also assured of the blessing and this is that which seasons the bitternesse of all sorrowes though they were more bitter then the waters of Marrah Numb 33.8 Exod. 15.23 2. Cor. 4.17 Augustine euen the promised eternall and farre more excellent weight of glorie where as Augustine speaketh we shall haue laetitiane sine tristitia sine dolore locum sine labore vitam viz. mirth without moane place without paine life without labour light without darknesse where shall be no howling heard nor sorrow knowne but possession of euerlasting ioyes summam certam tranquilitatem great tranquilitie tranquill felicity happie eternitie eternall blessednesse in the presence of the God of glorie with whom is stabilitie and sacietie of cuerlasting life and happinesse without danger of failing or falling deceasing or decreasing for euermore 3. If theirs be the promises then haue we assurance of the blessings of this life also Godlinesse is profit able vnto all things which hath the promise of the life present and of that which is to come 1. Tim. 4.8 So that whatsoeuer we do if we be within the couenant of promise either concerning our bodies or soules our life present or our life to come Gods blessing shall be with vs. And therefore saith Moses Deut. 28.1 2 3 4 5. If thou shalt obey diligently the voice of the Lord thy God and obserue and do all his commandements blessed shalt thou be in the citie and blessed in the field blessed shalt thou be in the fruite of thy bodie and in the fruite of thy ground the fruite of thy cattell the increase of thy kine and the flockes of thy sheepe blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out the Lord shall blesse thee in all that thou settest thy hand to do the labours of thy hands the workes of thy calling yea and the meditations of thy heart For faith Dauid Psal 1.4 Looke whatsoeuer he doth it shall prosper So that we may with boldnesse send forth our prayers the messengers of our wants vnto the high Court of heauen yea and be assured that they shall be sent back againe like the brethren of Ioseph laden with the blessings of God And why we haue Gods promise that he will giue to them that aske and open the gate to them that knocke this our Sauiour affirmeth Verily verily I say vnto you whatsoeuer ye shall aske the Father in my name it shall be giuen vnto you aske and ye shall receiue that your ioy may be full So that of all other comforts that can befall vs in this life this is the greatest which cannot be taken from vs that he will heare our prayers and though our soules and consciences be troubled with cares and the burthen of our sinnes yet he hath promised to case them For so saith our Sauiour Come vnto me all ye that labour and are heauie laden with the burden of your sinnes and I will ease you And though our mouthes should be stopped yet well may we lift vp our soules to the Lord from whence commeth our helpe Labour therefore to be in Christ and he shall set thee as the seale vpon his hand and the signet on his right arme For the eyes of the Lord are ouer the righteous Psal 33.18.19 and his eares are open vnto their crie 4. If the faithfull onely haue the promises then for the terrour of the wicked for they shall haue no part in these promises but shall be cast out from the presence of God as Hagar and her sonne were cast out of the house of Abraham Gal. 4.30 Put out the seruant and her sonne for the sonne of the seruant shall not be heire with the free woman Yea and they shall not onely be depriued of the promise both of this life and of a better but shall suffer the curse of God both of this life and of that which is to come The wicked Shall be turned into hell and all those that for get God and God shall destroy the wicked for euer And for this life Iob speaketh Their portion shall be accursed on earth Iob 24. 18 And God speaketh Deut. 28.16 If thou shalt not obey and keepe all these my cōmandements all these curses shall come vpon thee cursed shalt thou be in the towne and cursed shalt thou be in the field cursed shall be thy basket and thy dough the fruite of thy land the increase of thy kine and the flocks of thy sheepe cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out Dcut. 28 20. The Lordshall send cursing trouble and shame in all that thou settest thy hand to do So that if thou be not in this couenant or promise of blessing nothing shall be sanctified from God or accepted to God he will send cursing trouble and shame in all thou settest thy hand to do Suppose thou performe the worke of charitie and giue almes although it may be good to them that receiue it yet it is a sinne in himselfe For whatsoeuer is done without faith is sinne Yea all thy goods gotten though gotten by the sweate of thy browes and the labour of thy calling yet Gods curse remaining vpon them they are put in a bottomlesse bag For to the pure all things are pure but to the impure is nothing pure This then is the estate of a wicked man cursed in life cursed in death but most cursed after death when the curse of God shall torture and torment bodie and soule for euer 5. Hence learne the estate of the faithfull to be the best and the calling of a Christian to be most honorable Put case in the most prosperous of the wicked such a one as the Prophet speaketh of which neuer had knot to his death the web of whose life hath bene altogether without trouble or molestation and let him be compared with a seruant of Christ which hath drunke deepe of the cuppe of sorrowes and in conclusion you shall finde the end of this man to be better and more glorious then his If Alexander be not the sonne of Iupiter his siluer is but drosse his confession shall be to his owne confusion Iam video me esse mortalem but a true Christian is the most honorable calling of the houshold of faith Gal. 4.26 Gal. 4.5 Eph. 2.19 1 Cor. 6.3 of the stocke and linage of Ierusalem aboue by adoption they are sonnes Saints by calling kings by deputation for the Saints shall iudge the Angels yea and reigne in the heauenly state of glory for euer Who so saw it might see great difference twixt Diues and Lazarus while they liued and who so hath not seene it shall see greater distance twixt them now Luk. 16.19.20 the one being in Abrahams bosome the other in hell torments where he which formerly knew not his God nor himselfe nor would daigne to know poore Lazarus this man which once had a world at will
ioyne their forces as well tuned Cymbals Praise thou the Lord ô my soule al that is within me praise his holy name Reason Because God created both He hath made vs and not we our selues Psal 100. And therefore are we due vnto his seruice Totum fecit saith Augustine totum exigit August He made all and therefore will he haue all not a peece of thy heart nor a roome in the heart but thy whole heart not a member of thy body or some parts of thy body but the whole man Redde Caesari qua Caesaris sunt Math. 22 21. giue him I say the whole for it is due vnto him The whole body mortified from sinne and thy whole heart purged by faith bathed in the bloud of the Lambe and cleansed by the fire of the spirit Not an old heart nor a corrupt heart but a new heart and a new spirit for which the Prophet Dauid begged Create in me a new heart O Lord and renew a right spirit within me Psal 51.10 Vse 1 1. This teacheth vs that sinne is there to be rooted our where it had beginning which is from the heart For out of the heart proceede thefts adulteries murders c. Out of the abundance of the heart the tongue speaketh Math. 15 19. Math. 12.34 the hand workâ—th the foote walketh and therefore saith Ieremy 4. Wash thine heart ô Ierusalem from all wickednesse The Prophet findeth not fault so much that euill thoughts came in but that they stayed there A foolish heart therefore is compared to the axle tree in the wheele which continually turneth and yet staieth in the wheele so the thoughts of an euill heart are not expelled but turned ouer therefore the onely meanes to cleanse our bodies is to cleanse our hearts and the onely meanes to cleanse our hearts is to let the feare of God keepe the doore of our hearts Let vs therefore consider Quid