have there is none no not Polagius himself that in plain terms ever durst deny He will … if pressed for shame acknowledge and subscribe unto the necessity of Grace in shew of words but as the manner of all Hereticks is he doth but equivocate making terms in themselves plain by secret reservation false and fraudulent that so he might have a back-door at a time of need whereat to deceive and abuse both himself and his reader For secretly within his own mind he desires Grace by quicquid gratis datur that by this means under the name of Grace he might hedge in free-will and abilities of Nature Nay if this fraud be detected he will come yet closer for he will not refuse to confess a necessity of true internal Grace such as the Gospel mentions the Grace of Christ and of his Holy Spirit and that it is the gift of God yea a special gift which all have not yet still he keeps this secret in the deep of his Heart that all might have it and that it is their own faults if they have it not since as he holds this Grace is given and withheld according to the merits or demerits of Men by a former good or evil use of their free will ut gratia sonaret meritum delitescret that so grace might sound in their words and yet they retain merit in their minds Such shift doth proud slime and dust make to magnifie the arm of flesh and so unwilling is it to give the true and whole glory unto God whose it is Yet this is not all Men have more subtilties to rob God or rather to deceive themselves Arminius and his followers the late Semi-pelagians step one Step farther and with the Catholick truth acknowledge not only a true and internal Grace but a liberal free and preventing Grace a Grace given not deserved But for all this he understands only such a Grace as is common to both to Elect and Reprobate upon the good or evil use whereof it is that Men become either For according to these Election doth not provide or prepare according to St. Austin any special Grace for particular Men but some particular men are specially elected upon foresight of their well-husbanding of that Grace which is common so that Man must still have the preheminence For however it be from Gods Grace that they have ability to obtain Salvation yet that they are saved when others who received the same Grace are not this must needs be not from his help but their own will An old rancid opinion long since broached by Faustus and Cassianus whose Books for this were condemned by Gelasius and a Council of seventy Bishops more for erroneous and Apocryphal and now lately again revived by Arminius and others who are not the Authors and Inventors but only strenuous Advocates requiring a relief after Judgment of a dead and rotten a damned and long since condemned Heresie So that it is a good judgment of a Reverend Bishop Faustum Cassianum quasi per Metempsyohosin in Arminio Bertio revixisse That the Souls of Faustus and Cassianus do as it were live again in Arminius and Bertius they do so justly jump and conspire with their Doctrine of universal Grace and Election upon foresight than which no opinion can be more injurious unto God or more grossly and demonstratively false in it self For however it retains the name it perverts the end and destroys the very Nature of Election causing that Predestination which the Apostle unto the Ephesians tells us was ordained in laudem gloriae gratiae suae to the praise of the glory of his Grace to serve and tend only unto the honour of our own propension and will since he that reigns in Heaven hath no more whereof to thank God than he that lies burning in Hell because from equal Grace they have wrought out these their unequal fortunes And therefore say St. Paul what he will Salvation is rather of him that willeth and runneth that believeth and worketh than of God that sheweth mercy whereas it is not neither doth it less pervert the End than the Nature thereof converting the cause into the effect and the effect into the cause making Election a consequent of Faith and Repentance when these are the true fruits of Election which is the well-head of Grace and all the rest of Gods favours and our good deeds but streams issuing from that Fountain who have all obtained mercy with St. Paul not because we were but that we should be faithful Non vos me elegistis for you have not chosen me but I have chosen you saith our Saviour and have ordained you for what that you should go and bring forth and that your fruit should remain for I have ordained I that do both begin and perfect the good deed that do work in you both to will and to do do work in you also to do and to persevere and that by my free Election and absolute decree Ego posui for I have ordained that you go and bring forth fruit and that that fruit remain It were an endless work and a bootless expence of Travel to heap up places of Scripture for the enforcing of this point they are every where obvious the Glory of Gods grace through a free and undeserved Election being a main branch of the Gospel and therefore often inserted but by St. Paul purposely disputed and proved in a set discourse wherein these new oppugners are so directly confuted as if the Holy Ghost had especially looked on them when he spake by his mouth for there is no other intent or purpose in that place but to demonstrate that the Adoption of the Sons of God doth not depend upon the carnal Generation of Abraham as the Jews conceived nor yet upon our own or our Forefathers works but simply upon the Eudochie the meer good will and pleasure of God This he makes manifest in all in a Type under the names of two Jacob and Esau Brethren equal in all things only unequal in the favour of God both