very character is Cholericke for it is a Locust that hath the tayle of a Scorpion and a sting in his tayle c. Reu. 9. But for Phlegmatickes there are no patternes like the Monkes whose Life in generall is paine by ease and labour in eating And in this payne and labor they expresse a wonderfull patience This is the man whom that excellent pensill of the Spirit Saint Paul describes weeping whose end is damnation whose god is their belly and whose glory is their shame And if you will see the face of Melancholy behold your Anchorite or Stillite who often by a fullen humour falls out with the world and falls into a corner and at best vndertakes voluntary temptations that hee may escape necessary ones This man also Saint Paul describes when hee calls his Religion a shewe of wisdome in wil-worship and humilitie and punishing the body And these differences haue also bred oppositions among them The Popes turning Religion to be a Pander for pride lusts and pleasures is condemned by diuers as Barnard Cassander Mantuan c. The Iesuite is condemned by the Priest yea by the founder Romanists for being too pragmaticall and the whole world cryes out on the Monckes and the Poets make songs on them But the Melancoly Christian seemes most reuerent as hee doth among vs yet they haue beene censured by men of Iudgement as Cornelius Agrippa de vanit sci cap. 62. and Barnard in Cant. sermo 35. and others who condemn that life which liues to it selfe profiteth not others and runnes into Salomons Vaesoli And no doubt by the lawes of flesh and bloud the Pope in his glory cannot but laugh at their Penury and he that reioyceth in his gayne by Fabula de Christo which was the blasphemous speedy of an impious Pope must needs thinke them mad that loose thereby eyther pleasure or profit No doubt as fitly by the Pope may be giuen to these men of penance that saying which was bestowed on the common people that sought a fatherly benediction Quando populus hic decipi vult decipiatur Againe the Philosophers had Sects agreeable to different Complexions The Epicure fitted eyther the Sanguine or Phlegmaticke the Stoicke and Cynicke the Cholericke and Melancolicke So much in all men that are meerly naturall doth the Body worke on the Soule and the Soule by the same blindnesse which it suffers from the Body hath this defect that it sees not that it is blind and therefore beleeuing that it sees it calls that an opinion which is indeed but a preiudice Now the Remedie of this Disease as of others is by contraries Surely as these Complexions of the Flesh in their extremities fight with the Spirit so doth the Spirit with them and therefore the Remedie of the Flesh is the Spirit and wee shall bee safe from the extremities and superfluities of the Flesh if wee keep our selues in the vprightnesse vnpartialnesse and indifferency of the Spirit Now this shall wee performe if wee be guided by certaine rules whereof it may be truly sayd that hee that keepeth these rules keepeth his way and he that keepeth his way keepeth himselfe in the Spirit and hee that keepeth himselfe in the Spirit keepeth his Life And most true it is that they that walke by these rules peace shall bee vpon them for they are the very Israel of God The First of these is this That euery man truely iudge himselfe his Complexion and Constitution in the outward glasse of the eye and the inward glasse of the soule so to find out the exuberant abounding and reigning Complexion and that being found to bee farre from fauouring and defending it in the things of God which is the vsuall manner of flesh and bloud But rather on the contrary let him suspect and stoppe himselfe in that way to which his inclination ouer-hurries him and condemne his errour when he goes astray and hauing condemned it returne backe to his true way Surely in this we must imitate the Nauigators The Nauigators know the right Line that leades to their intended Hauen and to that Line by the Compasse they set the course of the Shippe But if contrary windes ouer-rule them turne them from this right proposed Line to any one side then they reckon how farre they haue gone on the one side and by another returne they requite it and so bring themselues againe into their right intended way Doubtlesse our Life is a Voyage our Hauen is the Citie of God the Line of our course is Sanctification and the Spirit is our Compasse This Spirit pointeth vs our way and our Soules must resolue to run in that way But it so falls out that the tempests of the Flesh of Complexion of exorbitant Constitution carries vs aside what remaynes but that wee find out this Errour and finding it allow a returne as long and as large as our wandring But farre be from vs that foolish and dangerous Custome of those blind Soules who being hood wincked by Humour and Complexion doe make their Humors and Complexions the Guids of their Soules and not their Soules guided by the Spirit the Guide of their Humours Yea they thinke that Humor is the Spirit and so they erre by authority and are therefore farre more incurable This is to make the winde the Guide of the Shippe and not the Compasse and surely such men shal be sure neuer to come to their pretended Hauen For the end of the Flesh is Death and the fruit of the Spirit onely is Life Neyther is it hard for each man to finde out the superfluities of his flesh and to correct them if hee follow the Second Rule which is this Man must not compare himselfe with himselfe nor measure himselfe by himselfe for euery man is as tall as his own measure and he cannot thereby finde out his shortnesse or tallnesse But Man must seeke out for his patternes both the words and persons of men truly sanctified or rather the words and deeds of the Spirit speaking and liuing in them euen such whose vnpartiall vprightnesse hath wholly giuen them vp from the Flesh to the Spirit The chiefest is Christ himselfe whose vpright temper rectified and guided by an vnmeasured Spirit setleth him in a perpetuall equilibriousnesse apt vpon occasion to the effects of any Complexion yet vnapt without to be led by any of them Next to Christ are his Apostles And among them most conspicuous and most knowne in S. Paul In him shall yee see the reasonable vse of each Complexion while he chideth the Galathians and Corinthians while he reioyceth for the Romanes while he expresseth a feruent loue to Timothy and many other Saints yea to his owne Nation wishing with his owne perill that they might bee saued while he speakes weeping of those whose end is Damnation and being still one and the same man he is full of anger when Elimas resisted him and full of patience when the Iewes afflicted him And euen at this day are there paternes
his matter only striues to take away his sinne this Inferiour hath in nothing disgraced the Superiour for in the manner he hath giuen him respect and in the matter hee offers him Amendment So vpon the whole hee hath not disgraced but graced him in respectiue words and in profitable matter And surely a man so reproued may if he please be more honorable after reproofe then hee was before if by the reproofe he become better then he was before Naaman was an honourable man but a Leper and at first hee tooke exceptions to the Prophet because he came not out to him but sent him health in a manner that distasted him But if Naaman had continued in his anger he had continued a Leper whereas by hearkning vnto the Prophets direction hee returned honourable as hee was before and healthy which hee was not before Surely euery man though neuer so honourable hath a spirituall Leprosie and if a Prophet aduise him to wash and be clean by refusing it hee may continue an honourable Leper but by obeying it hee may haue spirituall health added to his temporall honour Wherefore let euery man doe that for the health of his soule which this mighty man did for the health of his body let him wash according to the words of the Prophet Christs businesse is to wash vs in this world that he may present vs spotlesse to his Father in another world As hee washeth vs chiefly by his owne Bloud Spirit so he washeth vs ministerially by his Word by his Sacraments by his Keyes for by these the Bloud and Spirit which wash vs are more neerly applyed and more fully communicated Therefore loue and embrace the outward meanes of thy inward puritie and take willingly not one but all the helpes that may beautifie thee Some thinke it too much to bee hearers of the Word of Christ and cry out that preaching indeed a foolishnesse to such but a foolishnesse that saues others hath turned the world vpside downe Act. 17.6 Another can indure preaching because hee can indure to sit at his ease while the preacher takes paines in vttering that for which before hee tooke paines in gathering but the Sacrament he will take but once in the yeere and not once except his Charitie fall out right with the time of the yeere A third will indure both Word and Sacrament and with Herod will doe some things gladly but if hee bee threatned with a binding in Heauen for vnlawfull Lust Iohn Baptists head must dance from his shoulders But ô thou man whosoeuer thou art that desirest to see the face of God giue leaue vnto God to sit thee for his presence by all his meanes of washing and clensing For there is nothing purer then our God of purest eyes and there is nothing fouler then a man of naturall corruption therefore thinke no washing too much to bring the most defiled thing on earth to the purest Essence in Heauen Beleeue that Christ knew the glory of God sufficiently for he came from it immediatly to vs and that he knew sufficiently the filthinesse of Man for hee came to wash it with his bloud and therefore let no man thinke that hee hath prescribed any thing too much to bring vs from so great a filthinesse to so infinite a Glory Wherefore let no man limite the Highest and tell him the Word and Sacraments might haue serued for his clensing but yeeld to his Wisedome which hath thought chastisement sometimes as necessary as food Therefore bee thou like Dauid and be not better then he who was both a Saint and a King and then shalt thou say with Dauid That Gods rod and his staffe doe comfort thee as well as that hee maketh thee to lye downe in greene pastures and leadeth thee by the still waters So to summe vp all Let the dispensers of Christs ordinances and his spirituall Stewards giue to all his seruants due meat in due season Let them take the Towell and the Basin wherewith once Christ washed and wiped his Disciples feet and at this day wash the feet euen the spots of his blessed spouse Hee hath told you that he did it to giue you an example if yee follow not his example you goe about to make his giuing of it in vaine Wash them with the Word for Christ hath testified Now are yee cleane by the Word Wash them with the Sacraments for the bloud of Christ and the Spirit of Christ the chiefe meanes of our Spirituall clensing are thereby communicated to vs. Wash them with the rod of censure and chastisement which purgeth out the euill by the blunesse of the wound and by the destruction of the Flesh saueth the Spirit in the Day of the Lord. 1. Cor. 5.5 And let the Flocke of Christ striue for the vtmost cleannesse and not for priuiledges of vncleannesse for as they are purified they shall bee glorified the more white wee are here in Grace the more bright wee shall bee in Glory And let euery man though outwardly great seeke to make himselfe as much within as hee is without and to that end let him incourage his spirituall father freely to tell him the sinnes that binde in Heauen that hee may bee freed from them whiles hee is here on Earth And let euery great one that meanes to bee saued account it an especiall benefit if he meet with a messenger of God Iob 33.23 which may by wholsome admonition take from him those sinnes which may loose or lessen his saluation For it is a certaine Trueth that as the more purity the more glory so the more spots the lesse glory and the greater damnation Now vnto him that hath loued vs Reuel 1. and washed vs from our sinnes in his own bloud and hath made vs Kings Priests vnto God his Father To him be glory and dominion for euer and euer CHAP. XIX The Discouery of some mayne Causes of Warres and Wounds in the Church and the meanes of their Cure THat the Church and Rebecca are alike and that the Wombe of both is lamentably peruerted into a place of wrestling griefe though vnwilling canâ—ot but confesse it because Contention is so violent that it will not suffer it to bee hidden Therefore a question as fitly ariseth from the Church as from Rebecca if it be so why am I thus Though she desired to be fruitfull yet shee loued not to bee a breeder of quarels and therefore preferred a quiet sterility before a coÌ„tentious fruitfulnesse And to this question of both there is fitted an Answer for the satisfaction of both There are two Nations in thy Wombe and two kind of people come from thy bowels one visible Church one woÌ„be and the same bowels yet two sorts of people and not two only in distinction but two in contrariety of disposition The difference of their inclinations makes a diuision in their affections and this diuision is inflamed into opposition and contention The man of flesh is Esau a strong Hunter of carnall