amisimus viz. our owne freedome Cui offendimus God our maker Et quò tendimus to hell and damnation Let vs cleanse therefore our flesh and spirit frequentieiectione of euill thoughts receiued diligenti euitatione of all enticements sedula repressione of all carnall concupiscence And we must do it speedily for if a garment be stained it will easily be cleansed if it be washed presently a coale will not burne if thou hold it not too long therefore we should learne wisedome of the worldly who in their generation are wiser then the children of light who if any flouds or inundations are likely to endanger their lands or houses they vse all meanes to turne the current of the streames another way and so should we turne the current of our flesh and spirit moouing vs to euill orando meditando laborando semper aliquid bone operando it a vt diabolus cum veniat iuuentat nos semper occupatos Either by thinking vpon the passion of Christ or of the ioyes of heauen or of the paines of hell or in the performance of the duties of our callings or in powring out our prayers vnto God alwaies labouring good and these will turne the current of our hearts another way 2. If we must cleanse our bodies and soules and giue both to Gods seruice what shall I say them of the Papists who will serue the Lord onely in their bodily exercises their beade-prayers worship in an vnknown tong their knocking kneeling crossing creeping crouching turnings lifting vp and letting downe their blockish Roode and kissing their painted Paxe their holy water sprinkling their going on pilgrimage bare footed and bare legged their whipping themselues on Saints eues and such their superstitious fooleries are meerely outward exercises which as concerning the flesh haue a shew of holinesse in voluntary religion and not sparing of the flesh but haue no such power Colos 2.23 For bodily exercise profiteth nothing 1. Tim. 4.8 3 3. Esa 29.13 With these may I ranke the hypocrits of our times which serue the Lord in shew and not in truth which draw neare to God with their mouthes but their hearts are farre from him such are the knee-praiers and lip-labours of our time-seruing hearers which outwardly professe Christ but inwardly Belial Christians onely in name Saints onely in shew of which Saint Bernard speakes Multi sunt oues habitu vulpes actu crudelitate lupi Bernard Sheepe in shew foxes in deede and wolues in cruelty for an hypocrite hath vulpem in cerebro miluum in manu lupum in corde a foxe in his braine a kite in his hand and a wolfe in his heart A foxe in his braine subtill and crafty to insnare and then he hath miluum in manu a kite in his fist to hold fast and when he hath caught hold he hath lupum in corde a wolfe in his heart to deuoure And therefore our Sauiour Christ saith Beware of false Prophets which come to you in sheepes cloathing but inwardly are rauening wolues Math. 7.16.17 which in painted boxes hide deadly poysons in beautifull Sepulchers rotten bones and vnder Iezabels painted face a whores behauiour and therefore our Sauiour calleth them serpents and viperous serpents O ye viperous serpents ye generation of vipers how shall you escape the damnation to come Math. 23.33 And to shew the certaintie of their damnation beside the manifold woes which Christ denounceth against them it is said that wicked men shall haue their portion with hypocrites Math. 24.51 to shew that the condemnation of hypocrites is most surely sealed Let me therefore vse that counsell of Chrysostome Hypocrita aut esto quod appares aut appare quodes Either be as thou seemest or appeare as thou art for simulata sanctitas est duplex iniquitas Counterfet pietie is double impietie first because it is impietie and then because it is counterfet making truth falshood and God a liar But as it is said Rom. 2. Non auditores sed factores legis not the hearers of the law but the doers of the law shall be iustified So of religion Non eandem profitentes sed eidem obedientes not professors but performers shall be glorified Let vs not therefore be like the fig tree which our Sauiour cursed that had leaues in abundance Math. 21. but no fruite at all for it is not the lifting vp of our eyes nor the knocking of our breasts nor the holding vp of our hands which shall stand vs in stead in the latter day but the wounded soule the sinceritie of the heart Psal 5 1.17 the contrite spirit ioyned with our outward obseruance and obedience which shal administer true ioy in the latter end And therefore let vs as the elect of God holy and beloued let vs I say professe with our mouthes and practise with our liues let vs sing in voice and with the spirit also let vs repent in life and sow in teares let vs cleanse the flesh that we may be mortified and cleanse our spirit so shall we be glorified
A DIVINE ENTHYMEME OF TRVE OBEDIENCE OR A Taske for a Christian Preached at Pauls Crosse the tenth of September 1615. by ANTHONIE HVGGET Maister of Arts and Parson of the Cliffe neare Lewis in Sussex Viuendo morimur monendo viuimus The Text. Seeing we haue these promises dearely beloued let vs cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow up to full holinesse in the feare of God 2. Cor. 7.1 London Printed by Richard Field for Francis Faulkner and are to be sold at his shop in new Fish-street vnder Saint Margarets Church 1615. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND MY VERY GOOD LORD WILLIAM Lord Howard Baron of Effingham increase of all true honour and happinesse c. RIght Honorable the importunitie of some good Christians that heard this Sermon at the Crosse hauing ouercome mee to publish it to the world I haue presumed vnworthy though it be to present your Lordship with it as being the best meanes I had to manifest my dutie and how much I honour your Lordship your zeale to true religion your honorable respect and loue shewed to schollers and to me in particular your vnworthy Chaplaine makes me hope it shall find a fauourable acceptation The which if it shall please your Lordship to grant I haue a condigne counterpoise of all my labour Thus in all humblenesse crauing pardon for my boldnesse with my dayly supplications that God would multiplie vpon you all temporall blessings in this life and eternall in the life to come I rest Your Honours most dutifull and deuoted Chaplaine ANTHONIE HVGGET A DIVINE ENTHYMEME OF TRVE OBEDIENCE 2. COR. 7.1 Seeing we haue these promises dearely beloued let vs cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow vp vnto full holinesse in the feare of God THE proeme of Moralitie holds good in Diuinitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Aristot Eth. l. 1. c. 1. omne appetit bonum and it is a sure axiome Finis bonum conuertuntur that vaste Vniuersall like that confused Chaos in the beginning Gen. 1.2 out of whose wombe were first drawn all things which were made each particular with the whole it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do endeuour their end as the smoake flieth vpward which truth is well seene in the great bodie of nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the little bodie of man which is a compendium of all this All. And hath not mortall man his supernaturall end where his soule a stranger here may stay it selfe for euer Yes sure he hath and the end is the accomplishment of Gods promises for by faith we stand and receiue in hope 1. Ioh. 3.2 Now are we the sonnes of God but it doth not appeare what we shall be c. The Apostle therefore in the precedent Chapter hauing earnestly warned his Corinthians to flee the societie and pollutions of Idolaters as being themselues temples of the holy Ghost in the two last verses he setteth downe the scope and summe of mans blissefull end the full period of all their desites euen the sweete and comfortable promises of God in Christ Iesus as namely ver 16. I will dwell in them Leuit. â—â— 12 and walke in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people And againe ver 17 18. I will receiue you Isa 32.1 Ier. 31.1 and wil be a father vnto you and you shall be my sonnes and daughters saith the Lord Almightie Now vpon the consideration