when the day is come wherein he will bee patient towards them no longer The Prophet giveth three excellent reasons hereof in one verse Esai 33.22 The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Lawgiver the Lord is our King hee will save us Hee is our Judge and therefore certainely when the day of triall is come hee will plead our cause against our adversaries and will condemne them Mich. 7.9 But a Judge cannot doe what pleaseth himselfe but is bound to his rule and proceedeth according to establish'd lawes Therefore he is our Lawgiver likewise and therefore hee may himselfe appoint Lawes according to his owne will but when the Will of the Judge and the Rule of the Law doe both consent in the punishing of offendors yet then still the King hath a liberty of mercy and hee may pardon those whom the Law and the Judge have condemned But Christ who shall judge the enemies of his Church according to the Law which himselfe hath made is himselfe the King and therefore when he revengeth there is none besides nor above him to pardon So at that day there shall bee a full manifestation of the Kingdome of Christ none of his enemies shall moue the wing or open the mouth or peepe against him The second thing formerly proposed in this latter part of the verse was The Author of subduing Christs enemies under his feet I the Lord. Wicked men will never submit themselves to Christs Kingdome but stand out in opposition against him in his Word and wayes When Gods hand is lifted up in the dispensation of his Word and threatnings against sin men will not see Esai 26.11 And therefore he saith My spirit shall not alwayes strive with men to note that men would of themselves alwayes strive with the spirit and never yeeld nor submit to Christ. Though the patience and goodnesse of God should lead them to repentance and forewarne them to flye from the wrath to come yet they after their hardnesse and impenitent heart do hereby treasure up against themselves the more wrath and because judgement is not speedily executed their heart is wholly set in them to doe mischiefe Let favour saith the Prophet be shewed unto a wicked man yet will he not learne righteousnesse in the land of uprightnesse will he deale unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Certainely if a wicked man could bee rescued out of hell it selfe and brought backe into the possibilities of mercie againe yet would he in a second life flie out against God and while he had time take his fill of lusts againe We see Clay will but grow harder by the fire and that metall which melted in the Fornace being taken thence will returne to its wonted solidity When Pharaoh saw that the raine and the haile and the thunders were ceased though in the time of them he was like melted metall and did acknowledge the righteousnesse of God and his owne sinne and make strong promises that Israel should goe yet then he sinned more and hardened his heart he and his servants and would not let the children of Israel goe Doe wee not see men sometimes cast on a bed of sickenesse brought to the very brinke of hell and to the smell of that sulphurie lake when by Gods wonderfull patience they are snatch'd like a brand out of the fire and have recover'd a little strength to provoke the Lord againe when they should now set themselves to make good those hypocriticall resolutions of amendement of life wherewith in their extremity they flattered God and deceived themselves suddenly breake forth into more filthinesse than before as if they meant now to be revenged of God and to fetch backe that time which sickenesse tooke from them by an extremity of sinning as if they had made a Covenant with hell to doe it more service if they might then be spared All the favours and methods which God useth are not enough to bring wicked men home unto him of their owne wils Though I redeemed them saith the Lord yet have they spoken lyes against me they have not cryed unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them neither doe they seeke the Lord of hosts So many judgements did the Lord send upon Israel in the necke of one another and yet still the burden of the Prophet is Yet have you not returned unto me saith the Lord. Damme up the passage of a river and use all the Art that may be to over-rule it yet you can never carry it backward in its owne channell you may cut it out into other courses and diverticles but no Art can drive it unto a contrary motion and make it retire into its owne fountaine So though wicked men may haply by divers reasons which their lusts will admit be so farre wrought upon as to change their courses yet it is impossible to change themselves or to turne them quite out of their owne way into the way of Christ. There is but a bivium in the world a way of life and a way of death and the Lord in the Ministery of the Word gives us our option I have set before you this day life and death blessing and cursing and hee that beleeveth shall be saved hee that beleeveth not shall be damned To the former he invites beseecheth enticeth us with promises with oathes with engagements with prevention of any just objection which might be made We beseech you saith the Apostle in Christs stead that you be reconciled unto God From the other he deterres us by forewarning us of the wrath to come and of the period which death will put to our lusts with our lives And as Tertullian once spake of the Oath of God so may I of his entreaties and threatnings O blessed men whom the Lord himselfe is pleased to sollicite and entice unto happinesse but O miserable men they who will not beleeve nor accept of Gods owne entreaties And yet thus miserable are we all by nature There is in men so much atheisme infidelity and distrust of Gods Word so close an adherencie of lust unto the soule that it rather chooseth to runne the hazzard and to goe to hell entire than to goe halt and maimed unto heaven yea to make God a liar to blesse themselves in their sinnes when he curseth and to judge of him by themselves as if he tooke no notice of their wayes It is not therefore without just cause that God so often threatneth to remember all the sinnes of wicked men and to doe against them whatsoever he hath spoken Wee see then that men will never submit themselves unto the Scepter of Christ nor prevent the wrath to come by a voluntary subjection It remaines therefore that God take the worke into his owne hands and put them perforce under Christs feete They will not submit to his kingdome of grace and mercy they will not
