make them trulie happie for euer CHristian and gentle Reader I offer to thy view in this little booke certaine Sermons tending to the good of all that can finde time and willingnes to reade and regard them And more particularlie at this they aime some of them that they may helpe forward and perswade ignorant profane bad persons and hypocrites to distast and waxe wearie of their euill and dangerous course For out of all these kinds of wicked persons doth the Lord daily call home some effectually where the Gospell is soundly plainly and powerfully preached And I would they should know as much as I say to the end they may not harden their hearts against God as they may possibly and easily doe while they see many safely and happily guided in their liues and themselues nothing so but may heare his voice willingly by repairing to such wholesome Sermons wherein the Lord sheweth himselfe willing to be reconciled vnto them and wherein he thus speaketh O nation not worthie to be beloued yet for all this if thou wilt returne from thine iniquitie I will receiue thee graciously And what should make them like glad as the hearing of this as the Gentiles were when they heard first that God had granted vnto them as well as to the Iewes the glad tidings of saluation Euen this sort of people may haue no small incouragement by reading these Sermons and especially those among the rest which shew how they that wander out of the right way may returne and come home vnto it againe Some of these Sermons doe aime at this to keepe such as are drawne out of their sinfull course alreadie to the certaintie of saluation and to keepe such stedfast in their faith hope and repentance and that they may not fall from them And other some of them serue to helpe forward all such so stablished that they may grow in knowledge and grace and so bring foorth fruits beseeming the Gospell And I would they might finde no lesse fauour and acceptation with the readers then I am sure they found with them who heard them preached I haue shewed what the matter is that is handled in these Sermons now I will shew my reasons why I haue gathered not one but sundrie of the same argument together and set them foorth so And after I will declare to thee in what order I place them in this treatise and why The first reason why I set downe many in one booke of the same argument and not of diuers is this for that this matter and doctrine of the conuersion of a sinner is very hard to be perceiued and discerned of many hearers and especially so as they may cleerely see how to trace the way and goe in it Therefore that which could not so easily be perceiued in one sermon I haue thought good to lay foorth in many and out of diuers texts of Scriptures which tending all to this end to wit to set downe the conuersion of a sinner to God doe giue more light in this matter and offer occasion of more things about it then one alone can doe These therefore being read with consideration may through Gods blessing make this point cleere who how and when a man is conuerted and make him able to trie whither he himselfe be so or no. And if one be well grounded in the doctrine that teacheth this and haue the vse of this he shall much the easilier attaine to further knowledge and consequently to the vse thereof both which are meanly and of few attained to seeing so few are well setled in the other The next reason of this my thus doing is because this doctrine of the conuersion of a sinner is but little and too seldome taught I meane al the parts of it are seldome set downe together especially at one time and in one sermon All which were meete to be done and oft the weake capacitie slipperie memorie and many other defects in the most hearers requiring it and that they might see both how farre they are from conuersion while they are in their first condition of ignorance and vnbeliefe and how they are to be brought to it and also how contrarie their hearts and liues should be to that they were before when they be conuerted These parts of it are seldome handled altogether in preaching though one sometime another of them another time be taught and deliuered But it is a long time though the word be diligently preached as in few places it is before the most part of the hearers are able to lay one part and point of it with the other and to make the whole worke of conuersion of them all And to adde the third reason seeing all that the people know and practise without conuersion is nothing I meane either pleasing to God or profitable to saluation vnto themselues They may I denie not know many points and learne sundrie instructions as concerning the letter but to know so as they beleeue without which faith it is impossible for them to please God they cannot without conuersion and to practise so in their liues as that they may be said to repent and liue holily without which they shall perish and neuer see the Lord that is impossible without the same conuersion For these causes and some other of which this is not the least that by experience I haue seene great fruit come of this doctrine diligently and much taught and little fruite where it hath not been much in vse for such causes I say I haue of purpose set out many sermons of this argument desiring that the people may be made better acquainted with it and that such Preachers as thinke me worthie to be heard in this request would frame themselues to teach it in their owne or in other places where they come As for them that feare they shall glut the people with beating thus vpon the same things as though they could preach no other I answere if wee preach to the end the people may practise that which we teach and if the people also make vse of that which they learne about this matter it shall be found so hard and precious to know themselues conuerted that they shall themselues desire that doctrine concerning it to be taught againe and againe and namely of faith and repentance rather then to be wearie of it for they shall see that when the same thing shall be taught out of new texts euen the old matter shall be in manner new to them Now it followeth to shew why these texts are set downe in the order in which they are placed in the treatise The first texts are Acts 16.24 and Matth. 24.12.13 and the sermons on both tend directly to shew how a sinner is conuerted except the beginning of the Sermon in the 16. of the Acts which yet maketh a way to the doctrine of conuersion in the storie of the Iailer And in those two Sermons the reader may see the three parts of conuersion And diuers of
the other Sermons doe also giue good light in the same and namely the 5. of Deut. In the next place followeth the 13. of Matth. vers 46. and Esay 55. vers 1.2 In the former of these texts is commended to the reader what an excellent thing this conuersion and namely faith is by a parable of the pearle and the latter text containeth doctrine to incourage and hearten on all to thirst after most earnestly to desire these graces of faith repentance and other graces accōpanying them The next in order is the 5. of Deut. 29. which beside that I haue said of it alreadie setteth downe the fruit of conuersion which is a godly conuersation and how liuely it floweth and proceedeth from this conuersion The Sermons in the sixth text to wit in Matth. 11. vers 20. tend to draw on and perswade to this conuersion threatning woe to those that conuert not In the Sermons of the seuenth text in Acts 9. vers 31. there are examples not of three persons but of three particular Churches who shewed foorth as shining lights the fruit of conuersion in their liues and vsed their libertie and time of rest free from persecution vnder which they had liued before to the growing in grace and knowledge with much comfort In the last text the 4. to the Philippians vers 4 the Sermons tend to shew what ioy the repentant life accompanied with the fruits of amendment doth bring to all that leade it and are conuerted notwithstanding the discouragements that are on euery side against them I haue said now what I minded to do that which remaineth is this The Lord make that which I set out to thee with all other holy instruction profitable to thee for the making thee trulie happie Thine in the Lord RICHARD ROGERS THE SEVERALL TEXTS OF THE Sermons contained in this Booke 3 Three Sermons vpon the 16. of the Acts ver 24. c. 2 Two Sermons on Matth. 24.12.13 2 Two Sermons on Matth. 13.46 2 Two on Esay 55.1.2 2 Two on Deutronomie 5.29 2 Two on Matth. 11.20 2 Two on Acts 9.31 4 Foure on Philippians 4.4 THREE SERMONS PREACHED ON ACT. 16. VERSE 25. c. Vers 25 Now at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sung Psalmes vnto God and the prisoners heard them And suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundation of the prison was shaken and by and by all the doores opened and euery mans bands were loossed Then the keeper of the prison waked out of his sleepe and when he saw the prison doores open he drew out his sword and would haue killed himselfe supposing the prisoners had been fled But Paul cried with a loud voice saying do thy selfe no harme for we are all heere Then he called for a light and leaped in and came trembling and fell downe before Paul and Silas And brought them out and said Sirs what must I do to be saued And they said Beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saued and thine houshold And they preached vnto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house Afterward he tooke them the same houre of the night and washed their stripes and was baptised with all that belonged vnto him straightway And whē he had brought thē into his house he set meat before thē reioyced that he with all his houshold beleeued in God IN this Scripture there are two things to be considered the one the behauiour of Paul and Silas in the prison the other the conuersion of the Iayler Of the first I will say no more then may make way and giue light to the second The occasion hereof was this that Paul hauing cast the diuell out of a maid that had been possessed thereof and so had thereby