of these premised promises promises he inferreth and inforceth that sanctitie whereof my text doth treate Seeing we haue these promises dearely beloued let vs cleanse c. Which words containe in them an exhortation not barely and simply propounded but syllogistically and perswasiuely inforced and may very well be called A diuine Enthymeme of true obedience The Antecedent part whereof is the Foundation and the consequence is the Building or if you will the roote and growth of godlinesse The Apostle thus layeth the case Seeing we haue these promises dearly beloued and makes the issue this Let vs cleanse our selues from c. Let vs begin as he doth that we may end as he did He begins his suite vpon a sure ground Seeing we haue these promises and followes the cause for our welfare Let vs cleanse our selues from c. Thus who so begins and ends his dayes shall die the death of the righteous and his last end shall be like vnto his Turne backe your eyes once more vpon the words and you shall find in them a grounded motiue to holinesse in which obserue the matter the maner and both are Euangelical 1. Modus compellendi dearly beloued vox verè apostolica issuing from no other lips but such as had bin touched from the Altar of the high God with the hote burning coales of zeale and loue Isa 6.6 and well beseeming the scholler of such a Lord who both in life and death did shew himselfe to be the Lord of loue 2. Causa vel fundamentum competendi viz. promissiones In which maine ground of his inforcement he makes vs ioynt purchasers with himselfe viz. Nos habemus and that of an inheritance which shall stand for euer viz. has promissiones Promissiones that is the maine thing Obiectum Obiectum the ground point of this exhortation and that we may build vpon this ground he sheweth our interest and iust claime and that is Subiectum Subiectum Nos habemus We haue these promises and that is the Antecedent the ground the reason the roote of that which followes and that which followes is an exhortation to sinceritie and sound obedience to integritie and perfect holinesse To the perfection whereof there are two maine labours 1. Remotio mali Remotio mali Let vs cleanse our selues 2. Substitutio boni Substitutio boni and grow vp c. For the former that we may take our worke with vs let vs remember the passages 1. Let vs cleanse that is the propertie of the worke 2. Our selues that is the proprietie of the person 3. From filthinesse that is the matter to be wrought vpon 4. All filthinesse there is the generalitie of the taske 5. Of the flesh and spirit there is the specialitie of the parts and powers infected Hitherto my text hath brought vs downeward the way and path of the death of the righteous Mortificatio wherein we must crucifie the old man not leaue one hoofe behind not one sinne vnsearched Mortifie therefore your earthly members c. Colos 3.5 The Apostle tels vs that he which ascended is he which descended first Ephes 4.9 and as I haue descended with you to the similitude of his death so must you be ingrafted to the similitude of his resurrection Rom. 6.5 For you must rise againe the hill of holinesse when we are rooted in humilitie we must rise and spring Substitutio boni so the text faith Let vs grow
promises of God are the ground of obedience I beseech you by the mercies of God saith Saint Paul Rom. 12.1 that you giue vp your bodies and soules a liuing sacrifice vnto God c. Where he makes Gods mercies the onely motiue to obedience for howsoeuer some do his will of compulsion because they dare do no other yet plures colligit amor and good men loue God for himselfe euen of zeale to his glory The Lord hath two ordinary Heralds of obedience viz. his promises and his threats Aut sequeris aut traheris either his mercies to allure vs or his iudgements to terrifie vs and therefore we say on behalfe of his mercies that the liberty of a Christian doth necessarily imply not lasinesse but holinesse and when we say that the promises of God are gratuitae our meaning is ex parte antecedente non consequente free on Gods part to vs for no inducement in vs to moue him to compassion but not so on our part towards him for they are done vpon condition of our obedience It is in his promises as in his threatnings they all runne not absolutely but with a prouiso expressed or at least wise vnderstood Si nisi non esset perfectum quidlibet esset Were it not for conditions and exceptions our end was present destruction Except you repent you shall all perish but the Nisi comes in like a Repriueall betwixt the sentence and the execution day and as it is in the case of threatning so likewise of promise for there is a twofold nisi of repentance and of obedience so that except we performe the conditions we haue no part nor claime in the promises The charge of Iosua makes it plaine Iosua 23. as that chapter doth dilate at large neither need I stand to cleare this point that all the promises run with the condition of holinesse for all the Sermons of the Prophets and Apostles giue witnesse to this purpose And this is the will of God euen your sanctification God hath purchased you to be a people Tit. 2.14 holy and peculiar to himselfe that you should be zealous of good workes therefore Gods loue and our obedience which God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder Vse 1 Are the promises of God the ground of obedience Then our doctrine is not a doctrine of liberty neither is the calling of a Christian a calling of ease for we preach not mercies or promises that men should liue as they list Should a malefactor contemne his Prince because he is mercifull or a sonne disobey his father for his loue and affection This I say that precedent promises can purchase no license for subsequent sinnes It is not our hope but the profession of our hope that shall saue vs. Saint Paule therefore saith 1. Cor. 5.7 Purge out the old leauen that you may be a new lumpe for Christ our passeouer is sacrificed for vs. Because he was crucified for vs let vs not crucifie him againe but rather because he was sacrificed for vs let vs sacrifice our selues for him in obedience and sanctity For Gods mercie and our obedience must be ioyned together and they that turne away obedience and faith from their hearts turne away Christs merits and mercies from their soules and they that will not weepe ouer him whom their sinnes haue wounded he shall neuer bleede ouer them that their sinnes my be pardoned and therefore 2. See the calumniation of our quarrelling aduersaries the aduersaries of the grace of God the Church of Rome which charge vs with that we neuer taught God he knowes our innocency viz. that we teach promise without obedience faith without workes and therefore that we are solifidians and teach a doctrine of licenciousnesse to all impietie But to these I say that we haue not so taught Eph. 4.20 neither haue we so learned Christ for we teach faith without workes to be a dead faith and the promises of God without our obedience shall do vs no good for howsoeuer they are sufficient in themselues yet are they not effectuall in vs. But to bring home their sinne to their owne doores to pay them with their owne coine or rather to strike thē with the rod which they haue prepared may I not say and experience beare me witnesse that I speake the truth in Christ and lie not Is not their doctrine a doctrine of liberty 1 Tim. 4.1 or rather of diuels which make merchandise of sinne as of flesh in the shambles making shipwrack of faith and a good conscience and hauing clad themselues with the figge leaues of a blind dispensation from a Popish broker they blush not at most direfull proiects but walke secure in the machinations and executions of all villany What shall I name that which is not to be named amongst Christians the tolleration of stewes and the like which yet is not paralelled among the nations Alas paruaqueror these be but trifles Seneca Audent aliquid breuibus gyaris carcere dignum To kill a King or poison a Prince to blow vp a Senate to defie God deface religion plot treasons spoile a nation these and the like are patronized among those Satanicall