to our owne selves 1 Cor. 1.29 The doctrine of the nevv Sectaries This is to reioyce in an arme of flesh and not in the mercy of God 1 Cor. 1.29 The new Sectaries teach that Election resteth and dependeth upon the foreknowledge of faith and that it is made for faith foreseene which the sounder sort of Papists begin to be ashamed of as appeareth in Bellarmine The Apostle teacheth plainely Ephes 1.3 4. that all spirituall blessings whatsoever are given us according to Election before the foundation of the world Ephes 1.3 4. and therefore Election must of necessity bee before those blessings Againe we are elected that we should be holy and without blame he saith to holinesse not for any holinesse and consequently to faith not for faith So Paul obtained mercy 1 Cor. 7.25 Acts 22.14 That he should be faithfull 1 Cor. 7.25 not because God considered him as already faithfull Christ Iesus chose his Disciples not already bearing fruit but that they should bring forth fruit Ioh. 15.16 Acts 13.48 Ioh. 15.16 This also Luke sheweth that such as were ordained to eternall life beleeved Act. 13. Election therefore is before faith and it is the cause why men doe beleeve whereas our new Sect-masters and Strife-makers set the Apostle and the rest of the Church to Schoole and teach him to speak as they do yong children that they beleeved afterward were ordained to eternall life Rom. 9.16 The words of Paul It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy could not be true if God had mercy on men for faith foreseene For what could he foresee but his owne gifts which himselfe determined to bestow upon us This teacheth us also to pull downe all high conceits of our owne worth as if our salvation depended upon our owne selves and that wee were able to guide our waies and order our steppes to life and on the other side admonisheth all Gods Children to thinke humbly of themselves and of all that they can doe or have done touching the cause and foundation of their salvation and withall to magnifie highly the riches of the mercy of God and the aboundance of the love of Iesus Christ our Saviour shed abroad in our hearts acknowledging the beginning proceeding continuing and finishing of our salvation to spring from him onely True it is our destruction is not of God Hos 13.9 Iam. 1.13 14 15. but of our owne selves but our salvation is not of our selves but of God Wherefore then hath God chosen us and refused others made us vessels to honour 2 Tim. 2.20 Rom. 2.5 and left others to be vessels to dishonour why hath hee taken away the hardnesse of our stony hearts and given over others to walke in their hardnesse and hearts that cannot repent as he did Pharaoh Wherefore hath he sanctified us with his Spirit and passed by many thousand others that they might worke out their owne destruction and damnation Doubtlesse he hath not done all these nor any one of all these things for any good he saw in us nor for any goodnesse he foresaw would be in us nor for any inclination to goodnesse hee could perceive in us nor for any workes of preparation to make us fit for grace for what could he see in us though he be of pure eyes but matter of his wrath to feed upon as the fire doth upon the fuell It was not greatnes of wealth noblenesse of birth highnesse of estate worthinesse of condition multitude of friends that hee respected who respecteth no mans person so that when we consider what we are of our selves and how graciously God hath dealt toward us we should cry out with the Apostle Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out Rom. 11.33 Lastly seeing it is of Gods good pleasure that he saveth us and not any thing that is in our selves that moued him this ought to stirre us up to thankefulnesse and our thankefulnesse to dutifulnesse and obedience toward him The greater his mercy is and the more free his grace is the more wee ought to praise and magnifie his great Name It is he that hath given us all let him therefore have the praise of all We have nothing in our selves therefore let us challenge nothing to our selves The worke is his owne and properly belonging to him let us take heed we commit not sacriledge and robbe him of the glory due to his Name They are pure or rather impure naturall men that set up nature and they are destitute of grace that pull downe the post or piller of Gods grace which holdeth up the whole building We cannot ascribe too much to him wee cannot detract too much from our selves We cannot deny too much to Nature we cannot ascribe too much to grace Our good thoughts our good desires our good deeds our good words if we have any come from without Matth. 15.18 as evill thoughts come from within and doe defile us as water comming from an uncleane fountaine All our good is of his good pleasure and therefore it is good reason that hee should bee honoured and glorified in it and for it Hence it is that the Apostle saith What is it that thou hast not received Wee are so farre from comming to our iournyes end without his direction that we cannot set one foot forward in the right way Wee are so farre from being able to practise any thing that is good that wee haue no power to prepare our selves to it Psal 10.17 forasmuch as it is he that prepareth the heart Psal 10.17 And the Apostle saith We are not sufficient of our selves to thinke any thing as of our selves 2 Cor. 3.5 but all our sufficiency is of God This use doth Christ our Saviour point unto Mat. 11. I thanke thee O Father Matth. 11.25 26. Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to babes even so Father for it seemed good in thy sight That which Christ our Saviour doth ought we all to practise and performe It belongeth to all the Elect and godly to shew great love to him that hath loved us first and continuall thankefulnesse toward him because wee hold our selves and all that we have of his gracious favour We enjoy not any good through our owne deservings but all besides our merits nay directly against our merits For by the guilt of sinne we deserve to be in the same condition with the reprobate and it is the great goodnesse and mercy of God who hath separated us and allotted unto us a better estate and that it goeth better with us How often doe we requite his love with unkindnesse for wee give him nothing but he giveth us all neither doe we prevent his liberality but he preventeth our ability if
beleeve and be saved seeing they are not capable of this hearing through weakenesse of nature or if they heare they cannot understand which is all one as not to heare at all Answer I answer the doctrine is to be understood of such as are of yeares of discretion as also other precepts are to be taken 2 Thess 3.10 Math. 24.15 We must therefore answere this Objection as the former For deafe men and children are in this point alike God supplying their wantes so that all of them that are elect are taught inwardly and engraffed into Christ for salvation effectually as it is said of Iohn the Baptist He shall be filled with the holy Ghost even from his mothers wombe Luk. 1.15 and thus as the Spirit supplieth the want of Baptisme in like maner it doth the want of faith But cannot God save without preaching Object 3 or must all heare Sermons that will be saved Can he not save them that heare seldome or neuer as well as those that doe heare often What say you of them that have not the word Answ I answere we speake not of the power of God what he can doe but of his will what he promiseth and purposeth to do We doe not deny but he can save without the preaching of the word yea without the word but when he sendeth the ordinary meanes it is great folly to reason what he can do for then he tieth us to the word and we may be wel assured he will save us no otherwise He can preserue life without meat as we see in Moses and Elias but when we have plenty of foode at hand and yet refuse to eate we tempt God and shorten our daies and must needes perish without using the meanes As he fed Israel with Manna in the wildernesse where they had neither seed time nor haruest But when once they came into the land of Canaan a land flowing with milke and honey Iosh 5.12 then the Manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corne of the land neither had they it any more but they did eate of the fruit of the land of Canaan So in the times of the ruines of the Church and desolations of Sion when the word is precious hee giveth it food which the world knoweth not of and feedeth as it were with hidden Manna and setteth up a light in their hearts to guide their pathes in the way of peace as it were in the darkenesse of the world but when he hath sent a plentifull haruest and labourers to gather in the corne and when he hath set up a candle upon the candlesticke to give light to all that are in the house woe unto them that despise the provision he hath provided for them and shut their eyes in the cleere light of the Gospell and so sit in the shadow of death these doe no better than murther their owne soules For they tempt God who have the word and will not heare it and make a needlesse triall of his absolute power what in himselfe he is able to doe God could have taught the Eunuch without the ministery of Philip Act. 8.26 and 10.4.5 as he could have instructed Cornelius by the Angel that appeared unto him but the Angel directed him to Peter to teach us that it is his Ordinance we should submit our selues unto it if we would attaine to saluation for that is the wisedome of God unlesse we account our selues wiser than God and know a nearer way to the kingdome of heaven than he hath shewed us But let such as follow their owne way take heede they neuer come there and so in the end while they professe themselues wise prove themselues to be