lusts or of present pleasures or of naturall apprehensions The man of the spirit is Iaacob a spirituall discerner a heauenly Citizen of a sanctified reason of a diuine or godly will of affections set on high But the wretched Antiquity of this contrariety and contention reacheth beyond Rebecca euen to the beginning of dayes when Time it selfe was not a weeke olde For euen in Paradise it was enacted as a punishment on the sinne of Man euen the trouble and vexation of a perpetuall Enmity Therefore as it was early in Antiquity beginning in the beginnings of Time so it is like to be laâ—e in continuance and to indure to the end of Time And no doubt these last Remnants of Time are likely to haue most of it for in them loue doth waxe cold and as loue waxeth cold contention groweth hote Therefore let euery Christian take to himselfe a twofold care One is that the more euill the dayes are the more hee striues to redeeme both his time and himselfe from the euill of the dayes As the Infection increaseth so is it fit hee should increase his Preseruatiues A second is That since in contention of two parts there is but one part that hath the Right hee must striue to bee on that part which hath the Right The Flesh hath no right to hate the Spirit much lesse to persecute it for therein Darknesse persecuteth Light Corruption Cleannesse an earthly and sensuall grossenesse a Diuine and Spirituall Puritie But good right hath the Spirit to hate the Flesh for no man can forbid Light to chase away Darknesse Purity Grosnesse Cleannesse a spotted Corruption Yet so giddie is man growne by his Fall that the Flesh iustifies it selfe in the Opposition of the Spirit and the Spirit is condemned for opposing the Flesh. And as this is done by those that are without against those that are within so is it done by those that are within one against another and in that degree of heate which is proportionable to the degree of the Flesh that possesseth eyther their Iudgements or Affections For euen within the visible church the flesh possesseth the Iudgements of many and fasteneth Errors vpon them and the flesh the whiles takes it selfe for the Spirit and therefore will erre by Authority Yea this counterfeit spirit fighteth with the true Spirit and by Religion would condemne Religion and vnder the shew of Truth striueth against Truth it selfe And if you will ghesse only by heate and vehemence you will hardly find out which is the Truth yea sometimes you shall haue the more heate with the lesse Truth For Error hath many times the oddes of contentious Egernesse which shall the lesse deceiue vs if wee carry about vs Saint Pauls little note That the true Churches of God haue no such custome as contention Yet my businesse at this time is to find out such within the pale of the visible Church not medling with those that are without and to search for them in that Dragge-Net which taketh vp both good and euill And I wish that by my finding them they may learne to find themselues that so finding themselues carnall they may striue to bee spirituall and so by beeing once found in the flesh they may euer hereafter bee found in the Spirit A first way by which the flesh becomes extremely Religious and by the Extremity of Religion extremely quarrelsome is custome For too true it is that many are Christians and this or that sort of Christians by custome and anticipation Christians I call them because they are such in the opinion of themselues and others yet must I needes tell them that true Christianitie is not fastened to the heart by custome and preiudice but it is knit vnto it by the Spirituall bands of illuminating and sanctifying Grace True it is that man hath in him by Nature an Instinct of Religion euen an Inclination to feare serue some Higher Power and this generall Inclination is coÌ„monly specificated by Birth and Education which by Custome knit a Religion to this Instinct which knot of Nature is many times mistaken for the knot of Grace Now this Religion so taken in by Nature is commonly violent peremptory and dangerous strongly opiniated of it selfe and as strongly hating all Religions different or opposite The Reasons of the violence of this Bastard Religion is diuers First because the Religion it selfe being naturall the affections and passions which are mooued by it are also natural now it is truly obserued that the motions of nature are commonly more vehement I am sure more tempestuous turbulent then those of grace Quicquid agit Natura valde agit Nature marcheth furiously in the execution of her purposes and the satisfaction of her desire But grace is little like a graine of Mustard-seed or shee is by her difference from Nature forsaken of it in her actions and affections so that the body often either tarries behind or comes slowly toward her for the seconding of her purposes or she is more orderly peaceable and temperate which is indeed the Character of her in S. Iames 3.17 A second reason of this violence may be because custome is a thing strongly rooted in the heart and the sinewes by which it is fastened are extremely sensible Therefore if you would cut away a custome you cut the heart it selfe and if you will pull it vp you pull out the heart and all with it Thence it was that Alexander could not perswade the Indians to bury their Parents hauing still vsed to incorporate them Neither could hee perswade the Graecians to swallow downe their Parents being euer vsed to interre them And heere by the way an Answer fitly ariseth to a twofold Obiection of ancient or * char moderne Pagans One is That it is a fearfull thing to see the strong diuersity of Religions in the World mayntayned by equall constancie and assurance from which eyther is inferred or deduced by the Master or Scholler that where there are so many and euery one denyed by all the rest they may bee all false because all are seuerally denyed But this followes not for first I haue shewed a reason of the manifold diuersity of Religions and the equall violence in their Professors As many Religions as Custome hath deliuered to Mankind so many are vsually retayned strongly maintayned But yet the diuersity of Errours cannot annihilate the vnity of Truth but Truth which is indeed but one may and shall stand iustified by her selfe and her children though the numberlesse variety of Errours may bee iustly confuted and ouerthrowne Though the Heathen haue as many Gods as Cities and not one of them true yet this hinders not but that there may bee one true God that made Heauen and Earth which euen by diuers Heathens hath beene confessed A second Obiection is this That Religion hath beene the Authour of many cruell outrages Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum Que peperit saepe seelerosa asq impia facta But henceforth
to bee found of an vpright euen a spirituall conuersation and their followers should wee bee that so follow the followers of Christ. Neyther must that backward reasoning be heard among Christians to argue from their own apprehensions or vertues therby to proue what is Truth and Goodnesse which is to reason from themselues to Christ but they must reason from Christ to themselues they must say This Christ did therefore I must doe so and not this I do therefore Christ did so For that were to make thy selfe Christ and Christ a Christian. Yet this many doe and from their owne inclinations fashion the shapes of paternes to themselues not themselues to them And as we must conforme our selues to the deeds of the Spirit so we must to the words of the Spirit and to doe both wee our selues must be spirituall euen the freemen of God Vpon which is grounded the third Rule which is this That euery Saint and sonne of God by the ayde of the Spirit inwardly freeing him and outwardly teaching him must striue to haue an vniuersall libertie of soule free and inclinable to the approouing of all Truthes and to the loue and practice of all goodnesse I say this is a great and glorious liberty of the sonnes of God and of them alone that their soules being liâ—ted vp from the hinges of the flesh and new fastned to the spirit thereby they haue a freedome to mooue whensoeuer the Spirit moues and to loue whatsoeuer the Spirit loues All Truthes are gladly receiued all Goodnesse is highly esteemed bee it in a Complection different yea contrary For this Freeman of God must haue the liberty both of his Iudgement and Will hee will be bound Prentise to no Sect partiality or piece of Truth or Goodnesse but will bee as large as Truth and Goodnesse it selfe And if you will know his Sect the truth is he is only of the Sect of Truth and Goodnesse And that is no Sect. For these he approues wheresoeuer he finds them in what Complexion Religion or Nation soeuer and it seemes Saint Peter himselfe was of this Sect yea God himselfe fauoureth it for Saint Peter saith that of a Truth he perceiued That God in all Nations accepted those that feare him and worke Righteousnesse Therefore henceforth Let no man tye himselfe to a part by some corporeall likenesse or preiudice of birth or education and so separate himself from the whole but let euery true Christian bee a true Catholike euen an vniuersall thing entertayning Truth and Goodnesse in all persons and Complexions yea entertayning all persons and Companies if there bee Truth and Goodnesse in them For let the great and little Sectaries Romanists and Separatists know That the name of Catholicke is most properly his whose iudgement is free to the receite of all Truths but especially and actually of the Fundamentals of Saluation and whose will is free to the imbracing of all persons indued with sanctified Goodnesse issuing from the knowledge of Truth The true Saint is a louer of all sanctifying Truth and a louer of all that are sanctified by the Truth This Saint Iohn testifies when he boldly assumes That the elect Lady was loued in the Truth of all them that loue the Truth Therefore let men boast of singularity and separation that is fearfull to mee which is to them preeminence For they that cut off Saints from them cuts themselues off from the Communion of Saints Yea let not a difference in small Truthes make separation It may bee that Complexion hath only made this difference and hath made him or thee I know not which too straite or too large but take heed that thou doe not for a difference in Complexion separate thy selfe from thy owne Brother The great and certaine Truth and mayne Goodnesse that are in him are more strong to bind thee to an vnion then the difference in small Truths and Duties be to make a Diuision Yea that great Goodnes that is in him except with the Pharisies thou thinke better of thy selfe then others may make thee to suspect thy selfe rather then him And suspect thy selfe and spare not if thou dost not finde in thy selfe this vniuersall liberty of soule which approues all solid truth and sanctified Goodnesse in any person yea loues the persons of that Truth and Goodnesse Let not the flesh part what the Spirit hath ioyned together let not the difference of bodies put a-sunder what the vnity of Grace hath conioyned neyther doe thou know men hereafter according to thy owne flesh but according to Gods Spirit But if thou wilt try whether thou doest make a true spirituall discord see whether thou dost equally make it with men of thy owne Complexion Constitution if they be voyd of Truth and Goodnesse and whether thou dost loue and entertayne any Truth and Goodnesse though he be neuer so much outwardly different that professeth it But if thou sticke at eyther of these thou art not yet a Freeman of the Spirit but a slaue of thy flesh thy loue and hatred are thy owne and not Gods And surely so it appeares in many of this kind for a spirituall hatred dwels in a spirituall heart and a spirituall heart is a charitable heart and a charitable heart euen where it hates there it wisheth that it might haue cause to loue Accordingly these spirituall and charitable haters of Vice rather then Person seeke the amendment of those that they hate they striue as much as is lawfull and possible to liue in peace with all men they attend if at any time they may recouer them from the snare of the Deuill But the Complexionary Zelots think more of Confusion then Conuersion they seeke out Reasons to maintayne a Rent and Difference and to account men of Infirmitie Enemies rather then Brethren and except a man will presently bee saued they will presently damme him But wisdome is iustified of her Children this is the wisdome of the Spirit euen to vnlade our selues of the flesh to free our selues from all the preiudice burden and bondage of it and to dwell in that pure peaceable and vniuersall spirit which entertayneth gladly all Truth and loueth willingly all Goodnesse yea where they are not it wisheth they may bee and expecteth vntill they be But before I leaue this subiect I must both magnifie and pitty the Man truly spirituall He ought to be magnified because hee that is mighty hath magnified him and hath set him in a high degree The Knife of the Spirit hath ript off the flesh from his soule and the flesh doth no more command him but he is a spirituall Freeman His soule is free from darknesse by a maruelous euen a Celestiall Light and his will is free from the bands and chaines of the flesh by a seuering cutting and absoluing Spirit Hee is taller then the sonnes of men and as much higher then they as the Spirit is higher then the flesh and by that step of aduantage hee lookes into Heauen which