effectually that is it doth not consummate nor accomplish any perfect worke but onely in those that beleeve in the rest it proves but an abortion and withers in the blade Secondly with love and readinesse of minde without despising or rejecting it No man can bee saved who doth not receive the truth in love who doth not receive it as the primitive Saints did with gladnesse and readinesse of minde as Eli though from the hand of Samuel a Child as David though from the hand of Abigail a woman as the Galatians though from the hand of Paul an infirme and persecuted Apostle For herein is our homage to Christ the more apparent when we suffer a little childe to lead us Thirdly with meeknesse and submission of heart reverencing and yeelding unto it in all things Wresting shifting evading perverting the word is as great an indignity unto Christ as altering interlining or rasing a patent which the King hath drawen with his owne royall hand is an offence against him Patience and effectuall obedience even in affliction is an argument that a man esteemes the word to bee indeed Gods owne word and so receives it Hee onely who putteth off the old man the corrupt deceitfull lusts of his former conversation and is renewed in the Spirit of his minde is the man that hath heard and been taught by Christ that hath received the Truth in him Againe in as much as the Gospell is the Rod of Christs owne strength or the instrument of his arme who hath beleeved our report and to whom is the arme of the Lord revealed and the instrument is no further operative or effectuall than according to the measure of that impressed vertue which it receiveth from the superior cause therefore wee should learne alwayes to repaire unto Christ for the successe of his word For he onely is the teacher of mens hearts and the author of their faith To him onely it belongeth to call men out of their graves and to quicken whom hee will Wee have nothing but the ministerie he keepeth the power in his own hands that men might learne to waite upon him and to have to doe with him who onely can send a blessing with his word and teach his people to profit thereby Another ground of the power of the word is that it is sent from God The Lord shall send forth the Rod of thy strength From which particular likewise wee may note some usefull observations as First that Gods appointment and ordination is that which gives being life majesty and successe to his owne word authority boldnesse and protection to his servants When hee sendeth his word hee will make it prosper When Moses disputed against his going down into Egypt to deliver his brethren sometimes alleaging his owne unfitnesse and infirmity sometimes the unbeliefe of the people this was still the warrant with which God encouraged him I will bee with thee I have sent thee doe not I make mans mouth I will bee with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say I was no Prophet neither was I a Prophets Sonne saith Amos but I was an heardsman a gatherer of sycamore fruit And the Lord tooke me as I followed the flock and said unto mee Goe prophecie unto my people Israel And this made him peremptory in his office to prophecie against the idolatry of the Kings Court and against the flattery of the Priest of Bethel And this made the Apostles bold though otherwise unlearned and ignorant men to stand against the learned councill of Priests and Doctors of the Law Wee ought to obey God rather than men Vpon which Grave was the advice of Gamaliel If this counsell or worke bee of men it will come to nought But if it bee of God yee cannot overthrow it lest haply yee bee found even to fight against God For to withstand the power or progresse of the Gospell is to set a mans face against God himselfe Secondly in as much as the Gospell is sent forth by God that is revealed and published out of Sion wee may observe That Evangelicall learning came not into the world by humane discovery or observation but it is utterly above the compasse of all reason or naturall disquisition neither men nor Angels ever knew it but by divine revelation And therfore the Apostle every where calleth it a Mystery a great and a hidden Mystery which was kept secret since the world began There is a Naturall Theologie without the world gathered out of the workes of God out of the resolution of causes and effects into their first originals and out of the Law of nature written in the heart But there is no naturall Christianity Nature is so farre from finding it out by her owne inquiries that shee cannot yeeld unto it when it is revealed without a Spirit of faith to assist it The Iewes stumbled at it as dishonorable to their Law and the Gentiles derided it as absurd in their Philosophy It was a Hidden and secret wisedome the execution and publication whereof was committed onely to Christ. In God it was an Eternall Gospell for Christ was a lambe slaine from before the foundations of the world namely in the predeterminate counsell decree of his father but revealed