spirits and the actors canonized for worthies and their acts for workes of supererogation I might instance in their intended desolations in the dayes of our famous Deborah the memoriall of whose name shall be blessed for euer and their hellish treasons now in the dayes of our happie Ioshua whose yeares the Lord make as many ages and fill all his dayes with peace a Monarch for his power and a man after Gods owne heart so famous for his learning so learned in religion and religious in profession innocent from wrong peaceable in his wayes and mercifull to all if not too mercifull to them and yet did not these infernall spirits Antichristian pioners and Romish Mold warpes seeke to extinguish this glorious light and the life of the whole land vno tactu vno ictu vno nictu with one blow sulphurious blast in the twinkling of an eye to haue dismembred and crushed together the gouernment counsell wisedom learning iustice and religion of God in the whole land Oh inauditum nefas oh nefandum scelus Oh vnspeakable villanie especially to be countenanced or canonized but in the Rolles of hel or by a Pope a diuel incarnate and doth not the Pope giue libertie and dispensations for the committing of the same is not this a doctrine of libertie which doth giue libertie to make themselues as it were drunke with the bloud of so many worthies I dare be bold to say that all the Masses Dirges Trentals smoakie fumes and polluted lip-seruice and as the Apostle speaketh beggerly rudiments Gal. 4.9 or if you will cosening shifts of all the idolatrous Iesuites Monkes and Friers and adde to them all the English calues begotten by the buls of Rome cannot wash this one bloudie sinne from the Popes bloud-guiltie soule 3. What shall I say of the
will seale them a mittimus and send them to hell body and soule This then is the difference The godly say with Dauid Wash me throughly from mine iniquitie cleanse me from my sinne for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sinne is before me against thee thee onely haue I sinned and done euill in thy sight c. Psal 51.2.3 He humbles himselfe with the prodigo Luk. 15. I haue sinned against heauen and against thee ô Father of my flesh and spirit Knockes his breast as the arke of all iniquity and sighing saies Luk. 18.13 God be mercifull to me a sinner But the wicked Ieremy describes them thus They blush at nothing they haue an harlots forehead Ier. it is meate and drinke to them to commit wickednesse and Peter saith They wonder at the children of God Pet. because they runne not riot as they do and in one word in the one sinne reignes but in the other sinne onely remaines Reason 1 1. Because we haue sucked corruption from the breasts of our mothers yea not onely borne but conceiued in sinne Psal 51.5 Nemo naescitur sanctus and therefore in that we are heires in hope Non tam generatio quà m regeneratio spectanda est euery Natus must be renatus for it is written Except you be borne againe c. Ioh. 3.5 Yea and regeneration is not presently perfected but by degrees as a wilde oliue tree growing out of a stone-wall the boughes and branches thereof may be cut and corrected but the roote remaining by the sent of water will be ready to sproute anew till the wall be broken and the roote pulled vp so old Adam who remaining in the wals of this earthly tabernacle may be curbed and suppressed that sinne reigne not in our mortall bodies yet will he be prompt and readie to bring forth fruites of vnrighteousnesse vpon occasion till the walles of this earthly house be destroied by death to be raised againe more gloriously 2. Because our sanctification is but in part as Saint Paule doth dispute the point Rom. 7.22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man but I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde 3. Because by this we might be humbled with our wants and keepe our soules waiting on Gods mercy and more earnestly endeauour to be in Christ Paule for our example was filled with the Spirit and had abundance of reuelations taken vp into the third heauen and heard such mysteries as is not possible for the tongue of man to vtter but lest he should be exalted out of measure there is giuen him stimulus concupiscentiae and the messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him 2. Cor. 12.7 For as the diuell brings euill out of good so God brings good out of euill causing the wants of his Saints and their infirmities yea their sinnes which the diuell worketh as poyson to kill them to be for their welfare in his prouidence and potions to cure them for by these he humbleth them so that all things worke for their good Vse 1 1. Rom. 8.28 Is there drosse in the best Then can we expect no iustification by our workes for sinne cannot iustifie sinne and in our best actions are manifold imperfections Gal. 2.16 Know that a man is not iustified by the deedes of the law but by the faith of Iesus Christ c. 2. See here the Errour of the Catharists which hold that after regeneration none can sinne for say they As of a wilde tree the old top being cut off and new impes ingrasted it bringeth fruite no more wilde but good fruite so we being ingrafted into Christ sinne not grounding on that text Whosoeuer is borne of God sinneth not 1 Ioh. 3.9 But I answer that their Simile holds not and I put this question whether they make Christ or the man to be the stocke so grafted for we know that the fruite is good by vertue of the impe and not of the stocke if then we are the impes in Christ by their reason he should be made fruitfull and good by vs but if they make man the stocke and Christ the impe or grafts I say the new man Christ sinnes not so saith Saint Ioh. 3.9 But yet they must remember the old stock to looke to the roote which will not be presently changed but will yeeld still wilde branches bearing fruites of vnrighteousnesse 3. This teacheth vs by their drosse to purge our selues and not to take liberty to sinne because they haue sinned Because one man hath fallen into the sea and scaped drowning shall a man leape into the sea this were high presūption Build not therefore vpon their ruines for their infirmities are written for our instruction to shew that God will not spare sinne wheresoeuer he findes it no not in his Saints but doth register and chronicle their reproches to all posterities like Lots wife which was turned into a pillar of salt and set vp as examples to season others Gen. 19.26 and to giue vs warning vpon whom the ends of the world are come that whereas for them there was a cure behind the sacrifice of the Lambe which was not yet slaine but for such as shall now sinne Christ dieth no more Reu. 22.7 for his next coming shall be in iudgemen 4. Mat. 7.1 We are taught to beware of rash iudgement to condemne a man for some few infirmities as because one professor is discouered for an hypocrite therefore to censure all as if all the Apostles were to be condemned for Iudas Should a sonne despise his father because he is poore or the blind disdaine to be directed by the lame because he cannot walke with him Surely we are not to contemne the meanest gifts for in the building of the Temple all haue not the chiefest place but some square the stones some fit the mortar some carry and some place the worke Ex quouis ligno non sit Mercurius so to the building of the Temple of Christ 1 Cor. 3.13 1 Cor. 12. some bring stubble some straw some mortar euery man according to the measure of faith which he hath receiued and in the end euery mans worke shall be tried by the fire and till the end let all this be vsed to edification If none should study physick but those that could cure all diseases we should haue no Physicians and if none should serue God but those that could serue God perfectly we should haue none to serue God Which of you casteth away a crackt peece of gold or a broken siluer cup No more are we to despise the graces of God in a meane person though imperfect for he which hath receiued most hath many wants and a wise mans iudgement begins at his owne house 5. And lastly we learne not to brag and boast of our broken seruice but to be humbled with our manifold wants and infirmities When we haue preached all our liues and praied with