this path of vertue it leades vs to Felicitie And when hee hath magnified his Philosophie to the highest Diuinitie chalengeth all the Goodnesse it hath as her seruant and addes more vnto it Now for the other two Epithites wherewith hee decketh Philosophie and whereof he robbeth Diuinitie Pleasantnesse and Power I haue fitted seuerall discourses for them yet withall respecting other faults But the Reader may set such pieces of them together as being inlayd in his memorie iointly with this may serue for an intire Confutation of these errours And that his memorie may not trauaile farre for the doing of it I heere immediatly adioyne them CHAP. III. A healing of their Griefe that are affrighted at Christianitie and runne away from it as from some terrible and vgly thing THere are some that thinke on Religion as vpon some fearfull Apparition and accordingly receiue the Image thereof into their Mindes in the likenesse of a sowre grim and austere visage And surely some Pharisies haue giuen a Confirmation hereunto But this is an especiall deceit and fraud of the Deuill to rob vs of the greatest ioy by a false feare of the greatest sadnesse Is there any more comfortable thing then the vnion of Man with his Souereigne Good Is there any thing more pleasant then light and true Christians haue in them the beames of the vppermost Light Is there any thing more rauishing then Beautie and these are delighted with the highest Beautie of the Creatour and with the lower Beauties of iust and holy men resembling the higher What delights Man more then to loue and to bee beloued and behold a Christian is the best louer and loued of the best Vertue was glorious in the eyes of the Heathen so that in regard of her they despised all labours and sufferings yea life it selfe Yet their Vertue was but of a bounded Nature as a standing Poole whose waters are by measure But the Vertues of Christianitie are continuall streames flowing from the eternall Fountaine of the Deitie and haue an vnlimited power of daily increasing I cannot I would not say all that the ioy of Christians can afford me I haue * Arté of Happâ—nesse elsewhere saued this labour Neither let men thinke but that these are matters of Fact and not of meere Speculation for the hearts of true Christians are at this day liuing Witnesses and the Sayings of the Dead cry aloud to confirme it Reade DAVID reioycing in his Psalmes and you will thinke him a man rauished so doth euery word swell with ioy prayse and exultation See him dancing before the Arke and if you bee no wiser then a very woman you will thinke him out of his wits but if you bee so wise as a good woman you will say his soule did magnifie the Lord and his Spirit reioyced in God his Sauiour Againe reade the Song of Dauid describing the extasies of loue and delight wherein the Church almost loseth her selfe as vnable to contayne them and you cannot but say that there is a ioy entered into the heart of man which cannot get it selfe wholy into it by comprehension nor get out of it by expression All the Instruments of Musicke all the Creatures both sensible and insensible are summoned together to helpe forth the vtterance of an vnvtterable ioy And how can you blame him for his soule is in the Courts of Heauen Where to be a doore-keeper for one day is better then to bee a thousand yeares in the Courts of Princes and yet most men thinke that Courtiers haue great ioy of their places Againe Gods Words are sweeter to him then the hony and you know Sweetnesse is the God of the Epicure Yea it is more precious then fine Gold and Gold is the God of the Worldling Thus a Christians ioy surmounteth the ioyes of the Naturallist euen Honour Pleasure and Profit But if this bee true you will say how comes it that so few seeke heauenly and almost all seeke earthly ioyes and perchance thou which readest it art also of the same minde Hereunto I answere That the fault is in the Taste not in the Meate in the folly of the Iudgement not in the Pearle when a graine of Corne is preferred before it To taste spirituall ioyes a man must bee spirituall for the spirit rellisheth only the things of the spirit and like loueth his like Betweene a spirituall man and spirituall ioyes there is as mighty an appetite and enioying as betweene fleshly meate and a carnall stomack Therefore the want of this taste and apprehension condemneth the World to be carnall but magnifies the ioyes spirituall as being aboue a grosse and carnall apprehension Surely the face of this world at the first view shewes vs a plaine euidence of its vnacquaintaÌ„ce with these ioyes it is so willingly soyled with the sweat of worldly labours so defiled with wallowing in the mire of voluptuousnesse so wrinkled with the cares of this perishing life They still cry out who will shew vs any good but they would haue this good shewed them in their Corne and Wine and Oyle But on the otherside if men did fully taste the sweetnesse and rightly value the preciousnesse of heauenly ioyes the World would run so fast from the World and presse so violently into the Kingdome of God that wee should extremely neede Sermons to perswade to the labours of the six dayes whereas now all Exhortations are too little toward the sanctâ—fying of the Seuenth And indeed the Primitiue times gaue examples hereof when there was plaine need of dehortation to keepe men from too much haste toward Persecution and too much flying from the World If thou therefore be as they were thou shalt bee readie to doe as they did Doe not as Fooles do who because they cannot taste the ioyes of a Christian therefore leaue to be Christians But euen because thou canst not tast them be thou more vehemently desirous to bee a Christian that thou mayest taste them For by being a Christian thou shalt taste the ioyes of a Christian whereas else thou losest thy selfe and them and sinkest downe to the base degree of a grosse and transitory creature and so of base and transitorie ioyes yea below them againe into a bottomlesse pit of endlesse darknesse But rather striue thou by earnest Prayer to the Father of Spirits to make thee spirituall that so spirituall things may be pleasing to thee and thou pleasing to him who is the chiefe of Spirits for Conformitie and Harmonie is the Law of Pleasure and Delight Therefore also on the otherside tread downe thy flesh and the taste thereof whose exaltation is the abatement of spirituall Life Taste and Feeling and whose abatement is the exaltation of spirituall fauour and discerning Another Obiection is framed by the World that Religion cannot bee pleasant because none speak more against Mirth and good Fellowship then these forward Christians and great Religionaries To this I answere That men truely wise and holy doe not preach against Mirth
Surely the Deuill is the same heere that he is in the Indies he sets as heauie taskes on them that will bee so kinde as to beare them for euen here also men must sacrifice to him the best endeauours and affections both of soule and bodie in Ambition Couetousnesse and other toylsome Vices and at last the very soule and bodie themselues must bee sacrificed in an eternall fire But bee yee weary of your gods O yee Heathen Christans and serue the true God who desires no other businesse but Holinesse and Righteousnesse and hath ioyned there with the ioyes of his heauenly and most comfortable Spirit and hath annexed thereunto the ioyes of an eternall and most glorious Kingdome And let no man hereafter be afraid of Religion because of sadnesse for by so doing he may condemne his sight or taste that discernes or rellisheth not the ioyes thereof but then whiles Religion is still one and the same euen a most glorious and comfortable thing Therefore let the Nouice or Apprentice of Religion especially desire the grace of that Spirit which is the Author of Religion to open his closed eyes to lighten his darknesse that hee may see the brightnesse and beautie of Religion and withall let him intreat the strength and supportance of the same Spirit to support stablish him in the beginnings of this new Arte and Science of Ioy both because the beginnings of all new Sciences require labour and constancie and because our Enemie the Deuill knowing the excellencie of these ioyes grudgeth them to Mankind and therefore mightily striues to tyre men in the verie entrance thereof But bee yee assured that if yee once come to be freemen in Religion being made free by the Spirit of Christ Iesus you will be rauished with the sweetnesse of God and your hearts wil pant for his ioyes as the Hart doth for the streames of waters you will bee inforced to say That the strongest is the sweetest that his ioyes alone are pure and cleare and that the ioyes of the flesh which you dranke so greedily heretofore are but puddle and mudde Though the laughter of folly perchance were lowder as the fire of Thornes yet the solid and massie ioyes of the Spirit are stronger and giue more true and kindly heate to the heart and soule For certain it is in Diuinitie as it hath beene discouered by her seruant Morallity sound ioy is a solemne thing And conuertibly may wee say Solemne ioy is your only sound ioy Wherefore let solid wise and sound Spirits seek this solid pure and weightie ioy suffering these light loose and muddie ioyes to bee as most often they are the companions of folly and brutish sensuality And herewith let your sowre Pharisies and Monkish Heraclites receiue an admonition that they doe not act Religion in the Vizard of vgly sowrenesse nor dogged austerity Religion is a louing and a louely thing and the Picture of it ought to bee like it selfe It is made all of light loue and light and loue are comfortable and amiable things cheerefully communicating themselues to others and alluring the eyes and hearts of others to behold and partake them If Religion then bee a drawer bee not thou a driuer neyther doe thou scarre away with thy grimnes those whom Religion would allure with her beauties There is a cheerfull grauitie as well as a light mirth or a lumpish terriblenesse and it were good for the paternes of Religion to looke as like it as they may I confesse one looke fitteth not all occasions but I ayme a generall seemlinesse leauing particular changes to bee framed by their particular occasions And though sorrow for sinne bee a vertue yet the publike shew of it except it bee in a publike cause is not still a vertue for it is a vertue many time to couer this Vertue Christ himselfe counselling to couer the humiliation of Fasting with the anoynting of the face But due exceptions being allowed the Christians charge is Reioyce continually he is enioyned to be amiable and of a winning conuersation that without the word some may bee wonne by their Eyes that are not yet by their Eares CHAP. IIII. That Religion is the true Roote of Valour and Power against the waking Dreames of the Philosophicall Wizard and the angry Rufâ—ian THere hath bin an ancient slander cast vpon the Christian Religion and it is now eyther nourished or reuiued that Christianity begets cowardize and kills fortitude And that it is a slander I hope it shall plainly appeare but in the meane time I desire the carnall gallant to wipe his eyes clouded with the myst of fleshly Humour that what doth appeare may also appeare to him for except he bring sight it is to no purpose for mee to bring Light As for the Philosopher hee is so wise already and broad-sighted like the bird of the Night that if I should perswade him to looke wider and clearer hee would become blinder by Anger then he was before by Error and therefore leauing him as being wise if his owne conceit bee true I beginne with the description of Fortitude True Fortitude is an habituall strength and resolution of the Minde which eyther leades a man constantly to a iust and reasonable aduenture of danger or when he is ouertaken by them sustaynes him constantly in them Now this true Resolution doth spring from Reason and by Reason is brought forth into Action So is true Valour wise and not blind for it is the Valour of a Man and not of a Beast Then heere are cut off all those rash Braueries and brutish Valours that bestow their owners vpon euery Swaggerer when hee pleaseth to call for their liues by some wilde looke or verball Iniurie Surely the reasonable Man is led into dangers eyther by Diuine prouidence or precept when GOD bids him vndertake dangers or bids dangers ouertake him Hee acknowledgeth no owner of his life but the giuer of it and he will then onely aduenture it when hee may shew the warrant of the giuer for he knowes himselfe to bee accountable and therefore will so carrie himselfe in dangers that hee may fayrely passe his account And surely a strange thing it is because some wilde beast is rude and vnmannerly therefore some honest and ciuill Man must hazard his Life or else the Countrie will not be contented For what hath the ciuill Man done why he should set his life in a ballance with a Russian If the Ruffian hath wronged him he ought to bee punished and the wronged ought not to hazard himselfe in an equall subiection to punishment with the doer of wrong neither because he is wronged in his Name is it Reason he should bee farther wronged in his Limbes or Life for in these Recreations the blind sword doth as often punish the wronged as the the wronger The wager is vnequall to lay the life of a Christian against the life of a Ruffian and farre more then an hundred to one and therefore hee may well