it was not till the dispensation of the fulnesse of time wherein he gathered together in one all things in Christ. The purpose and ordination of it was eternall but the preaching and manifestation of it reserved untill the time of Christs solemne inauguration into his Kingdome and of the obstinacy of the Iewes upon whose defection the Gentiles were called in Which might teach us to adore the unsearchablenesse of Gods judgements unto former ages of the world whom hee suffered to walke in their owne wayes and to live in times of utter ignorance destitute of any knowledge of the Gospell or of any naturall parts or abilities to finde it out For if these things bee true First that without the knowledge of Christ there is no salvation This is eternall life to know thee and him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifye many Secondly that Christ cannot bee knowen by naturall but Evangelicall and revealed light The naturall man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerend The light shined in darknesse and the darknesse was so thick and fixed that it did not let in the light nor apprehend it Thirdly that this light was at the first sent onely unto the Iewes as to the first borne-people excepting onely some particular extraordinary dispensations and priviledges to some few first fruits and preludes of the Gentiles He sheweth his word unto Iacob his statutes and his judgements unto Israel Hee hath not dealt so with any nation Hee hath not afforded the meanes of salvation ordinarily unto any other people the world by wisedome knew him not Fourthly that this severall
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea Esai 11.9 Our Saviour told his Disciples that all things which he had heard of his Father he had made knowne unto them Ioh. 15.15 and yet a little after he telleth them that many other things he had to say unto them which they could not beare till the Spirit of truth came who should guide them into all truth Ioh. 16.12 13. noting that the Spirit when hee came should enlarge their hearts to a capacity of more heavenly wisedome than they could comprehend before For we may observe before how ignorant they were of many things though they conversed with Christ in the flesh Philip ignorant of the Father Ioh. 14.8 Thomas of the way unto the Father Ioh. 14.5 Peter of the necessity of his sufferings Matth. 16.22 The two Disciples of his resurrection Luk. 24.45 all of them of the quality of his Kingdome Act. 1.6 Thus before the sending of the Holy Ghost the Lord did not require so plentifull knowledge unto salvation as after as in the valuations of money that which was plentie two or three hundred years since is but penurie now Secondly in a greater measure of strength for Spirituall obedience They who before fled from the company of Christ in his sufferings did after rejoyce to be counted worthy of suffring shame for his name or as the elegancie of the originall words import to be dignified with that dishonor of Christians Act. 5.41 For suffering of persecution for Christ and the triall of faith by diverse temptations is in the Scriptures reckoned up amongst the gifts and hundred fold compensations of God to his people Mark 10.30 Phil. 1.29 Heb. 11.26 Iam. 1.2 1 Pet. 1.6 7. No man saith our Saviour putteth new wine into old bottles that is exacteth rigid and heavie services of weake and unqualified Disciples and therefore my Disciples fast not while I am amongst them in the flesh But the dayes will come when I shall be taken from them in body and shall send them my holy Spirit to strengthen and prepare them for hard service and then they shall fast and performe those parts of more difficult obedience unto me Matth. 9.15 17. Now farther touching this sending of the Holy Spirit which together with Christs intercession was one of the principall ends of his ascending up unto the right hand of power it may be here demanded why the Holy Spirit was not before this exaltation of Christ sent forth in such abundance upon the Church The maine reason wherof next unto the purpose and decree of God into which all the acts of his wil are to be resolv'd Eph. 1.11 is given by our Savior Ioh. 14.16 Ioh. 16.7 Because he was to supply the corporall absence of Christ and to be another comforter to the Church Of which Office of the Spirit because it was one of the maine ends of his mission and that one of the chiefe workes of Christs sitting at Gods right hand I shall here without any unprofitable or impertinent digression speake a little First then the Spirit is a comforter because an Advocate to his people for so much the word signifies and is else where rendered 1 Ioh. 2.1 Now he is called another comforter or Advocate to note the difference betweene Christ and the Spirit in this particular There is then an Advocate by Office when one person takes upon himselfe the cause of another and in his name pleads it Thus Christ by the Office of his Mediation and intercession is an Advocate for his Church and doth in his owne person in heaven apply his merits and further the cause of our salvation with his Father There is likewise an Advocate by energie and operation by instruction and assistance which is not when a worke is done by one person in the behalfe of another but when one by his counsell inspiration and assistance enableth another to manage his owne businesse and to plead his owne cause And such an Advocate the Spirit is who doth not intercede nor appeare before God in person for us as Christ doth but maketh interpellation for men in and by themselves giving them an accesse unto the Father emboldning them in their feares and helping them in their infirmities when they know not what to pray Eph. 2.18 Heb. 10.15.19 Rom. 8.26 Eph. 3.16 First then the