neuer so entire affection and laboured our callings with neuer so great diligence we are altogether vnprofitable hauing left more vndone then those we haue performed yea and whatsoeuer we haue done is in such great weaknesse Psal 143. 2. that Lord if thoushouldest marke what is done amisse who shall be able to abide it In conclusion therefore let him haue the glory in all things who giueth seede vnto the sower and bread to him that needeth 1. Cor. 9.10 who worketh in vs both to will and to do and we let vs cleanse our selues for when we haue done all we are still vnprofitable seruants Luk. 17.10 And of the Subiectum thus farre now to the praedicate wherein is set downe Remotio mali Remotio mali in 5. viz. Let vs cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit Wherin obserue the fiue forenamed passages 1. The property of the worke Cleanse 2. The propriety of the persons our selues 3. The matter to be wrought on filthinesse 4. The generality of the taske all filthinesse 5. The speciality of the parts and powers infected flesh and spirit For the first c. Cleanse which is a metaphoricall speech taken from outward washing for as filth is done away by water so by the helpe of Gods Spirit must we cleanse our selues from sinne You shall reade to this purpose diuers lawes and statutes in Israel of cleansing the Altar Exod 29. of cleansing the Leaper Leuit. 13. of cleansing the house of the Lord 2. Chron. 29. of cleansing Iudah and Ierusalem 2. Chron. 34. of cleansing the people with the gates and entrances of their cities and houses Nehem. 11. And these lawes we know were typicall hauing resemblance of things to come and the same God being our God requireth the same of vs in substance which was prefigured in these ceremonies and shadowes For the Altar is our heart Cor mundum Psal 51. a cleane heart the leprosie is our sinne which stings like a scorpion and infects like a leprosie the house of the Lord are our bodies and soules which are the temples of the holy Ghost Iudah and Ierusalem are the Israel of God which must be holy euen as he is holy and the people and their gates are we here assembled whom of no people he hath made a people that we should sanctifie our gates viz. our affections and actions through which the Spirit of grace shall go in and out Lift vp your heads O ye gates and be ye lift vp ye euer lasting doores purge the altar of your hearts Psal 24.7 cleanse the leprosie of your sinne sanctifie your bodies and soules and though Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne but make cleane and prepare the doores of your tabernacles Psal 118.19 that the King of glorie may come in Againe I finde by obseruation generally that we are said two wayes to be cleansed which I may call the former and the after labour viz. the inchoation and progression of repentance Man in the former is meerly a patient dead vnto sinne Rom. 7.18 2. Cor. 3.5 in whom dwels no good thing hauing no power to raise himselfe but euen the disposition of the will which is otherwise blindly led and captiue vnto sin it doth proceed of him which workes all good in all 1. Cor. 12.6 But in the other we are in some sort agents cooperary Dei liuely instruments to worke out our owne saluation For the former it is no more possible for a man to cleanse himselfe then to change the spots of a Leopard or to wash white the skin of a Morian The heart of naturall man is so hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sinne that except a more powerfull spirit doth incline and soften and dispose it inwardly to good a man with as good successe may plow on the rocke or sow on the shoare as by words thinke to winne a man to repentance for this cleansing it is the gift of God Ephes 2.4 and the first act thereof is his immediate hand such as all the naturall eloquence and force of man cannot effect For as the wise man speaketh Who can say I haue made my owne heart cleane Prou. 20 19. And as that cripple which eight and thirtie yeares waited at the poole of Bethesda if he had not bene helped by our Sauiour had liued and died a cripple because he was not able to moue himselfe into the waters Ioh. 5.5 so except a more powerfully spirit doth moue yea and compell vs into the maine of Maries weeping water of life we should liue and die and be damned for want of penitencie Dauid therefore for the example of all others thus teacheth vs to turne to the God of our saluation Haue mercie vpon me O God according to c. Psal 51.1 And againe ver 1. Wash thou me throughly from mine iniquitie And againe ver 7. Purge thou me with bysope c. And againe ver 10. Create in me a clane heart O God And so the Prophet Ieremie teacheth See Ez. 36.25 Conuert thou me and I shall be conuerted for thou art the Lord my God Ier. 31.18 And yet not this but the after labour of renouation is the proper and most genuine interpretation of my text Wherein through the grace of God we are become instrumentall agents to cleanse our selues And to this purpose runne all the precepts and commandements which call for our obedience and amendments Ezech. 18.30 Rom. 12.2 Isa 1.16 Turne you turne you c. Wash you make you cleane c. Fashion not your selues like vnto this world but be yerenewed c. And the like These precepts we call Euangelicall which do alwayes presuppose Gods mercifull hand to helpe whose grace is prest and readie to all that call vpon him more willing to giue then we to aske and giueth more then we can desire yea and is not wanting to any except they be wanting to themselues And to what end doth God lend vs eyes and eares and hands and feete but to see and heare and worke and walke So his grace which is giuen vnto vs must not be idle but operatiue to all good workes to adde to our faith vertue to vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance c. 2. Pet. 1.5.6 A man therefore in his renouation is not ficulnus inutile lignum like the image of Baal or the stumpe of Dagon 1. Kin. 18.17 1. Sam. 5.4 Psal 13 5.15 or the idols of the Gentiles which haue eyes and see not eares and heare not mouthes and speake not hands c. But as the sicke which was healed must take vp his bed and walke Mar. 2.11 as the dumbe the blinde the lame and the dead which were restored to speech and sight and strength and life they spake and saw and leaped and gaue glorie to God and as Paul after his conuersion Act. 9.20 must presently preach the Gospell so must we not suffer the grace of
bind sinnes together as it were with cart-ropes Esa 5.18 1. King 21 where as Ahab sold himselfe to worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord so men as beasts haue giuen themselues ouer to worke all vncleannesse euen with greednesse Eph. 4.19 some like the proud Angels feathering their wings in presumptuous pride soaring aloft til their plumes like Daedalus his wings melted with the fire of Gods wrath driue them downe to the pit of destruction some like the couetous Caterpillar deuouring the fruite of the poore mans vineyard some like the vnsatiable maltworme dead drunkē in the streets yea here may you see murder and malice runne headlong to destruction monstrous Anakims men of might Gen. 11. building a Babel their owne confusion Ester 3. enuious Hamans macerating themselues for their brethrens welfare Gen. 29. 1. Sam. 25. 