disabled her from bringing in gaine to her masters by diuining and telling of things to come whereby they had gotten much they beholding what Paul had done and how he had sitten in their light thereby they forthwith like mad men drew Paul into the market place vnto the Magistrates accusing him that he with Silas had troubled the citie And by meanes thereof the people rose vp against them and the Gouernours commanded them to be beaten with rods which when they had done they cast them into prison commanding the Iailer to keepe them surely He cast them into the dungeon or inward prison and made their feet fast in the stockes This was the occasion of these words as it is plainly set downe by Saint Luke in the words going before and then he sheweth how Paul and Silas behaued themselues being thus cruelly and tumultuously handled as grieuous malefactors when all may see not onely their innocencie but also the good charitable and godly worke which they did shew on the maid It is said that they receiuing this iniurie at their hands patiently and being strangers and so finding no helpe at mans hands did shew what account and fauour they were in with God in that he did not forsake them in their distresse but comforted them by his Spirit in token of the goodnesse of their cause and made them able to testifie the ioy of their hearts by singing Psalmes of thanks to God declaring thereby that they being innocent though they suffered as euill doers yet reioyced in the Lord that they were counted worthy to suffer for well doing And this be said of Paul and Silas Now to speake of the Iailer who was one of them that had his hand among the rest of that barbarous company and was readie to execute the cruell commandement of those Gouernours and that also with more rigour then he needed haue done it is very specially to be marked how God dealt with him to make him see his rigourous and vnconscionable handling of his good seruants by casting a feare vpon him that made him desperate and not only so but shewed him mercie by them whom he had vsed cruelly so that he was conuerted both from that and from all other his wicked waies in so strange a manner that it rang all the citie ouer that all the rest of them that had been partakers in that odious fact against Gods faithfull seruants might be prouoked by his example to turne from their wickednesse also But as I said my meaning is not to stand largely vpon both these parts of the text Noting therefore two or three points in the first I will lay forth the conuersion of the Iailer more particularly and fully afterwards which is the second The things which I haue thought good to shew and lay downe in the first part are three The first is of God comforting and taking part with his deare children in their trouble The second is of Paul and Silas and the ioyfulnesse of them in their suffering for well doing The third is of the wicked Iailer and what he gained in the end by his crueltie God terrifying him deadly by the earthquake how bold and vnrulie
with afflictions and those that they haue laid on them be not sore nor grieuous therefore when any come vpon them of any waight indeed they cast them off as impatient in bearing the burthen Neither let any say to me this that the children of God are alwaies vnder the crosse neither are they long without some afflictions seeing their life is compared to a sowing in teares For notwithstanding this many are their outward blessings also especially where the pure preaching of the Gospell is enioyed for many troubles may be easily swallowed vp where that is to helpe to digest them And yet what poore and weake commendation may be giuen of the ioyfull welcoming of the troubles which are sent to such for the most part And this to be true which I say those times do proue wherein they haue some load of affliction laid vpon them for what earnest seeking to God is in them or patience to beare them Indeed if they continue or waxe more grieuous so that they can neither auoid them neither is there any hope of earthly helpe left vnto them to come out of them then perhaps and not till then for the most part when they see no other remedy it may be seene that God is sought vnto seriously and then they stirre vp their faith to lay hold of assistance from God with some confidence when all other helpe faileth For example when by some sore visitation and sicknesse that is like to be vnto death God awaketh any of his the disease permitting and giuing libertie to the partie afflicted for some sicknesse is more violent then other it may be seene sometime that he lieth more like vnto one that preacheth and giueth encouragement and exhortation to repentance ioyfully rather then as one readie to die but how rare is this to see for in many smaller troubles perhaps patience will hardly be found And whereas some of Gods corrections cause sorrow only to the afflicted without paine to the bodie as the losse of friends or goods some cause sorrow that commeth from paine as sicknesse and grieuous diseases it may be that the former may worke some good now or then but for the most part the latter if extremitie hinder not leaue the best fruit behind them Howsoeuer it be there is no doubt but that this grace is too much wanting and the rather it is the lesse sought seeing we leane too much to temporarie holds and stayes and for that our hearts runne after earthly things inordinately as health riches peace c. though we see by long experience that there is no hold of them nor any safe resting in them And this lingring heere like Lots wife must be purged out of vs and chased from vs or else we shall degenerate from the faithfull in former ages and shew too truely that we be not led with their spirit when we being so nestled heere can so hardly go out of our selues to welcome the troubles which God sendeth to weane vs from hence and do not rather pray that we may reioyce vnder them and be thankfull in them The third thing in this first part of the text is that euill persons shall haue small cause in the end to reioyce of their hard proceedings against the seruants of God howsoeuer they pursue them with great delight for God will surely take part with them against their enemies As heere we see in the Iailer whom he terrified while Paul and Silas sung for ioy in so much that he and other his companions when they heard it might see that they had a God that could and would comfort them when hee himselfe their wicked aduersarie thought he had loaden them with anguish and sorrow and that this their God could astonish him with feares and desperatenesse when they whom he oppressed were merrie How God doth this in the world to come it is cleere enough by that Scripture to the Thessalonians where it is said That it is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble his and to them that are troubled rest when the Lord Iesus shall shew himselfe from heauen with his mighty Angels in flaming fire Indeed in this world that is not alwaies seene but yet God doth it euen heere also while he professeth that he will blesse them that blesse his and curse them that curse his and while he sheweth fearefull iudgements vpon them who did sore vexe his good seruants and constraineth other to crie out and with their owne mouthes to acknowledge that he plagueth them for their sakes whom they hated and persecuted For examples of the first kind Zidkiiah is one the arch-prophet of Baal who did not only feed Ahab with lies and false messages as from God when he demanded of him what the will of God was in a doubtfull and waightie case but also smote Micaiah the true Prophet of the Lord and withstood him for speaking the truth For this very cause he was constrained afterwards with feare to hide him from chamber to chamber Another example of the first kind is Corah with his companie for resisting and rising against Moses the true seruant of God charging him to be an vsurper of the Priests office and to take too much vpon him and himselfe to bee Gods true Priest for the which as Moses witnesseth he was swallowed vp of the earth with those which were of his conspiracie Examples of the latter sort is Pharaoh who after ten warnings by God in strange punishments for not letting the people of Israel go to serue the Lord out of his land but pursuing them still euen into the sea was in the middest thereof drowned when he was constrained to confesse that the Lord tooke part with Israel against him all the Egyptians saying We will flie from the face of Israel for the Lord sighteth for them against the Egyptians Another example is Iudas who betraying his Master into the hands of the high Priests for money was compelled to confesse before them that set him on worke in a most heauie torment of conscience casting the money againe before them I haue sinned in betraying the innocent blood By all these it appeareth that they shall haue small cause to glorie of their winnings in the end who offer hard measure to Gods people the Lord himselfe crying out thus vnto them Touch not mine annointed nor do my Prophets no harme Neither let any obiect heere that they know them not to be such for so they will affirme in their mad mood and raile on them who yet when they will speake as they are perswaded in good aduisednesse will say of them as Saul did of Dauid that he was more righteous then he and as the King of Babylon said to Daniel thou art the seruant of the most high God So let faithfull Christians rest in their innocencie and in the witnesse of a good conscience and let them count it banquetting