Spirit as our Advocate justifieth our persons and pleadeth our causes against the accusations of our spirituall enemies For as Christ is our Advocate at the tribunall of Gods justice to plead our cause against the severitie of his Law and that most Righteous and undeniable charge of sinne which he layeth upon us so the Holy Spirit is our Advocate at the tribunall of Gods mercie enabling us there to cleere our selves against the temptations and murtherous assaults of our Spirituall enemies The world accuseth us by false and slanderous calumniations laying to our charge things which we never did the Spirit in this case maketh us not onely plead our innocencie but to rejoyce in our fellowship with the Prophets which were before us to esteeme the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the world to count our selves happy in this that it is not such low markes as we are which the malice of the world aimeth at but the Spirit of glory and of God which resteth upon us who is on their part evill spoken of 1 Pet. 4.14 Satan that grand accuser of the brethren doth not onely load my sinnes upon my conscience but further endeavoreth to exclude me from the benefit of Christ by charging me with impenitencie and unbeliefe But here the Spirit enableth me to cleere my selfe against the Father of lies It is true indeed I have a naughty flesh the seeds of all mischiefe in my nature but the first means which brought me hereunto was the beleeving of thy lies and therefore I will no longer entertaine thy hellish reasonings against mine owne peace I have a Spirit which teacheth me to bewaile the frowardnesse of mine owne heart to denie mine owne will workes to long and aspire after perfection in Christ to adhere with delight and purpose of heart unto his Law to lay hold with all my strength upon that plaâ—ck of salvation which in this shipwrack of my soule is cast out unto me These affections of my heart come not from the earthly Adam for whatsoever is earthly is sensuall and devillish too And if they be holy and heavenly I will not beleeve that God will put any thing of heaven into a vessell of Hell Sure I am he that died for me when I did not desire him will in no wise cast me away when I come unto him He that hath given me a will to love his service and to leane upon his promises will in mercy accept the will for the deed and in due time accomplish the worke of holinesse which he hath begun Thus the Spirit like an Advocate secureth his clients title against the
the land of Canaan which was a type of Christs Church which he should conquer unto himselfe if any people accepted of the peace which they were first to proclaime they were to become tributaries and servants unto Israel So it is said of Salomon whose peaceable kingdome was a type of Christs after his many victories that he bond-service upon all the nations about Israel and that those princes with whom he held correspondence brought unto him presents as testimonies of his greatnesse and wisedome So when the wise men the first fruits of the Gentiles after Christ exhibited came to submit unto his kingdome they opened their treasure and presented him with gifts gold frankincense and myrrh Againe Monetarum leges valores the authorizing and valuations of publike coines belong unto the prince onely it is his image and inscription alone which maketh them currant Even so unto Christ onely doth belong the power of stamping and creating as it were new ordinances in his Church nothing is with God nor should be currant with us which hath not his image or expresse authority upon it Neither can any man falsify or corrupt any constitution of his without notable contempt against his royall prerogative Againe Iudicium or potestas judiciaria a power of judging the persons and causes of men is a peculiar royalty the administration whereof is from the prince as the fountaine of all humane equitie under God deposited in the hands of inferiour officers who are as it were the mouth of the prince to publish the lawes and to execute those acts of justice and peace which principally belong to his owne sacred breast And so Christ saith of himselfe The Father hath committed all judgement unto the Sonne and hath given him authority to execute judgement Againe Ius vitae necis A power to pardon condemned persons and deliver them from the terrour of the Lawes sentence is a transcendent mercie a gemme which can shine only from the diadems of Princes Now unto Christ likewise belongeth in his Church a power to forgive sinnes it is the most sacred roialty of this prince of peace not onely to suspend but for ever to revoke and as it were annihilate the sentence of malediction under which every man is borne There are likewise Ornamenta Regia regall Ornaments a Crowne a Throne a Scepter and the like Thus we finde the Romanes were wont to send to those forraine kings with whom they were in league as testimonies and confirmations of their dignity scipionem eburneum togam pictam sellam curulem an ivorie scepter a roiall robe and a chaire of state And the like honours wee finde in the Scriptures belonging unto Christ that hee was crowned with glory and honour and that hee had a Throne and righteous scepter belonging to his kingdome Thus we have seene in severall particulars how Christ hath his Royalties belonging to his kingdome Some principall of them we finde in this place A throne a scepter ambassadours armies for the right dispensing of his sacred power We will first consider the words and then raise such observations as shall offer themselves First what is meant by the Rod of Christs Strength or his Strong Rod It notes a thing which a man may leane upon or lay the whole weight of his body on in his wearinesse But being spoken of Christs kingdome