starke fooles Vse Vse 1 1. This reproueth sundry sortes First of all the Recusants among us and the Popish rabble of that Antichristian generation which stoppe their eares like the Adder Psal 58.5 and will not hearken to the voice of Charmers charming never so wisely and withdraw themselues from our Church-assemblies and so forsake their owne mercy To these we may joyne the cursed crue of damnable Atheists who binde themselues in a league of infidelity and barre themselues of the meanes of faith and saluation let them feare least one day they roare in hell where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth and their Elysian fields proue hellish flames This is Gods deepe iudgement upon them to revenge the contempt of his holy word and for this cause he sendeth them strong delusions that they should beleeue a lie 2 Thes 2.11.12 that they all might be damned who beleeve not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse Both those sortes refuse to ioyne with us in the seruice of God in the word in praiers and in the Sacraments Such may be compelled by the magistrate to the exercises of religion Recusansie and rebellion came in together And the rather because Recusancy came in with treachery and Rebellion For untill treason beganne to be plotted called to this day the rebellion in the North and the Bul of Pius Quintus was published recusancy was not practised nor the name heard of but as they began together so they have growne up and continued together and I am perswaded so long as the one remaineth the other will not be forgotten This is the sottishnes that is found in that Synagogue which hath euermore hatched rebellion in her bosome and shewed her selfe an enimy to princes and their Scepters Hence it is that ignorance is made the mother of devotion Hence it is that Images are made lay-mens bookes But God hath appointed his Church to be instructed in the faith not by looking upon an image Non oculus spectaculo sed animus verbâ— pascenduâ— est Lactant. but by hearing his own ordinance not by feeding the eye with Pictures but the heart with the Preaching of his word Secondly it condemneth the corrupt practise of the Separation who deny to our Church the name of a true Church and Ministers thereof to be lawfull Ministers and as they teach that our Church is false and Antichristian so they charge us to be false Idolatrous and Antichristian ministers no better than the Priestes of Baal These are they that under colour of zeale are revolted from us which say stand by thy selfe come not neere to me Esay 65.5 for I am holâ—eâ— than thou But I would aske the Question of them In what Church they had faith wrought in them and by what Ministers as it were by spirituall fathers they were begotten againe to a lively hope of the heavenly inheritance If there be any faith or grace in any of them as I trust there is in many of them howsoever they iudge uncharitably of us where had they it or how obtained they it but by the Ministery of the Church of England So that we are a true Church and have true ministers even our enimies being iudges I may therefore demand of these as our Saviour did of
a fast and threatneth that whosoever shall doe any worke at all therein even on that day Levit. 16.31 23.30.31 shall be cut off from among his people Levit. 16. Because it shall be a Sabbath of rest and we ought to resort at such solemne times to the house of God no lesse than we ought to doe on the Sabbath if not rather more in regard of the urging and pressing occasion Iudge 20. Hereby then falleth to the ground the opinion of such as hold it neither needfull nor expedient that the word should be preached at such times as the Church assembleth for fasting and praying These are not ashamed to affirme that they have often heard and read of the exercise of fasting and praying but never of fasting and preaching as if forsooth the time were spent unprofitably that is spent that way These men would gladly say somewhat to maintaine and countenance their owne idlenesse And because the diligence of others maketh their negligence to appeare the greater they open their mouthes against them and their practise who preach the word in season and out of season according to the Commandement of God and man and speake all manner of evill of them The wise Salomon teacheth Pro. 26.16 Pro. 26. That the sluggard is wiser in his owne conceit than seven men that can render a reason We ought to use all meanes whatsoever and all little enough and too little to stirre up our selues to faith and repentance from dead workes but the preaching of the word is the principall and speciall meanes to worke these in vs and what is what is all our fasting without true repentance doubtlesse there is no life in it and therefore at such times the word should be taught to make the rest of the workes more lively Besides we have shewed that it hath the nature of a Sabbath day Whatsoever therefore they were forbidden on the Sabbath was likewise forbidden on the day of fasting and whatsoeven they were then Commanded to do ought likewise to be done and practised on this day But the Apostle teacheth Act. 15.21 that Moses hath in every City them that preach him being read in the Synagogue every Sabbath day So then besides that every day of fasting was a Sabbath day we see that after Moses was read he was also preached but he was read in their assemblies on the daies of their fasting Neh 9.13 there he sheweth how they spent that day one fourth part they reade in the booke of the Lord their God an other fourth part they spent in prayer and confessing their sinnes to God and by all likelihood the other two parts were spent in preaching after they had read the Lecture of the Law which is not expressed because he had so lately and largely spoken thereof in the former chapter And seeing they spent not the residne of the day idly but in some holy exercise together and neither in reading nor in praying how should it be spent but in preaching hearing the word of the Lord Thus Anna serued the Lord in the Temple with prayer fasting where without all question was the preaching of the word as well as praying and reading It is a desperate cause that hath nothing to pretend It is objected that the preaching of the word at such times is never expressed neither urged by Commandement nor Commended by example But we must consider the usuall manner of the Scripture by one part of the worship of God to understand the whole For sometimes there is mention of fasting but not at all of prayer Ester 4. and often elsewhere What then shall we collect and conclude from hence that they praied not to God nor once lifted up their hearts to him The brute beastes may keepe such a fast and therefore more must be understood then is named Esay 56.7 Math. 21.13 So the Temple was called the house of praier we never reade it called the house of preaching and yet it serueth no lesse for the one then for the other But these men conceive and imagine there is some time wherin the preaching of the word is unseasonable Lastly if the preaching of the word were used in times of holy feasting solemne thanksgiving to be rendred unto God for some extraordinary blessings or deliverances receiued as in the Passeover the like why should not the same exercise be much rather takē up when the times of holy fasting are sanctified that as at the one we might be stirred up to praise God for his mercies so at the other we might be moved to fear his judgments ready to fal upōus The second point is the kindes and sorts of fasting This we must learne The severall sorts of fasts to the end we may know of what fast the Prophet speaketh For all fastes are not of one nature neither undertaken for one and the same cause There is a fast prescribed by the Physition to restore health or to procure appetite abstaining from sustenance to consume raw and superfluous humours The cause of this is repletion Hence ariseth this rule of theirs Whatsoever diseases fasting or emptinesse cannot take away cure them by medicine An other is to performe somewhat with haste and expedition when the minde is so set upon some earnest businesse that a man either forgetteth himselfe or else can intend no time to take his sustenance and the refreshing which nature otherwise would require 1 Sam. 14.24 Such was the fast commanded by Saul who had no religious respect therein but aymed at this to spare no time from pursuing his enemies Such was Pauls fast and of the rest that were in the ship with him Act. 27.33 Act. 27. they had no leasure to take meate in time of the storme and tempest every houre fearing shipwracke and standing in jeopardy of their lives There is a fast of Christian sobriety which is nothing else but an using frugality in meates and drinkes or the vertue of temperance and is to be practised of us all the daies of our lives according to the warning of our Saviour Luk. 21.34 Take heed to your selues least at any time your hearts be over-charged with surfetting and drunkennesse Rom. 13.13 and of the Apostle Let us walke honestly as in the day not in riotting and drunkennesse not in chambering and wantonnesse c. There is an other fast of necessity which is a forced and constrained fast which God often sendeth as a chasticement when he breaketh the staffe of bread Leuit. 26.26 Deut. 28.23 when he maketh the heavens as brasse and the earth as yron when he destroyeth the labours of the husbandmen when the field is wasted the corne blasted the grasse withered the vines dryed and the land mourueth Ioel 2. Because we will not take up a voluntary fast that he would he forceth us to take up a fast which we would not because the earth forbeareth her fruites we must forbeare our food