nor rebels nor like to be dangerous persons but he most cruellie cast them into the bottome of the prison euen into a dungeon and yet euen there made their feet fast in the stockes The barbarous and sauage act of this Iailer is set downe to withhold all that heare of it from that sinne and to shame them that practise the same or the like crueltie not onely for that God hath threatened that with what measure men meat it shall be measured to them againe and that iudgement shall be without mercie to them that are mercilesse but also seeing it is vnnaturall to be cruell If any receiue sentence of death for his iust deserts as Achan or iniustly as our Sauiour did yet if thereto should be added other vexations as mocking railing c. that were crueltie therefore Ioshua shewed mercie on Achan to bring him to repentance when he was adiudged to die but the cruell Iewes and souldiers were accused of beastly crueltie and that most iustly when Christ being to be crucified was also handled despitefully and mocked of them Sauls crueltie to his sonne Ionathan who would haue put him to death for tasting a little honie with the top of his speare when he fainted to reuiue himselfe was most sauage and vnnaturall Not vnlike vnto it is that barbarousnes and vnmercifull dealing of step-mothers and step-dames to orphans and poore succorlesse children whom they vse worse then many a bad man will vse his beast when yet nature teacheth them that they can neuer shew kindnes and tender compassion enough to their owne children For which cause the Iewes in vsing correction were stinted by the Lord that they should not giue aboue fortie stripes at once And for the same cause to meete with their crueltie God commanded that an eye should be put out in him that had done the like and a tooth for a tooth to bridle them And how was that seruant dealt with in the Gospell who being forgiuen ten thousand talents by his Lord would not forgiue his fellow seruant an hundred pence but laid hands on him and throtled him saying pay me that thou owest His Lord was wroth with him and deliuered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due to him And as all crueltie is fearefull and monstrous so that which ariseth from enuie and hatred is diuellish According to that which Salomon saith Anger is cruell and wrath is raging but who can stand before enuy But not to say that which yet might to good purpose be said to make this sinne odious vnto vs let them who haue aduantage of their neighbours by forfetting their bonds into their hands and all superiours who may vse poore strangers fatherlesse ones and poore seruants at their pleasure and finally all whosoeuer they be beware of hard-heartednesse and crueltie which it bringeth forth especially of enuie knowing that they haue a Master and a Superiour in heauen who will recompence such brutish barbarousnesse and as they desire that all other should doe the same to them let them exercise and practise mercie and compassion kindnesse gentlenesse meekenesse and such like vertues The second sinne apparently to be seene in the Iailer was desperatenesse which was such that when he arose out of his sleepe by the fearefull earthquake at midnight and saw the prison doores open he drew out his sword and would haue killed himselfe supposing the prisoners had been fled Such a sinne is this desperatenesse that when men haue losses displeasure of their betters or other great discommodities or when they be but striken with the feare thereof they haue no stay of themselues but without all consideration are carried by it as by a whirlewind to very madnesse Oh if men be crossed hauing no grace to vphold them they are beside themselues and at their wits end Many maruaile when the storie is remembred in companie at the murmuring of the children of Israel when they had no food in the second month of their entring into the wildernesse their store being spent that they brought with them out of Egypt And it must be confessed that it was their sinne that they murmured against God when they were in need But alas we who are readie to censure them do much worse for we grudge when we haue no want but abundance if any thing go against vs. Indeed while all things go with vs to our hearts desire and we liue in prosperitie we can praise God as though we were not inferiour to the forwardest in religion but if God lay his hand vpon vs we will as Satan saith in Iob euen curse him to his face Examples want not euen of such as are of the visible Church The woman spoken of in the Iudges Micahs mother when she had lost her money what was her refuge to the easing of her heart but cursing When Achitophels counsell was refused of Absalom which had bin in great account was he able to put vp that disgrace No but he was so throughly vexed for it that he recouered not himselfe but went and hanged himselfe Saul had banished the witches out of his land according to the commandement of the Lord yet when he was in a strait for all the commandement he enquired for one and asked counsell of her But oh that we in this age had learned wisdome and constancie in the seruice of God to be faithfull to him in our troubles as we professe it to be our dutie in peace But I feare we are not behind the worst of these in the committing of this sin but before them rather For they murmured in great distresses but we in very small trials as though we could beare nothing neither suffer our selues to be crossed in the smallest things but we flie to our shelter which is by anger rage cursing impatience or threatnings if not by worse shifts to auenge our selues when we should rather be ashamed to be so disguised Especially considering who we are and from whence we come euen from worse then the dunghill and should maruell that we be not consumed rather then thinke much to be touched yea with the little finger when we suffer iustly whatsoeuer we suffer yea the most grieuous calamities according to the saying of the Prophet in the Lamentations Wherfore doth the liuing man complaine man suffereth for his sinne And this were more fit to be done of vs a wise man would thinke rather then that we should be led with such frenzie which I say not is monstrous in them that go for godly but an vtter shame for those that are meere naturall men being trained vp vnder true religion and liuing in the light of the Gospell And they that cannot submit themselues to this instruction which in their owne consciences they cannot but confesse they ought to doe let them see their bondage and acknowledge their sin that so they may make way to the obtaining of
many other of like sort which where they are intertained can it be chosen but that iniquitie should abound there So that this second sort doth also fill the world with sinne And seeing this kinde of people is so common euery where that they goe for honest men and good Christians and they walke vncontrolled and vnpunished and thereby are the lesse noted to be so euill as they are the Lord doth oft take the matter into his owne hands to detect and bewray them So as either they fall to some sinne for which the Magistrate taketh them in hand such was Achan and he that blasphemed in Leuiticus who both were put to death and thrust out from amongst their neighbours or else God punisheth their sinne himselfe directly by letting them lay violent hands on themselues as did Ahitophel The third sort who cause iniquitie to abound are the hypocrites properly so called who professe religion and take the word of God into their mouthes but they hate to be reformed and boldly affirme that they know God but in their deeds they denie him and say Lord Lord but doe nothing lesse then go about to fulfill the will of the Lord. These cause the holy word of God to be ill spoken of which they heare and talke of more then the most of others do And will not sticke to commit sinne the more boldly vnder a colour and cloake of holines which behauiour of theirs being a practise and common course of liuing with them so that daily much euill is wrought by them all that list may see that these also as the two former sorts that I say no more of them as being so well knowne doe cause iniquitie to abound The fourth sort are they who are not properly called hypocrites with the former although hypocrisie beare much sway in them but they in many things doe obey God and the course of their liues is much more framed after Gods word then all the former if they were put together also they doe more streightly vrge good order in others as their place will giue thē leaue yet in some things they will not be brought within compasse but are wedded to their will and know that they do ill some sin they intertaine and take libertie to commit being not willing to search their hearts nor to looke into their waies and so they deale also about faith they hold a confused perswasion and hope that they shall bee saued but they cannot bee brought to trie it and therefore they are destitute both of it and good life Now these also howsoeuer they come neerer a godly life then any of the former and that by many degrees yet because they in some things giue themselues leaue to offend and dishonour God and doe not feare the Lord with all their hearts and in one thing as well as in another seeke to please him therefore God abhorreth their sacrifice of praise and prayer and curseth the obedience which they offer vnto him And therefore the Apostle S. Iames hauing to deale with such people said vnto them whosoeuer shall keepe the whole law and yet faileth in one point he is guiltie of all For hee that said Thou shalt not commit adulterie said also Thou shalt not kill Now then though thou doest none adulterie yet if thou killest thou art a transgressor of the law And thus whiles they haue all their doings reckoned against them for sinnes as it hath been proued that the best of them are no better they come within the ranke of them who multiplie iniquitie and cause sinne to be increased Obiect And if it be obiected that there be other sorts of people besides these foure who increase sinne in the land Answ I answere that some of Gods children by their infirmitie are in shew like the former yet because they would not sinne and doe breake out rather of infirmitie then wilfully and wittingly to lie therein and doe endeuour in one thing as well as another to please God therefore they are not said to increase sinne who doe faithfully labour to suppresse and keepe it downe both in themselues and others And such must the other foure sorts be before the Lord will count and take them for his Thus it is manifest who they be that fill the world with