wee take it for a scepter or rod of majestie I will not hold you with the variety of acceptions in Expositors Some take it for the branch that groweth out of that roote of Iesse Some for the wood of the crosse Some for the body of Christ borne of a Virgin Some for the kingdome of Christs power taking the signe for the thing signified Some for the power of his mightie workes and preaching That of the body and of the crosse of Christ except by them wee understand the vertue of Christ crucified I conceive to be not so pertinent to the purpose of the Prophet The rest agree in one But for the more distinct understanding of the words wee may consider out of the holy Scriptures what things were sent out of Sion And we finde there two things First the word of the Lord or his holy Gospell The Law shall proceed out of Sion and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem Mic. 4.2 Secondly the spirit of the Lord which was first sent unto Sion for at Hierusalem the Apostles were to wait for the promise of the Father Act. 1.4 and from thence was shed abroad into the world upon al flesh Act. 2.17 and both these are the power or strength of Christ. His word a Gospell of power unto salvation Rom. 1.16 2 Cor. 4.7.10.4 and his spirit a spirit of power 1 Cor. 2.4 2 Tim. 1.7 which is therefore called the finger and the arme of the Lord Luk. 11.20 Matt. 12.28 Esai 53.1 so by the Rod is meant the Gospell and the Spirit of Christ. Secondly what is meant by Gods sending this Rod of Christs strength It notes the manifestation of the Gospell we knew it not before it was sent The donation of the Gospell we had it not before it was sent the invitations of the Gospell we were without God in the world and strangers from the Covenant of promise before it was sent The Commission of the Dispensers of the Gospell they have their patent from heaven they are not to speake untill they be sent Thirdly what is meant by sending it out of Sion It is put in Opposition to mount Sina from whence the Law was sometimes sent with thunders and fire and much terrour unto the people of Israel Ye are not come saith the Apostle unto the mount that burned with fire nor unto blacknesse and darknesse and tempest c. but yee are come unto mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels and to Iesus the Mediator of the new Covenant c. Heb. 12.18.24 and the Apostle elsewhere sheweth us the meaning of this Allegoricall opposition betweene Sina and Sion betweene Sarah and Hagar namely the two covenants of the Law and of Grace or of bondage and liberty Gal. 4.24 25. Sion was the place whither the tribes resorted to worship the Lord the place towards which that people praied the place of Gods mercifull residence amongst them the beauty of holines the place upon which first the gift of the holy Ghost was powred forth and in which the Gospell was first of all preached after Christs Ascension We may take it by a Synechdoche for the whole Church of the Jewes unto whom the Lord first revealed his Covenant of Grace in Christ Act. 3.26 Act. 13.46 Rom. 2.10 Rule Thou that is Thou shalt rule which is a usuall forme to put the Imperative for the future Indicative It is not a command which hath relation unto any service but it is a promise a commission a dignity conferred
spirits senses which are in the head are there placed as in a Watch-tower or Councell-chamber to consult and provide for the good of the whole the eye seeth the eare heareth the tongue speaketh the fancie worketh the memory retaineth for the welfare of the other members and they have all the same care one for another Fourthly He is our Advocate and Mediatour he is the onely practicer in the court of heaven and therefore he must needs be full of the businesses of his Church It is his office to dispatch the affaires of those that come unto him and crave his favour and intercession to debate their causes and he is both faithfull and mercifull in his place and besides furnished with such an unmeasurable unction of Spirit and vast abilities to transact all the businesses of his Church that whosoever commeth unto him for his counsell and intercession hee will in no wise cast them out or refuse their cause And this is one great assurance we may take comfort in that be our matters never so foule and unexcusable in themselves yet the very entertaining him of our counsell and the leaning upon his wisdome power fidelity and mercy to expedite our businesses to compassionate our estate and to rescue us from our owne demerits doth as it were alter the propertie of the cause and produce a cleane contrary issue to that which the evidence of the thing in triall would of it selfe have created And as we may observe that men of extraordinary abilities in the Law delight to wrestle with some difficult businesse and to shew their learning in clearing matters of greatest intricacie and perplexitie before so doth Christ esteeme himselfe most honoured and the vertue and wisedome of his Crosse magnified when in cases of sorest extremitie of most hideous guilt of most blacke and uncomfortable darknesse of soule which pose not onely the presumptions but the hope faith conjectures thoughts contrivances which the hearts of men can even in wishes make to themselves for mercy they doe yet trust him whose thoughts are infinitely above their thoughts and whose wayes above their wayes who is there among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God When the soule can goe unto Christ with such complaints and acknowledgements as these Lord when I examine my cause by mine owne conscience and judgement of it I cannot but give it over as utterly desperate and beyond cure my bones are dried my hope is cut off I am utterly lost my sins and my sorrowes are so heavie that