2. Sam 16. Esa 37. Iudith 13. snudging Nabals and churlish Labans withholding the wages of the hireling and grinding the face of the poore cursing Shemeies and blackmouthed Rabsakeis vnnaturall Sodomites painted Iezabels drunken Olifernes Iose head and soule and all and which hath brought your sinnes to the height that an adulterous and an idolatrous religion hath still footing in your City and dwellings Surely brethren if I should totall all in iust account Dies me deficeret this day yea and the daies of my mortall pilgrimage would sooner haue an end then my labour and therefore I must be forced to vse a peece of ciuill policy Meete but with Agag and the fatlings the foule and crying sinnes 1. Sam. 15. and the dependants may more easily be reformed And as a man that aimeth at a multitude can at one shoote would only some few so giue me leaue shooting at all filthinesse to crush in peeces these two that follow viz. drunkennesse and whoredome which go hand in hand and haue kissed each other and are not more hainous then common in this City and Suburbes And for the hatefull sinne of drunkennesse howsoeuer it be but a fiction that Cyrces charmes turned mē to swine yet sure I am and wofull experience makes knowne too oft that Bacchus charmes viz. strong drinke it turneth men to beasts the soule of man miraculously created by Gods infusion and infused by creation lieth drowned in the drunkards body his body which should be the temple of the holy Ghost distempered by excessiue riot is such that his soule might loath to dwell therein and his goods or possessions be they more or lesse lent for the maintenance of himselfe and his are all hoorded in the pot and put in a bottomlesse bag The Lacedaemonians a people which knew not God by the light of nature did so abhorre this brutish sinne that their Helots slaues which they bought for villanage they would make drunken and bring them into the market place and expose them as malefactours on a gibbet that their children seeing their vncleannesse and filthinesse might thereby detest and abhorre that swinish sin But we need not buy Helots to set vp as scarecrowes to the world for eueu before your doores and in your houses may you daily see these beastly Epicures and were there not a remnant of the house of Israel amongst you to stand in the gap like Moses Aaron twixt the liuing and the dead inwardly mourning and lamenting and as much as in them lieth labouring and reforming forming these foule offences the end of this Citie would be sudden as the fire of Sodome But it is written Woe to you drunkards of Ephraim c. Esa 28. 1. Woe to them that rise vp early to follow drunk ennesse and sit till the wine inflame Esa 5.11 Woe to them that are mighty to drinke wine and strong to poure in strong drinke Esa 5.22 Awake ye drunkards faith Ioel 1.4 and howleye that are strong to drinke And thinke you that all these woes are written in vaine Then is our preaching vaine and your faith also vaine and this booke of truth hath no truth in it Hearken therefore ye men of vnderstanding and you shall heare the drunkards doome woe vpon woe shall light vpon them their posterity shall be beggers their estate consumed their name shall rot and perish their bodies odious euen to them and which is heauier then all their soules repulsed from the grace of God shall dwell with the foule and infernall spirits who as their desire was to enter and dwell in the heard of swine Math. 8. so shall these swine remaine with them in chaines of darknesse for euermore And such is the end of this filthinesse To which I may adde whoredome like Sodome and Samria sisters in impurity for gluttony and drunkennesse are the gallery and way of whoredome Venter bene pastus cito dispumat ad libidinem Gen. 19. drunken Lot and incestuous Lot both in one person at one time and they are seldome sundred for it is no thing new or strange for a person which shall first become a beast to do after like a beast It is a sinne against nature for whereas other men sow for an haruest foule fornicators and wicked adulterers which plow with other mens heisers they sow that which they dare not reape But they shall be punished both here and hereafter Here first with beggery He that feedeth harlots wasteth his substance Prou. 29.3 Yea he or his posterity shall be glad to beg a peece of bread Prou. 6.26 2. With infamie for his name and credite shall take such a deepe and incurable wound that his reproch shall neuer be done away Prou. 6.33 3. With most loathsome diseases for the most high righteous hath appointed that they which will taste the sweete of sinne shall also be filled with the gall of punishment it bringeth corruption of the bloud dissolution of the sinewes rottennes of the marrow aches in the ioynts crudities in the stomacke paines in the head defects and weaknesse gouts and palsies heauinesse of heart and stinging of the conscience 4. Yea and after all these it shall be punished with hel fire for it is writen Fornication vncleannesse inordinate affection c. the wrath of God remaineth on such Col. 3. 6. And againe Whoremongers and adulterers God wil iudge Heb. 13.4 The holy Ghost ioyneth a whore and a dog together Deut. 23.18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore nor the price of a dog into the house of God and Ieremy compareth adulterous beasts to neighing horses Ier. 5.8 And the wiseman likens them to an oxe going to the slaughter Prou. 7.22 and calles the whore a deepe ditch a narrow pit Prou. 23.27 And they that enter in to her hardly returne againe to take hold of the way of life Prou. 2.19 And in the latter end when iudgement shall bring his sinne to the doore of his conscience he shall wonder at himselfe and say O now was I deceiued Prou. 5.12 I conclude the point with that of S. Hierome O ignis infernalis
luxuria cuius materia gula c. Hier. Where he compareth whoredome to the infernall fire whose matter or nourishment are gluttony and drunkennesse the flame is feruor cōcupiscentiae Hos 7.4 as an ouen heated by the baker so is an adulterer the sparkes are corrupt speeches and filthy communication the smoke infamy and disgrace the acts adulterie fornication vncleannesse and the end hell torments Drunkennesse and whoredome with other the odious sinnes of these latter and dangerous times these are they which haue kissed each other which go hand in hand and haue made a couenanc with destruction and sworne a league with hell for the subuersion both of Church and Commonwealth O that I had the voice of men and angels to crie against them if my tongue were dipped in gal yet could I not sufficiently not bitterly enough inuey against them If there be any thing in death or hell more miserable their tongues shall taste thereof and their bowels shall be filled with the dregs thereof woe vpon woe shall light vpon them and though the Sunne and Moone haue an end yet their plagues and torments shall neuer haue end hearken and stand in awe and tremble before the Lord your God yemen of Israel how long and how loud haue we cried against these foule offences and yet who hath beleeued our report or to whom is the arme of the Lord reuealed Surely if our words take no deeper impression it resteth that you second our words with the sword of iustice And to the Honorable and Worshipfull of this assembly be it spoken to whom God hath imparted his own Name for ye are called Gods that you ioyne your helping hands to pull downe these shops of iniquitie and to stop and dam vp these stinking wels of filthinesse for if you spare and beare the sword in vaine the people shall die in their sinnes but God shall require their bloud at your hands Neither may I forget to giue some of the worthiest and most honorable in this assembly their due for the good and godly zeale they haue shewed for the lord our God on this behalfe the fame whereof hath spread it selfe into all corners of the land and it doth make glad the Citie of God I meane in punishing and purging these two forenamed vices to wit drunkennesse and whoredome together with the profanation of the Sab both may you go on like good Nehemiahs to do worthily in Ephrata and be famous in Bethlem and the Lord strengthen your hearts and as you labour the peace of Ierusalem so let your dayes be multiplied in peace and bind vp their soules O Lord in the bundle of life All that I haue further to say to you the Magistracie of this honorable Assembly touching this point is the charge of God himselfe to his seruant Ioshua Onely be strong and of a valiant courage to fight the Lords battels to cut downe sinne to roote it out and as you haue begun in the Lord so let your zeale abound and be not faint hearted in so good a cause and behold God shall neither leaue you nor forsake you till you haue in some measure purged and cleansed this Citie from filthinesse And for you my brethren let my conclusion of this point turne to you