sinne that none can be ignorant of it who is not wilfully blinde Now it remaineth what these should doe that is before all things that they repent and seeke mercie and hold it by faith both which as they haue sufficient cause to looke after with all speed because without the one it is impossible to please God that is faith and without the other I meane repentance and amendment of life the vengeance of God cannot bee auoided so they haue two great incouragements to set them forward to seeke both this being added if they feele what neede they haue thereof as all may see they haue and that very great and then if they desire earnestly to be partakers of them they be not farre from them The first is that the Lord hath other sheepe which are not yet of his fold and hee counteth many to be his people who are not yet called to know that they are his who may by the preaching of the Gospell be added to his faithfull ones And in hope hereof they should giue all diligence to waite vpon the Lord in his ordinance for this blessing The second is this that they search and trie their waies what is amisse in them though they shall neuer finde out the hundreth part of the sinne that is in them and then consider the woe they are in thereby which if they can bee perswaded to doe it is the most direct way to make them turne to the Lord both in imbracing Gods promise of mercy which then belongeth to them by Gods free grant and also in reforming their liues from the which by their sinne they were estranged Both these kindes of turning to God the Prophet Ioel exhorteth the people vnto saying read your hearts that is by searching into them to see the foulnes of them and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God And Ieremy in his Lamentations doth the same when he saith Search your wayes and turne againe vnto the Lord. And this is the onely way for such as haue brought themselues out of fauour with God and drawne downe his wrath vpon themselues by multiplying iniquitie to recouer themselues againe that they may both break off the course of their wicked liues and also be healed and deliuered from that vengeance of God which tooke hold of them before This I haue thought good to say of this first sort of people and of the foure kinds of them all which doe fill the world with iniquitie who least they should too sleightly regard that which hath been said to perswade them to faith and repentance I thought it not amisse to
we haue laied our foundation already we haue beleeued and repented as our Sauiour would haue it long agoe and we will not alter our iudgement and practise for any other There are three especiall causes why all should hast to repent at the first hearing so soone as they can be able to discerne the authority and power of the word The first is because if we doe it not at the first perhaps we shal neuer after and especially if any such of vs be cauillers and resisters of it I deny not but the Lord calleth at the ninth and eleuenth houre which refuse to come at the seauenth but who is so desperate as to ieopard his happines by so bolde an aduenture seeing the wicked and the deceiuers waxe worse and worse and he that is not fit to be vrged to day is like to be lesse fit to morrow For who knoweth that he shall haue minde or meanes or if he haue both yet whither he shall haue opportunity by health and freedome from paine and diseases to vse and inioy them And although he doe yet whether the Lord will blesse them In all which respects the wise man adulseth thus Remember thy maker O man in the dayes of thy youth whiles the euill dayes come not nor the yeares approch in which thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them I haue I denie not seene the ignorant and carelesse who haue not been able to discerne and consider what they doe in neglecting and refusing the benefit of the Gospel offred them I haue seene such I say to haue bin brought to repentance and that God hath not called their sinne to remembrance against them though many euen of them yet haue neuer found it so Note But the scornefull and the cauiller who against his knowledge hath resisted the truth and striuen against it I haue rarely in mine obseruation seene but their death hath bin like their life without any pregnant signes of repentance The second cause why men should be desirous to conuert truely to God at the first hearing of the Gospell is this that though we might be sure to doe it at the last whereas yet in all experience late repenting is dangerous what wise man would be content to goe without the fruit of it in the meane season No if it were but for one day when he might inioy it Seeing one day in the house of God is better than a thousand in any estate whatsoeuer out of a godly life And thus it shuld be seeing thus it might be with a man that so he may inioy euen all his life long the most sweet peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding though not without tribulation in the flesh which no vnbeleeuer nor impenitent person can tast of his reioycing being onely momentany and deceitfull The third reason is this that the sooner we repent the sooner we make ioyfull and glad al the true seruants of God yea the very Angels whom our Sauiour affirmeth to reioyce thereat and besides the sooner we shall be fit to teach the waies of God to sinners and helpe to conuert the wicked vnto him when we shal our selues be able to reioyce in our saluation being made assured thereof by his holy spirit And who would lye idle from so great imployment to draw sinners vnto God when we reade that they who winne many shall shine as the starres for euer and ouer Obiect If it be obiected against this which I haue sayed why is the repentant state in so meane account in the world then if it be so gainefull and so highly commended Answ I answere for three causes First seeing the dearest to God are in this life vnder many troubles as the Church complaineth I am blacke O ye daughters of Ierusalem that is disfigured with troubles therefore the bad world shunneth and despiseth her For which she answereth in the Prophet Micha Reioyce not at me O mine enemy for though I am fallen yet shall I rise againe and I will beare my punishment because I haue sinned And yet when they such Despisers I meane and their like are afflicted and the godly in prosperity they thinke them the onely happy people Secondly they narrowly obserue the slips and infirmities of Gods seruants and make them odious and are readie to take hurt by them but the good course of their life they regard not neither think that they need to follow them therein Nay shall I say as the truth is If the godly keepe a narrow watch ouer their waies oh then they be too precise for them to keepe company with they say and on the otherside if they slip offensiuely at any time nay if they be but reported of to haue done so be it true or false they crie out in another manner thus oh these be your professors doe you not see what fruits they bring forth So they who are purposed to take no good by them can alwayes lay stops in their owne way and while they be at that point it is no maruell though they set not much by repentance which is that whereof Gods people haue their name that they be called repentant or godly The third reason why such haue the godly life in no better account and reckoning is for that they know little nay they are farre off from it what ioy and comfort it bringeth with it neither the sweete and holy peace which they who liue godly doe enioy For Salomon truly setteth downe that he that is a stranger from the life of Gods people shall not be partaker of their ioy Neither as S. Iohn saith can any know what that song meaneth which maketh the godly merrie and ioyfull but themselues which are the Lords redeemed ones which if they did know they would as our Sauiour said to the woman of Samaria first haue asked it of him as the thing that is most precious and would haue preferred it before the pleasures of sinne which yet last but for a season And this be said of the second point in the second part namely of repenting betimes Now this repenting which Christ heere speaketh of what it is which is the last point in this second part this I say let vs examine a little and so make an end His words are these they would haue repented in sackcloth and ashes This must needs be as we may well gather by his owne words a matter of great importance And that the repenting which men commonly so call is nothing lesse then that which he heere meaneth and speaketh of For the Lord Iesus in saying They would haue repented in sackcloth and ashes meaneth that they would haue done it heartily and soundly as these outward ceremonies did testifie such a thing And he speaketh so because it was well knowne to them to whom he spake that they who repented vnfainedly in times past shewed it that way though he did not thereby iustifie all to be