they have broken my spirit all to peeces and there is no sound part in me But Lord I beleeve that thou knowest a way to make dead bones live that thy thoughts and waies are above mine that thou knowest thine owne thoughts of peace and mercy though I cannot comprehend them that thy riches are unsearchable that thy love is above humane knowledge that thy peace passeth all created understandings that though I am the greatest of all sinners and feele enough in my selfe to sinke me as low as Iudas into hell yet thou hast not left me without patternes of all long-suffering of thy royall power in enduring and in forgiving sinnes And now Lord though thou afford me no light though thou beset me with terrours though thou make me to possesse the sinnes of my youth yet I still desire to feare thy name to walke in thy way to wait upon thy counsell I know there is not in men or Angels so much wisdome compassion or fidelity as in thee and therefore if I must perish I will perish at thy feet I will starve under thy table I will be turned away and rejected by thee who hast promised to cast away none that come unto thee I have tried all wayes and I here resolve to rest and to looke no further thou that hast kept such a sinner as I am out of hell thus long canst by the same power keep me out for ever upon thy wisdome and compassion who canst make dried bones to flourish like an herbe and broken bones to rejoyce and sing I cast the whole weight of my guilty spirit into thy bosome I emptie all the feares cares and requests of my distracted and sinking soule I say when a man can thus powre out himselfe uâ—to Christ he esteemeth the price and power of his bloud most highly honoured when men beleeve in him against reason and above hope and beyond the experience or apprehensions they have of mercy for Christ loveth to shew the greatnesse of his skill in the salvation of a Manasse a Mary Magdalen a crucified Theefe a persecutour and injurious blasphemer in giving life unto them that nailed him to his Crosse the more desperate the disease the more honourable the cure Fifthly He is our Purchaser our Proprietary wee belong unto him by grant from the Father Thine they were and thou gavest them unto me and by payment from him unto the Father yee are bought with a price There is no good that concernes the Church that he hath not fully paid for with his owne pretious bloud And Christ will not die in vaine he will take order for the accomplishing of that redemption which himselfe hath merited And this is the greatest argument of his care and fidelitie that he is not as a servant but as a Lord and his care is over His owne house An ordinary advocate is faithfull onely ratione officii because the dutie of his office requireth it but the businesses which he manageth come not close unto his heart because he hath no personall interest in them but Christ is faithfull not as Moses or a servant onely but ratione Dominii as Lord in his owne house so that the affaires of the Church concerne him in as neere a right as they concerne the Church her selfe so that in his office of intercession hee pleadeth his owne causes with his Father and in the miscarriages of them himselfe should lose that which was infinitely more pretious than any thing in the world besides even the price and merit of his owne bloud These are the grounds of the great care of Christ towards his people And from hence we should learne faith and dependence on Christ in all our necessities because we are under the protection and provision of him who careth for us and is able to helpe us A right judgement of God in Christ and in his Gospell of salvation will wonderfully strengthen the faith of men Paul was not ashamed of persecutions because he knew whom he had beleeved hee doubted neither of his care or power and therefore hee committed the keeping of his soule unto him against the last day and therefore when all forsooke him he stood to the truth because the Lord forsooke him not The reason why men
of sinnes for making compensation to the justice of God which had beene in sinne violated and to propitiate him againe So that in this regard a Priest was to be a middle person by Gods appointment to stand and to minister betweene him and men in their behalfe to be impartiall and faithfull towards the justice and truth of God and not to be over-ruled by his love to men to injure him and to be compassionate and merciful towards the errours of men and not to be over-ruled by his zeale to Gods justice to give over the care or service of them And such an High Priest was Christ zealous of his Fathers righteousnesse and glory for hee was set forth to declare the righteousnesse of God Rom. 3.25 and he did glorifie him on earth by finishing the things which he had given him to doe Ioh. 17.4 Compassionate towards the errours and miseries of his Church for hee was appointed to expiate and to remove them out of the way Col. 2.14 Touching this Priest-hood wee will thus proceed First to enquire into the Necessitie we have of such a Priest Secondly what kinde of Qualifications are requisite in him who must be unto us such a Priest Thirdly wherein the Acts or Offices of such a Priest-hood doe principally consist Fourthly what is the Vertue fruits ends events of such a Priest-hood Fifthly what are the Duties which the execution of that office doth enforce upon us or what uses wee should make of it In these five particulars I conceive will the substance of most things which pertain unto the Priesthood of Christ be absolved For the first of these wee must premise this generall rule there can be no necessitie of a Priest in that sense which is most proper and here intended but betweene a guiltie creature and a righteous God for if man were innocent in his