full of earth or clay before so it is with our hearts when they are forestalled and fore-possessed with the world they cannot recive the least measure of grace Let us therefore set before us evermore the Counsell and Commandement of our Saviour Math. 6.33 1 Tim. 4.8 6.17 First seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and all these things shall be ministred unto you An other impediment is the quiet and peaceable end of obstinate sinners who hauing led a wicked and wretched life yet in outward appearance to the eye have died peaceably and as it is judged very happily From hence they encourage theÌ„selues in doing evill to go on in their sins so keep theÌ„selues from repentance These are diligent observers for their owne endes how the vngodly oftentimes go away like Lambes there are no bandes in their death and on the other side how such as have repented have unquiet endes and much discomfort at their death and so by them both are kept from making hast to turne to God But we must learne and consider it well that the quiet endes of wicked men proceed partly from the secret justice of God partly from the cunning subtilty of Satan and partly from their owne corruption so to blind their eyes and harden their hearts that they imagine as men in a dreame that they stand in good state and are as well the children of God as they that have never so much repented Thus God sendeth them strong delusions least they should be converted and be saved Esay 6.10 Whereas all outward things fall out alike to the righteous and to the wicked to the cleane and to the uncleane to the good and to the sinner Eccl. 9.2 He arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered c. The next point to be considered is the beginning of this wonderfull conuersion from the highest to the lowest The beginning was from the King himselfe Ier. 13.18 and from him proceeded to the people As the head giveth life to the rest of the members and one wheele giveth motion unto others so the action and forwardnesse of the King Doct. as the head of the common wealth Great men should be forwardest in all godlinesse and be examples to others of lower places stirred up all the people to fasting and prayer by his example Hereby we learne that superiours men of high place must by their practise give good example to others It behoveth them whom God hath placed in authority and lifted up their heads above their brethren to give good example to others and goe in and out before them in that which is good and holy The more high worthy and excellent their calling is the more zealous and forward they should be in Godlinesse and thankfulnesse to him that hath exalted them The Prophet Ioel beginneth first with the Elders or Ancients and from them descendeth to all the inhabitants of the land when he exhorteth all persons to repentance Ioel. 1.2 Hag. 1.1 2.2.21 This we see in the Prophet Haggai he beginneth with Zerubbabel the governour and then with the people The cause why the Gospel so much florished and prospered in Thessalonica is rendred because the cheefe men were most forward and received the word with all readinesse of mind Act. 17. Act. 17.11 And there is great cause why it should be so Reason 1 For first they may more easily draw on others to the best things by their good example as by their evill example they do draw backe others so that they offend doubly by their sinne and by their example So Ieroboam set up Idolatry and thereby made Israel to sinne Lips in polit For as we have light or darkenesse from the Sunne so we have vice or vertue from superiors And as the high and tall Cedars of Libanus while they stand fast well rooted in the earth are a shield and defence to the lower shrubbes that are underneath them but if they fall downe they beare downe all that are within their reach so suâ—ch as are of higher estate and calling so long as they continue firme in the feare of God and in the wayes of godlinesse are as notable proppes and pillars to such as cast their eyes upon them and great meanes to draw on others by their authority and example but when once they fall away and give themselues to wicked wayes they walke not in that way alone but are an occasion of falling to many others by their followers and inferiors Secondly it is well knowne by daily experience that such as are under others are led more by examples than by edictes and looke upon the lives of superiors rather than upon their Lawes Claudian Componttur orbis regis ad exemplum c. True it is we should live by the precepts of God rather than by the practises of men but for the most part we see it otherwise Hence it is that Salomon saith Pro. 29.12 If a ruler hearken to lies all his servants are wicked Thirdly superiours must give an account of their government to God who is the great master and commander in heaven and earth of whom they have received their place and power for promotion commeth neither from the East Psal 75.6.7 nor from the West but God putteth downe one and setteth up another and he will streightly enquire not only how just and civill Ezek. 18.4 1 Sam. 2.13 but how holy and religious their gouerment hath beene True it is the soule that sinneth shall die the death yet their blood shall be required at the hands of all them that have not done their duty to bring them to God but beene a meanes to draw them and drive them from God Fourthly if such as be superiours and have jurisdiction to prescribe rules to others be not brought to a conscience of their owne duties in the first place they might by the abuse of their authority frustrate and make void all the good care conscience that might happily be begun in their children servants by urging commanding them to do otherwise than â—he law of God and their own consciences would permit them First of all Vse 1 this reprooveth such as being unmindfull of their high calling unmindfull that the Lord bringeth low and lifteth up 1 Sam. 2.7 unmindfull that he maketh them inherit the throne of Glory unmindfull that they are as a City set upon an hill to be seene a farre off and unmindfull of the great account which they are to make at the great day of account for to whom much is given of him the more shall be required do give themselues over to all manner of evill as if their authority were a priviledge or sanctuary for impiety and thereby draw others into the same excesse of riot untill both they and their followers perish as it is noted of Theudas and Iudas Act. 5.36.37 who drew away much people after them
reconciled I Answer Answ the Scripture speaketh of God two wayes sometimes properly and sometimes unproperly properly it agreeth not to God because in him is no change nor shadow of turning unproperly it may by the figure Anthropopatheja which is an attributing or ascribing unto God the parts properties passions and affections of men the more lively to represent the things spoken off before our eyes So then it is a borrowed speech from men in God it is a change of his worke not of his will as Gen. Gen. 6.6 6. it repented God that he had made man that is he purposed to destroy man whom before he had made From hence we learne where true faith is to apprehend and beleeve the truth and certainty of Gods threatnings Doct. there is a feare of judgements to come Faithworketh a feare of Gods judgments Faith worketh feare and feare often worketh faith This we see in these Ninevites they beleeved God and proclaimed a fast and therefore they feared the dreadfull sentence published and pronounced against them This appeareth in the commendation of the faith of Noah Heb 11.7 Heb. 11.7 He being endued with a justifying and saving faith is also touched with feare and reverence at the consideration of Gods judgements to come So it was with Iehoshaphat he beleeved the Prophets 2 Chro. 20.3 and therefore he feared and set his heart to seeke the Lord 2 Cor. 20. See the further practise of this in Hezekiah Ier. Ier. 26.18.19 26. Micah the Morashite prophesied and spake to all the people of Iudah Thus saith the Lord of hostes Zion shall be plowed like a field and Ierusalem shall become heapes did Hezekiah the king of Iudah and all Iudah put him to death did he not feare the Lord and besought the Lord and the Lord repented him of the evill which he had pronounced against them 2 King 22.19 The like we see in Iosiah 2 King 22. when he heard the plagues and curses that should come upon Ierusalem his heart was tender he trembled himselfe before God and when he heard the wordes against that place he rent his cloathes and wept before him The reasons are evident First God hath coupled both these together Reas 1 and therfore whosoever beleeveth his threatnings cannot but feare the evils threatned He that apprehendeth the wrath of a Prince to be as the roaring of a Lyon cannot but tremble it cannot but worke in him feare Amos. 3. Amos. 3.6 Can a trumpet be blowne in the Citty and the people not be afraid Secondly faith maketh things unseene to be seene Heb. 11.1 Heb. 11 1.1â— For it is the evidence of things me sinneâ—s Moses by faith saw him that is invisible vers 27. and Noah â—aw the worlds destruction as present though it 〈◊〉 an hundred and twenty yeares before it came and 〈◊〉 it But it may be objected Object the faithfull is not afraid of any euill â—idings for his heart is fixed and beleeveth in the Lord Psal 112.7 and therefore faith expelleth all feare I answer the words of the Psalme teach the contrary Answ Blessed is the man that feareth God and therefore to clâ—â—re this seeming-contradiction we must observe a two-fold feare as also care a distrustfull feare and an awefull or reverent feare The distrustfull feare argueth want of faith in God the awefull feare maketh us seeke to God and to fly to his mercy But where the true faith is it expelleth and driveth out distrust Psal 133.18 147.11 and therefore the Prophet ioyneth these two together Psal 133 The eye of the Lord is upon them that feare him that trust in his mercy and 147.11 the Lord delighteth in them that feare him that hope in his mercy Behold the true cause Vse 1 why there is so little feare of God in the world and of his judgments though imminent and ready to fall nay present and already fallen We never had more cause to feare generall judgments in regard of the generall corruptions and floods of wickednesse that overflow in all places yet never more security never lesse feare And what is the cause because there is so little faith Math. 24.37 as Christ our Saviour sheweth that iniquity should abound in the last dayes and men mind nothing else but their profits and pleasures as they did when the flood came and swept them all away at once disobedience to the word proceeding from infidelity was the cause of that cause 1 Thess 5. For when they shall say peace peace suddaine destruction shall come upon them as paines upon a woman in travaile and they shall not escape These shall make a mocke of the last judgment and never feare it untill they feele it These may be sent to schoole to Ahab to Iudas the sonne of perdition nay to the Devils themselues for they have not so much faith as Ahab had 1 King 21.27 not so much as Iudas had Luk. 18.8 Math. 27.3.5 not so much as the Devils Iam. 2.19 who beleeve and tremble where as the ungodly beleeve not and therefore tremble not but they would if they beleeved onely so much as the Devils do How then can prophaine persons escape the torments of Hell who come farre short of these that are already in hell and how fearefull an estate is it to be condemned of such as be condemned themselues Secondly see the difference betweene Gods children and carnall or worldly men these are quite contrary the one to the other as light and darknesse and as farre distant as heaven and hell Hic ubiopus est none verentur illic ubt nihil opus est the verentur Terent Andr. act 4. seen 1. When Gods judgements are threatned and men warned to take heed and looke to themselues they do feare least of all who have most cause and whom they most neerely concerne and they on the other side most of all whom they concerne We see this in the old world evidently and expresly for whom did the threatning of the drowning and destruction therof most neerly touch and concerne Doubtlesse the disobedient world of the ungodly But they feared least nay nothing at all they ranne on in their worldly and wicked courses till the flood came and swept them away Whom did the threatning least of all concerne as being in least danger to be drowned Surely Noah and his family for whom the Arke was prepeared but they feared most of all Nay Gods children oftentimes feare for the wicked Psal 119.53.136.158 when they feare not for themselues as Psal 119.53.136.158 as they pray for them when they pray not for themselues and desire their conuersion when they minde nothing lesse The Prophet was greeved for them when they were not greeved for themselues 2 Cor. 12.21 So it is said by the Apostle God will humble me among you and I shall bewaile many which have sinned and have not repented of the sinnes committed the more sorry he was for
bee confident What made the Prophet bold to overstride all dangers that he could not be dismaied by them but because his heart was fixed in God to depend upon him and to looke for salvation from him On the other side what doth discomfort and dis-harten many men what maketh them to doubt to murmure and many times to blaspheme but because they imagine the Lords hand is shortned Numb 11.23 and is not able to supply their wants It is an easie matter when we have store and abundance when the Lord blesseth us on every side and our substance is encreased when he washeth our steps with butter Iob 29.6 and the rocke powreth out rivers of oyle upon us to flatter our selves that we have a strong faith and a full perswasion and assurance of his love that we put our whole trust and affiance in him and will never be brought to rapine against him But be not deceived these are not the dayes of triall of our faith these are not the times of the patience of the Saints Before triall Peter was most confident but in the brunt of the battel he was a coward and gave over in the plaine field So doe we triumph before the victory but when wee see persecution famine perill and sword we give over fighting and feare possesseth our hearts When Elisha the man of God was sent with a comfortable message at the siege of Samaria that two measures of barly should bee sold for a shekell and a measure of fine flowre for a shekell to morrow about that time one of the Princes beleeved not the Word of the Lord Behold 2 King 7.1 2. if the Lord would make windowes in Heaven would this thing be the Prophet answered Because thou saist so thou shalt see it with thine eyes but shalt not eate thereof and according to his Word so it came to passe The Disciples being in danger to be drowned when a storme arose they came to Christ their Master for helpe and he saith Why are ye fearefull Maâ—th 8.26 O yee of little faith He accuseth them not to be faithlesse men or to have no faith at all for beleeving and doubting faith and feare may stand together in one subject as they met together in these but he layeth to their charge to have little faith The like wee read touching Peter when he saw the windes blow and the waves arise he was sore afraid and beginning to sinke he cryed out O Master save me Matth. 14.30 31 6.30 Then Christ stretched out his hand caught him and said O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt And in a like case wherein we deale he saith If God so clothe the grasse of the field which to day flourisheth and to morrow is cast into the Oven will he not much more cloathe you O yee of little faith Thus doth Christ evermore upbraid such as are fearefull doubtfull and distrustfull with want or with weaknesse of faith to rest upon him For as the Apostle speaketh of perfect love 1 Ioh. 4.18 so may I say of perfect faith that it casteth out feare Where such feare is there is little faith These testimonies teach us where to seeke and finde the true cause of all our wavering and doubting it springeth from an evill heart and unfaithfull Hebr. 3.12 1 Ioh. 5.4 5. to depart away from the living God this is the ground of all Therefore this shifting for our selves and pensivenesse for worldly things is a strong argument of a weake faith for whatsoever is borne of God overcommeth the world and this is the victory that overcommeth the world even our faith and who is he that overcommeth the world but hee that beleeveth that Jesus is the Sonne of God 1 Iohn 5.4 5. Secondly it is our duty to rely upon Gods providence for earthly things as Children doe upon their Fathers love and care for them in like manner as Abraham speaketh to his Sonne When Isaac said My Father where is the sacrifice he answered with words of faith Gen. 22.8 My Sonne God will provide Doe wee not see how little Children albeit they have nothing and know not to day what they shall have to morrow never disquiet themselves what they shall eate or what they shall drinke or wherewith they shall be clothed And the reason is because they know their Parents provide for them and will not see them want Shall wee rely lesse upon our heavenly Father then these doe upon their earthly or shall we thinke that God hath lesse care of his Children then the sonnes of men have of theirs Nay as great as the difference is betweene that which is infinite and that which is finite so much greater is his love then the love of men Psal 103.11 â—3 and consequently so much greater ought our dependance to bee upon him His love is infinite as himselfe is for the love of God is God and every way as great as himselfe nay it is himselfe it is no quality in him as it is in us To worke this resting upon God as upon a rocke we have sundry exhortations in holy Scripture all of them tending to the same purpose Commit thy way to the Lord Psal 37.5 1 Cor. 10.13 and trust in him and he shall bring it to passe to wit when we can see no end or issue out of our dangers yet hee can we see but before our eyes he seeth the most hidden things of the world And againe Psal 35.22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustaine thee Let us not therefore content our selves to depend upon him in light and slight troubles but even then when we have the greatest tentations and afflictions upon us and let us not cry out in anguish of spirit O what an heavy burden doe I beare no man is so troubled as I am No man knoweth what sorrow I sustaine what misery I feele But be it never so tedious and toilsome as waighty and wearisome as a mountaine to carry cast thy care and crosse upon the Lords shoulders he is able to beare it albeit we be not and he hath promised to helpe us to beare it who never faileth of his promise in time of need Thus Salomon speaketh Prov. 16.3 Prov. 16.3 Commit thy waies unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established And 1 Pet. 5.7 Cast all your care on him 1 Pet. 5.7 for he careth for you If a Prince should utter any such gracious words of comfort to any of his poore people and give such a precept accompanied with such a promise O how would they accept of it and rejoyce in it as we see an example in Barzillai 2 Sam. 19. David promising to shew kindnesse to his Sonne I will doe to him whatsoever thou shalt require of me 2 Sam. 19.38 and whatsoever shall seeme good to thee how did his heart rest in the Kings word and how willing was he to trust the King
18.24 1 Cor. 3.6 yet Aquila and Priscilla tooke him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly It was an evident signe that Job was humble in his owne eyes Iob 31.13 15. in that he did not despise the cause of his Man-servant or of his Maide when they contended with him but considered with himselfe that he which made him in the wombe fashioned them also and that one formed them all Thirdly if we submit our selves to bee governed by the wisedome of God revealed in his Word This submitting and subjecting of our selves maketh simple men become wise yong men to be wiser then their Elders and such as have beene taught Psal 119.98 99. 19.7 Prov. 1.4 wiser then their Teachers and such as have enemies to goe beyond all their deepe policies and to prevent all their cunning devices On the other side if wee reject the Word and will not bee obedient unto it making it a lampe unto our feet and a light unto our pathes Psal 119.105 Ier. 8.9 2 Tim. 3.15 there is no true wisedome at all in us Jer. 8.9 The Word is able to make us wise to salvation 1 Tim. 3.15 which is the greatest wisedome that can be He that is not wise for his soule is a foole let him be never so wise and wary for the body and let him have never so great reputation for a wise man in the world yet is his wisedome disprooved Fourthly if we deny our selves and our owne naturall and fleshly wisedome It is a very hard matter to deny our selves and our carnall wisedome but it must of necessity bee done if ever wee desire to come to the Kingdome of Heaven Therefore the Apostle saith Let no man deceive himselfe 1 Cor. 8.13 2 Cor. 10.32 If any man among you seeme to be wise let him become a foole that he may be wise For our high thoughts must be cast downe that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and bee brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ Lastly let us study to decke our selves with humility as with a precious robe and to crowne our selves with humblenesse of minde as with a garland And so much the rather because this adorneth all other graces yea without this grace is no grace This is the direction of the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 5.5 6. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that hee may exalt you in due time and cloathe yourselves with humility 1 Pet. 5.5 6. And we have sundry motives to stirre us up unto it First no good thing dwelleth in our flesh Rom. 7.18 but evill dwelleth in us abundantly and plentifully All the thoughts of mans heart are onely evill Gen. 6.5 and that continually The water can arise no higher then nature will give it leave so there is an impotency and disability in our nature to ascend above it selfe to that which is good as unpossible as for the streame to climbe up to the top of an high mountaine or for a stone by its owne strength to mount into the aire For that which is of the flesh is onely flesh Our natur is stained and defiled with all manner of sinne and a pronenesse to all sorts of sinnes from our birth Iob 14.4 15.14 Psal 51.5 nay from our conception which hath over-spred us as a filthy leprosie The minde and understanding the will and affections the memory and conscience the whole soule and body are infected Rom. 8.7 so that the naturall man understandeth not the things of God for they are foolishnesse unto him and are spiritually discerned Secondly God resisteth the proud and professeth himfelfe to be an enemy to them Iam. 4.6 Prov. 3.34 1 Pet. 5.5 but hee giveth grace unto the humble Iam. 4.6 Thirdly our best gifts are wonderfully tainted and defiled We know nothing if wee be ignorant hereof What is our faith our repentance our sanctification our love our temperance our patience our hope our knowledge but as it were the foundation or beginning of a great building or the seed of grace sowne in our hearts rather then grace it selfe being compared with perfection We know nothing as we ought to know 1 Cor. 8.2 howsoever wee may thinke wee know all things Our faith is little and soone shaken with many doubtings and with much unbeleefe Lastly Marke 9.24 such onely as are humble shall be exalted and lifted up in due time Luke 1.51 As the proud are scattered in the imagination of their hearts so the humble shall be advanced It is a common saying of Christ oftentimes uttered by him and repeated by the Evangelists Matth. 23.12 Luke 24.11 18.14 Hee that lifteth up himselfe shall be cast downe and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted As pride goeth before destruction and an high minde before the fall Prov. 16. so on the other side humility goeth before exaltation and leadeth the way before it All are desirous to passe into the house of glory but they are unwilling to enter in at the gate of humility By this gate Christ himselfe entred and this way he hath consecrated to all his children For it is your Fathers These words containe the reason which is the promise of a great and wonderfull blessing greater then all the world besides For what is this world without respect and reference to the World to come or what is all the glory of this life without the glory of the next Life or what is an earthly Kingdome without the Kingdome of Heaven Now touching the force and strength of this reason see afterward in the last branch This promise which is a promise of promises or the perfection of all promises as a spring or fountaine hath many streames or chanels issuing out of it as hath beene observed before in the beginning The first is the Author of the promise not Man not Angels not Princes not any creature for this is greater then all the Angels of Heaven and all the Kings and mighty men of the earth are able to promise and performe it is God that hath promised who also will accomplish whatsoever he hath spoken And to the intent this promise might take the deeper root in our hearts Christ Iâ—sus doth not call him the mighty Lord the righteous Iudge the God of revenge or such like but a mercifull Father For as before we shewed that God sheweth himselfe a Shepheard to teach that his Sheepe shall not want so here the Lord Iesus calleth him a Father 2 Cor. 12.14 to shew that as a Father provideth for his Chlldren so God loveth his and will provide for all of them He were a bad Shepheard that would feed himselfe but starve and famish his Sheepe so he were an evill father that would bee carefull for himselfe but carelesse altogether for his children The meaning of the word Father Now touching the meaning this word Father so farre as it is ascribed to God is
the body to see one eye lifted vp to heauen and the other cast downe to the earth It choketh the Word as a rancke Thorne and stoppeth yea stuffeth the mouth so full with earth that it cannot be opened to pray to God Psal 14.4 Ezek. 33.31 Psal 119.36 The third is broken because it draweth men to cursing and swearing and forswearing in buying and bargaining and that sometimes to get a penny Hence proceed false waights and false measures making the rules of Iustice to be the meanes of iniustice Such oftentimes take the name of God in vaine The fourth is trangressed because it thrusteth men headlong to the breach of the Sabbath they thinke it commeth too soone they iudge that it beginneth too earely they suppose that it lasteth too long they imagine that it is urged too strictly being ready to ioyne with those in the Prophet Neh. 13.20 Amos 8.5 When will the Sabbath be gone that we may set forth wheat c The fifth Commandement maintaineth the dignity of our person which the couetous man defaceth If wee should see Kings and Princes or the children of Kings and Princes that are heires to a Kingdome busie themselues in base Trades or handy-crafts and occupations Turk History in the life of Aemet as the Turkish Emperours doe what a reproch would wee thinke it to their high calling God hath made his children Kings and prepared for them a Kingdome shall we therefore be so base bad-minded as to follow after this world and forget the things of the World to come The sixt Commandement is pulled vp by the rootes because this sinne is often a bloody sinne and taketh away life from the owners thereof as we see in Ahab and in Judas When a man is once couetous it cannot be but he shall giue himselfe to hatred malice cruelty violence rage and reuenge It causeth the breach of the seuenth Commandement for when whoredome hath taken away the heart of many to maintaine their unbridled lusts they oftentimes oppresse rich and poore small and great without difference so that sometimes whoredome is the cause of covetousnesse and sometimes covetousnesse of whoredome The eigth Commandement is principally broken by this sinne aboue the rest Here the couetous are as it were in their proper element and make shipwracke upon it as upon a rocke They devise all mischiefe they regard no Contracts nor Couenants their word is yea and nay as standeth most with their owne profit They rush against the ninth Commandement because they are faithfull to no man they are voyd of all true dealing they sticke not to lye and beare false witnesse as appeareth in Gehazi 2 King 5.25 and in those that were hired for mony to dissemble deny the resurrection and to make report that the Disciples came by night Matth. 28.13 15. and stole away the body of Iesus out of the Sepulchre while they slept The tenth Commandement striketh at the root of all these evils and forbiddeth the couetousnesse of the heart before consent which is throughly setled therein All these things considered what a blot is it to our holy profession that wee should professe our selues Christians and yet live as the Gentiles Infidels and Pagans as Christ himselfe speaketh Matthew 6.32 After all these things doe the Gentiles seeke whereas our heauenly Father knoweth that wee haue need of all these things If wee should see a young man rake and scrape all he can together shifting for himselfe and no other upon the earth prouiding for him or looking after him or mindfull of him wee would presently conclude Doubtlesse his father is dead Even so when wee see men in this world bestow all their thoughts studies endeauours and practices reaching and ouer-reaching day and night for the things of this world it argueth plainely that they take God no longer for their Father but imagine in their unbeleeving hearts that he hath cast away the care of them and will no longer provide for them otherwise they would not thus shift and shave for themselues Hitherto of our duty respecting our selves Our duty toward our brethren learned out of this Title now we have somewhat to learne from hence in respect of our brethren For if we have all of us one Father are wee not to demeane and behave our selves uprightly and lovingly toward those that are his Children and our owne brethren Wee must be like our heavenly Father if we beare his Image and not as bastard-children that carry but the Image of his Image And first wee must imitate him and walke in his steppes that hath gone before us 1 Ioh. 4.11 Ioh. 13.34 15.12 loving them heartily that are his Children as well as our selves Jo. 4.11 Beloued if God so loved us we ought also to love one another And againe This is my commandement that yee love one another as I have loved you This duty must appeare especially in two points first in loving them that hate us and in doing good to them that persecute us Math. 5. That thereby we may shew our selves to be the Children of our heavenly Father Matth. 5.45 Luke 6.32 For if wee love them onely that love us what reward have we or what singular thing doe we for sinners also love those that love them And if we doe good to them onely which doe good to us what thanke have we for sinners also doe even the same And if ye salute your brethren onely what doe ye more then others doe not even the Publicanes so Wee must therefore labour to goe beyond them and to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect who maketh his Sunne to shine upon the good and bad and the raine to fall upon the godly and ungodly Secondly wee must doe good and shew mercy to the poore and impotent Luke 6.76 that we may also be mercifull to others as our heavenly Father is mercifull unto us who is a Father of the Fatherlesse of the Stranger and of the Widdow Lastly hence ariseth much comfort to all the Children of God that he is become their Father Consider first from hence the dignity and prerogative of all true beleevers Is it not a great honour to be the Sonne and Heire of a great King an honour doubtlesse that belongeth and befalleth to a few Thus doth David debate the matter with Sauls servants 1 Sam. 18.23 Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a Kings Sonne in law seeing that I am a poore man and lightly esteemed howbeit it is a thousand times greater honour to be the Sonnes and Daughters and consequently Heires of the King of Kings the eternall God This Christ our Saviour sheweth Joh. 1.12 Ioh. 1.12 As many as received him to them he gave prerogative to be the Sonnes of God So the Apostle saith and speaketh it with admiration 1 Ioh. 3.1 Behold what love the Father hath shewed to us that we should be called the Children of God! This preeminence
desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat If then we finde and feele these assaults these tentations these buffettings it is a plaine proofe that we have received faith which maketh the Devill so earnest and diligent to interrupt us and intercept us Secondly if we have faith applying the promises it will purge the heart and mortifie the corruptions thereof the death of Christ crucifieth the flesh and all worldly lusts our best beloved sinnes our dearest sinnes and most desired and those whereunto we are most enclined and wherewith wee are most infected as most consonant and agreeable to our corrupt natures This is one infallible token that we are true beleevers and this rule is taken out of the words of Peter Acts 15.9 Gal. 5.6 Hee put no difference betweene Jewes and Gentiles purifying their hearts by faith Acts 15. which worketh by love Gal. 5. Thirdly Christ giveth himselfe to the beleever so that his holinesse belongeth to him Never any husband could endow his wife with such a dowry to say as Christ Iesus doth Hos 2.19 20. I will betroth them to me for ever in righteousnesse in faithfulnesse in judgement in loving kindnesse and in mercy Thus they are married to him in holinesse and they become to be the members of Christ for Christ cannot be the head of a polluted body or of defiled members As from a corrupt head proceed corrupt things to the members so from a pure and holy head which is Christ must necessarily proceed holinesse to all those that are his members The Vine cannot but communicate of his juyce or sappe to the branches There was never any that did truely apply Christ but Christ truely applyed himselfe to him againe neither was there ever any that embraced him but he likewise by and by tooke hold of him His left hand is under his head Cant. 2.6 8.3 and his right hand doth embrace him The beleever applieth Christ and Christ holdeth the beleever so that as the beleever saith I am Christs and Christ is mine so on the other side Christ saith I am the beleevers and the beleever is mine This application is mutuall and mysticall there is a double worke in it one is of the beleever the other of Christ A man layeth hold upon a staffe that he carrieth in his hand to stay himselfe up from falling but the staffe cannot lay hold upon him againe Or a man claspeth and embraceth the tree with both his armes but the tree cannot embrace him againe but it is not so betweene Christ and the true beleever we hold him fast but he holdeth us faster and giveth unto us of his holinesse even grace for grace even as the childe holdeth the Father fast that leadeth him howbeit the father holdeth him faster and stayeth him up from falling away from him otherwise he were every foot in danger True it is we cannot say that all our blacknesse of sinne is quite gone and removed but that we have still many spots and wrinkles wee have not yet received perfect holinesse from him The Moone receiveth all her light from the Sunne yet is not her body without some spots so it is with us though we be blacke Cant 1.5 yet he accepteth us as comely Lastly we have the true faith if we hold fast the promises and cleave close to him even then when he seemeth to frowne upon us and to be angry with us to hide his face from us and to with-hold his loving countenance as the Sunne that is hid in a cloud out of our sight We must rest upon him in time of affliction We must see hope through despaire and Heaven through Hell we must behold his mercy through his indignation yea life through death and salvation through damnation Iob 13.15 as it was with Job Though he slay me yet will I trust in him though he hide his face for a time frō us yet the bright beames of faith will shine thorow the thickest fogs and mists that arise in us Thus we may by these notes prove our faith and try the truth thereof But if these be not in us but the contrary we cannot assure our selves that we are yet come to a true faith For first of all if we live in quiet and at rest at peace and ease all our dayes without any feares doubtings wrastlings bruisings buffettings and assaults of Satan we have cause to feare we have a false faith This rule is grounded upon the Words of Christ Luke 11.21 Luke 11. When a strong man armed keepeth the Palace his goods are in peace If Satan never assault us to pull downe the buttresse and fortresse of our faith wee are at peace and league with him and hee with us and we have just cause to suspect our selves True it is there may be many doubts and tentations and yet no faith but there can be no faith where are no doubtings or tentations at all If we have faith Wheresoever there is true faith there will be doubts and tentations there will arise doubts yea albeit we have a great and a strong faith for it is not so strong but That strong man armed will try the strength thereof and so much the rather because it is ever mingled with some infidelity Such then as can cry out What a doubt touching my salvation Out upon it O it is a great sinne once to make a doubt I thanke God I never doubted any whit of my salvation since I can remember neither yet of Christ to bee mine I doubt not to pronounce of all such without any doubting at all they never knew what faith meaneth it is an evident demonstration of great and grosse infidelity Againe if sinne be living in us that there be no mortification at all 2 Cor. 7.1 no cleansing of our selves from the filthinesse of the flesh and spirit we can have no true faith It is open impiety to imagine that the death of Christ truely applied to any soule should not bee of force to kill sinne in it and therefore it is great folly to say We can rightly apply Christ and the promises of the Gospell Col. 3.3 4 5. and yet can shew never a sinne mortified in us No man is come to that height of sinne that he dareth either speake or thinke that there wanteth power in the death of Christ to kill sinne in us and therefore we must needs hold him for an unbeleever that talketh of particular application and yet hath sinne as a tyrant raigning in him Besides if Christ have not united us to himselfe in holinesse we are yet faithlesse men For he uniteth himselfe to none but he putteth holinesse in some measure into them This rule is expressed by the Apostle Gal. 5.24 They that are Christs Gal. 5.24 have crucified the flesh 2 Cor. 4.17 with the affections and lusts and are become new creatures Lastly if we rely upon God and upon his love and favour no longer then
the Rod should shake it selfe against them that lift it up or as if the Staffe should lift up it selfe as if it were no wood Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker Let the Potsheard strive with the Potsheards of the earth Wherefore albeit he shewed no mercy on Cain Esau Saul Ahab Judas and sundry others yet is he not herein unjust for hee was indebted unto them nothing at all Nay more then all this had he denyed mercy to all mankinde and appointed all the sonnes of Adam of whom they come as out of a corrupted masse to endlesse torments as he did the Angels that fell yet had he done them no wrong but executed upon them just judgement and their deserved punishment so that no man can justly utter a word of complaint against him Rom. 11.51 Hence it is that the Apostle saith Rom. 11. Who hath first given to him and it shall be recompenced unto him againe This reprooveth two sorts First Vse 1 such as set up mans free will and make the beginning of our salvation to come from our selves This crosseth the doctrine of the holy Scriptures which teach that in our will is no good at all untill God from above give it and graft it in us as the earth is dry and barren the dryest of all the elements untill it receive the showres from Heaven to make it fruitfull This error setteth up mans nature and puffeth up flesh and blood It abolisheth the grace of God and derogateth much from the glory of his mercy because we are no more able of our selves to doe good then the stone can of it selfe mount up aloft If you take it and throw it into the aire it flyeth upward so if the Sonne take us and make us free Cant. 1.4 then we will and worke freely and if wee bee drawne Obiect wee runne after him What then may some say Are we stockes and stones without will without life without motion I answer Not so Answ wee are not utterly as blockes or stones without understanding For our will is capable of good when once it is wrought in us whereas stones sencelesse creatures and bruit beasts are not Nay we have a certaine freedome and liberty in naturall and civill things and some Ecclesiasticall so farre as both sence and reason may guide us But to any thing that is simply good and well-pleasing to God before he make us willing that are unwilling wee are worse then stocks I meane to doe good in a good holy and sanctified manner For not onely wee have stony hearts but also we rebell against God and lift up our selves against him which stockes and stones never doe against their Maker Ioh. 15.5 Ephes 2.1 so that Christ saith Without mee yee can doe nothing And the Apostle Wee are borne dead in sinnes and trespasses Whosoever therefore shall tell us and perswade us that we have power of our selves to doe that which is good and that wee stand in need of nothing but to be gently holpen with the hand to walke in his waies and need not to be wholly assisted and prevented by grace they are lying spirits and false prophets beleeve them not bid them not God speed neither receive them to house What a stirre hath there beene heretofore and is yet in the Church of Rome and among other Sectaries and who is ignorant of it about the matter of free will Were he not a fond man who being fast bound in chaines and irons would talke of nothing but of his present freedome and liberty Yet this is the case with us we are bondmen and yet we hold our selves to be free men wee have just cause therefore utterly to abolish this name of Free-will and learne to reason of our bond-will another while For we are as unfit to begin any good in our owne selves as the greene wood is to kindle in it selfe and of it selfe any fire or heat which being kindled it is rather apt to be put out againe These never knew the greatnesse of the fall of man and the deadly wound that nature hath received for it is God that worketh in us the will and the deed And if both the deed and will it selfe be Gods gifts I would gladly know what good gift we have left unto us in nature or what we can rightly challenge to our selves God is Alpha and Omega the first and the last the beginning and the ending and therefore all power and ability is taken from us quite and cleane of doing any thing that is good True it is the first man Adam before his transgression had free will to chuse the good and to refuse the evill but by his fall hee lost both it and himselfe both his liberty and his innocency Mans freedome is a very bondage For now our freedome is onely to be free to sinne too free alas we are to it if that may be called a freedome which indeed is the most miserable and slavish bondage while wee can doe nothing else but sinne lying as it were fast bound in chaines and fetters hand and foot O but a man that is fettered hath at least a will and desire to be loosed It is true of bodily captives and prisoners but it is not so with the naturall man that is unregenerate For as he is fettered so of himselfe he is willing and desirous to be so he doth evill and he will doe it he loveth his chaines as if they were of gold or silver Ephes 5.14 2 Tim. 2.26 and hath no will to bee raised from the dead sleepe of sinne Hee thinketh himselfe at liberty and as free as the best when he is faster holden then the worst Gally-slave He is the servant of corruption and yet hee is offended with him that moveth him to shake off those heavy bolts and fetters and to come out of that bad and bond condition The Apostle sheweth 1 Cor. 2.14 that the naturall man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Secondly it reprooveth such as teach that faith and workes foreseene are the causes of our election to life and salvation This were for us to choose God Faith foreseene is not the cause of our salvation and not for God to choose us whereas he witnesseth the contrary This is to reject all infants from Gods Election who are taken away by untimely death as corne that is reaped downe in the greene blade This maketh election to be uncertaine and to depend upon the will and pleasure of men This teacheth that grace is not the totall cause of faith This is as much as to begin our spirituall life at our selves and to give the praise to our selves at least in part and not to God for the blessings that we receive from him This is to be afraid lest we should bee too much beholding to God for our salvation and too little
owne If wee travell without the Word it will bring us to Hell the kingdome of darknesse but never to the Kingdome of Heaven and of God who dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto No man by nature knoweth the way to Heaven neither can possibly finde it without his guide there are so many odde lanes and blinde turnings and by-pathes and crosse waies that we are sure to misse the Devill standeth at one corner and telleth us This is the way the World calleth to us at another I will lead thee and sinne sitteth at anoother ready to perswade us to follow it Wee know the way that leadeth to Hell well enough nature is a sufficient guide to instruct us and direct us if we have no other we cannot misse it the way is so broad and the gate so wide that leadeth to destruction and the company so great going before us that thrusteth and throngeth to enter into it Wherefore it standeth us upon to doe nothing without our guide Howbeit this is an hard matter men will not stoope downe when God holds out his Scepter ready to lead them neither will they draw neere when God stretcheth out his arme to receive them The causes why vve follovv not the guidance of the Word but hang backe many wayes And will we understand and learne the causes that stop up our way and hinder us from following the guidance of the Word Ignorance negligence and contempt have so possessed the greatest part that they are a small remnant that make conscience to seeke knowledge to use diligence and to performe obedience These lead us by the hand to the Kingdome the former are the greatest enemies to our soules Ignorance of the Word the first hinderance to the Kingdome Heb. 5.12 Of these three that blocke up the way and stop our passage I will speake in order And touching the first I will say with the Apostle Heb. 5.12 When for the time yee ought to bee teachers yee have need that one teach you againe which be the first principles of the Oracles of God and are become such as have need of milke and not of strong meat After all our hearing and learning after so many yeeres teaching and preaching Heb. 6.1 the greatest part know not the principles of the doctrine of Christian Religion The raine and dew of Heaven hath fallen upon the ground and yet it remaineth dry and barren The Hammer of the Word hath beaten upon our hearts yet they are hardned as the Anvill Many gracious showres have dropped downe upon the grasse of the field and yet alas it is ready to wither away The Sunne hath shined clearely in our eyes and yet alas we remaine in palpable darknesse O what a deepe and secret judgement is this that the raine should make us dry and the Sunne make us blinde that the light should cause darknesse and the sound of the Gospell should make us deafe But thus it is and thus it must bee when we regard not to know the will of our God Certainely such blinde sottish people that remaine willingly nay wilfully blinde in the middest of the meanes of knowledge like those that having meat before them arise empty from the Table cannot assure themselves to bee true members of the Christian Church The Prophet foretelleth touching the Church of Christ that the earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord Esay 11.9 2.3 Ioel 2.28 as the waters that cover the Sea but these have their hearts as full of ignorance as the Sea is of water True it is a man may be ignorant of many truthes and yet be saved 1 Cor. 13.9.12 And it is true likewise that here wee know in part and wee see as thorow a glasse darkely and so wee shall untill wee come to know even as also wee are knowne Howbeit wee must understand that there is difference betweene truth and truth There are some such truths as are like the heart in the body without which there is no life or like the foundation of an house except it be well laid no building can be reared and erected Or like the Pillers on which Samson leaned if they bee shaken the house falleth and is overthrowne and the fall thereof is great and draweth with it the ruine of others So it is in Religion There are sundry such principles and grounds of the faith that whosoever is ignorant of them all or of any one of them it is impossible he should be saved These are to Christians as the A. B. C. is to Children except the Childe know his letters he can never be able to read yea albeit he be ignorant but of one of them so except they which be rude be well and thorowly grounded in the Rudiments and first Principles 1 Pet. 2.2 as it were the first milke that they sucke from their Mothers brests that they may grow thereby they are not yet in the way to the Kingdome they have not set one step forward to Heaven Notwithstanding if a thorow view and exact examination were taken of the most places I feare the greatest number even of such as are of yeeres of discretion would be found faulty and guilty that they know not so much as every Christian must know that shall be saved and see Christ Iesus his Saviour to his comfort And therefore I may conclude that the greatest number of them yet stand in the state of damnation I will not say they shall bee condemned neither dare I because God hath given to us no such warrant Deut. 29.29 and secret things belong unto him but rather I hope better things of them though I thus speake howbeit this I affirme and dare bee bold to pronounce that such doe as yet stand through their ignorance in the state of condemnation What though many of you be of great age what though yee have beene baptized and beene admitted to the Lords Supper what though yee have beene long hearers of the Word I beseech you by the mercies and patience of God toward you deceive not your selves doe not flatter your owne soules perswade not better things of your selves then there is just cause be not as Children that know not the right hand from the left be not alwaies blinde in your understanding but rather examine your selves and call your selves to an account what yee have heard and learned lest yee be like those that are alwaies learning 2 Tim. 3.7 but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth The Lord complaineth by the Prophet Hos 4.1 6. My people are destroyed for lacke of knowledge And againe a little before There is no knowledge of God in the Land and therefore the Inhabitants thereof shall be cut off Thus much of ignorance the mother of errour Neglect of the Word the second hinderance to the Kingdome the second hinderance that stoppeth up the way to the Kingdome is the neglect of the Word a farther degree
of sinne then the former This is the sinne of our time the common sinne of every place yea almost of every person The light is come among us but we love darknesse more then the light and are luke-warme Revel 3.16 as retchlesse men that care not which end goeth forward God will spew out such out of his mouth as evill humours out of the stomacke Salomon teacheth us in the Proverbes that he which is sloathfull in his worke Prov. 18.9 is brother to him that is a great waster so is it with such as are sloathfull in the Lords worke and in their owne duty they are companions and brethren with such as are open and obstinate contemners of the Word and make haste a pace after them they follow them close at the heeles and in short time will overtake them There is such carelesnesse and security every-where in the matters of God among us as if every man were left to doe what he list as if the soule were the least matter of a thousand as if Religion were last of all to be regarded or as if there were no day of account to come hereafter Among those that come to the place of Gods worship many indeed are kept in awe and in order but how and wherefore Is it by any conscience of their duty or by love to the Word Nay nay but for sinister ends some by force of the Law because they feare to be presented some by awe of their Superiours because they would not be thought stubborne some come for custome and fashion sake because it is Sunday some for company of others because they would doe as their honest neighbours doe and love not to be singular some for that they would not be accounted Papists because the State fauoureth them not some lest they should bee esteemed Atheists and so be pointed at with the finger some to please their Parents because they should leave them a better portion some to content their Masters lest they should be thrusted out of their dores or because they hope to gaine by them some to passe away the time because they have nothing else to doe some to meet with their friends and acquaintance because they are loth to spare another day some to meete with their debters because they would demand their money but the fewest number to meet the Lord in his owne Ordinances because they love the habitation of his house and the place where his honour dwelleth Psal 26.8 who hath promised to be in the middest of them that are gathered together in his Name Matth. 18.20 Happy are we if we be in the number of these few If such retchlesse men were left to themselves without any bridle of Law or feare of Superiour and authority of whom we spake before and suffered to doe what they pleased without any checke or controlment we should have our thinne Assemblies a great deale thinner and our streets and fields and houses and Ale-houses fuller-stuffed and thronged then our Churches And this may appeare hereby that notwithstanding we have Lawes and Magistrates and Officers and good examples of the chiefest and principall among us yet they are few a very few in comparison of the rest that are constant and conscionable in their hearing some if their presence and absence were ballanced together the waightier scole would be given to their absence and would waigh downe their presence as being found too light Others albeit they dwell neere enough are starting away at every turne and when they make shew of going to the Churche turne aside another way Others are more carefull to fill the body then to feed the soule who take every even the least occasion to feast with their friends forgetting the feast that God hath prepared in his house and not regarding it though they even starve their owne soules Others are gadding yea madding in a manner after every vanity and doe delight much more in the pleasure of the body then in the profit that commeth to the Spirit Others are weary of the Word as the Israelites that loathed Manna Numb 11.6 Others have hired ground and they must needs goe see it others have bought five yoke of Oxen Luk. 14.18 19. Matth. 22.5 and they must goe to prove them others must visit their Farmes or attend their Marchandise and yet every one must be holden excused though all set light by the Word and runne after their owne wayes like the guests in the Gospell that were bidden to the wedding and to the great Supper God sendeth out his Servants to invite them Come for all things are ready I have prepared my Dinner my Oxen and my fatlings are killed but they neglect the Lords sending to them and his calling of them But what followeth The Lord pronounceth Luke 14.24 I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my Supper These are they that are araigned as guilty of the neglect of heavenly things who will sometimes seeme to beare some affection to the house of God but partly their profits and partly their pleasures carry them another way of all which the Prophet speaketh Ier. 48.10 Cursed is he that doth the worke of the Lord negligently or deceitfully All these stand under this heauy curse of the Lord and therefore I counsell them to looke to it betimes to seeke the Lord while he may be found and to meet him by unfained repentance while he is here Lastly Contempt of the Word another hinderance to the Kingdome touching the contempt of the Word who seeth not how common it is which notwithstanding is the top of impiety and that many have filled the measure of their sinnes till it be full that the cry of them is come up to heaven If any aske the cause I answer Our great negligence and generall coldnesse have brought this evill upon us and God doth hereby in his deepe and yet just Iudgement revenge our carelesnesse in his Service by giving us over into all prophanenesse The Word of the Lord by which wee shall all be judged at the last Day is so farre from holding men in awe and from having their lives and hearts in subjection that they reject it from them as a needlesse thing and regard it no longer The Minister may teach what he will and threaten as long as he list but these Gallants like Gallio in the Actes of the Apostles Acts 18.17 care for none of those things The time hath beene when the Word hath beene reverenced even by such as were not converted by it nor transformed into the obedience of it yet it hath held them in some awe but now in these our dayes loosenesse and licenciousnesse have generally prevailed in every place and sinne is growne to such an head and height as if the Word were but a Scare-crow and all Religion but a fable We are come to this passe to mocke at zeale and Religion and to contemne the