seeing Saint Peter saith he doth not this but when need is for hee doth nothing needlessely nor without cause therefore wee must know that it is needfull that it should be so yea and that also though they be sharpe and fierie The Lord knoweth what is best for euery one of vs. And it is meet that wee should be well perswaded hereof also both because we doe so soone shrinke backe at the very hearing that any crosses are comming towards vs and also for that we must enter into the kingdome of heauen by bearing our part in them And for these causes and for that they are layed on vs by him who doth all things well and for the good of his therefore we must both stoope to them willingly and looke vp to him who hath smitten vs that he may heale vs. And the Lord sheweth vs many other reasons why he leaueth vs thus to be subiect to many tribulations though hee be not bound to shew vs any euen for that we be not fit to vse prosperity well aâ—y long time together and therefore that we may not bee poisoned therewith and so perish with the world thereby he weaneth vs from the baites thereof by afflictions The vse of this is of two sorts Vse 1 The one that we should prepare for them before as Christs doctrine teacheth when he foretelleth that in the world we shall haue tribulation and as Iobs example incourageth who in the middest of his prosperity did looke for his change Vse 2 The other vse is that we should take vp our crosse daily and that with a willing and ready minde as in Luk. 9.23 we are taught and pray that we may doe so to the end our ioy may be all as S. Iames promiseth it shal be if wee receiue them in that manner And this for the first point As we haue heard that these Churches had been vnder persecution so yet now it appeareth that they had rest from it at this time here mentioned Whereby God would haue vs learne that he doth not afflict long but as Hosea speaketh after three dayes that is after a short time he wil returne and deliuer and so though heauines indure for a night yet ioy shal come in the morning For he will not suffer the rod of the wicked to lye alwaies vpon the lott of the righteous lest they should reach forth their hand to iniquity But further he blesseth them oft and sundrie wayes more then is easily perceiued both that it may be seene that godlinesse is not without reward no not in this life and also that God can afford good things vnto his seruants though he sometime afflict them And to come to particulars he giueth freedome from persecution and sendeth outward peace whereby we may liue safely vnder our vine and vnder our figtree as it was in the dayes of Salomon Which benefit if we haue so long enioyed and yet cannot price it in any sort according to the value of it but count it common wee may aske of them who are or haue been in the heate of persecution who can readily tell how much this peace and rest from persecution is worth how many precious liberties it holdeth from vs and how many good things it depriueth vs of All which we partake who haue freedome from that persecution and enioy this outward peace which I speake of Among the which these are none of the smallest that as wee enioy our habitation peaceably thereby so wee haue the benefit of the vtterance of our commodities and the exchange of our wares and safe trauelling from place to place all which bring freedome from feare and other vnquietnes And which maketh all these to be sauourie and to be enioyed with more sweetnes by this freedome from persecution where wee liue vnder a Magistrate that is a maintainer and defender of true religion we enioy also the benefite of the Gospell truly preached which is the pearle so highly prized by our Sauiour Whereas in domestical at home and forraine warre abroad as also in persecution all these commodities are wanting In the booke of Iudges wee reade that when there was no King in Israel euery man did what seemed good in his owne eyes In the daies of Iael the high waies were vnoccupied and the trauellers walked in by-waies for feare of the enemies the townes were not inhabited And in the desolation of Ierusalem as we reade in the Lamentations she was left solitarie Iudah was carried away captiue the waies of Zion lamented because no man came to the solemne feasts as they had been wont to come vp with mirth and ioy all her persecuters tooke her in the streights By which it may be seene what a benefit peace and freedome from persecution is which should cause vs when we may enioy them to studie to doe all the good that wee may possibly in them which only is to make the right vse of them And so did the Churches here when they had them but a while But what haue we done in the golden dayes of our peace for these fifty full yeares inioyed It may truly be said it hath bin worse with the most part then if they had bin wanting For then should there neuer haue such foule and horrible sinnes bin committed as through and by meanes of peace and prosperity al places well nigh haue been tainted with Besides many haue neuer the more peace with God Note for all the peace that hath been in the land neither once looke after it no nor with men saue in euill otherwise at warre no nor in their owne houses but are at strife and contention in brawling and railing euen betwixt man and wife nor with themselues which is most diuellish What quietnes haue many but when they haue what they would and while their lusts be satisfied which peace forsaketh them in euery blast of affliction else they are euer vnquiet and vexed within themselues for euery thing that goeth against them But seeing the vses of outward peace are set downe in the text I wil follow that in the laying out of them To begin with them therefore it is said first that they did edifie and build vp themselues In what It must needes be that the holy Ghost meant in such inward grace as inabled them to shew it foorth outwardly in their liues before men as the feare of God knowledge faith hope care to please God and such like in which it is said after they walked amongst men And therefore outward duties cannot bee meant thereby seeing the performing of them was another vse of their peace spoken of afterward seuerally by it selfe And how did they build vp themselues thus in grace It was by vsing all holy meanes for that purpose both publike and priuate as the hearing of the Apostles doctrine praying and vsing other godly fellowship together So that this is as much as if it were said that
they vsed all diligence and armed themselues now while God gaue them this little breathing from persecution that so by their confidence pure heart good conscience loue and patience and other grace they might be fit to leade a godly life in the world with ease and strengthen themselues against falles and the baits of sin on euery side And it is manifest to all of vs who can iudge that by such meanes and a sound ministerie watching praying and the like the Church of God can grow in grace and no otherwise And that they did thus it is apparent by that which we reade in the second of the Acts where it is said that they were daily in the temple and continued in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and prayer And this vse should all true particular Churches and people of God make of their libertie of peace and of liuing free from persecution From the which God hath a long time freed many of his good seruants in this age howsoeuer some are much and oft vnder the crosse yea and that right heauie and sharpe such therefore should glorifie God by bringing forth fruit not in a common sort yea al possible good should be done of them and not omitted For as for priuate lets and those which are vsuall may more easily be ouercome either inward corruptions or outward ill examples or other discouragements as long as the word of God may haue free passage to be sincerely preached But if outward peace alone be counted so great a benefit and such holy and fruitfull vse made of it Note then how much more should we thinke so when that one is accompanied with abundance of other good things when health wealth friends and fauour of the godly shall go herewith and meet altogether in one person what manner of people ought such to be in all godlinesse And how God looketh for it that it should be so that place of Deuteronomie doth liuely shew Where Moses saith that we must serue the Lord with all ioyfulnesse and a good heart for the abundance of all good things The meditations of such mens harts should be acceptable to God and to follow the metaphor of building vsed heere a little the people that is so blessed of God should do as builders are wont that is to pull downe the ruinous corners set vp new frames in their roomes so should Gods seruants plucke downe the old ruines and breaches of their corrupt hearts as anger wrath impatience bitternesse and such like vncleane lusts and set vp mercie tenderheartednesse loue zeale faith and such like Yea and more particularly according to the diuers ages of Gods children they should exercise themselues that is to say the tender consciences and yong beginners should haue their thoughts and meditations about the fauour of God desiring aboue all things to be assured of it the middle aged Christians and such as are somewhat stayed in faith and the feare of God should chiefely be occupied in striuing against their lusts and fighting with them the ancient and experienced who haue done both these should much be taken vp in calling to mind what they haue heard of Gods manner of dealing in guiding his Church and the fruit thereof and in declaring to other and what they haue seene and found themselues worth the reporting to be in the seruing of God that thereby they may be encouraged to walke fruitfully and circumspectly still as they did long before and not to be led away from their stedfastnes in their Christian course by the error of the wicked as hauing found that course by long proofe to haue been the most gainfull of all other vnto them These vses and the like all sorts and ages of Gods people ought to make of Gods blessings towards them and of freedome from trouble But do the people of this age thus for that were a kind vse of peace and his other benefits and would well become them No for in this land these fiftie yeeres now fully passed what knowledge might haue been so that one might haue been able to teach another and there might haue been that grace of the spirit which might haue seasoned Christians hearts no lesse sensiblie then the dew doth moisten the mountaines So that our Church might haue been a paterne to others as the Thessalonians were examples to all that beleeued in Macedonia and Achaia and it might now haue been verified if euer in any age since the Apostles time that out of the bellies of beleeuers might haue flowed riuers of waters of life whereas except some persons heere and there there is great ignorance vnfaithfulnesse hollownesse securitie vncharitablenesse maliciousnesse and what not of that kind I speake not of the disorders of life for they are more fitly to be reprooued in the next vse which the Churches made of their peace but of the grosse distemperatures of the heart for although these times of prosperitie and peace haue been the fittest seasons for men to encrease in goodnes and