begotten by the same parents and both born at the same birth on either side no advantage by blood and as little in quality they had done neither good nor evil nor could do at that time wherein notwithstanding that the purpose of God might be known to stand according to Election it was said I have loved Jacob and hated Esau No difference in the Persons and yet a different respect of God who is no respecter of persons which moves the Apostle to a strange interrogation but natural unto the place Nunquid iniquitas apud Deum what then is there iniquity with God God forbid but how doth he answer it doth he with these reply that though they had then done neither good nor evil yet God elected the one and rejected the other upon foresight of the good and evil which they afterwards would do This had been an acute and brief answer Quis iftum acutissimum
in both and how short we have been of that due Reverence and regard those Sacred Mysteries require Shall I ask you then for so he must do that will examine what time you have taken from your earthly affairs to bestow on this holy imployment nay ask but your own hearts and they will quickly answer you for have you afforded your selves I say not a month or a week but a day or two or some hours of them to call your Souls to a strict account to strip your hearts of worldly cares and vanities and recal your wandering thoughts to those severe and serious cogitations as may become your own sanctification and the high and holy institution of your Saviour Consider well whether with David you have entred into the Chambers of your own bosoms and faithfully communed with your own Souls whether you have tryed out your hearts and reins and your spirit hath made diligent search as he both did and requires Observe heedfully whether casting off all masks and visors of Hypocrisy all Fig-leaves of diminution and excuse how thou hast exposed thy self and thy Soul naked unto the view of thy searching Conscience whether thy mortified heart beginning to thaw with remorse hath freely opened her pleits and folds wherein she hid her iniquity and presented thee with her sins in their true shape that thou mightest as truly detest and abhor them If it be so it is well if not take heed labour and strive weep cry pray do not cease be not satisfied till it be so for then it will never be right thy preparation will lack of his due and thy examination will be lame But I examine this examination no farther It is a secret act known only to their own reins and the searcher of them to whom therefore I remit it and pass on to the qualities and vertues wherewith you are to prepare and wherein I may more freely examine and evict your Souls as having outward and sensible effects whereby they may be judged And the first of these to omit knowledge whereof we have spoken sufficiently already is Faith but here examination thou thinkest altogether needless for thou art most sure and certain thou believest Yet what if one should tell thee thou didst not believe like enough thou wouldst tell him againâ— thou dost not believe him in that for thou wilt still say thou knowest nothing better than that thou believest why and I know it too and know more that the very Devils believe and tremble which is something farther and their Faith peradventure something better than thine who believest and dost not tremble which yet thou well mightest didst thou understand thy self or believe in God aright and as thou oughtest But the truth is most mens Faith as we shewed but now of the understanding follows their affections believing little more than what they desire Should a Man preach and maintain that the goods of this world ought not to be ingrossed into private and particular hands but that all things as it was in the primitive Church amongst Christians should be common who think you would believe this soonest the Rich or the Poor The Poor indeed would quickly embrace it because beneficient to them but the Rich that should be losers by it would hardly or never assent In like manner should we urge that precept under the Law that money should be lent freely to our brethren that want and not be put out to interest or inforce that Divine Precept of the Gospel to lend and look for nothing again Matth. vi the poor Creditor you may be sure will entertain this for his relief but the griping â—surer is deaf on that side and can easily find out shifts and distinctions to avoid his own inconvenience Search now and examine thy self narrowly and see if thy Faith doth not deal thus with God in the chief Articles of it scarce ever believing any thing but what it likes The object of Divine Faith is the word of God wherein besides Histories the chief things it proposeth to believe are but three Precepts Comminations and Promises Precepts of duty Comminations of punishments and Promises of reward to the observers or neglecters of them And all those equally to be assented unto because delivered by the word of the same God otherwise thy Faith is defective and maimed See then and consider truly whether thou dost adhere unto the one as to the other whether thy Faith doth not rest only upon the promises neglecting the duties and yet slighting the threatnings against those that neglect them The promises of Mercy indeed are sweet and comfortable who doth not willingly and gladly believe them but comminations and duties are terrible and troublesome and few will give them faithful entertainment That Christ suffered on the Cross and shed his blood for the sins of the whole world and every mans in particular is a pleasant and grateful Doctrine how doth our Faith hug and embrace it as if there were nothing else to be believed But should we once thunder out that of St. Paul That notwithstanding this blood no Lyer no Drunkard no Adulterer no covetous or unclean Person shall enter into the Kingdom of God here our Faith is at a stand and will be sure either not to believe it or never to acknowledge that themselves are such Again blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin saith David yea marry blessed be that tongue for ever I believe it with all my heart nay read a little farther and in whose spirit there is no guile how now why dost thou stagger pish 't is impossible this seems to have crept into the Text no body knows how St. Paul when he cited it left it out and weare not bound to believe it or any thing else we cannot away with There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus saith St. Paul a gracious promise and aâ—very cordial to the Soul every Man is ready to lay hold of it before it be out of his mouth but to whom doth it appertain To them as it follows which walk not after the flesh but after the spirit This is a severe duty on our part and a very corrosive to the flesh which will hardly be brought in subjection to the law of God and therefore will not easily believe it should or possibly may be Thus thy fruitless and preposterous Faith is ever strong to lay hold on the promises though weak and of no power to work obedience to the commands or believe the judgments denounced against disobeyers For didst thou so truly thy belief would teach thee to tremble for which cause I told thee thy Faith which in this case is only a carnal confidence falls short of that which the Scripture tells us is found in Devils that believe and tremble Nay if we search and examine a little farther we shall find thy Faith failing even in the very promises For though in spiritual promises that concern mercy and remission of
swearing And as they condemn themselves so they obtain by this custom as little credit from others For that which doth breed a suspicion in their persons cannot well beget an assurance of their Oaths And indeed what trust or confidence may be reposed in an usual and ordinary swearer whom the very custom of swearing doth condemn of persidy how can he choose but suspected of perjury Since he that cares not how often he swears it is likely will sometimes care as little what he swears So that as the word of a faithful and honest Man is as good as his Oath so the Oath of a false and perfidious Man is no better than his word And therefore he only gains thus much by swearing that the more often he swears the less he is to be believed since the best way of gaining credit is to accustom our selves not to swearing but not to swear for he that lives justly and uprightly and speaks the truth calmly shall be believed upon his word when the other's Oaths shall not that swears frequently though he swear never so earnestly I have often heard it pleaded with Chrysostome hom 26. Unless I swear he will not believe true nor when thou swearest neither but thou saith he art the cause of this unbelief that dost so lightly and easily swear for if thou didst not so and it were manifestly known that thou wert no swearer believe me that only say it Quod iis qui mille devorant juramenta majorem ipse fidem solo nutu invenires Thy only beck and nod should find more esteem and credit than a thousand Oaths poured forth by another And in like manner I have beheld saith Philo the learned Jew the impiety of some with such intolerable impudence heaping and hudling up the religious names of God not to be heard without horror as if they thought by the number and multitude of their impious Oaths to evince and even extort belief from the hearer Fatuiâ—qui non intelligunt consuetudinem crebrò jurandi argumentum esse perfidiae non fidei Fools saith he that do not understand that the custom of often swearing is an argument not of fidelity but perfidiousness And therefore though they swear until they burst they shall never the sooner gain any credit only this they gain that by their often swearing they have bereaved themselves of all means of gaining belief firm and assured belief even when they swear the truth for it is not multitudes and millions of Oaths but the truth and sincerity of a mans behaviour that shall win him reputation and credit Non juramentum sed vitae testimonium It is not our Oaths saith Chrysostome Homil. 7. but the testimony of our lives that can give assurance to our words And therefore excellently St. Austin de Serm. Dom. 64 Christianus verum loquatur neque jurationibus crebris sed morum probitate commendet veritatem Let a Christian only speak the truth and let not his Oaths but the probity of his manners commend or confirm the truth of his speech For the Christians are termed the faithful saith Josephus lib. 2. de Bello c. 7. though but half a Christian himself And therefore tanta Sanctitate ornata sit fides ut sine jurejurando facial fidem Their faith ought to be adorned with so much sanctity as it should be able without the assistance of Oaths to beget faith and credit in another which if the sincerity of their life cannot do the frequency of their Oaths will much less obtain whereby instead of gaining credit with others they do only further discredit themselves And therefore since it doth breed a just suspicion rather than any certain belief what end there is of this vain and ungodly custom what profit or colourable pretence it may have to shrowd it self under I cannot understand any unless peradventure some men esteem it as a mark of nobleness and gentry which they have little reason to do since the vilest Beggar wears the fashion as well as themselves and though he have not two pence a year Starling can swear after the Revenues of a great Lord that hath thousands Or it may be some take it as an ornament of speech or others an argument of valour and sure he is very hardy that fears neither God nor Hell which if it be valour let every good Man be a Coward and however unto ungracious hearts it may be thought a grace in their tongue yet unto a good mind that desires to worship God and think on him with reverence it is a sound that 's worse than the turning of Brass grates and horror to his ears if it be not the greatest torture and torment unto his righteous Soul And is it not now most strange that we should be so desperately wicked against God or so wretchedly careless of our selves as thus wantonly to offend him and prodigiously to spend our own Souls in a sin that hath neither pleasure nor profit no just end nor yet so much as a fair pretence to give it colour But the less colour and pretence a sin hath the greater still it is and with the greater punishment it shall ever be rewarded and this of all others shall be sure not to be forgotten for it is not for nought and to no purpose that in those brief precepts of the Law written with the very finger of God all other sins are barely inhibited Murder Adultery and the rest of our crimes meerly forbidden without any special mention of punishment unto the offenders only this sin as if it displeased him above all the rest is not without a peculiar commination of revenge annexed for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain Whether it be the vanity and needlesness of this wanton and presumptuous sin that hath neither pleasure nor profit nor pretence doth exceed all other or whether it be the extraordinary neglect of men in suffering this sin of all others to escape unpunished that moved the Lord more particularly to assure us that he will take it into his own hands and see it rewarded himself whether this or that or both or neither it is not certain neither is it much material to inquire since it is enough that this is certain that something there is in it odious above other sins otherwise he would never have been so careful above all others in particular to register the revenge of this And as this doth assure that it is a sin which shall certainly be punished so there want not other places to shew us what the punishment shall be St. Paul delivers it negatively by exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven St. James affirmatively but indefinitely by condemnation lest ye fall into condemnation But St. John doth affirm and fully define whither and to what they are condemned even unto the inconceiveable sorrows of Hell They shall be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone Apoc. And if you put all together you have all
and blind like those Pharisees out of pride or some other Lust will needs say and believe too that they see And then such guides and their blinder followers how suddenly are they both in the ditch plunged over head and ears in errour ere they are aware Ignorance therefore never causeth errour and dissention unless one Lust or other doth first cause the ignorance so St. Peter tells us somethings are hard to be understood in St. Pauls Epistles which yet hurts none but unlearned and unstable Men Men carried about it seems with diverse Lusts like empty Clouds with several winds who therefore pervert such difficult places to their own destruction and let it ever be their own blame not the Scriptures which are most unwillingly wrested to the adulterating of that very truth which themselves do deliver But the holy Scripture is not composed only of difficulies it hath shallows in it and Fords where the Lamb may wade as well as Pools and Pits where the Elephant may swim yea and drown too As there are exquisite rarities to depel satiety so is there solid food enough too to satisfy hunger And in these that are universally necessary unto life the Scriptures are so clear and free from difficulty as there is no room for ignorance did not Men look on them through the false Spectacles of their deceitful affections For if the Gospel be hid it is hid unto those that perish to those whole Eyes the God of this world hath blinded saith St. Paul plainly neither doth the God of this world otherwise blind them but by exhaling the vapours of worldly Lusts that darken and pervert the judgment Whether therefore we recur either to the difficulty of the Scripture or ignorance of Men we are still brought back in conclusion according to St. James here to the lusts of their members as the true and proper causes from whence such bitter contentions in the Church have been raised nourished and with such violence prosecuted for are they not hence And hence indeed they are so much the very demand doth import but 't is not enough to say so we must shew it too as well as say it And that may not well be done unless we condescend unto some particulars take a short view of these several Lusts and see a little what several errours they have begotten and with them what contentions in the Church Love and Hatred if misapplied are the two radical Lusts that both found and foster all others Those that proceed from Love the concupiscible part of the Soul are either from the immoderate Love of Pleasure or of Profit or Honour which the beloved Disciple terms the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the Eye and the pride of Life and these are all either worldly or sensual But those that issue from Hatred the irascible part whether from the hatred of peace or of truth are more directly Devilish And therefore our St. James a little before reduceth them all unto three heads But if there be bitter emulation and strife among you this wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual and devilish To begin the instance with that terrene and worldly affection of Pride and Vain-glory though this hath something of Devil in it too what a fruitful Mother hath it ever been of dissentions in Religion and how many ways hath she hatched and brought forth her deformed issue Sometimes by an itching desire of knowing all things which boldly searching into hidden secrets leaves nothing unransacked whereby it may appear more learned And then what such men conceive their profound speculations with much travel have drawn up out of the depth of night and darkness lest they should lose the price of their labour they obtrude upon others as necessary to be believed It was most rightly said Never Heretick yet that racked the bowels of the Church but his pretence was for truth and Men do usually fall so deeply in love with the conceited truth of their own invention as all their pains seems to be lost unless they may press it too upon the Conscience of every Man else And then when probable conceipts come to be published for necessary truths and speculations of fancy are once turned into Articles of Faith as we see it hath fallen out as in many others so in the new Platform of Presbyterial Purity at first conceived but for a convenient Regiment yet afterwards men becoming more enamour'd with their own conceptions came to be urged at length for the necessary discipline of Christ clearly commanded in Scripture as the Scepter upon Earth and very Kingdom of our Saviour no marvel then I say if contentions be not only raised but eagerly and obstinately pursued also which yet are rendred the more violent by a second elation of mind that can well away with no superiority And those that by other mundane desires are driven to endure it yet how Heavenly do they do it How do they mumur against the power of their Superintendents like Corah Dathan and Abiram Ye take too much upon you ye Sons of Aaron and much ado they have not to say so of Moses too Doubtless the cry in their hearts is but that Conspiracy in the Psalmist Let us break their bonds asunder and cast their cords from us Sometimes again by an higher degree of ambition that will admit of no equality that as the former would be subject unto none so this would have all subject unto himself Nec ferre potest Caesarve priorem Pompeiusve parem The one like Caesar the other like Pompey That can endure no Superiour nor This brook any Equal And on this ground it was that the Greek Church first brake with the Roman whose Bishop against right and reason the rule of Christ and decree of the Fathers as she justly taxed him did arrogate unto himself a plenitude of power And from the same fountain have issued those Waters of strife which do at this day overflow and almost drown all Christendom Lastly by an ambitious desire of Secular Rule and Empire For there are not wanting examples in story sacred and prophane of such as have brought in new Religions or fitted the old unto the Palate of the People by this means to retain their own or gain unto themselves the Territories and Dominions of others To this end Jeroboam first made an alteration in the Church of Israel setting up his Altars in Daâ— and Bethel lest the ten Tribes by going up yearly unto Jerusalem to sacrifice as they were commanded should chance to return in time unto the house of David from whence they were rent And I could with such secular and politick respects had no power among any of our selves I say not out of any fear lest the ten parts should return again unto the house of Levi or rather of God from whence they are rent it were pretty well if they could rest contented there but rather that such regards might not prevail with them in the
the enormity of their sins grieving the Holy Ghost conclude the very certainty of their Salvation as no way else more certain that the Holy Ghost is within them No marvel sure if these and many other their sweet and comfortable positions have easily found such multitudes of Disciples in the world or that they contend so eagerly and strive for them tanquam pro aris focis as for the main points of their Religion and Faith or whatsoever else is dear unto them And less marvel it is that these Disciples should be so free and open-handed unto their Teachers when their Teachers understanding their desires are so favourable unto their Disciples For certainly next unto that of the Alcoran I know not any Doctrine else in these days so kind and courteous unto flesh and blood or in the Genius and just consequences more impure and dissolute than that of those who of all others most profess strictness and purity But so it is fit such corrupt people and their hired Priests should claw one another but scratch and lacerate every Man else You have seen the earthly and sensual affections of Love the love of Honour Profit and Pleasure blowing the coals of dissention there is one blast of Hatred behind and that will shew it to be Devilish also For there are not wanting instruments of Satan most like himself malignant Spirits that without the help of these respects can find in their hearts meerly out of the hatred of Peace and Truth too some of them to raise Cavils and Contentions in the World such as those of whom Salust speaks Quibus quiet a movere magna merces videbatâ—r who take it for a sufficient hire to set them a work â— if they may but disturb things quiet and establishedâ— Est enim quoddam hominum genus quod sine hoste vivere non potest for there is as he well saith a Nation of People that cannot endure to live without