leaue him vpon that oddes and referre him ouer to fight with one of his fellowes which is as well worth the killing as himselfe If hee rayle giue him an admonition for his rayling and doe thou beeing a Vine beare grapes though a Crab-tree close by thy side beare crabs To see a religious Man breake out into an equalitie of Furie with a Mad-man is iust as I haue sometimes seene a dogge of the Land run into the Sea when hee hath seene a water-spaniell the Embleme of a Ruffian to leape in before him Diuersos diuersa decent But if you aske wherein this excellent Valour of Christianitie doth expresse it selfe I will shew foure glorious vertuous and comendable kinds of fighting wherein Christians excell all other and cannot be matched The first is the fight of Confession or Martyrdome wherein the fire of the Spirit fighteth for God and his Truth against bodily fire and all other torments inuented by the spirit of darknesse And herein is the very strength of God in a chiefe degree expressed when by the supportation and incouragement thereof flesh and bloud stands still patiently yea ioyfully to be tormented yea consumed for his sake who made and redeemed it A noble and heauenly courage inspired from God and ayming to God who is the beginning and end of all solid worth and excellence In this fight man riseth aboue himselfe and being ouercome by the animating spirit he ceaseth in a manner to bee flesh and bloud and is all spirit and the spirit feeleth not torments neyther is the heauenly fire passiue to the earthly but actiue vpon it A second fight is a fight of Constancie and Patience in the ordinary Crosses and losses of this life or in those extraordinary which open Persecution ceasing cease not to be cast on true Christians by the Law of the first enacted enmity betweene them and the seed of the Serpent Philosophers had the applause of their Sectaries and many times of the People but a Christian is sure to haue the enmity of the world to whose fashions his course is a professed enmity Hee had need of courage not to bee ashamed of Religion among Ruffians Mammonists and Epicures to whom not to sweare not to coozen for profit not to bee drunke is called a Vice and the Vice is called Puritanisme But euen heerein the Spirit of God hardeneth and steeleth his Seruants that their faces are like Flint and themselues like brazen Walles and defenced Cities though otherwise soft in affection and true professors of meeknesse A third fight is a fight against Lusts and Passions wherein the Battaile is terrible and difficult and the Victorie more glorious then a Conquest of the World Salomon saith That he which ruleth his desires is greater then hee that winneth a Citie And humane Reason hath sayd that he that ouercomes himselfe is stronger then hee that ouercomes the strongest walles And a secret Reason there is that aggrauates the difficulty of this fight and that is because with the Armie of Lusts is conioyned an Hoast of Spirituall Principalities and Powers and he had need of a supernatural courage and power that must make warre with a King of Spirits Surely the greatest King of Spirits must bee in vs to resist and ouercome this lesser King And indeed accordingly greater is hee that is in vs then hee that is in the World And if the greater be in vs surely then are we greater then they in whom is the lesser Now let the Ruffian or Fencerly Gallant talke of his bold aduentures on the grasse and stubble and let him glory in beeing rashly or foolishly hazardous but in these subiects of wise valour he is but a Run-away and your true Christian is your only man I will fetch a Boy or a Woman that shall challenge the field of him and the place of meeting shâ—ll bee in a fire and the quarrell shall be for the honor of his Maker and Redeemer but I tell you before there is no hope of the Swaggerer â—hat he will come thither but if he came there is great hope he will certainly runne away if hee bee not bound the faster Yet it is wel knowne that many youthes and women in this fight haue right valiantly aduentured and giuen away their liues vnto death Againe for crosses and losses fetch mee one among all Philosophers and Heathens that can match Iob for misery and constancie the greatnesse of his misery magnifying the greatnes of his constancie because though it was excessiue yet it was exceeded by it And if you examine the third kind of sighting your Christian hath no fellow for noble and valiant Conquests obtained against himselfe and the infernall hoast of tempting spirits The slaughter of his owne lusts is his continuall exercise and hee is well skilled in that difficult Art wherein no Heathen euer could match him nor any man of one only birth and that is euen of expelling Generation by Regeneration the arte of driuing himselfe out of himselfe Hee sets one foot on the Spirit and with the other kickes the flesh out of doores and by spiritual flames consumeth carnall suggestions Againe if the Deuill offer him the Kingdomes of the Earth he despiseth them if he threaten to set open the gates of Hell vpon him he is confident hee shall not preuaile against him But take the Swaggerer at this fight and hee is most commonly a Beast and a Drudge to that Enemy against whom indeed hee should especially fight Hee is led vp and downe by the Nose like a Swine or a Beare by euery base Lust and Concupiscence as a Cup a Whore a Play and a Pipe and hee durst not but follow them Yâ—a hee is so very a slaue vnto Lusts that in sâ—eed of fighting against them he fights for them and the poore counterfeit valour hee hath is at no seruice readier then in defence of one of his Concupiscences Therfore if you meddle with his Harlot or his Cup his Scabbard is instantly pregnant and your life if you please may bee at his command But to leaue these Duellists and to come to Conquerours which is to come from the killers of men to the killers of Mankind surely in leauing them I doe not leaue them for I finde their slauery and basenes euen in Alexander Nabuchodonozer Slaues they are of Drinke of Ambition of Pride and thereby most euidently appeares the excellence of Christians and the basenesse of the sonnes of nature The naturall Man conquering the World is himselfe conquered of his affections and the Christian Conquerors that which conquers the Conquerors of the World But now wee talke of Conquests perchance some martiall man wil call me into question because hee findes not heere the commendable kinde of fighting for our Countrey and Nation or some cunning Arithmetician that being able to tel foure finds yet but three of my foure promised kindes of valour Wherefore to giue an Answere to any such Question I affirme that no man hath
of Adam to bee voluntarily certain As for Necessity there is not a Necessitas actina and therefore if there bee any it must be Necessitas ociosa and surely it seemes idle to talke of an idle Necessitie For as causa sine qua non is called stolida causa so I see not why Necessitas per quam non may not bee called stolida Necessitas Seuenthly God is free to make Adam free euen to leaue him in an aequilibrious estate with a possibilitie to bee ouerâ—eighed by temptation is hee listed Hee might by his free-will haue taken the Tree of Life and Stability as well as the Tree of Death and Apostasie and so he was thereby as neere to Happinesse as to Miserie But that God should stablish him as he doth the Elect he was not bound for he that binds God must giue first vnto God now the Creature cannot giue first vnto the Creator for he must be before he can giue and euen that being which is mans first hee must first receiue from his Creator So is hee first a Debter in his very being and a man by one Debt cannot make title to another Eightly though God is said to harden yet hee doth it not by influence of corruption or supply of vice but God herein is most absolutely cleere for hee doth it by not-doing And if God doe not in sinne how can hee be accused of doing sinne if God will that Pharaoh shal be hardned let him but keep in his breath euen his blessed Spirit by which hearts of stone are made hearts of flesh and then fleâ—h will of it selfe and by the helpe of Satan turn into stone God is not the cause of sin no more then the Sunne is the cause of Ice The Sunne is properly a destroyer and dissoluer of Ice and God is a dissoluer of the sinfull workes of the Deuill But when the Sun withdrawes his beames by his nightly and winterly departures the cold hardens the waters which the Sunne forsakes So where God hideth his face and contracts his spirit there temptation hardens He doth not put the hardnes into the heart but hee leaues the heart and hath nothing to doe with it and then where God doth nothing to soften there will quickly enough be done by sinne and Satan to harden Therefore when we are hardened Let vs rather complaine that God doth nothing then that he doth something in vs. Ninthly though the Children of Adam be necessarily sinfull yet they may be iustly punished because necessary sinning came from voluntary sinning For this necessitie of sinning came not from God but from their owne Father but this free-will brought vpon them this necessity And surely if they had beene in his place they would likewise haue done the same for Adams Children would haue beene no better then their Father the print no better then the stampe When God gaue a power of leauing a righteous seede hee may call into Iudgement the seed which he finds vnrighteous and he may be angry with sinne wheresoeuer he findes it because he gaue a power that there shold bee no sinne at all Wee doe the same and allow the same and yet question what we doe and allow In a Snake and Toade we make no question whither they could chuse but bee venomous but without any question we kill them only for being venomous neyther may we excuse it because we made not their venome for neyther did God make the venome of sinne And surely sinne is like poison in the sight of God and wee may rather wonder how his mercy can indure it in so many then how his Iustice should punish it in any A Traytors children are impouerished by Lawes for the offence of his parents and when wee see an oppressor murderer or extortioner we exspect it as a necessary piece of Diuine Iustice That his third heire inioy not his estate This is the summe God is pure and righteous Man is sinfull without Gods partaking a Righteous God may punish sinfull men whose sin he hath nothing to doe with but he findes it contrary and offensiue to him Lastly in these and the like depthes of God let no man wade aboue his stature Euery Man should vnderstand according to sobriety that is according to the measure which he contayneth Let not the Homer teare it selfe in pieces by stretching it selfe to be an Ephah but let euery member for the members are different aspire to his proper fulnesse and though they reach not to such Mysteries they may conuerse in poynts of more absolute necessity to saluation and larger edification as our graffing into Christ Iesus by Faith and our growth in him by Loue the stablishing of our hearts in the hope suggested by the earnest and testimonie of the sanctifying Spirit These things are maine generall and absolutely necessary imployments and concernments in our way to Heauen and in them especially must wee spend our meditations And for the rest no doubt to their vnderstanders they are full of edification yet all men cannot ceceiue them Therefore let euery man receiue that which is meet for his measure according to that which hee hath not according to that which he hath not nor cannot haue Miserable it is to see as I haue seene it a man possessed by pieces of this secret rather then possessing them and so vttering his distractions rather then resolutions that one might pitty his amazement sooner then conceiue his meaning But I haue shewed you a more excellent way CHAP. VIII Of the small health and great vnhealthinesse of the Romish Church wherein most conspicuous is a Wenne growen to the likenesse of a Head WHosoeuer doth consideratly behold the mayne body of the Romish Church may finde therein three sorts of Religion The first may bee called Religio Curialis the Religion of the Court which is indeed nothing else but Pollicy paraphrasing Diuinity and an vnkindly froward Alchymie by which grosse things are drawne out of pure things the flesh is limbecked out of the Spirit and worldly pompe and supremacie is extracted out of a doctrine that preacheth sufferings patience and humility An inconsequent conclusion and farre vasutable to the premisses and like though contrary to the ancient Centones wherein out of the Heathen workes of Virgill is gathered the Christian story of our Sauiours incarnation and passion But these contrarily though in the same way out of the Christian and Spirituall Doctrine of the Gospell draw a Heathen Secular and Carnall Empire euen a perfect story of a Man of sinne and of one that sitteth as God in the Temple of God The Pope hath gotten a Monopoly of of heauen and earth and none may trade in eyther without some tribute to his supremacie Thus is the Scripture brought to speake the Language of Babell by a most cruell racke it is forced to deny it selfe Christ is set on worke to set vp Antichrist And whereas it is openly sayd Vos autem non sic by distinctions metaphors and
World of Action into the company of persecuting Iewes seducing and hypocriticall Pharisies yea into the winnowing of Satan himselfe And indeed generally the Apostles liues were liues of Action and liues of Passion And if these Apostles bee the foundation and Christ the Corner stone then are Actiue men the chiefest in Heauen as beeing next vnto Christ and no Contemplatiue men may euer sit aboue them for the foundation will still be neerest to the corner stone and nothing may goe betweene them Contemplation indeed is absolutely necessary and in her owne turne and time more necessary then Action as Maries hearing in the time of Christs preaching was more necessary then Marthaes seruing but the same Maries action of anoynting Christ in a due season is as famous as her hearing of Christ. Contemplation must not end in it selfe but it must proceed and the due proceeding of it is to end in Action When Contemplation ends in it selfe we may reape some pleasure to our selues but nothing is reaped to God But so it may not bee for the end of our life is the seruice of God and the seruice of God is Faith working by Loue and the fruits of Loue are good Workes therefore we must proceed as farre as these good Workes or else wee are short of the end and scope of our life appointed by God And Gregory himselfe confesseth that the Contemplatiue Life is barren like Rahel and the Actiue fruitfull like Leah euen fruitfull in sauing of soules Now Rahel pleased not herselfe in her barrennesse nor should the Church of God but it should cry as heartily though not so impatiently Giue me Children or else I dye Neyther doth Christ the Husband of the Church loue or reward barrennesse but hee desires that wee beare much fruit and the especiall fruit especially crowned with the glory of Starres is sauing of soules Accordingly Christ when thrise he had questioned Peter of his louing him Peter had thrise affirmed it Christ doth not say to Peter If thou louest mee be thou still looking on mee sit still and enioy mee and reade and thinke only of me But Peter If thou louest me feed my Sheepe Feed my Lambes which shewes that a life of Action and Edification is the most noble Fruit notable Effect which Christ expects from his Louers And accordingly shall the last Sentence be pronounced Come ye blessed of my Father not who haue continually carryed me in your thoughts and beheld mee with your Contemplations but yee who haue spiritually and corporally fed me clothed me visited me in my members Therefore let vs take heed that wee take not heauen too soone neyther spend so much ouâ— time in enioying the earnest that we abate the inheritance assured vs by that earnest And indeed which is the second thing God deales so with vs in this life that contemplation cannot be a whole imployment to Man Therefore as before it appeared to be vnlawfull now it also appeares to be impossible For well doth euery Saint of God know that the glory and comfort of contemplation lasts but some turnes and then comes an ebbe of grace a night of vision and perchance a long storme of Satans buffettings Eyther the Spirit withdrawes his glorious beames from the soule or the soule it selfe is forsaken of the body as not able to endure a long bent of high Meditations or else the flesh hath leaue to take vs downe by temptation that the height of Contemplation may not hurt vs by an equall height of Pride For the height of Contemplation is made most safe and profitable to vs by the lownesse of Humilitie and Infirmity is a chiefe preseruer of Humilitie And euen in these times though we haue not the ioy ability of Contemplation yet are wee outwardly able for Action and we can profit others when we seeme wholly vnprofitable to our selues Therefore to fall into a true moderation and indifferency betweene Contemplation and Action let this be our Rule that Contemplation nourish and feed Action but not deuoure it that we contemplate to know God and to loue God that we know and loue him to please him and serue him in the Actions of some profitable vocation We may not quench Contemplation for it warmes the soule cheereth and heateth her to action Againe wee must not exclude Action for that is to water the roote and to pull away the buds and so to preuent the fruit The excellency of Contemplation and Action is the Concord of them therefore let vs bee contemplatiue that wee may bee actiue and in our actiuenesse striue verily to expresse our Contemplation For Contemplation is then most commendable when it is expressed in deeds and not when it is meerly borne and buried in thoughts And it shall be more true glory to a true Christian amid the world to despise the world to resist it to ouercome it then wholly to runne away from it Yet briefly for caution let no man take any more to his taske then he is duely called to and his strength can beare let not the horse take on him the burden of an Elephant neither let men indanger themselues farther in secular imployments then grace giues them good hope to returne with safety I will conclude in the saying of c Gregor in Ezek. hoâ—il â— in Iob. lib. 10. c. 11. Gregorie The holy beasts did goe and returne and did goe and not returne So the Saints they goe from their sinnes and returne no more to them but in another kind of going they goe from Contemplation to Action and returne again from Action to CoÌ„templation for these continuall returnes nourish and refresh each other and it is vnprofitable or vnpossible for a Christian to continue still in one without returning to the other Thus doing we shall be those labouring Contemplators who onely are the blessed ones that dye in the Lord wee shall rest from our labours of Action and our workes shall follow vs and then our good Actions shall bee turned into the ioyes of an eternall Contemplation CHAP. X. Against hungry and pinching Holinesse a foolish craft of some that if they may saue much here they care not though they be saued but a little hereafter IT is a lamentable thing to see not so much how the men of the world but how some men of Religion doe fit their seruice for God For in these men is the greatest wonder who professe friendship and familiarity with God and yet deale deceitfully with Him So stedily doth Nature worke on her worke of Corruption in the Children of Nature though hauing vndertaken a profession of Grace yea euen in the very Children of Grace though not wholly or finally for euen Peter in something is to be blamed and Barnabas is seduced Gal. 2. Nature I say continues her old worke euen the same which in the dayes of old shee wrought in the inhabitants of the Land of Israel who being taught by the Priest to serue the God of heauen were
Holinesse Mat. 5.16 Fourthly let men know renounce as an extreme folly that temporall Thrift which causeth an eternall losse Surely if that Lord who is Wisedome it selfe commended the Steward for a Wiseman that abated his temporall Reckonings to increase his eternall Rewards hee cannot but disprayse for a Foole that man that wil increase a little perishing vanity that hee may decrease an exceeding weight of eternall glory Whereas a hundred abated heere would increase a thousand hereafter this man by a most foolish thrift will saue fifty here that hee may lose fiue hundred hereafter Ill Husbands they are in the midst of their good husbandry and the Husbandmen of this generation shall rise in iudgment against them for these will not sow sparingly that they may reape sparingly but with a full hand do sow that with a full hand they may mow Let vs therefore pray the Lord of the Haruest he that as he increseth our seed will also increase our sowing that as he outwardly ladeth vs with the bounty of his blessings he will inwardly fill vs with the bountie that giueth these blessings that partaking of his good things wee may also partake of the goodnesse that bestoweth them Then by the same goodnesse which gaue vnto vs shall we giue vnto others the goodnes of God supplying vs both within and without inwardly giuing vs the power of giuing and outwardly giuing vs the matter of giuing And to these men that are filled with this goodnesse the Mother of good Workes is especially recommended that saying of S. Paul Hee that prouides not for his owne is worse then an Infidell To such I say it belongs who are likely to stray too farre on the right hand of Bounty and not to such who most commonly abuse it for the defence of their left-handed Parsimonie This place is to limit those that are excessiuely good not to stop and bound those that are not yet good enough Wherefore goe on boldly a good way farther for there is yet a good distance betweene this place and thee except thou art in doubt of being too good There is yet a third sort which I would only name and I wish that there might be no Examples of such hereafter knowne in Gath nor spoken of in Ashdâ—d and that is when they that beare the true marke of God in their foreheads and haue ript off the Badge of worldly loue from their harts yet in some sleepe of their consciences the enemie soweth some Tares of worldly Lust Couetousnesse or Ambition Dauid sinned in one kind and no doubt men of perfect hearts sinne in other kindes and single Actions of sinne issue from them that haue an habite or rather a nature of Grace God hath left the Canaanite in vs to exercise vs to humble vs that wee may haue an Enemy to fight against before we weare the Crownes of Glory and that we may haue a patterne of our corruption to humble vs as the Valleyes before we receiue his showres of Grace and Mercy from those hils from whence commeth our Saluation What remaynes but that we fight like men for the killing of that old man which fighteth to kill vs While we stand let vs stand in humility taking heed lest wee fall and this humilitie which makes vs take heed lest wee fall will best keepe vs from that falling whereof wee are to take heed And if wee doe fall as what man lineth that sinneth not let vs rise by giuing our hand to Christ in Faith and Repentance who by his bloud washing vs and by his Spirit quickning vs will raise vs againe set vs on our feet That we may run the way of his CoÌ„mandements Neyther let the wicked in the fals of the Godly magnifie themselues and despise the other as such Pharisies vse to do for though these two did the same kinde of fact yet the fact is different The godly man fals by infirmitie as by the weight of his body or slip of his foote the wicked fals with the swinge of his will as if hee ran his head against the Rockes The godly man hates his owne fault and ariseth from it the wicked man neuer truly hates it neuer heartily forsakes it Yea the godly man is bettred by his fals and by falling stands the more strongly because the more humbly and warily And finally though hee passe by some particular frailties yet vpon the whole he is still better and growes from strength to strength vntill he appeares before God in Sion CHAP. XI An Errour that forbids men though mortally diseased to be cured by a sicke Physician THere is an Errour which though it possesseth not many yet some it possesseth strongly and this is a great mischiefe belonging to it that they thinke themselues better then others for being deceiued and so they become angry with those that would cure them because they seeme to indeauour not to take away an Errour from them but to depriue them of their Eminence Their misbeliefe is this That none but sanctified Preachers can teach vnto Sanctification and Saluation And first for a generall remedie I desire these men to consider that as in naturall so in spirituall fiâ—e there are two things of especiall and inseparable vse the one is Light the other Heate Let the heate of Nature make a mans body neuer so actiue and able yet if the eyes be shut vp so that this heate by the inward light which it makes cannot entertayne the outward light the more actiue and stirring this man is the more hee stumbles and the more hee fals Euen so in the things of Grace if a man will separate heate from light hee diuorceth those â—hat in the spirit are ioyned together and therefore it is likely that such are Saint Iudes men separaters sensuall not hauing the spirit For where the spirit is there light is the guide of heate and such are led by euident Truth not by blind violence But to meete with their Errour more particularly I will first lay my foundation and it is this An assured discouery of the true cause of mans Saluation Not to runne into by-wayes the true way to life is Christ The Way the Truth and the Life Christ our life shall appeare saith Paul and againe Our life is hid with Christ in God More particularly Christ entring into man doth abolish the olde man which is the bodie of Sinne Death and giues vs the new man wherein is included a right of Inheritance vnto Life Eternall The bodie of sinne by sinne had bound vs vnto death and by Dominon had bound vs to sinne but Christ Iesus entring into vs by his Spirit by his Death freeth vs from the Death to which we were bound and by his sanctifying Grace freeth vs from that Dominion by which wee were bound vnto sinne So from henceforth neyther sinne nor death haue dominion ouer vs but the free and freeing Spirit of Christ dwels in vs whereby we are sonnes and heires of Life Eternall Rom.