grace euen as the haruest is to gather in the corne yet whether we enquire into particular Churches or persons we shall find nothing more true then this that peace and plentie haue poisoned for the most part the enioyers of them But if the people of God whom I teach now to make this vse of his blessings were not wound in by the diuels cunning sleights among the rest of the world it were the lesse maruel but euen they cannot be sholed out from them but haue their teeth set on edge with their courses by liuing among them and beholding how they runne headlong into all excesse by meanes of their prosperitie so that euen they forget their couenant made with God that is that they should endeuour to vse soberly in this present world all their lawfull liberties till with shame and sorrow afterward they are faine to returne againe to repentance And thus many euen of them not holding gouernment ouer their hearts breake out into offensiue life and become eye-sores to their brethren who will not be pent in to keepe the bounds of vnoffensiue walking till experience constraine them to wish they had been wiser and before their straying out so far to haue kept themselues well while they were well And this teacheth vs that Moses saw good cause to giue this warning to Gods people when they were to go to the land flowing in abundance of Gods blessings out of the barren wildernesse saying When the Lord hath brought you into that land with great and goodly cities which ye builded not and houses full of all manner of goods which ye filled not and welles digged which ye digged not and vineyards and oliue trees which ye planted not and when ye haue eaten and are full beware lest you forget the Lord which brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage Now to make vse of this in
man to consider first throughly with himselfe how fearefull a thing it were to fall into the hands of the liuing God And how terrible a thing the wrath of God is which shall be reuealed vpon the wicked and disobedient euen this shall giue him great cause to reioyce that by the pardon of his sins he hath escaped the wrath that is to come And secondly let him consider how great is the glorie prouided for all them that feare the Lord in which they shal be like the heauenly Angels alwayes beholding the face of God in heauen Yea their bodies shall become like the glorious bodie of our Sauiour Christ and wherein no part of miserie shall remaine but all teares shall bee wiped from their eyes and no part of blessednesse shall be wanting vnto them Thirdly let him consider how sweete the loue of God must needs be euen heere vnto the faithfull soule when he hauing loued him euen when he was his enemie and not yet reconciled to him and that he gaue his only begotten Sonne to the death for him that he might not perish but haue eternall life and that he hath now adopted him and giuen him the title and priuiledge to be called his sonne and to be the heire of God and coheire with Iesus Christ that he hath giuen vnto him and put into his heart his Spirit the seale and earnest of his adoption Fourthly let him also consider what a couenant and league of friendship he is now entred into with the Lord that he can but call and aske of God and God is readie to lend his eare to him and grant his suit that he can but knock and God stands at the doore as it were readie to open and to welcome him that he cannot seeke any good thing at the Lords hands but he is readie to minister vnto him Nay that God not only is readie night and day in season and out of season to heare his mone and to fulfill his desires but his eyes are euer vpon him to do him good euen then when he thinkes not vpon it and that which we neuer minded to craue at his hands yea that the Lord will vouchsafe to come to him to abide with him to sup and to dine and to conuerse with him as he promiseth Ioh. 14.23 and Reuel 3.20 Behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any man heare my voice and open the doore I will come vnto him to carrie him as it were into my heauenly closet and impart to him of my dainties But heere I stay for this time THE SECOND SERMON VPON THE SAME TEXT I Will proceed where I left The priuiledges of the faithfull set downe before as the peace of a good conscience cleared and clensed by the blood of Christ the hope of so great glorie to come and the so blessed communion with God that they may talke as it were friendly and familiarly and conuerse with him and he with them howsoeuer the men of the world imagine them all to be but dreames and conceits yet can they not but make the righteous man that hath the true and liuely sense and feeling of them leape and shout for ioy of heart I will not stand by further reasons which are many to enlarge the proofe of this point that the righteous as they haue need to be stirred vp to ioy so they haue iust cause notwithstanding all that may seeme to make to the contrarie to be merrie and glad in heart It is not thus with the wicked for though they haue peace with Satan and peace with the corruption of their owne hearts yet want they the pardon of their sin and therefore are at warre and enmitie with God though they labour to forget the same and all that fearefull wrath to come hangeth ouer their heads and may fall they know not how soone vpon them Secondly they want that imputation of Christs righteousnesse to couer their shame before God so that they cannot assure themselues that they haue any part or portion in the glorie of the sonnes of God that is to be reuealed They cannot behold God as a louing Father as their redeemer in Christ Iesus They are wholly possessed with the spirit of feare and bondage that they cannot with boldnesse call vpon God They haue no promise nor assurance that God will heare them nay his eares are stopped that he will not heare them his eyes are turned from them that he will not regard and pitie their miserie He will haue no communion no societie companie nor fellowship with them I cease to speake of those hellish terrors of an accusing conscience that cannot but expell all ioy and comfort foorth so oft as their sleepie conscience is awakened and omit many other things which might be added to this purpose By this little which hath bin said the truth of this point is cleere that the righteous and they alone haue both need and iust cause wherefore to reioyce we will now come brieflie to some few vses of this point and passe to the next in order Vse 1 First therefore if the righteous only and the faithfull haue need of this ioy as we haue shewed It is not for the Ministers of God to comfort and cheere vp any but these For we know the Minister is a Physition of the soule to cure the diseases and a Chirurgion to cure the wounds of the soule Now it is not for a Physition to prescribe to the whole but to the sicke nor for the Chirurgion to plaister that which is sound but that which is hurt and wounded The wicked are whole they are not sicke or wounded with sorrow No need therefore haue they of the Chirurgeon to bind vp that which is broken neither of the Physition to restore health when none is lost but the righteous man and he that truly feareth God he is cast downe with sorrow and hath need therefore to be raised vp when he is sicke of sorrow and hath need of heauenly chearing to restore him he is wounded in soule euery day and therefore hath need to haue the oyle of gladnesse to be powred into his wounds Vse 2 Againe haue the faithfull and they only iust cause to be merrie let the bad learne then to magnifie the life of the faithfull as the most happie and blessed life For this is certaine he is most happie and most blessed who hath in deed and in truth greatest cause of ioy and to reuerence their gifts that they may haue a part in them Vse 3 Thirdly haue the godly alone need of comfort and chearing because they are sicke and wounded alreadie with sorrow Then marke the Tyger-like crueltie of the wicked that are so farre from comforting and releeuing them as they ought that they adde sorrow to their sorrow and affliction to affliction what they can This is besides all bounds of common humanitie as we know and sauoureth of a diuellish nature to rend and
to teare the wounds that we ought to heale and to bind vp But this do the wicked when they seeke to vex and grieue the faithfull that be alreadie wounded and cast downe with sorrow in their soules yea and for that they carry corruption still about them I say not he is the happiest that reioyceth most for that no doubt many times he may do which is but in a verie wofull case as our Sauiour Christ saith wo be to you that laugh but he I say is the happiest man that hath the greatest cause of ioy For this is the argument of all those blessednesses which our Sauiour Christ pronounceth Matth. 