an Enemy such as Trogus pronounceth the old Spaniard adeo infensum concordiae ut puro illius odio inimicitias suscipiat Fishes that cannot live but in Flood-hatches Salamanders that die but in the flames of Contention But some of these are of an higher pitch and have their aim even at Truth it self and though for the most part but Table and Trencher Mates for buffoonery yet besides their scurrilous prophaneness they can sometimes be bold to argueâ— and it is marvellous to consider what scruples of difficulty they move what knots of Sophistry they knit what accusations on all sides these Scepticks frame and this to no other purpose but to puzle the World in the already difficult search of verity hoping that others upon despair of finding out the true Religion may come at length to conceipt as themselves in favour of their Epicurism do that there may be no truth in any for this can be no other beast than that which we term an Atheist something worse than Devilish For the Devil doth believe and tremble And such are the true causes of those Wars from whence proceed all the wounds and breaches that are or have been made in the Church Other prejudices and partialities there are arising from them that keep these wounds open and will not permit them to close again but this may suffice for the present to verifie the answer of St. James in this his responsive demand For are they not hence Now the intent of all this search into the beginnings and first Fountains of Dissention and War is but to lead us in the end into the way of Reconciliation and Peace This was the purpose of St. James's enquiry and it should be ours Shall we then for conclusion of all change the question let go unde bella and demand now at last clean contrary unde Pax From whence comes Peace from whence amidst all these stirs may that be procured If we do so An non hinc is at hand comes it not hence even from removing those Lusts and corrupt affections that are the causes of War Many good means and medicines indeed have been sought out and applied to cool the burning heat of these Feavors of Dissention and yet all but Empirical palliations for a time peradventure affording some ease but hope of health or recovery there is not any untill the putrid humours shall be purged out that cause and feed the distemper All other remedies of decision or ways of pacification which Men can either propose or practise without this are too feeble and weak for the purpose For what are the Fathers they that may give end to these differences There is a reverence belonging unto them and let them have it but how should they finish the broils of after times that could not pacify the stirs of their own Shall the antecedent Councils give the definitive Sentence But what if they handle not all the controversies among themselves How if a good Cause found ill Pleaders and so fell not through its own weakness but fearful silence or unskilful defence None of these are impossible yea some say that all of them have fallen out Shall then a present Council clear all doubts There is little hopes of any such that shall be Oecumenical and were there any such less hope but that it would be carried by Faction Or else is the Bishop of Rome the Man on whose peremptory definitions we must all rely But this is one of the points of controversie the mainest one and in such he may not be his own Judge It is not any of these nor indeed any thing else that may restore us our peace Not that device of an implicite and infolded Faith for these Controversies are between great Clerks that belongs only to the ignorant and simple Not that Law of the Muscovite which forbids all disputes in point of Religion though in impertinent curiosities of excellent use and whilst Spirits are inraged in others too that are material for so every Man may teach dogmatically what he list and be sure to be controled by no Man Not that position of the Alcoran that every one may be saved in his own Religion for it is impious though peradventure true enough if his own be the Christian Religion yet not of force enough to allay Contentions for we are to consider what is likely as well as what is possible and Errours that are dangerous must be oppugned as well as such as are absolutely deadly No not the decision by Miracles for we are forewarned against them Antichrist must come with all false signs and lying wonders able to seduce if it were possible the very Elect of God Nor yet that brief and compendious way of ending controversies by killing those that gainsay them a Remedy as â—ain as wicked For the true Church like the lopt Tree Per damna per caedes ab ipso Ducit opes animumque ferro hath ever thrived under the Axe and gained by the lopping But peradventure what the Hangman cannot do nor any
entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it For even those Jews had a promise of Canaan and in it of the eternal rest whose Carcasses notwithstanding for their disobedience fell short of it in the desert and God sware in his wrath they should not enter into his rest And therefore though the passion and death of Christ be absolute and in it self belonging to all yet there may be but a few to whom the good and benefit of it shall redound For remission of sins doth not immediately flow from his blood without intercedent obedience in us the next effect of it is not presently Salvation but a way and means whereby non obstante justitiâ without any impeachment to his justice we may now attain unto Salvation It doth not instantly convey us again into Paradise but only gives us the word whereby we may if we will safely and without impeachment pass the Angel and his flaming Sword that