all here present and you to turne to the Lord your God o turne you turne you for why will you die ye men of Israeli consider your sinnes are great and grieuous they are the prouocation of heauen and strike at the maiestie of God say therefore with S. Peter It is enough for me that I haue spent the times past in surfetting and drunkennesse in couetousnes and idlenesse other things nay better things are now required of me namely that I liue not after the Iusts of the flesh but after the will of God Thus cleanse yea and your selues yea and cleanse your selues from filthinesse yea and that from all filthinesse and that is the fourth part and passage of my text viz. the generalitie and difficultie of the taske The generalitie or difficultie of the taske All filthinesse The Apostle dehorring from sinne dehorteth from all sinne not onely from filthinesse indefinite lest sinne should haue a starting hole but all filthinesse vniuersaliter that no sinne should escape whence note None must content themselues with the beginnings of mortification For as Moses once spake in the case of their departure out of Aegypt With our yong and with our olde will we go we will not leaue one hoofe behind Exod. 10 9. so is it euer most true in our departure out of the captiuitie of sin we must not leaue one sinne vnsearched not an euill thought must be spared for whosoeuer shall faile in one point of the law is guiltie of all Iam. 2. 10. And againe Whosoeuer breaketh the least of these commandements the same shall be called the least in the kingdome of heauen Act. 26.28 King Agrippa therefore in religion was like a meteor in the aire betwixt heauen and earth and so are all that haue a deuided heart like the picture of Ianus which looked forward and backward euen so are they halfe and almost and halting Christians But as no defectiue person was to serue at Gods altar no more shall any halting professor come in his presence The point is All filthinesse must be cleansed Which was mystically signified in the law where Moses was commanded to cut the haire of the Leaper supercilia cilia not an haire of sinne must be left The Holocausts whether they were boues oues or aues were wholy consumed to teach vs that whatsoeuer we do in Gods seruice must be done wholy So Saint Paul bids vs Put on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole armour of God for we must leaue no part vnarmed Ephes 6. And Christ faith Take my yoke vpon you Mat. 12.29 one would thinke that the yoke was onely for the necke but his yoke must we take on euery part God would haue vs powre out our hearts like water now water leaueth no sauour nor colour nor drosse behind as other licours do so must we cleanse our selues euen from all appearance of finne If we cleanse the Temple let vs not leaue the Altar behind kill both Amalek and all his cattell spare not one corrupt affection not the least sinne no not in the egge The Prophet speakes of a cake baked on the harth Hos 7. panis subcineritius baked on the one side but dough on the other luke-warme Christians which halt twixt God and Belial a little warme that they may serue God and a little warme to serue the world But the Wise man sets downe the wish of God Fili mi c. My sonne giue me thy heart non per commutationem nec per venditionem sed per donationem Prou. 23. Some lend their heart to God vntil they see a greater aduantage some sell their heart to God for a reward and God must serue them
first But wee must giue our heart freely and with a willing minde our whole heart must we giue and that continually Deut 6.5 Vae duplici cordi saith Saint Austen They dissemble with a double heart saith the Psalmist Psal 12. But this I say Cor diuisum moritur A diuided heart is a dead heart Et qui diuidunt partem diabolo partem Deo iratus Deus à sua parte discedit diabolus totum possidet and therefore giue God all or thou giuest him nothing at all yea and do it continually non Deo in iuuentute diabolo in senectute like the foolish Galathians which began in the spirit Gal. 3. but would end in the flesh In a word we may giue our knowledge to the ignorant our goods to the poore our taxes to Ceesar but our hearts only to God freely and wholy Because that as one flie corrupteth the whole boxe of ointment Reason so one sinne makes vs liable to condemnation The Apostle therefore speakes of sinne in singular Rom. 6.23 Stipendium peccati The wages of sinne not of many but of any sin is death And if we should suffer so many deaths as we haue committed sinnes yet were Gods iudgements iust and right A ship is endangered by one leake in the side and a citie surprised by one breach in the wall and a fowler catcheth the bird as well by one part as the whole bodie So sinne is like leauen and a little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe Gal. 5.9 2. King 2. one Coloquintida brought death into the pot and one dead worke of darknesse destroyeth the soule Vse It serueth to condemne the halting profession of our dissembling age wherein many will be content to leaue some sinnes 1. Sam. 1 5.9 but keepe others as Saul spared Agag and the fatlings and as Herod spared his lust and vnlawfull marriage Mat. 6.12 Ananias and Saphira were willing to bring a part to the Apostles but they were loth to bring all The yong man in the Gospel would follow Christ but he was loth to sell all so that this word all marres all Euery man would go to heauen with his darling The couetous would go with his gold the vicious with his harlots the ambitious with his braue attire c. But touch the world in these their profitable pleasant darling and bosome sinnes and you shall heare men speake as in the house of Rimmon like Naaman the Assyrian God be mercifull to me in this 2. King 5. Preach to the vsurer or oppressour That he which doth not prouide for his owne familie is worse then an infidel or against prodigality or suretiship and your word shall be as the first and latter raine and sinke deepe into his romembrance but turne him to Psal 15. where no vsurer shall rest in Gods holy hill or 1. Cor 6. where no extortioner shall enter into the kingdome of heauen or to Saint Matthew concerning workes of mercie or to Saint Luke against couetousnesse and you shall finde him eared like the deafe adder and his heart harder then the nether milstone But it is written If thy right eye offend thee that is Math. 5. if thy sinne be as deare vnto thee as the apple of thine eye yet pull it out and let not thine eye spare it or if thy right hand offend thee that is if thy sinne be as profitable and commodious as thy hand whereby thou gettest thy liuing yet cut it off and cast it from thee or if thy foote offend thee to cause thee to sin that is if thy sinne be so necessary as thy foote wherewith thou bearest thy selfe yet spare it not For it is better to enter into the kingdome of God blinde and lame and maimed then otherwise to be cast into hellfire For one sinne in the soule is like a serpent in the bosome cast it from you or it will sting you to death and as Dalila neuer left fawning and flattering Sampson till she made him a mill horse to the Philistimes so your sinne if you trust it will betray you to the diuel and he will send you with such a grist to grinde that you shall pay your soule for the tole As therefore it is said of Iob. 1. that he was integer rectus and so must we be integri sound and not hollow and recti straight and not crooked and so are all good men and euery good worke both within and without And to this purpose ought we to set God alwaies before our eies 1. 2. 3. 4. Eph. 6.6 and to think vpon iudgement and our account and to consider that eye seruice is nothing pleasing to God and to remember that as Christ gaue his heart bloud for vs so as Saint Bernard saith Iustè cor nostrum vendicat quisuum pro nobis dedit He I say hath redeemed vs and therefore ought we to cleanse our hearts from all sinne and giue all to his seruice This is the point which I aime at viz. the triall of out integrity when a man can say with good conscience as Psal 139. Try me O God and know my heart proue me and knew my thoughts and consider if there be any way of wickednesse in me or at the least as it is Psal 7.3 if there be any wickednesse in my hands Surely brethren I say to you that are the elect of God Let vs thus examine our owne hearts vpon our beds Psal 4. and in our chambers secretly and cleanse our selues from all filthinesse All filthinesse I say both of the flesh and spirit which is the last passage of this point viz. The speciality of the parts and powers infected 5. 