5. the poore in spirit are pronounced blessed because they haue cause to reioyce So they that mourne they that be meeke c. are blessed because these though they do not reioyce yet they haue euery one of them iust cause to reioyce But to proceed hath the faithfull and righteous alone iust cause of ioy Then if thou desirest soundly to reioyce practise carefully and constantly a iust and righteous life for without this faith and vprightnesse it is impossible though thou hast made a beginning therein alreadie euer to find any state that will giue thee cause all things well weighed to take any ioy in it It is not the throne of a Prince nor the treasure of the earth nor the pleasures of the world that can afford it Vse 4 Lastly hath the righteous man cause to reioyce then ought he to stirre vp himselfe vnto the dutie following namely that he do reioyce indeed This nature it selfe teacheth euen naturall men that if they see iust cause why they should be glad they will stirre themselues vp to be ioyfull and merrie And the rather are the righteous to be mooued to this dutie because they haue the Lords commandement heere by the Apostle to stirre themselues vp vnto it For is the Lord so carefull of his that he cannot endure to haue our hearts possessed with sorrow but will haue it to be expelled thence by his heauenly ioyes and shall we be behind in this duty Shall he command and shall not we obay shall he exhort and shal not we attend to that which wholy tendeth to our owne ioy and comfort If the King or prince command their subiects to be merry as Salomon 1. King 8.64 Ester 5.1 this alone stirreth them vp to mirth though there were noe other cause but the kinde speeches and greetings of the prince And ought not Gods voice much more to preuaile with vs to this ende But I come now to the limitation first and then in due place to the enlargement of this ioy It is limited first by the manner of it that it must be in the Lord and then secondly enlarged by the time that it may be alwayes to reioyce in the Lord is to reioyce for that we know him to be our God alsufficient and Christ Iesus our Lord also to reioyce for the Lords cause who alone giueth ministreth vnto vs cause of reioycing as 1. Sam. 21. in the thanksgiuing of Hanna Mine heart reioyceth in the Lord mine horne is exalted in the Lord So Mary my spirit reioyceth that is my heart reioyceth because of the Lord who hath giuen mee this cause of ioy and mine horne is exalted in the Lord who hath bin fauourable and gratious vnto mee By this limitation then we see the ioy of the faithfull which only is true ioy to be distinguished from other sorts of ioyes which are many For some there are who reioyce in themselues and in that seruing of God that liketh them and not in the Lord as first many naturall men if they haue a good meaning and liue quietly and ciuilly among men they thinke they cannot chuse but be saued These men ioy but all the ground of their ioy is not from God but from themselues from their owne blinde reason and the presumption of their owne heart Secondly Papists and such as follow the ancient Pharisies These men not onely doe many ciuill good duties but they fast they pray they pay tythe of all they haue they giue almes they abstaine from iniustice extortion c. They are very strict and very precise in many things they wil not marry they wil not eate such and such meates and at such times These men they reioyce also yea and boast themselues not only before men but before God as the Pharisie did Luk. 18. But their ioy ariseth from themselues and from their owne good deeds and meritorious actions as they hould them They reioyce not in the Lord. Others yet there bee who reioyce in the things of this world For which indeed it might be lawfull for a man to reioyce but this their reioycing is altogether after a sensuall and a carnall manner They reioyce in riches in honor in pleasure but this their ioy it neither ariseth from God nor endeth in him but either it proceedeth only from the creature and resteth in it or els it is ascribed to their own paines and labour or for that they haue attained to this wealth or that place by their owne industry or some friend or other is magnified for it or els rather theÌ„ any part of their ioy should seeme to proceede from God it is ascribed to good lucke and good fortune these all offend in this that they reioyce in these things but not in the Lord as the author of euery good thing they haue Againe there are some that ioy in lawfull things but their ioy is not taken lawfully they neuer waigh whether they vse them in such a manner as God in his word hath giuen them warrant for or not They delight and ioy in duties of their calling to looke vnto their businesse This is well But to be taken vp with them as the chiefest matters and on the Lords day the day of the Lords rest when they should assemble themselues in the congregation of Gods people to heare his woâ—d and to learne his will or when they should priuately be holily occupied this is not to reioyce in the Lord for it is against the Lords will and commandement who hath giuen vs charge to rest the seauenth day So many other thinges in themselues are lawfull and a man may reioyce in them I meane recreations and refreshings of body or minde after labour but to spende whole dayes in them is euil also the fellowship of marriage and the liberty of eating and drinking but if we doe them without thanksgiuing without keeping a measure and moderation and if we reioyce in any of these actions though lawfull of themselues not banishing the sinnes that accompanie them in the world and obserue not a holy and a righteous manner in the doing of them neither doe them by faith all this our reioycing is vaine and wordly and not in the Lord because it is not with those circumstances obserued which he hath prescribed in his word But of all other the
worst sort is of them that reioyce in actions simply euill as in vncleane and filthy talking in swearing in drunkennes whoring and blaspheming of the name of God Reproue and rebuke those men for it Their answere is ready what may we not speake may we not bee merry Yes mirth is lawfull The Lord by the Apostle stirreth vp here children vnto it but marke to what mirth not that which is taken in the sore mentioned sinnes and other like vnto them but in the Lord. Complaine not therfore without a cause as if God were too strict and precise to thee to restraine thee from all mirth Here indeed is a restraint but it is from vngodly mirth from reioycing as I may say in euil thy ioy must not be vnchast dishonest sensual earthly beastly The Lord is bountifull enough to thee in lawfull ioyes vouchsafed vnto thee to take thy part in Learne therefore hence to try thy mirth for when thou art reproued for thy lewd mirth it is no sufficiēt excuse to say we were but merry For know that there is a double mirth a holy mirth and an vngodly mirth a mirth in God and a mirth in the deuill Try therefore and examine thy mirth of whether sort it is If it be in God First God is alwaies in the one ende thereof and the heart is lifted vp in praise and thanksgiuing to God but for other he wil bring thee to a straight account reckning Againe if thou wouldest know that thy mirth is in the Lord try and examine whether thou thy selfe art in Christ For none can reioyce in the Lord but he that is already in Christ Be the thing wherein thou reioycest neuer so lawfull obserue neuer so strictly the time and measure in it this thy ioy is but a prophane and carnall ioy and not in the Lord. Euen the very delight thou takest in moderate eating and drinking and recreation if it be not of faith as it cannot be if thou be not in Christ it is sinne and therefore not in the Lord. And by this we see that only the righteous man can be truly ioyfull The worldly and the carnall he may reioyce in lawfull things but he cannot reioyce lawfully but in a carnal and fleshly manner this ioy neither proceedeth from God nor tendes to God but resteth in the matter neither is it ruled by the direction of Gods words but is disorderedly carried by the sway of his profane and wicked heart And as I haue said that we must beleeue in Christ and know that our names are written in heauen before we can reioyce in the Lord so there are other signes whereby we may know it for it being a thing of such worth and excellency I thinke it good to set downe more euidences of it We shall therefore better know that our ioy is in the Lord if we loue God greatly that is more then all that is precious in the world for the perfection of loue is ioy and therefore be carefull to obey him and if we loue our brethren for his sake And further if we sigh to be vnburdened and long to be with Christ which is best of all for by our reioycing that we haue in Christ Iesus our Lord we die daily And therefore by daily growing more ready to die we doe well testifie the ioy that we haue in him Lastly if our ioy haue vnfained thankes and feruent prayer for the continuāce of it as her companions for so doth the Apostle require that it should be accompanied it shall well appeare that we reioyce in the Lord. And here an other thing shall not be out of season to signifie to the reader that while he is commanded to reioyce in the Lord he must know that it nothing derogateth from it to delight in the word of God which Dauid oft professed that he did and that it was more sweet to him then the hony to his mouth for the word and the preachers that bring glad tidings out of it are the instruments and meanes whereby we delight in the Lord. And when we are taught to reioyce in the Saints which are on the earth and such as excell in vertue it hinders nothing our reioycing in the Lord but furthereth it seeing they are heires of the promise of life with vs and therefore helpers of that ioy The same I may say of reioycing in a good conscience For that is a testimony of our reioycing in the Lord. These and the like concurre with our ioying in God and are all helpers of that ioy And so that remaineth still firme that he that will reioyce should reioyce in the Lord. Now I come to the time when and how long this our ioy is to be in God and that is alwaies the Lord so that we wil be contented but to limit our ioy within those bounds we haue seene is liberall and bountifull for the time he doth not stint and limit vs to any set and certaine time but he will haue vs to reioyce in him euermore Herein differeth the ioy of the faithfull from the ioy of the world that worldly ioy is neuer constant and perpetuall but euen in laughing as Salomon teacheth the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heauinesse But the ioy of the faithfull flourisheth at all times and in all seasons it is like to the Laurell tree that neither winter nor summer casteth the leafe For this ioy hath continuall meanes to feed it withall neither can the righteous man if he consider it euer want cause to ioy and be merrie in God We haue seene the righteous man hath cause to reioyce in affliction and so much more hath he in prosperitie Hee hath cause to reioyce when he prayeth because God is neere to heare his prayer and when he readeth because he seeth God to speake to him in his Word and to giue peace vnto his conscience And so in euerie thing the righteous go about they haue cause to go ioyfully about it their calling especially be it neuer so base yea euen the poorest labouring men if they be Gods children they are then imployed in Gods businesse when they are about their calling he hath set them in the seruant when he is about his masters businesse he may reioyce in doing it For reade Ephes 6.6 you shall see that which their masters set their seruants about is called the will of God and that in seruing their masters with care and in a good conscience they serue God and Christ. And God will giue them a reward and pay them their wages for it They reioyce also when they haue occasion to giue and distribute for they are assured that what they giue to the poore and needie brother they giue to Christ and that in feeding him they feed Christ in cloathing him that they cloath Christ yea they reioice in death it selfe For they know it is not to them
