry he drew me forth from the pit of perdition from the lake of ruine and set my feet upon a rocke and ordered my goings Let mee therefore conclude unto you with the worthy Apostle Heb. 12.1 Cast away saith hee every thing that presseth downe and the sinne that hangeth so fast on and let us runne with patience the Race that is set before us A worthy instruction oh let it be our direction that so in the latest period of this Race we may be able in the assurance of Gods love and comfortable testimony of our approaching happinesse to commend our soules into the hands of God to rest with him in true felicity for ever And thus wee see Beloved that as the third subsequent thing necessary in this Race wee must run patiently that so we may obtaine Lastly as the last thing necessary for the full finishing accomplishing this Race we must run perseveringly for as Hierome speakes Not to begin Hieron Non incipisse sed perfecisse virtutis est but to perfect a thing is truely vertuous Therefore though many bee the obstacles of this Christian Race yet the Saints of God will persevere they will Alciat in Epig. Nititur in pondus Palma consurgit in altum Quo magis premitur hoc mage tollit onus The Palme tree strives against all weight and riseth up on hie The more t is prest so much the more to yeeld it doth denie as David speakes flourish like the Palme tree no pressures shall totally suppresse them but they will grow as the * The faithfull are compared to the Cedar because of the validious induring nature thereof as not being subject to rottennesse or to be worne out with age Plin. lib. 13. Psal 92.12 Psal 84.7 Gen 21.9 2. Sam. 6.16.22 1. Kin. 19.2.14 Dan. 3.19 Psal 16.5.6 Cedar in Lebanon that is strongly and perseveringly they will bring forth fruit in their age for they are planted in the house of the Lord c. and will goe from strength to strength untill they see the God of gods in Sion Let therefore Ismaell scoffe and contemne never so much Isaack will persist in piety and godlinesse let prophane Michol disdaine at blessed David yet hee will dance before the Arke of the Lord to shew his humility fervency and alacrity in the service of his God Nay let wicked Iezabel threaten godly Eliah and binde it with a deep imprecation The gods doe so to mee and more also if I make not thy life like one of theirs by to morrow this time yet he wil persevere in his holinesse and will still be jealous of the honour and glory of the Lord. Let cruell Nebuchad-nezzar prepare an oven made seven times hoter than ordinary custome to consume Shadrach Meshach and Abednego yet they will never be withdrawne but will still persist in the true worship of God Briefly let the world and all the baites therof compasse about the true servants of God yet it can never totally remove them from the love and obedience of the eternall God for they will still say with holy David The Lord is our portion hee will maintaine our lot our lines are fallen unto us in a pleasant place wee have a goodly heritage This is the wisedome of the Saints of God ingraven upon their soules by the Spirit of God by which they hold fast unto their God for they know that they which endure to the end they onely shall be saved Mat. 24.13 1. Cor. 9.24 2. Cor. 4.17 they onely runne so as to obtaine that is an eternall weight of glory The which heavenly wisdome that wee may run so perseveringly as to obtaine that glorious rest the eternall Father be pleased plentifully to afford unto us for the precious merits of his deare Sonne Christ Iesus To which Father and Sonne with their most holy Spirit three persons and one God be all praise power and glory of all creatures in heaven in earth from this time forth for evermore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS