things of God which a natural man may know but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things of the Spirit of God to wit the truths which are purely Evangelical hee receiveth not nor is it said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth not finde them out but when they are found out and revealed to him hee doth not receive them nor is it only a reception of them into his will but understanding which is intended for it followeth hee cannot know them nor is it onely said hee doth not but hee cannot it being impossible for him meerly by the help of natural reason to attain the knowledge of them and this because they are spiritually discerned that is the Spirit of God which revealeth them must also inable to discern them Indeed Socinus would explain the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee receiveth not that is hee findeth not out the things of the Spirit of God but this notion of the word findeth no parallel in the New Testament nay is against the nature of the thing for receiving supposeth some thing offered which when it is applied to Doctrins the offering is the revealing them nor is it lesse incongruity to interpret this of St. Paul hee receiveth not that is hee findeth not out than if one should expound that of S. James receive the ingrafted word that is finde it out which will so much the more appear if you observe the reason annexed why the natural man receiveth them not to wit because they are foolishnesse to him and if these things were to bee found out how could the natural man apprehend them to bee foolishnesse I have been so much the longer in the Explication of this Scripture because it is an explication of the Text and the truth in hand For the prevention of those Objections which may bee made against and the further confirmation of this position be pleased to know that 1 The Reasonable Creature is the subject of Evangelical Doctrin this Spirit doth not bestow his Oile upon Trees and Plants Beasts or Birds nor doth hee raise up of stones and blooks children to Abraham all Divine knowledge is grafted upon the stock of Natural Reason 2 By that Native light of reason within us wee may attain the knowledge of many things delivered in the Gospel those I mean which are common to the Holy Scripture with other writings How many things Historical Moral Speculative Practical are there in the sacred books which wee meet with in Heathen Authors Our gracious God would not so over-whelm humane infirmity in the patefaction of Evangelical mysteries that there should bee nothing for reason to fix upon and yet withall hee would not have all things so suitable to reason that there should be no need of faith 3 The litteral sense of the Scripture words may through industry bee attained to by the help of Reason Skill in the Tongues though it was for a time immediately and extraordinary conferred upon illiterate persons by the Holy Ghost yet is such a gift as may bee attained to by common helps and the same industry which renders a man expert in giving the Grammatical sense of other Authors may no doubt inable him to do the like in reading the books of the sacred Pen-men nay more the Spirit of God in Scripture doth not affect that obscurity of Language which some other writers do and so the sense of it may more easily bee gathered 4 The Spirit of God inlightening us to understand those truths which are purely Evangelical maketh use of Reason this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 flower of the soul is not blasted but rather the more opened by the blowing of the blessed Spirit when a man commeth to bee initiated into the School of Christianity hee is not commanded to throw away his Reason onely to subjugate it Indeed every Christian must deny his Reason but that is as hee must deny his affections as it is not the extirpating but the moderating of his affections so it is not the casting away but the captivating of his Reason to the obedience of faith which Christian Religion requireth In one word whilest the Spirits grace is acknowledged to bee principium the principal efficient cause I shall not deny Reason to bee instrumentum an instrumental cause whereby wee come to the knowledge of Divine things 5 And therefore lastly this still remaineth as a sure maxim That Natural Reason by what helps soever improved is altogether insufficient without the Spirits grace to the savoury apprehension of those supernatural and purely Evangelical verities which are revealed in the Holy Scriptures It is not unfitly observed that as nature hath its Secrets and Arts their crafts so all Religions have their mysteries which are not known but to them who are brought up in them It were easy to instance in the Persians Indians Syrians Grecians Egyptians Romans who had their mysterious rites which the Devil taught them and accordingly were taken up in imitation of the true Religion which both in the Jewish and Christian Church never wanted its mysteries such as none can comprehend neither can any apprehend but those who are taught by the blessed Spirit This is expresly asserted by Christ himself when hee saith to his Disciples It is given to you to know the mysterys of the Kingdome vobis datum non vobiscum natum this knowledge is not born with you but given to you if then innate reason were sufficient what need it bee given nor is it onely by outward revelation for so it was to those Scribes and Pharisees the wise and prudent from whom yet those things are said to bee hid to wit because their eies were not spiritually inlightened to discern them if you would know what it is that was given to these Disciples let one of them the beloved Disciple inform you and that in this very Epistle where hee saith The Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true so that not onely the Revelation of that we are to know but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 understanding it self whereby wee know was given by Christ and this as a peculiar grace conferred on some whilest it s denied to others To this purpose tend those metaphors of opening the eies and opening the heart plainly intimating that in the work of Conversion there is not onely an outward but an inward work nor are Evangelical truths onely revealed by the Word but the rational faculties are rectified by the Spirit what more pregnant instance of this truth than Nicodemus to whom the Evangelical Doctrin of Regeneration was preached by Christ himself and yet by whom it was not understood for want of the Spirits illumination no wonder if Gods Promise to his people runs I will give them an heart to know mee without which though hee had showed his Word and Statutes to them they would still have continued ignorant as to any
or if you will consent But fundamentally it is knowledg Faith is not a bruitish captivity but a voluntary assent which cannot be without some measure of knowledg praeceding It is true the knowledg required in Faith is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the cause such as in Science but only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is so upon Divine Revelation But whilest it bridleth curiosity it also abhorreth igorance In which respect St Hierom saith excellently Quae simplicitas est nescire quae credas What a fally is it not to know what thou pretendest to believe And Fulgentius Fides vera quod credit non nescit etiamsi non potest videre quod sperat credit True Faith though it cannot see yet knoweth what it believeth 2. Partly Because Faith carrieth in it as much certainty as knowledg It is the difference between opinion and knowledg that the one is built only upon probabilities but the other upon certainties the one argueth topically but the other demonstratively Now Faith is not an opinionative but a scientifical assent For doubtless since Faith is founded upon Divine Revelation which is infallible there must needs be as much certainty and clearness in Faith as there can be in any knowledg though founded upon never so strong Demonstration Upon this account it is that Faith is defined by the Authour to the Hebrews to be an evidence And the Evangelists expression is We believe and are sure to intimate that our believing is not a thinking but a knowing According to this notion of Knowledge St Gregory occasionally speaking of these words Expounds them and giveth this as his Reason Notitia quippe Dei ad fidem pertinet because the Knowledg of God is an Appendix of Faith and in this sence if we know him we will keep his Commandements It is observable that in Scripture Obeying is sometimes put for Believing so St Paul quoting that of the Prophet who hath believed reads it who hath obeyed our Report and that Obedience is called sometimes the Obedience of Faith Why this But to teach us that true Faith cannot be severed from yea puts upon Obedience Works without Faith are not good works in which respect Faith is wittily called the nest of good works in which they must be hatched But withall Faith without works is as good as no Faith and therefore is affirmed by St James to be a dead Faith and good Works are not unfitly stiled the Pulse â—f Faith by which the state and temper of it is discovered Believing is sometimes called in Scripture â— receiving of Christ and this receiving is of whole Christ Christ not onely as a Priest to propitiate for our sins but as a King to governe us by his Laws In vain doth he trust for Salvation by who yields not Subjection to Christ and therefore saith St Paul as you have received the Lord Jesus by Faith so walk in him by Obedience 3. To know sometimes is as much as to have a personall Experience who so knoweth the Commandement saith the Wiseman shall know no evill so the Hebrew feel no evill so our Translation appositely Know being the same there with Feel When St Paul saith of Christ he knew no sin he is to be understood in this sence that he did not experience any sin in himself In this acception Beza construeth that of St Paul where he professeth to account all things losse that he might know Christ that is reipsa sentire in very deed to feel a savour and relish of Christ And according to this notion Oecumenius understands this Knowledge of him in my Text to be as it were a Commixion and Communion with him Eliphaz hath a Phrase very proper to this purpose acquaint thy self with him Those with whom we are acquainted are such of whom we have had trial and experience and thus to know Christ is to have a sweet intimacy between Christ and our Souls to know him not onely as revealed to us but in us as Preached to our Ears but as dwelling in our hearts And now whosoever thus knoweth him cannot but keep his Commandements The Reason whereof appeareth in the forementioned Text where the Knowledg of Christ and the Virtue of Christ are joyned together As the Woman that touched Christ received Virtue from him to cure her Disease so whosoever hath an Experimental Knowledge of Christ cannot but Experience the Virtue of Christ to wit of his Death for Mortification of his Rising for Vivification both which make up Sanctification whereby we keep the Commandements And further look as they who are inwardly acquainted each with other are joyned together in a firme League of Amity whereby it is that they Will and Nill the same things So is it with those who are acquainted with Christ they Will what he Wills and Nill what he Nills and indeavour wholly to conform themselves to his Precepts To summe it up then if you would know what this meaneth to know him I answer it is to know God and Christ as revealed in the Gospell and that so as to own him to believe in him and to have an experimentall acquaintance with him and thus knowing him we cannot but keep his Commandements 2. You have beheld the Mother Knowledge be pleased now to take a view of the Daughter Obedience as it is expressed in those words if we keep his Commandements wherein each word is Emphaticall and deserveth our due consideration here are three words Commandement his and keep accordingly here are three Particulars the Object the Subject the Act of each briefly 1. Commandements That is the Object Aretius upon the Romanes critically observeth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 differ as the Genus and the Species Law taking in all sorts of precepts but commands specially respecting those which are Affirmative and it is that which we may not unfitly here take notice of so much the rather considering what is said at the first Verse of this Chapter there it is that you sin not avoid what is forbidden here it is keep his Commandements do what is required It is not enough to avoid sin but we must do our duty as we cease to do evill so we must learn to do well as we die to sin so we must live to Righteousness Finally as we abhorre that which is evill so we must cleave to that which is good Pharisaicall Religion lieth chiefly in Negatives God I thank thee I am no Extortioner but Christian Religion obligeth to Affirmatives as well as Negatives As well the idle and unprofitable Servant as the wastefull Prodigall Steward is condemned and the barren vine is in danger of being plucked up as well as the wilde Indeed he that abstaineth from sinfull actions is not far from the Kingdome but it is he that doth well shall obtain the Kingdome the first step is not to sin to leave off
not cannnot be troubled at any evils who knowing that he is in Christ knoweth all things shall work for his good nor can the separation which death maketh be terrible to him who is assured of that Union with Christ which admits of no separation no not by death it self yea which death is so far from hindering that it hasteneth to a fuller perfection To end this therefore Let our first care be to knâ—w Christ and by knowing to get into him and then let our next endeavour be to know that we do know him and are in him The former will give us a right to but it is the latter will give us the comfort of all those glorious priviledges and benefits which Christ hath purchased and if we would know how to attain this reflexive knowledg pass we on to the 2. Next and last Proposition which discovereth the means of attaining it Namely hereby by keeping the Commandments we know that we know him and by walking as Christ walked we know that we are in him Look as if the question be put how we shall know the true Church the answer is by its essentiall marks so if you ask how shall we know that we are true Christians our Apostle answereth hereby by the Characteristicall properties To elucidate this Assertion observe these following Particulars 1. That knowledg which we have of our being in Christ and knowing him by these Characters is not à priori but à posteriori not by the causes but by the effects our Obedience is not the root but the fruit of Faith and we are not in Christ because we walk in him but we walk in him because we are in him To this purpose is that note of Beza upon the Text. Bona opera nos non inserunt Christo sed insitos consequuntur good works do not ingraft us into Christ but our being ingrafted into Christ enableth us to performe good works As therefore the Tree is known by its fruit and life is known by breathing and motion which are the effects of it So we know our Faith in and Union with Christ by our Obedience to and imitation of him 2. That knowledg we have by these Characters is safe and sure yea such as cannot deceive us For 1. Inasmuch as the commands which Christ requireth us to keep and the waies wherein he walked which we must follow are clearly set down in the Word if we faithfully compare our actions with the rule we may know whither we keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked or not True it is many are cheated with Alchymie instead of Gold think themselves to have those graces which Christ did shew forth whenas they are counterfeit but this is not for want of an exact rule discovering but because of a deceitfull heart misapplying so that were men but faithfull to themselves they might be able to pass a right censure in this Particular Hence it is that whilst the Hypocrite deludeth himself with a partiall Obedience and a counterfeit imitation the regenerate Christian being in some measure enlightned discovereth what is sincere and what is fained and so judgeth righteous judgment To this purpose is that of St Austin Qui diligit fratrem magis novit dilectionem quâ diligit quam fratrem quem diligit He who loveth his Brother more surely knoweth the love whereby he loveth him then his Brother whom he loveth and hence it is that the same Father