5. The speciality of the parts and powers infected Of the flesh and spirit There was a law in Rome De purgandis fontibus and it holds good in Scripture where we must purge our hearts which is fons vitoa tam naturalis quà m spiritualis and in purging of our heart we must cleanse our bodies yea and our soules also from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit whence note Doct. We must mortifie our bodies and mortifie our soules and so giue the whole to Gods seruice Rom. 12.1 I beseech you brethren by the mercies God that you giue vp your bodies and soules a liuing sacrifice c. In stead of the bodies of dead beasts we must giue our bodies a liuing sacrifice and in stead of the bloud of beasts which was a shadow and pleased not God of it selfe we must giue vp the acceptable sacrifice of the soule and this is iuge sacrificium viz. a perpetuall mortifying of the will reason affections and members Atque haec obedientia non potest plus dare dedit enim se And therefore must we mortifie both that we may sanctifie him both in body and soule not onely saying in the outward organe of speech My soule praise thou the Lord Psal 103.1 but body and soule flesh and spirit must
of herbes then a tree and lastly hath boughes and branches wherein the fowles of heauen make their neasts And so the kingdome of heauen is oft compared to things increasing to teach our growth and progresse in weldoing if we haue faith to confirme it Lord I beleeue helpe my vnbeleefe Mar. 9.24 Luk. 7.47 Psal 129.139 if loue to increase it Many sinnes are forgiuen her for she loued much if zeale to enkindle it The zeale of thy house hath euen eaten me vp And as God hath begun and continued a chaine of his high fauours towards vs in predestinating calling Rom. 8.30 iustifying sanctifying and glorifying his Church so let vs encounter his loue with all diligence ioyning to our vertue faith to faith knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience to patience godlinesse to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse to brotherly kindnesse loue 2 Pet. 1.5.6 And thus by ioyning together the linkes of this golden chaine of his graces we must grow vp from grace to grace Reason 1. Because we are as new borne babes and as a building begun As new borne babes desire the sincere milke of the word that you may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 Now as babes which are not fed do perish and as a building begun and not followed comes to nothing it is euen so in the nursing and building of the inward man 2. Because we haue tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come and therefore if we proceede not in well doing we crucifie the Lord anew vnto our selues and make a mocke of his fauours Heb. 6.6 Vse 1 1. This serueth for the examination and condemnation of those which the world calls harmelesse men who haue set vp their pride in this viz. To do no harme But he which proceeds no further is as one that hauing a long iourney to trauell doth pitch downe his rest in the midst of the way but as the Israelits that staied and died in the desert they saw not the land of Canaan no more shall any such see the saluation of God for the breach of the law is not onely commission but omission and the wages of sinne is death and omission of duty is commission of iniquitie This I say that he which endeuoureth an harmelesse life to deale vprightly and iustly and not to defraud or wrong his brother this man is in the way to the king dome of heauen but if thou wilt be perfect Hoc vnum restat do well and endeauour thy selfe to euery good work and thus we must grow in grace that we may attaine to ful holinesse and that is the perfection of our worke and the part that now ensueth To full holinesse The Apostle would haue vs like the wise builder in the Gospel who gaue not ouer his worke till he brought it to perfection we must grow to full holinesse from whence obserue No man must content himselfe with the beginnings of viuification but endeauour perfection The Israelits gathered Manna euery day but vpon the Saboath day to teach vs and teach thē that vntil that euerlasting Saboath of rest where we shall be glorified bodies and soules we must neuer stand still in our Christian growth But as the waters spoken of in Ezechiel grew vp by degrees first to the ankles then to the knees then to the loynes and lastly to the head and as the wheate our Sauiour spoke of grew vp by degrees first there was the blade thē came the stalke after that the full corne but lastly came the haruest euen so like that water we must grow higher and higher til we come to our head Christ and like that corne riper and riper vntill the end of the world when the Lord shall winnow the chaffe from the wheate the wheate he shall receiue into his garner but the chaffe to be burnt vp with vnquenchable fire Thus we must grow vnto full holinesse Mat. 2.9 For as the starre which directed the wise men in their search ceassed not till it came to the place where Christ was and there it stayed so must we not stay in the course of holinesse till we come to heauen where God is And as the kine of the Philistims which drew the Arke of God 1. Sam. 6. though they were milch and had calues at home the one to weaken them the other to withdraw them yet without turning to the right hand or left they kept on their way till they came to Bethshemesh so hauing once ioyned our selues to the yoake of Christ and bearing the arke of his law vpon our shoulders in the way of a vertuous life though we haue many hindrances wordly allurements the diuels temptations and our owne sinfull prouocations yet must we keepe on the way of holinesse to perfection and so the apostle exhorteth Phil. 3. Let vs as many as be perfect be thus mindid Luk. 1. like Zachary and Elizabeth of whom Saint Luke reporteth that they were both righteous befor God walking in all the commandements and iustifications of the Lord without rebuke that is without iust exception to be taken against them yet to dreame of an absolute and Angelicall perfection in a mortall man was the errour of the Pelagian heretikes but our perfection is in part not wholly in respect not absolute or perfect we may be said towards men but not in relation to God There is also a perfection by way of comparison with others and so optimus ille est qui minimis vrgetur he is the most perfect man which hath the fewest faults Yea and further there is a perfection of holinesse secundùm huius vitae modum according to the measure and proportion of this life and this perfection euery good man must haue Saint Paule describes it thus Phil. 3.3 I account not my selfe that I haue attained perfection but one thing I do I forget that which is behind and endeauour my selfe to that which is before and follow hard toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus So that this is the point We must resolue endeauour contend and striue for perfection as for a prize euer be adding grace till we are in some sort according to the capacity of our humane nature perfect men in Christ Ie sus and to this our Sauiour exhorts Beye perfect as your heauenly Father is perfect Math. 5.48 neither must we desist till we come to full holinesse Reason Because non progreds est regredi and our life is like the tumbling of a bowle vp an high hil which if it be throwne part of the way or halfe or more it returneth againe but if it be throwne to the top there it resteth so the hauen of holinesse it is Olympus an high hill which we must climbe to the top for to sticke or stay in the midst is but lost labour Againe our life is as a Boate rowed against the streame where if the rowers stay it goeth backeward of it selfe so in