by the kingdome of heauen Mat. 8.11 Mark 1.14 Math. 21. Why the Gospell is called the kingdome of heauen 1. Rom. 1.16 What maner of kingdome this is Matth. 20.21 Luk. 17.20 Reuel 2.23 Rom. 14.17 Rom. 5.5 The fruitfull hearer of the Gospell is like vnto a marchant man in three respects All men seeke after pearles such as in their opinion may make them happie But are neuer satisfied The voluptuous man The couetous man The ambitious man Example of Salomon Eccles 1 14· Vse The second propertie wherein the hearer resembleth the merchant man Two things here to be considered First the thing that be is said to find The Gospell in diuers respects compared diuersly In this place it is compared to a pearle Prou. 3.14 Iob. 28.15 Wherein this excellencie of it consisteth Ephes 2. Philip. 2. Iohn 4.10 The secoÌ„d point what it is to find the pearle Vse 1. Cor. 2.14 Matth. 11.25 Pray vnto God that we may see the excellency of the pearle If we see it in part pray that we may see it yet more clearly Colos 3. Tim. 1.16 1. King 3.7 Act. 26. 1. King 10.7 Mat. 13.19 3. Obseruation The third thing wherein the hearer is compared to a merchant man The pearle being found must be bought without delay Prou. 1.20 Heb. 3.15 Matth. 25.34 Luk. 14.15 By selling all and buying he meaneth not as the Papists teach Luk. 17.10 Rom. 6.23 Who may truly be said to sell al and buy the pearle Luk. 14.26 Mat. 20.37 The Gospell is not so easily come by as men suppose As men price the Gospell so will their zeale be to the hearing and practising of it Psalme 84.1 How a man maketh the pearle his owne Deut. 28.46 The summe and scope of these words The opening of the text Verse 1. Verse 2. The parts two First Gods large offer wherein three things are to be considered 1. To whom it is made namely to the thirsty Luk. 18.13 Ioh. 7.37 Luk. 5.31 Mat. 9.13 Foure things to be knowne about thirsting 1. The properties of it which are two Iudg. 15.18 Examples out of Scripture Psal 42.1.2 Psal 84.1 Experience A howrely and flitting desire no true thirsting Secondly the causes why God requireth this thirsting Luk. 1.53 Pro. 27.7 Thirdly how long we must thirst Fourthly how we should come to thirst 1. Pet. 2.2 Psal 111.2 The second branch what God offereth to them that thirst Iohn 7.37 Matth. 11.28 Act. 2.37 Rom. 5.6 He that thirsteth truely for saluation abhors sinne The third branch what God requireth of them whose thirst he will quench namely that they beleeue Iohn 9. â—â— Rom. 8.33 Why God will haue them beleeue 3. Pet. 1. â— How a man may prooue that he hath faith Gods people are euer thirsting in this life Hosea 14.6.7 Luke 6.28 Verse 2. The second part of the text containing a reproofe and an exhortation The reproofe Romish teachers reproued heere Esay 1.12 Mat. 15.9 Carnall Gospellers Mat. 15.8 Mat. 7 2â— Rom. 8.7 Rom. 9.31.32 The Exhortation The word of God onely directeth to true happinesse How and when it doth it Prou. 2.3 Amos 3.3 The opening of the text The parts two 1. The curse pronounced vpon these cities 2. The reason of it Three points in the first part 1. The end of all miracles and preaching is the conuersion of the people Iohn 14.12 Matth. 17.11 Act. 8.6 c. This end should be aimed at in bearing The power of the word Act. 2.37 Hebr. 4.12 Rom. 8.8 Iames 4.4 Prou. 2.10 Psalme 84.10 Matth. 19.29 De Orat. lib. 1. 2. Thess 2.9.10.11.12 The sound plaine and powerfull preaching of the Gospell amost blessed gift of God The causes why preaching is in so little account Heb. 4.12 Ioh. 21.15 1. Cor. 1.21 The second point of the first part Few regard or looke after the right end of preaching Luk. 19 42. Esay 22.1 Ier. Ier. 9.1 Mat. 5.20 Mat. 3.7 Mat. 23.37 Luk. 19.42 Luk. 17.26.28 Act. 26.28 Ioh. 10.32 Micha 6.6 Mat. 13.21 Apoc. 3.1 Esay 55.1 Act. 26.29 Luke 13.3 The third point They that neglect the meanes of saluation shall pay dearely for it Matth. 3.7 Matth. 23.27 Iohn Hebr. 12.14 Luke 1. Sam. 15.32 Numb 16.32 and 25.8 Act. 12.23 Iames 4.8 A simile Rom. 2.4 Esay 53.1 Ephes 5.6 Few see or beleeue the danger they are in Psalme 50.22 Iames 2.19 Lament 3.40 Rom. 2.8.9 Iohn 3.18 Reasons to draw men to repentance Reuelat. 6.16 Luke 16.24 Matth. 22.13 2. Pet. 1.10 The first point in the second part Matth. 21.31 Act. 2.37 Act. 8.8 Luke 15.1 Matth. 9.36 Verse 38. The Gospell with due reuerence preached returnes not in vaine The â—â—rmer doctrine exemplified 〈◊〉 experience How a Minister should deale with a people to do them good Such as are leaud and farre gone may be reclaimed Luk. 8.2 1. Tim. 1.15 This giues no incouragement to the bad and wilfull The second point in the second part Repentance not to be deferred 2. Cor. 5.1 Psal 119.54 2. Tim. 4.2 Three causes why we should hasten our repentance Mat. 20.5.6 2. Tim. 3.13 Eccles 12.1 Psal 84.11 Luk. 15.7 Psal 51.14 Dan. 12.3 Cant. 1.4 Three causes why the repentant estate is in so meane accouÌ„t Micah 7.8 Prou. 14.10 Reuelat. 14.3 Iohn 4.10 Hebr. 11.25 The last point in the second part Repentance must be sound not hypocriticall The opening of the text The parts of it two Iude 19. First the state of the Churches 1. Vnder the crosse Reuelat. 3.19 Hebr. 12.5 1. Pet. 1.6 Rom. 8 2â— Iohn 6.33 Iob. Luk. 9.23 Iam. 1.2 Secondly in prosperitie Hos 6.2 Psal 30.5 Psal 125.3 1. King 4.25 The benefit of prosperitie and peace Math. 13.45 Iudg. 17.6 Iudg. 5.7 Lam. 1.1.4 Psal 42.4 The second part What vse the godly made of their peace 1. They were edified Acts 2 43. Deut. 28.47 Psalme 19.14 How all sorts should be occupied in the time of their peace 2. Pet. 3.17 The right vse of peace little looked after 1. Thess 1.7 Iohn 7.38 Euen Gods children are ouer taken with this sinne Deut. 6.10 Ministers faultie herein 2. King 4.10 1. Tim. 4.13 2. Tim. 4.10 Luke 8.18 People also iustly reproued Psalme Iob 1.9 The second vse of their peace They walked in the feare of God Rom. 8.15 Prou. 28.13 Prou. 15. Deut. 5.29 To walke in the feare of God what 2. Cor. 12.6 Matth. 5.16 Act. 23.1 Gen. 39 9. Gen. 50.19 Rom. 2.28 Ios 24.15 2. Sam. 7.2 Rom. 12.1 Num. 24.9 1 Tim. 4.12 1. Pet. 4.4 The third vse The comfort they found as a fruit of the two former Two things to be obserued here The first that they liued a comfortable life Psal 37.4 Phil. 4.4 Ioh. 15.10.12 Men neglect the sweet liberty that God offereth for that which is worse then nothing Gen. 25.33.34 Heb. 12.16 Heb. 11.24 What need we haue of spirituall comfort The second â—how and by what meanes they atteined to such a comfortable life The godly life is the onely sweetlife 2. King 2.2 Deut. 5.28.29 2. Cor. 1.12 Iohn 16.22 Reuelat. 14.3 Prou. 14.10 The vse that the bad made of peace They were conuerted to God and ioyned to his people Encouragement to the bad to returne and seeke after God 2. Cor. 5.19.20 How they should do it Prou. 8.33 Act. 17.11 Act. 9.27 The diuision of the text The first point the person that maketh this exhortation Doct. Pro. 26.9 Psal 50.16 Rom. 2. 2. Cor. 4.13 2. Cor. 1. â— Luk. 22.32 Psa 51.15 A teacher must so alwaies begin with himselfe The second point the persons exhorted Psal 32.11 Psal 33.1 Luk. 10.20 Iam. 5.1 Iam. 4.9 Why this exhortation is limited to the faithfull Psal 34.19 Iob. â— 12 The wicked haue no neede to be exhorted to reioyce Ioh. 15.19 Iob. 22. Math. 5.2.12 To be hated of the world a signe of blessednes and therefore a cause of reioycing Iam. 1. â— Acts. 5.41 2. Cor. 12.10 Iames 4.7 Ephes 6.16 Rom. 7. the end 1. Iohn Psalme Psalme Causes of ioy Hebr. 10.31 2. Cor. 15. Iohn 1.12 Rom. 8. Iohn 4.10 Iohn 14.23 Reuelat. 3.20 The wicked haue no part in this ioy Iohn 9. Ministers duty He is the happiest man that hath greatest cause of ioy Ester 1. King 8.64 The limitation of this ioy it must in the Lord. Ioh. 17.3 Hereby it is distinguished from many other sorts of ioyes Vse Try our mirth by these notes 2. Cor. 5.1 Phil. 1. 1. Cor. 15.31 Thes 5.16 To reioyce in the word c. hinders not our reioycing in the Lord. Psa 1 6. The enlargement of this ioy Prou. 14.13 The righteous may reioyce at all times And in al things he goeth about Deut. 28.47 Ephes 6.6 Psalme 19.11 Eccles 7.2 Reuel 14.14 Hebr. 13. Genesis Philip. 4.4 2. Cor. 2.3 Acts 16. Reasons why this precept is redoubled Psalme 4.43 1. Iohn 5.13 1. Iohn 1.3 The Ministers dutie The dutie of the people Answere Rom. 15.13 Rom. 5.5 Pet. 1.7 He that is not partaker of this ioy here shall neuer partake the ioyes of heauen How this ioy may be begun here in this life we must first be reconciled to God Reconciliation to be proceeded in by three degrees Iohn 3.14 Act. 2.42 How to keepe and encrease this ioy The first meane The second The third Mens excuses answered Acts. 4.11 A fourth meane The fifth meane Practise Eccles 2. Psal 32.10 The sixt meane Prayer The seuenth Thanksgiuing The eighth Not to quench the spirit Quench euill motions Our ioy in the best things must be predominant How this may be attained Intermission of good duties dangerous The last meane To submit our selues to the Lord in our troubles Of the recouery of ioy The first meane to recouer our ioy being lost The second meane The third meane If our ioy be lost neuer rest til we finde it againe Let none take thy crowne from thee Motiues to ioy in God Psal 84.13.14 A note of an Hypocrite not to ioy in God Matth. 24.51 Galath 5.22