saith Est modus gloriandi in conscientia ut noveris fidem tuam esse sinceram ut noveris spem tuam esse certam ut noveris charitatem tuam esse sine simulatione this is the rejoycing yea glorying of a Christian whilst his conscience regulated by the word and illuminated by grace giveth in evidence that his Faith is sincere his hope firme and his love unfained 2. Inasmuch as this Obedience to and imitation of Christ are the necessary and particular effects of our Knowledg of and being in Christ he who findeth the one may undoubtedly inferre the other To unfold this briefly know That the effects of a lively Faith are of three sorts Some which so flow from a true Faith that they are likewise the effects of other causes such are all acts of morall Virtue and extenall duties of Religion Hence it is that Heathen who have no Faith at all have performed the former Hypocrites who have no true faith the latter So that though from hence we may conclude Negatively he that doth not these things hath no Faith yet we cannot Affirmatively because we do such things therefore we are in Christ and believe in him Others which are only the effects of a right faith but yet such as faith produceth not but when in strength of this sort are the sence of Gods Love peace of Conscience joy in the holy Ghost magnanimity in afflictions and desires of dissolution From these we may conclude Affirmatively but not Negatively he that can act these duties doth know Christ but every one that knoweth Christ cannot act these duties Finally Other effects there are which flow from Faith only and alwaies which it is as naturall for Faith to produce as for the Sun to shine or the Fire to burn such are these my Text speaketh of a sincere Obedience and a consciencious imitation of Christ from whence we may infer both waies and so the proposition will be recipocrally true Every one who keepeth the Commandments knoweth Christ who walketh as Christ walked is in him and every one who knoweth Christ keepeth the Commandments is in Christ and walketh as he walked Put then both these Considerations together we may know that we keep the Commandments and if we keep the Commandments we may assure our selves that we know Christ no wonder if our Apostle say Hereby we know we know him We may perceive whether we walk as Christ walked or no and if we walk as Christ walked we may be confident we are in him no marvell if our Apostle say Hereby we know that we are in him The strength of this Argumentation will the better appear if we reduce it to a Syllogism which may be thus framed Whosoever keepeth the Commandments knoweth Christ Who so walketh as Christ walked is in him But I keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked Therefore I know Christ and am in him The first of these which is the Major we know by a certainty of faith as being expresly asserted in this and other Scriptures The second which is the Minor we know by a certainty of experience finding these qualifications wrought in us and thus knowing the premises we inferre the Conclusion and so by a certainty of Faith joyned with experience we are able to assert our interest in Christ 3. This Knowledg which we have hereby doth not exclude the Testimony of the Spirit It is St Pauls assertion That the Spirit beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Yea St John in
it If thy enemy hunger saith St Paul feed him if he thirst give him drink the Hebrew word in the proverb whence St Paul borroweth it is rendred by Vatablus Propina ei aquam not only give him drink but drink to him as a token of love that it may appear however he is towards thee thou art reconciled to him Excellent to this purpose is that advice of Gregory Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must say brethren unto them that hate us and accordingly express brotherly love to them And thus in this construction of brother we have beheld the extension of love how farre it reacheth in regard of the objects about which it is conversant 2. But besides this carnal fraternity between all men there is a spiritual brotherhood between all Christians they have all the same Father even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who begetteth them again they have the same Mother the Church Jerusalem from above which bringeth them forth they all are washed in the same laver of regeneration baptisme partake of the fame immortal seed and are nourished by the same sincere milk of the Word Finally they are all begotten to the same undefiled inheritance heirs of the same glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Clemens Alexandrinus we call them brethren who are born anew of the same Word yea quanto dignius fratres dicuntur habentur saith Tertullian how much more deservedly then other men are they called and accounted brethren who acknowledge one Father God have drank of one spirit of holiness and are brought forth of the same womb of ignorance into the glorious light of Evangelical truth A brother in the sense above-mentioned is only so by nature but in this by grace that 's only a brother on the left hand but this on the right hand that of the earth earthly but this from heaven heavenly In this sense some Expositors and as I conceive most rationally take the word here this name brother being by the Apostle and afterwards in the primitive times in common language given to all and only those who did embrace Christian Religion and which maketh this interpretation more manifest is that our Apostle in the next Chapter phraseth