relations towards God hee would stand in no need of an Expiation and if God were unrighteous in the passages of mans sin there would not be due unto him any just debt of satisfaction This being premised I shall through many steps and gradations bring you to this necessitie of Christs Priest-hood which wee inquire into First every creature is unavoidably subject to the Creator for he made all things for himselfe and all is to returne that glory to him for which he made them Pro. 16.4 Rom. 9.21 And this subjection of the creature to the Creator doth suppose a debt of service to the will of the Creator Impossible it is and utterly repugnant to the quality of a creature not to be subject to some Law and indebted in some obedience or other to him that made it Omne esse is propter operari it is a certaine rule in creatures that God giveth every creature a Being to this end that it might put forth that being in some such operations as hee hath fitted it for and prescribed it to observe The most excellent of all creatures that excell in strength are Ministers to doe his pleasure and to heare his voice Psal. 103.20 21. and all the rest have their severall lawes and rules of working by his wisdome set them in the which they wait upon him and according unto which they move like Ezekiels wheeles by the conduct of an invisible Spirit and by the command of a voyce that is above them as if they understood the Law of their Creator and knew the precepts which they doe obey Ezek. 1.25 26. Psal. 104.19 No creature is for its selfe onely or its owne end for that which hath not its being of its selfe cannot be an end unto it selfe in as much as the end of every thing which is made is antecedent to the being of it in the minde and intention of him that made it The end of things is as a marke fixed and unmoveable in the purpose of the supreme cause the creatures as the arrow ordered by a most wife and efficacious providence some through naturall and necessary others voluntary and contingent motions unto one and the same generall end the glory and service of the Creator Secondly no creature is in its being or in any those operations and services which to God it owes intrinsecally and of it selfe immutable It is Gods owne peculiar honour to bee without variablenesse or shadow of changing Iam. 1.17 Mal. 3.6 There was a time when the Sunne stood still and moved backward and was filled with darknesse as with an internall cloud when the Lions have forgotten to devoure and the fire to consume and the Whales to concoct God can as he will alter the courses of nature let goe the reines and dispence with the rules which himselfe had secretly imposed upon the creatures to observe which shewes that they are not in themselves immutable That constancie which in their motions they observe is from the regular government of that most wise providence which carries them to their end without any turning Ezek. 1.17 but when his glory requires and his will commands it the mountaines tremble the sea cleaves asunder the rivers runne backe the earth opens the Lawes of nature stand still for a while without any execution as if they were suspended or repeal'd by him that made them and therefore in that place things are said to move by a voice which is above them namely by the command of the supreme cause Ezek. 1.24 25. Thirdly man being in his nature and formall constitution a reasonable creature was appointed by God to serve him after a reasonable manner out of judgement discretion and election to make choice of his way above all others as being most excellent and beautifull in it selfe and most convenient and advantageous unto man therefore our service is called a reasonable service Rom. 12.1 and David is said to have chosen the way of truth and the precepts of the Lord Psal. 119.30 and Moses to have chosen the afflictions of Gods people and the reproches of Christ before the pleasures of sinne or the treasures of Aegypt Heb. 11.25 26. And hence it is that Holinesse in the phrase of Scripture is called Iudgement he shall convince the world of judgement Ioh. 16.11 and he shall bring forth judgement unto victory Matth. 12.20 Noting that the Spirit of holinesse ruleth and worketh in the children of obedience by a way of reason and conviction therefore hee is called a Spirit of Iudgement Esay 4.4 And for this cause God did not set any over-ruling law or determinating vertue over the operations of man as of other creatures that so he might truely worke out of the conduct of judgement and election of will Fourthly there is no deviation from a reasonable service or true active obedience properly so called for the obedience of brutes and inanimate creatures is rather passive than active which hath not some intrinsecall pravity in it and by consequence some fundamentall demerit or obligation unto punishment for Guilt is the proper passion of sinne resultant out of it and therefore inseparable from