guards the entrance thither so that by it non solvitur omnibus captivitas sed solvitur omnibus captivitati necessitas though all be not actually loosed from Captivity yet all are loosed from the necessity of Captivity as the late and learned Writer of the Pelagian Story The gates of Brass and bars of Iron are smitten in sunder and so a way opened unto the Captives who notwithstanding if they be so far enamoured with their misery and captivity may for all that lie still in their Prison It is a potion for the good of all that are sick sed si non bibitur non medetur if it be not faithfully drank it shall never effectually cure saith◠Prosper And therefore we need not be anxious or doubtful on Gods behalf but only careful and solicitous for our selves what he hath promised in Baptism that he for his part will not be wanting sure he will never break in his Supper He will not fail to perform his promise if we but seriously bewail the breach of ours It is a Spiritual Banquet whereunto there never came any sorrowful and hungry Soul that ever departed empty And therefore let us draw near in full assurance of Faith no way wavering for he is faithful that hath promised saith St. Paul And as he is faithful that hath promised yet because he promiseth nothing here but to the faithful we must bring this with us though it be not of us a living Faith that only can work Repentance from dead works not to be repented of And this Faith only once thoroughly rooted begets that other confidence and fullness of Faith the Apostle speaks of which if it hath any other Parent is illegitimate ill born and falsly termed Faith when the true Father's name is Presumption And for this cause those that the Apostle exhorts to draw near with full assurance of Faith he thus qualifies having a true heart an heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience Then we go on rightly and orderly when we come not to the confident faith but by the penitent and as we go from faith to faith here so we shall appear before the God of Gods in Sion hereafter if therefore our heart within be true an upright within us if by a deep and entire Repentance it be sprinkled from an evil Conscience let us draw near in full assurance of faith as being most confident that our lips do not more truly drink the fruit of the Vine than our Souls do the blood of our Saviour the effect and merit of his blood whereby that which before was but sprinkled shall now be drenched and thoroughly cleansed from all the stains and impurities of Sin Our heart is ready O God our heart is ready only come thou and dwell in our hearts purge them and cleanse them wholly with thy blood and being cleansed keep and preserve them by thy Spirit spotless and blameless until the day of thy second coming in the Clouds with Glory That we who receive thee with fulness of faith now may stand before thee with the same confidence then and be received by thee and with thee into those eternal habitations at the right hand of God where is fulness of joy an pleasure for evermore To whom with thee and the Holy Ghost three Persons c. Amen Laus Deo in aeternum THE WAY TO HAPPINESS SERMON VII Upon MAT. vi 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you IT is a part of our Saviours Sermon in the Mount and the conclusion of a larger discourse in the precedent Verses whereto it refers And indeed it is or should be the Conclusion of all our discourses For all are little material and to no purpose unless they tend unto this issue The Kingdom of God and his righteousness Let us hear the Conclusion of all saith Solomon of all not only discourses but humane endeavours upon Earth Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man The second Solomon infinitely wiser than that first strikes here but on the same string though by his double touch it receives an air and relisheth more evangelical Unto the Righteousness of God adding the reward of it the Kingdom of God That so the works which the Law requires might be rightly wrought in the hope and faith of that immortality and glory which the Gospel proposeth However then we busy our selves about many things this is that unum necessarium the one thing that is necessary able to resolve Parmenides his Riddle Unum omnia one thing necessary wherein all necessaries are included whatsoever is necessary for the body or the soul whatsoever concerns either imployment here or felicity Eternal hereafter the whole perfection of man and the whole goodness of God If these things be all all these are enclosed in this one this one little exhortation Seek ye first c. The communication of divine goodness besides that of hypostatical union particular and supereminent hath generally but three degrees of participation Nature Grace and Glory And here they are all three either in their utmost extent or in their highest exaltations First all the necessaries of Nature pertaining to the body but slightly indeed inferred as deserving our least and slightest care These things shall be added unto you but though slightly yet fully All these things all that are requisite shall be added Secondly the utmost improvement of Grace that cannot farther adorn and beautify the Soul than with the righteousness of God His Righteousness And lastly the highest degree of glory nothing can be higher than participation with God in his own Kingdom The Kingdom of God The less marvel therefore that our search and travel for these these latter yea our utmost industry and endeavour be so carefully called led upon and inculcated with a Quaerite and a Primum quaerite seek and first seek Seek ye first the Kingdom of God c. Wherein the division is as plain as the