it love the brethren which seemeth to indigitate a certain society of men so called yea in the fifth Chapter at the beginning he describeth him whom here he calls brother to be one that is begotten of God According to this construction that which is here required is called by the Apostle Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 brotherly kindness and is distinguished as a particular species from its genus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is presently annexed charity As then there is a general love which belongeth to all men so a special love which belongeth to all Christians and as we must do good to all men so especially to the houshould of faith indeed seeing the Christian brother hath a double cause of love in him that is Gods image as a man and Gods graces as a Christian we ought to deal by him as Joseph did by his brother Benjamin whose mess was five times greater then the rest of his brethren If any shall yet further enquire why our Apostle speaking of this love to a Christian calls him by the name of a brother I answer for these three reasons because this name of brother carrieth in it an obligation to a specification and modification of that love which is here required since we must love a Christian quia quatenus qualis because he is a brother inasmuch as he is a brother and with such a love as is among brothers 1. This word Brother carryeth with it a strong Obligation to Love In fratris voce ratio so Danaeus It is an urgent reason why we should Love a Christian because he is our Brother all relation is a ground of affection and hence it is a man loveth any thing that is his the nearer the relation the greater tye to love and therefore the more reason why a Brother should be beloved the nearest relation is that which is spirituall and therefore yet greater reason to Love a Christian who is ours our Brother yea our Brother in Christ When Moses saw two Israelites Countrey men strugling together he said to them Sirs you are Brethren why do you wrong one another when Abraham and Lot kinsmen were likely to fall out saith Abraham Let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee for we are Brethren when Socrates saw two Brethren striving one with another he told them they did as if the two hands which were made to help should beat each other so that since Christians are Brethren in the highest and closest relation this should be a great ingagement upon them to love 2. This word Brother intimateth a specification of this love in regard of its Object which is then rightly placed when it is upon a Brother as he is a Brother that is a Christian as he is a Christian One that is a Brother in this spirituall notion may be my naturall Brother or Kinsman and then to love him is what nature dictates or he is my Friend and Benefactor and so to love him gratitude teacheth or he is able to do me either an injury or a courtesie so that I have cause to fear the one and hope the other and in this respect to love him self love prompts me or once more he may be a man of rare naturall and acquired endowments and to love him for this ingenuity moves me but to love him because he is a Brother in a spirituall sense this is that which Christianity inciteth to and this only is a right Christian love Indeed thus to love him is to love him in reference to God and Christ because he hath the grace of God in him the Image of God upon him To love him as a Brother in this sense is to love him as a Son of God a Member of Christ and as St Hieromes phrase is Diligere Christum habitantem in Augustine to love God and Christ dwelling in him And now if any shall say it is hard nay impossible to know any man to be such a Brother and therefore how can I love him as such when I cannot know him to be such I answer that there is a great deale of difference between the judgment of certainty and charity love doth not need nor require infallible but only probable signs and therefore whosoever doth profess the true faith of Christ and doth not by a flagitious conversation give that profession the lye love taketh him to be a Brother and to love one because he atleast seemeth to be such a one by his externall Profession and Conversation so as the more Christian graces we discover in him the more we are affected towards him this is that which most especially falleth under the Precept of loving our Brother 3. Yet once
prating their learned Pasters for illiterate Mechanicks and their true Baptisme in the Font for a vain dipping in a Pond yea let us not only weep over but pray for them as our Mother the Church hath taught us in her excellently composed Letany that God would bring into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived However if they will not return to us let us take heed we goe not forth to them rather let us blesse God that hath caused our lot to fall within the bosome of so pure a Church and let us earnestly beseech him to strengthen us by his grace that we may continue in her communion to the end so may we confidently and comfortably take up those words of the Author to the Hebrews But wee are not of them who draw back unto perdition but of them that beleeve to the saving of the soul THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St. JOHN CHAP. 2. VERS 19. They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us THat general assertion of God himself by the Prophet Isaiah My ways are not as your ways neither are my thoughts as your thoughts is not unfitly exemplified in the state of the militant