aboue the Old by writing Gods Word in our hearts which the old Law could not performe Secondly I desire that the Ministers would turne away the eyes of the people from their goodnesse as the cause of their Saluation saying with the Apostles Why gaze ye on vs as if we by our owne power or vertu had made you whole The God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob hath glorified his Sonne Christ Iesus and his power not our goodnes doth giue this perfect soundnesse Thirdly I desire that Hearers would not refuse Christ Iesus liuely offered and described vnto them though they know not the holinesse of the Preacher Let not any turne the Church into a Iudgement seat and censure their Ministers Life while they should heare his Doctrine This is to bee Iudges and not Hearers I wonder what such Hearers would doe if they had beene in Israel when Salomon preached after his many scandalous sinnes which made his Sanctification doubtfull to many But let the same Salomon aduise thee Bee not rash with thy mouth but bee more neere to heare then to offer the sacrifice of fooles Say with Samuel Speake Lord for thy seruant heareth and not Heare Lord for thy seruant speaketh and what speakes hee damnation of the Preacher Let vs rather looke on our own miseries and defects then on the Ministers and then we shall haue more mind to seeke our own cure from the Word then to examine whether hee bee sicke that would cure vs. Let vs not doubt but if the seed be good and the ground bee good it will bring forth much fruit whatsoeuer becom of the Sower CHAP. XII Spirituall Wickednesse in high places and the Remedie of it IT hath beene a great cause of the miserie of the Church in generall and of the members of the same Church in particular that spirituall exaltations haue begotten carnall gloriations and that the Flesh hath lifted it selfe vp by the increases of the Spirit as the Froth mounts by the flowing of the Water And how can it chuse but draw Misery when it procures an Almightie Wrath which Wrath is attended with an equall Vengeance And if any would doubt how it should procure so terrible a Wrath let him but behold the mis-shapen vglinesse and absurd inconsequence of this Sinne and it cannot but anger his eyes and much more the pure eyes of a most holy God who cannot abide to sowe good seed and to reape Tares to plant the noblest Vines and to gather the sowrest grapes But first let vs consider this sin how it growes and then how vgly it is when it is growne This Sin comes to his growth thus When God out of the riches of his Grace powreth on man the gifts of his Spirit by which he riseth vnto a spirituall excellence and perchance thereby to some outward dignitie then the Flesh mounts vp straight to mannage and enioy the fruits and issues of the Spirit So what hath beene gotten by the Spirit hath beene eaten and digested by the Flesh and so Grace haue beene brought to nourish her whom she should chiefly haue slayne This is the infirmitie of wretched Mankind Sinne is so fast wouen into our Flesh and among sinnes especially Pride that the Flesh most vnsensibly will bee proud when her Foe the Spirit prospers though indeed the prosperitie of the Spirit by the kindly operation of it should bee the destruction of the flesh Occidat modo imperet sayth the Flesh I will aduenture my life so there may bee that excellence by which I may aduance my Pride And as this is strong in the Roote so it hath beene generall in the Fruit it hath spred his effects from the Cedar of Lebanon to the Hisfop on the wal frō him that ascends aboue the clouds and will be like vnto the most High to the lowly shrub that growes in the humble Vale. For this very Sinne hath puft vp the Man of sinne vnto his monstrous hugenesse that he is growne to hee the king of the children of Pride and this infirmitie indangered the most humble St Paul who gloried in distresses so that hee had need of buffetting In the one the Hornes of the Lambe defend and maintaine the mouth of the Dragon and in the other the transcendence and abundance of Reuelations which were aboue the vtterance of Man might haue lifted vp his conceit to haue thought himselfe to bee more then a man And as I can hardly thinke any prouder then the king of Pride so I can scarse thinke any humbler then St Paul and therefore I thinke all men haue a degree of this Corruption and that more or lesse as they approch i◠likenesse to the pride of the man of sin or as they com neer to the humilitie of blessed St Paul And let not men altogether look vpward or outward to find this sinne either aboue or without them but let them looke into themselues and they may find as much Geometricall Pride in themselues as they doe Arithmeticall Pride in others as much Pride proportionably to their Low places and Graces as others haue to their Higher gifts and Dignities Yea it was not true only in the Time of Diogenes but it is true now also That sometimes a greater Pride below goes about to pull downe a lesser Pride aboue Yet I must needs confesse that a little Pride aboue is in this more offensiue because more conspicuous and there an example of Pride doth most harme where a patterne of Humility would haue done most good But now let vs goe aside to behold the vglinesse of it and perchance the very sight of it may serue for a Remedie What is more monstrous then that which is most vnreasonable and what is more vnreasonable then on Christ to build Antichrist on the Spirit to graffe the Flesh and vpon Grace to mount the corruption of Nature What agreement hath a carnall tumour with Spirituall excellence what interest hath Corruption in Sanctity the Old Man in the New Wherefore let the house of Israel bee the Flesh and the house of Dauid the Spirit and then Israel may truly say What portion haue wee in DAVID and what inheritance in the Sonne of ISHAI Neyther let any thinke that the height of the Flesh can be any grace or preseruatiue to the eminences and dignities of the Spirit For Pride cannot procure safety or prosperity since it drawes the resistance of God and the hatred of men But there is a Spirituall vigour and authoritie which agrees both with humilitie and eminence and this keepes men in a true state of minde free from that Pride which makes a man the enemie of God and free from that basenesse which makes a man the scorne of men For wee may not thinke of an humilitie which is opposite to the dignitie of the Spirit yee true Nobilitie of the Soule nor to dispensatiue vigor for vertues are not contrary but on that which is contrarie to a carnall Tumour a needlesse swelling a weed of the Flesh. And
surely that we may farther see the absurditie of this Pride wee can vse no better meanes for the begetting of Humility then the consideration of those excellencies on which the Flesh vsually begetteth Pride For doest thou enioy a great measure of Gods chiefe Graces Doe but as Iacob did Take but one of the least of these Graces and set them in one balance and thy selfe in the other and the voice of Humility cannot but break out of thy mouth Lord I am lesse then the least of thy blessings If with Dauid in one sight thou beholdest thy own naturall corruption misery and the great workes which God hath wrought both in thee and for thee Humility must speake out of thy mouth as it did out of Dauids Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that thou regardest him And thy Psalme shall beginne and end not in thy owne excellence but in the excellence a Psal. 8. of God Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth Surely if thou takest a true account of what thou hast receiued of God thou hast taken a true account of what thou owest him now the more thou hast receiued the more thou owest and the more thou owest I hope thou wilt not bee the more proud but the more humble Though God alloweth thee enioying of his graces yet thou owest him the seruice glory of them therefore think as well of the greatnesse of thy obligement as of the greatnesse of thy exaltation by them The more graces thou hast receiued the more seruice doth God exspect and a larger account And though the man that sits downe and swells in Spirituall excellencies seemes to be at his Rest and iourneys End yet be not thou emulous of him for hee hath taken his reward before his time The true and kindly reward of Spirituall graces is a Spirituall happinesse which being put ouer to another life which also is Spirituall he is altogether short of it who in this life indeauours to find it Hee that in Spirituall graces aymes at temporall rewards as his chiefe ends this man makes the Spirit a drudge to the Flesh he makes the Israelite to build Towers for the Egyptian he hath begunne in the Spirit and ends in the flesh and woe be to him whose end is worse then his beginning 2. Pet. 2.20 But let Spirituall honour and aduancement be vsed and employed by the same Graces by which they were gotten and let Grace then florish and fortifie most when it is most manured dressed and encouraged The higher Grace is aduanced and rewarded the more power and the more matter it hath for good workes A man truly Spirituall knowes his owne dignitie and nobililie that he is a sonne of God a Citizen of Heauen an inheritour of a kingdome and hee doth not value any worldly honour equall with this Therefore for any outward additions hee will not abate his inward excellence neither will he giue away the greater for the meaner But he sayth to outward dignities as God sayd to the Prophet Let them returne to thee but returne not thou to them He will haue outward things by a Spirituall vse to become Spirituall but he will not suffer himselfe who is Spirituall by Carnall things to be made carnall If Religion beget wealth he will not suffer the daughter to eat vp the mother but the mother commands the daughter keepes her in obedience to that which bare her otherwise it were a most notable sacriledge to take the things of the Spirit from the Spirit and to giue them to the flesh and the very prophanenesse of Belshazzar to drinke carnall carowses in the spirituall Vessels of the Temple But let vs remember the hand of God was against him on the Wall and the hand of God was quickly vpon him with a finall ouerthrow Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord let vs striue to please him let vs feare to offend him and this shall wee doe if we follow our Sauiours counsell by giuing the things of God vnto God Neyther let any man thinke it an easie thing in outward aduancements to continue inwardly spirituall or to vse outward things in a spirituall manner For prosperity hath bin found a most dangerous temptation and it requires great care and a strong spirit rightly to mannage it There is ancient league betweene our flesh and the World the knot where of though it bee cut by the Circumcision of the spirit yet the smiles and glances which the World casts on vs in outward glory and prosperity doe easily awake the loue that was layd to sleepe and entise the flesh to renew her first Friendship with the World Therefore hath hee need of the faith of Moses that will refuse the pleasures of sinne and change them for the coldnes and abstinence of Mortificatiō But let him with Moses haue an eye to the recompence of the reward and that sight will make him resolute Let him remember the good Seruant who the more Talents hee receiued of his Master the more hee increased not to himselfe but to his Master And the more Talents he increased to him the more Cities he receiued of him Let him with Saint Paul not looke on the things that are seene but on the things that are not seene because the things seene are but temporall but the things not seene eternall and then if hee be wise hee will vse things temporall for the aduancement of things eternall and not lose things eternall by a carnall fruition of things temporall To conclude if the man that hath inward Graces by those Graces haue gotten a spirituall Eminence that hee shines as a greater Starre from which the lesser differ in Glorie let him indeauour to preserue and increase his excellence as well as to obtayne it This shall he doe if hee adde one Grace more to the rest of his Graces and that is Humility For Humility is a Grace that is the keeper of Graces yea it is an increaser of them So a Christians chiefe way of aspiring is by Humility and by lownesse to be exalted On the otherside if Grace be followed by Pride Pride lessens that wherein it seekes to fasten her rootes so that the more proud a man is of Grace the lesse cause of Pride he is likely to haue for Grace will lessen as Pride increaseth Againe hath thy inward excellence receiued the addition of some outward Dignitie let the spirit that got it command it doe thou make it spirituall and let it not make thee carnall Doe not thou lose that which thou art for that which thou hast but bee thou still thy selfe and let the things of Nature bee the seruants of Grace Be thou still spirituall in thy affections in thy actions for if thou abide in the spirit thou abidest in thy excellence and if thou goe from the spirit to the flesh thou goest downe really though thou mountest imaginarily for the top of the flesh is too bad