so that that Tribe was but almost a quarter as numerous as the rest Now looke in the next place to the Proportion of their maintenance One would thinke that the fortieth part of the people could require but the fortieth part of the maintenance in proportion But first they had the Tenth of all the increase of seed and fruit and great and small cattell Levit. 27.30 Secondly they had fortie eight cities with suburbs for gardens and for cattell Numb 35.2 Which cities were next to the best and in many tribes the best of all in Iuda Hebron in Benjamin Gibeon both Roiall Cities so that those Cities with about a mile suburb to every one of them can come to little lesse than the wealth of one tribe alone in that little countrie which from Dan to Beersheba was but about a hundred and sixtie miles long Thirdly they had all the first fruits of cleane and uncleane beasts Numb 18.13 Of the fruits of the earth and the fleece of the sheepe Deut. 18.4 Nehem. 10.35 of men to bee redeemed Num. 18.15 Fourthly the meate Offerings the sinne offerings the trespasse offerings the heave offerings and the wave offerings were all theirs Numb 18.9 10 11. Fifthly they had all vowes and voluntary oblations and consecrations and every hallowed thing Numb 18.8 9. Sixthly excepting the Holocaust they had either the shoulder or the breast or the skinne or something of every Sacrifice which was offered Numb 18.18 Lev. 7. Deut. 18.3 Seventhly the males were to appeare three times a yeare before the Lord and they were not to come empty handed Exod. 23.15.17 Lastly unto them did belong many recompences of injurie which was the restitution of the principall and a fifth part Num. 5.7 8. Now put the Tithes the Cities and these other constant revenews together and the Priests and Levites who were but about a quarter as many as one tribe had yet about three times the revenews of one tribe But to leave this Argument Let us consider what the Apostle saith let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all his goods as Beza well expounds it Gal. 6.6 The elders that labour in the word and Doctrine are worthy of double honor for the Scripture saith Thou shalt not muzzle the oxe that treadeth out the corne and the Labourer is worthy of his reward 1 Tim. 5.17 18. Who goeth a warfare at any time of his owne charges Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof Or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milke of the flock Say I these things as a man that is am I partiall doe I speake meerly out of affection and humane favor to mine owne cause or calling or saith not the Law the same also For it is written in the Law of Moses Thou shalt not muzle the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne Doth God take care for Oxen or saith hee it altogether for our sakes That is doth God provide Lawes for rewarding and encouraging the labor of brute beasts and doth hee leave the maintenance and honor of his owne immediate officers to the arbitrary and pinching allowances of covetous and cruel men For our sakes no doubt this is written That hee that ploweth should plow in hope and that hee that thresheth in hope should bee partaker of his hope That is that the encouragement of the Ministers in their service might depend upon such a hope as is grounded on Gods Law and provision and that they might not bee left to the wills and allowances of those men against whose sinnes they were sent And this the Apostle proveth by an argument drawne from a most unanswerable equitie If wee have sowen unto you spirituall things is it a great thing if wee shall reape your carnall things If you doe rightly judge of those heavenly treasures which wee bring in abundance unto you impossible it is that you should judge our paines and service towards your immortall and pretious soules sufficiently rewarded with a narrow and hungry proportion of earthly and perishable things Doe yee not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the Temple And they which waite at the Altar are partakers with the Altar to note that they receive their maintenance from the hand of God himselfe whose onely the things of the Altar are and not from men Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospell should live by the Gospell 1 Cor. 9 7-13 And what is it To live First They must love as men they must have for necessity and for delight Secondly they must live as beleevers Hee that provideth not for his owne is worse than an infidell 1 Tim. 5.8 They must therefore have by the Gospell sufficient to lay up for those whom the Law of common humanity much more of faith commands them to provide for Thirdly they must live as Ministers They must have wherewith to maintaine the Duties of their calâ—ing a good example of piety and charity and hospitality that they may confirme by practice what in Doctrine they teach 1 Tim. 3.2 And the instruments of their calling which in a profession of so vast and unlimited a compasse of learning for there is no part of learning in the whole circle thereof which is not helpfull and may not contribute to the understanding of Holy Scriptures to some part or other of a Divines imployment cannot but bee very chargeable And alas how many men preach the Gospell and yet can scarce finde the first and meanest of all these supplies This is the great ingratitude of the world and withall the malice and policie of Satan by the poverty and contempt of the Ministers to bring the Gospell it selfe into contempt and to deterre able men from adventuring on so unrewarded a calling as Calvin justly complaines All that can with colour or countenance bee pretended by those who are guilty of this neglect is Poverty and disability to maintaine the Gospell And it were well if there were not places to be found wherein Dogs and Horses hawks and hounds grow fat with Gods portion and the mercenary Preacher when he growes leane with want is accused of too much studie But suppose that povertie be truly alleaged Doe wee thinke poverty a just pretext for the neglect of a morall duty may a man spend the Lords day on his shop-board because he is poore and wants means And if I may not rob God of his time upon pretence of povertie neither then is the same any argument to rob him of his portion Be not deceived God is not mocked namely with pretence of poverty and necessity as Calvin expounds that place Gal. 6.7 S. Paul bears witnesse unto some men that they did good beyond their power that they were richly liberall though they were deeply poor 2 Cor. 8.2 3. And yet those were but contributions out of mercy whereas double honor is