Wine more hereafter Secondly If thy tast delight thee how much is that exceeded by the delights of the Spirit The Church confesseth that the kisses of Christ Iesus who kisseth his Church by the Spirit are pleasanter then Wine Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua sayth Dauid Hee is fayne to aske how sweet because he cannot tell nor expresse the sweetnesse of it What is sweeter then hony sayth Samson and yet Dauid sayth The Word of God being tasted by the Spirit is sweeter then hony How many Saints haue left their meat and drinke for the Wine of the Spirit How many haue beaten downe their bodies by abstinence that they might the more fully tast the Sweetnesse of God Wherefore if thou wilt indeed tast sweetnesse get thee a Spirituall tast receiue the Wine of heauen giuen by Christ Iesus the Wisdome of God For he it is that Pro. 8. calleth the sonnes of men promising to fill them with delights vers 31. And surely those must needs be the chiefe delights which issue from the taste of the Deity which is the vppermost Sweetnesse Wherfore desire thou rather to taste God in himselfe then in his Creatures for that is the highest pleasure of tasting which flowes from the taste of the sweetnesse of the Highest Thirdly If thou desire Wine for the cheerfulnesse and ioy which it breedeth know that the Spirit of God is the Fountaine of Consolation and then chuse thou whether thou wilt drink of the streame or of the fountaine The Spirit of God hath in it the ioy and comfort of Wine Yea Wine hath his ioy and comfort from the Spirit for the Spirit of God as once by miracle so still by course of Nature turnes water into Wine But there is another euen a new Wine in the kingdome of God and this is the best wine A new Wine it is to vs but not in it selfe new to vs because wee were first filled with the old Wine of our fall and secondly with this Wine of excesse and after wee come to drink this wine of regeneration and glorification So it is new to vs but it is old in it selfe as flowing eternally from an eternally from an eternall Deity This is the true Wine which recoyceth the heart not of the body onely but of the soule also to which the outward Wine connot reach This is the Wine of blessed Spirits the drinking whereof is the cause of those vnvtterable ioyes which dwel in the dwellers with God In this the Spirit giues not some grosse and bodily relish thereby to become comfortable to the bodily part of Man but in this the Spirit communicates the sap tast and relish of its owne primitiue sweetnesse vigour and cheerfulnesse so that wee doe not so much tast comfort as the Comforter himselfe In the drinking of this Wine shew thy manhood Drinke deep and true healths for with this drinking is ioyned true and eternall health The more thou drinkest of this the wiser the holyer the more sober thou art for in the same Spirit wherein is cheerfulnesse is also Wisdome and Vertue The tast of this Wine is a bequeath of dying Christ Iesus to his beloued Spouse the Church whom he comforteth and supporteth with the flagons thereof in his absence before the Day of his great Marriage where it shall bee giuen in fulnesse And the comforts of it are sufficient to strēgthen vs against all sorts of griefe yea they make vs cheerfully to scorne and despise the pleasures of sinne they make vs to looke on death with disdayne as vpon a Snake whose fling and teeth are pulled out Death where is thy sting Graue where is thy victory They make vs to long for heauen and stirre vp the stomacke of the soule by these measured tastes of God to tast him perfectly in a most blessed full and eternall fruition But perchance thou wilt tell mee that thou tastest no such sweetnesse in God thou hast heard him spoken of in Churches and Pulpits and thou sayest thy prayers as others doe and yet thou perceiuest no such matter as I talke of Surely I must confesse This Wine is not for euery mouth neyther is euery mouth for this Wine The holy Wine must be put into holy Vessels for it is farre holyer then the shew-bread for the receiuing whereof Abimelech would that the young mens Vessels should be cleane The corrupt and lustfull Flesh as it tasteth not this Wine no more doth this Wine indure to be tasted by it this fruit of the tree of Life cannot be receiued but where the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and euill is spit out and denyed The louers of Egyptian Onions are no true tasters of celestiall Manna therfore striue to cast out the old Man corrupt with deceiuable Lusts which makes thy taste grosse and earthly and then thou shalt taste the sweetnesse of God and his consolations And hauing tasted it thou shalt despise the tast of thy former gluttonies and drinkings and thou shalt say with Dauid Thou hast put more ioy into my heart then formerly there was when the Oyle and Wine were plentifull This is a priuiledge of Saints bee thou a Saint and inioy the priuiledge Thirdly for drunkennesse had need to be haled out with a three-fold cord behold a benefit of this Spirituall wine which the other wanteth yea behold the same thing commendable in the one damnable in the other and that is excesse Thou must drinke too much of the outward wine but canst not drinke too much of the inward and therfore if thou loue safety better then danger loue the wine of the Spirit rather then the fruit of the Vine If thou knowest a Physitian that heales all that he meddles with and another that hath killed as many as he hath vndertaken doest thou not shew thy folly to preferre the killer before the sauer Surely the spirit saues all that it vndertakes and wine hath slaine many soules and bodies by excesse O loue life and seeke not death by the errours of this life Drinke the Spirit without feare but drink wine still in feare thou mayst not feare in the drinking of the spirit except thou wilt feare increase of comfort of light of holinesse Thou canst not drinke freely of wine without feare except thou do not feare the losse of light the losse of reason of goodnesse of thy whole selfe The spirit by how much it groweth in thee the wiser the better the more larger thou art But by how much more thou drinkest the wine of excesse the foolisher the wickeder the lesser thou art Therefore when thou takest the Cup of Saluation open thy mouth wide that it may bee largely filled but when thou takest thy cup of wine know it is a cup of danger and let in danger as sparely as thou mayst It is the saying of a Wiseman Hee that loueth danger shall perish in it and surely hee that loueth wine loueth danger and therefore hee that lowine is likely
let the Obiector cease from this Language for here I haue brought him to the Damme of these Monsters This customary naturall vnnaturall Religion is the very Mother of them For Nature hauing receiued a Religion by custome this Religion like a Spirit possesseth it and driues it headlong like the Gadaren Swine into desperate actions Nature growes mad vpon a Religion knit by custome to her instinct and in her violence shee thinkes the Extremity of Deuotion to be the very Marke of Perfection Therfore shee goes furiously onward and ouerthrowes all that stands in her way thinking then shee pleaseth God best when she is most furious in his seruice and therefore sometimes she will do Massacres and Murders that shee may bee sure to haue serued him sufficiently So mad and brutish is this carnall Deuotion that it thinkes to please the Iudge of the World by those cruelties which a iust man doth lothe and detest And detestable as it is to good men so much more to true Religion which is the Doctrine of Goodnesse and hath beene before described to be peaceable and temperate Therefore farre bee it from any man to accuse true Religion of that which it selfe doth accuse But let this Brat bee brought to the true Dam of it and that shall be found to be the flesh but neuer the Spirit The Spirit maketh Sheepe and not Wolues 〈◊〉 hath armed many with Patience to suffer Tyranny but hath taught none to bee Tyrants Quem videris gaudentem sanguine Lupus est Whosoeuer delights in bloud for conscience sake is a Limbe of Antichrist the great Wolfe of of the Church the Flocke of Christ. But let vs hasten from this diseased Religion and seeke out a Remedy euen a Remedy for this Deuotion of Custome which Custome is an equall Nurse to all Religions A Nurse it is to all Religions a like Mother of most vnlike Children The vnity of the Mother cannot reconcile the Differences of the Children but like the Earth shee nourisheth all Herbes euen of contrary qualities But this while the Contention of these Children is most foolish for each striueth to be right heire when not one of them is lawfully begotten Therefore a first Remedy for these Bastard Religions is to know the Whoredome of their Mother and a second to know the true Father of true Religion The falshood of the Mother hath been already expressed but it must be known as well as told they must take notice of it as well as heare of it And let them take this for an assured signe of a Whorish Mother of Religion when they finde the same and no other Fountaine of Religion but that which will serue to beget a Religion contrary to that which is held If thou holdest thy Religion because thou art accustomed to it for carnall Reasons and by a common hand thou holdest not Religion truely yea though thou hold the true Religion But because Truth best reproueth Falshood and Rightnes Crookednesse I will set forth the true Father of true Religion that the Adulterous Mother may the better bee knowne and auoyded God is a Spirit and therefore the Religion that pleaseth God must be spirituall But man is carnall defiled by a carnall Generation and therefore can neyther know nor giue vnto God a spirituall Seruice Therefore is it needâ—ull that the supreme Spirit teach this carnall man a spirituall seruice which his Carnality cannot find out Yea farther it were 〈…〉 giue him a spirituall Vnderstanding to discerne and approue a spirituall Seruice being â—aught vnto him which flâ—sh and bloud cannot doe So wee see there is need of a spirituall Doctrine and a spirituall Mind Man hath nothing in him to please God withall Hee is all Darknesse and Pollution therefore God must send from Heauen thaâ— which hee will haue man to send acceptably vnto Heauen Man that is now most contrary to God must be conformed to him before hee can receiue from God and returne to God a Seruice conformable vnto God So it remaynes that true Religion must bee a spirituall Doctrine taught by God vnto Man and the true meanes of receiuing a spiritual Doctrine is a spiritual Mind This is the right hand of Religion and Nature is the left and these right-handed Men are the only true receiuers of true Religion For a spirituall Minde meeting with a spiritual Religion by Vniformity grow to an Vnity they kisse imbrace and claspe one another and the gates of Hell cannot plucke them asunder The Spirit that gaue the Word seasons the Heart and the Heart meeting the Word borne of the same Spirit with it selfe ioynes it selfe to it in a brotherly Affection and Vnity Now this only true admittance of true Religion hath notable Priuiledges annexed to it which are both markes of Excellence Difference aboue and from other false meanes of receiuing Religion One excellent and necessary Prerogatiue is this That the spirituall Man hath God for his Teacher hee learnes the counsels of God of that Spirit which only knoweth Gods Counsell and only acknowledgeth it Hee holdeth diuine things by a Diuine hand and receiues them from the Deity it selfe Though his outward Man receiue Elements and Rudiments of Religion by Birth or Education yet his inward man receiueth them by Heauenly inspiration the same Spirit which mooued holy men to speake moouing holy men to heare and beleeue For in the Saints the Spirit of God is the last resort rest and Pillar of Truth and how can they but beleeue when a spirituall Mind plainly discerneth the Truth of spirituall things It hath also a second priuiledge of safetie and in that safety a third of rest and quietnesse For a Religion being once â—ruly discerned approued knit to the heart by the Spirit the Spirit which leades vs into the Truth doth stablish vs in the Truth by the same Light by which it shewes vs the Beauty of Verity it discouers the deformity of Errour yea it will ioyne hands with no Religion but that which is kinne to it Shew the Spirit the whole Millaners shop of Religions which Mountebanke Satan hath set to sale in the world none of them wil fit his hand though neuer so much flourished ouer with the imbrodery of humane wit and earthly Glory The Spirit which gaue the Word will acknowledge no other but the Word of the Spirit My Sheepe sayth Christ heare my voyce but a strangers voice they will not heare Iohn 10. And now what an admirable priuiledge of rest and quietnesse is hereunto annexed The carnall man if he escape the Restinesse gotten by Custome or imposed by Authority hee runneth like the dispossessed spirit through all places both wet and dry seeking rest for his Religion And how can hee finde rest since there is no true rest but in the Truth and that Truth being hidden from flesh and bloud all other Religions that appeare are but Errors and who can blame a man to run from an Error as soone as hee hath found it This
I doubt was the Disease of Montagne who professeth that hee continued in the Romish Religion because if he left that hee beleeued he should run through all and neuer bee at rest So hee kept that Religion it seemes for his owne sake and not for the goodnesse of the Religion because he would find rest not because hee had found the Truth But much better doe they that by the Spirit imbrace true Religion because by the Spirit they discerne it to be true Such men seeke Truth rather then rest for hauing found Truth they know rest comes in vpon the Bargaine They follow that truth which is followed with rest but they by no meanes will follow that rest which is diuorced from Truth They seeke for Truth and Truth giues them rest but the other seekes for rest though rest hold him in Error So he is resolued to be sure of his rest though he be not sure of his Religion But as this is a Bastard holding of Religion so is it a bastard rest for it is a wrong rest that is grounded on Error and Truth only giueth a true rest By the same reason might a Pagan or Mahometane stablish himselfe in Paganisme and Mahometisme because Custome hath giuen each of them a Restinesse in their Religions But let that man who desireth by a right hand to recâ—â—ue the Truth and from the Truth to receiue rest and with that rest safety from Errour Let him I say lift vp his eyes on high Beccause he hath his Chaire in Heauen who teacheth the hearts on Earth Let them vehemently intreat God that by the Spirit which only knoweth his counsels he will reueale his counsels that by the Spirit which gaue the Word to the Speaker hee will fasten the Word in the Hearers and that by a spirituall and heauenly minde they may discerne and hold Spirituall and Heauenly Truth And this let them doe importunately and vnâ—essantly Importunately both in regard of the weight of the Petition for the very weight of our Saluation lyes on this spirituall receiuing of Religion and in regard of the efficacy of Importunity to which Christ hath promised the holy Ghost Luke 11.8 13. Vncessantly because God may delay thee yet hopeful that he wil not finally deny thee He calleth some at al houres it is to no purpose to goe from him for hee only hath the words of eternall life and hee only can giue them to thee and settle them in thee A second reason of difference in Religion is difference of Complexion for many times that is called a Warre of Religion which is but a War of Complexion And surely pitty it is That the Religion of many or at least the zeale of it is but their Complexion and yet they thinke themselues to excell all others in the zeale of Religion when they doe but exceed them in the heate of Complexion And yet vnder this forged Banner of Religion they combate boldly with other Complexions yea sometimes with the Spirit it selfe the true and only roote of true Religion For indeed it fals out that Complexions being different by their difference they fall into discord and not so only but they are at difference with the Spirit it selfe both because the Spirit is of no Complexion and because the Spirit vpon occasion maketh vse of any Complexion which when it doth it gaines the displeasure of that Complexion which is contrary to that whereof it makes vse So by seuerall turnes euery Complexion combateth with the Spirit in those whose Religion is Complexion and whose Complexions are not commanded by the Spirit the true Author of Religion This in patternes will more euidently appeare Set before you a man of Choler his humour is hote and this heate being applyed to Religion hee calleth Zeale Then hee inferres the more heate the more Zeale the more Zeale the more Religion Hence he blowes that fire of his flesh vntill hee hath kindled in himselfe some flame of Intemperance or perchance hath set the House of God on fire about his Eares On the otherside behold a Phlegmatick His Complexion preacheth to him that Religion consists all in Quietnesse and liuing peaceably among his Neighbours Therfore he prayseth Moderation so much that his Religion takes cold and hee loues an easie Ignorance more then a diligent Knowledge He is dully patient in dishonour done to God hee is contented with quiet prophanenesse and well setled Superstitions Whence I guesse this man to haue beene the first father of this Position Malum bene positum non debet moueri But now as wee haue seene these two asunderâ— so bring them together and you shall presently see a battaile But the Cholericke man is first in the coâ—baâ—e and hath the Phlegmaticke by the coller â—re hee be aware At the first â—low he denounceth damnation to him for key-coldnesse â—or doing Gods worke negligently for his vngodly Patience for man-pleasing for temporising and at last he cals him Formalist On the other side the Phlegmaticke when he is awaked by the clamour of the Cholericke cals him an angry Gospeller a Fyer-flinger a Schismatick a Sower of dissention and perchance a Puritan though that word sometimes bee also bestowed on the very grace of the Spirit Besides if the Phlegmaticke be throughly spurred by the Cholericke so that hee arise to any height from the cushion of his Flesh hee will then looke ouer into the life of the Cholericke and tell him his discoueries Hee will say that all his heat is not zeale because hee is as hote in his owne quarrels as in the quarrels of God yea in matters of Earth as much or more then in matters of Heauen that he will sooner bee reconciled when God is offended then when himselfe is touched that his heat is not spirituall because it hath Pride ioyned with it and that out of Pride hee pretends to pull downe Pride and that hee is angry with dignities because he hath them not and that if hee had them he would presently bee at friendship with them Thus doe we see these two in a miserable and vehement conflict where it is pitty to leaue them long But another spectacle calls vs aside from which being returned I shall desire to part them by that Spirit of Loue which puts asunder those that come together in combates and brings together by Loue those that went asunder in Hatred The first Man that I take notice of in this new spectacle is of a Sanguine Complexion This man being of a pleasant constitution will haue a pleasurable Religion He thinkes that the Text Reioyce continually is to be taken litterally and strictly and hee will not endure any doctrine that may not manifestly arise from this Text. He likes wel pastimes recreations on the Sundayes though Seruice be the shorter and he sayes That some Ales with a little spice of Drunkennesse maintayne Loue. Hee vnderstands not the word Mortification but thinkes it is killing of a mans selfe and he is neuer in
liue one by another and that for one man to fret out all others and to liue by himselfe is in humane That Charity in one sight regards the benefit of another with her owne That in Vsury vsually the benefit goes most if not all of one side yea sometimes the benefit of the one riseth out of the losse of the other Now where these things are there such lending is the cause of fretting and vndoing So it remaynes they must eyther grant what they first denyed that men may fret and vndoe one another or else they must condemne their lending which is so fretfull and iniurious In briefe let vs first worke vpon mens Iudgements by informing them and not presently at the first sight flye on their wills and affections to racke and force them Againe where there are great and little faults to bee amended let vs not bee more busie for the little then the great nor equally importune an amendment of all together For verily I beleeue good occasions of Reformation haue beene lost because too many faults haue beene brought together to amendment yea little and doubtfull faults and such as might be healed with a good construction haue beene brought in equally vpon the File with those of greater moment And what doth this course doe but magnifie the tediousnesse of the worke and increase the difficulty of it What doth it but bring this answere to vse That changes are dangerous and euills well setled are better then much vnsetling by much amending What doth it but bring a doubt that nothing will satisfie since faults seeme more to be sought then found But I wish that alwaies there might bee an aduised and temperate demand in matters of Reformation and though it bee vnaduisedly demanded yet there may be giuen a iust and solide answere and such as might regard to please God by mayntayning the purity of his Spouse the Church rather then to satisfie or vnsatisfie the indiscretions of men Let Gods cause euer be maintayned whether proposed or opposed by our owne enemies A third fault of indiscreet Zeale is That it is censorious and passeth easily into condemnation both of things persons Not to speake of indifferent things too often censured I say some men and some matters are condemned eyther not heard or not vnderstood and yet the Heathen Romanes vsed not to condemne any before hearing and much more wee that are Christians ought to know those things whereof wee affirme There are heights of Dispensation which meane vnderstandings reach not vnto and yet for such sometimes they despise dominion and speake euill of Dignities Christ is censured for being among the sicke yet a Physician for the waste of a precious Oyntment yet going to buriall So the blame which belongs to their owne incapacity they cast on that which deserueth commendation and that which is in it selfe good is by them called euill only because they are not wise enough to see the goodnesse of it Againe there are many good actions of good men that by censorious Zeale are taxed as euill and yet are only knowne in some out-side of probability but the inside wherein the life of the action lyes is not knowne The Iewes were in a rage with Peter for going to the Gentiles yet when the cause was knowne his fault was found to bee a Vertue The Reubenites Gadites and halfe Tribe of Manasseth were indicted of Apostasie for building an Altar but that which was thought to bee Apostasie was indeed a memoriall and meanes of cleaning to the true God Wherefore let vs not be hastie to iudge according to apparances but let vs take time to iudge righteous Iudgements For if thou iudge another rashly and falsly GOD shall iudge both him and thee truly He shall iudge ouer the matter againe and shall acquite him whome thou condemnest and shall comdemne thee for condemning him So thy iudgement of another shall returne vpon thy selfe And surely in this point Let euery good Conscience comfort it selfe in it selfe and passe little to be iudged by another in that which another knowes not for thou standest to the Iudgement Seat of the Highest Wisdome and Mercie and not to the Barre of humane Ignorance or Malice Fourthly indiscreet zeale is often in the flesh when it thinkes it is in the Spirit yet will not beleeue it and so will not be cured First I noted that by following heate to farre it outgoeth the Spirit and runs out into the flesh And now I obserue that it being gotten into the flesh it still beleeues it selfe to be spirituall and so in steed of retyring it fortifies it selfe there Hence it comes that many fleshly contentions are mayntayned by Scriptures yea Sermons and Scriptures are fitted to passions not passions to Scriptures So flesh and bloud fights carnally with spirituall Weapons yea which is fearefull turnes spirituall Weapons into carnall Malice sometime rayleth in Scripture Phrases and beateth his Enemies with Diuinity and thinkes it may speake what it will so it bee in the words of Scripture if it haue a seeming opposition of vice it cares not how angry it bee though indeed Pamphlets of that kind be no other then Libels and Sermons then Philippickes Yet this abuse of Diuinitie shall bee maintayned by Diuinitie and so she is miserably forced to iustifie and continue her owne wrongs But let Baal plead for himselfe let not God be forced to speake for Baal nor the Spirit for the flesh Adde not sinne vnto sinne It is a sinne great enough to come out of the Spirit into the flesh and to turne the busines of God into a Quarrell with men doe not adde this other sinne of abusing the spirituall Word vnto the mayntenance of thy fleshly contentions so by the Spirit to fight the battayles of his Enemy the flesh But to draw to a Conclusion Let all true Christians striue that their Workes bee the true Issues of Zeale maâ—ryed with Discretion for such Workes are the acceptable Salt and sauoury Sacrifices of Wise-men and not the loth some Sacrifices of Pooles Let them know that the fire of the Spirit the Mother of all true Zeale hath light in it aswell as heate and the heate should follow the light and not goe before it otherwise if the heate goe before the light or without it it may set on fire where it should but warme and so may breed a Confusion whereas the businesse of it is edification Let vs by ioyning the wisdome of Serpents with the innocencie of Doues become those excellent and perfect Stewards whom the Lord commends both for being wise and faithfull whose faithfulnesse giues meate to the Seruants and whose Wisedome doth it in season euen in fitnesse of manner measure and order And farre bee it from any sound Christian to put a Diuorce betweene that incomparable payre whose Marriage was in Heauen Zeale and Discretion or to thinke that one alone of them can bee a sufficient Parent of good Workes Much lesse let any man if hee find these separated by wretched Diuision seeke to bring them together in a more wretched Contention The parting of so louely a couple is lamentable but a malicious meeting of them is far more dolful For by their own good nature they incline to loue and vnity and therefore cursed is that Malice that changeth into Enmity the most excellent Vnity Hee that sets Vertues by the eares is as he that sets Brethren by the eares yea as one that makes Quarrels betweene Men and their Wiues Surely if the Peace-makers be blessed being the Children of the most High then such Quarrel-makers bee accursed and are the Children of the Lowest euen the most infernall spirit To conclude Let vs as the new borne sonnes of the Spirit lay aside all Maliciousnesse and lust of Contention which are the vices of the old man and expresse the true Vertues of a godly Nature receiued with the new man euen Charity Peace and Vnity Let not the difference of Education or Complexion or the vnkindly opposition of Zeale Discretion bee powerfull to a separation where the Vnity of one and the same Spirit hath made a coniunction But let the Spirit bee more followed leading vs to loue then the flesh prouoking to hatred And surely if wee bee not in loue wee are not in the Spirit for whosoeuer is in the Spirit is in loue yea hee is in loue with loue And as loue is commended by the Author of it which is the Spirit so it is also praysed by the excellent fruit of it called Edification for by loue the members of Christ cherish each other and by that cherishing increase in their growth Besides as Sion inwardly prospereth by loue so by the loue of Sion Babylon decayeth For the more Loue and Vnity in Sion the more strength the more strength in Sion the more terror yea the more ruin of BabyloÌ„ WheÌ„ the Banners are brought into the Vnion of an Army then they are terrible Cant. 6. And when Israel ioynes together in the Vnity of a Shoute then are the wals of Iericho most neere to their Downfall CYPRIAN de Vnitate Ecclesiae Pacificos esse oportet Dei filios corde mites sermone simplices affectione concordes fideliter sibi vnanimitatis nexibus coherentes Et post Erant perseuerantes omnes vnanimes in oratione ideo efficacibus precibus orabant ideo impetrare cum fiducia poterant quodcumque de Domini misericordia postularunt FINIS