Church our thoughts are That the Church of God even on earth should be without spot or wrinkle without fear of danger That Gods House should neither bee infected with the contagion of errour nor infested with the breach of Schisme That Christs flock should bee securely free from Wolves or though the Sheep be among Wolves yet that there should bee no Goats among the sheep But see how farre distant Gods thoughts are from ours who so ordereth it that the Churches splendor here below shall not be like that of the Sun but the Moon borrowed and imperfect that her condition should bee like that of a ship tossed with the waves of persecution yea sometimes like the earth rent asunder with the winde of division And surely to use S. Pauls expression The foolishnesse of God is wiser than the wisdome of man and therefore let us give him leave to know what is fitter for his Church than wee far bee it from us to repine at his purposes because they agree not with our projects rather let us subseribe to the prudence of his determinations as in governing the World so in ordering his Church whilest for excellent and admirable ends hee permitteth heretical and schismatical Apostates to obscure her Doctrin and disturb her peace A pregnant instance whereof wee finde in the Primitive Church even whilest S. John lived by reason of those many Antichrists which did arise concerning whom hee saith here They went out from us but they were not of us c. Having dispatched the concession which intimateth what was the occasion of the scandal They went out from us pass wee on to the correction which removeth that occasion by discovering it to bee no just cause and that two waies 1 By a negation in respect of the persons who went out that indeed they never were members of the Church which is Asserted in those words but they were not of us Proved in those for if they had been of us they would have continued with us 2 By an affirmation which declareth that the going out of those Antichrists was permitted by God for a very good end to wit that they might appear to bee but Hypocrites But they went out that it might bee manifest they were not all of us 1 Begin wee with the Negation And before I enter upon the particulars I cannot but take notice of that injurious interpretation which Socinus puts upon this clause on purpose to evade that Argument which is drawn hence for the doctrin of perseverance and amounts to this sense that whereas these Antichrists though gone out of the Church might pretend that they were still of the same faith with the Apostles S. John lets them know that though they had been yet now to wit a little before or about the time of their going out from them they were not of them of which their leaving communion with them was a sufficient argument In opposition to which interpretation I shall offer these three things 1 It doth not appear nor is it probable that these Antichrists when gone out from the Apostles did still pretend to the Orthodox faith and therefore no need for the Apostle to make any provision against it Nay it is plainly intimated by the following discourse that these Antichrists being gone forth did set themselves expresly directly against the Orthodox denying that Jesus whom they did professe to bee the Christ and therefore the design of this clause is most rationally conceived to bee the prevention of that scandal which their horrid Apostacy might give to weak Christians nor could any thing more effectually prevent or remove it than to let them know that these Antichristian Apostates were never true Stars in the firmament of the Church but onely blazing Comets as their falling away did evidently demonstrate 2 That the words they were not of us import an absolute denial so that to put a limitation is to put a sence upon them and if that which this interpretation offereth were the Apostles meaning it had been more proper for him to have said because they ceased to be of us than to say they were not of us nor will that slender Grammar prop of the preter-imperfect-tense support this glosse nothing being more usual than even by that tense to take in the whole time past and look as when a man speaking of any place saith I was not there he is understood to mean not that hee was not there just before or that when hee left the place hee was not there but that hee was not there at all So when our Apostle saith they were not of us his meaning doubtlesse is not they were not of us at the time when they left us but they were not at all of us 3 That if this which hee pretends were the Apostles meaning the addition of a reason to confirm it were supervacaneous it being as needlesse to prove that these Antichrists were not about the time when they deserted the Apostles of the same spirit and faith with them as to prove that they who run from their colours were not just as they run away of the same minde and for the same cause with those who valiantly fight Having thus blown away that light and empty exposition come wee now to handle the clause as it is both generally and rationally interpreted To this end consider wee the negation 1 As asserted in those words But they were not of us For the right understanding of which clause it will not bee amiss to make use of that distinction of Zanchy between these two phrases Esse in et de Ecclesia
shall assault us as once they did Peter to deny him let us remember what he is in himself and what hee hath done for us let us consider his greatnesse and bee afraid his goodnesse and bee ashamed for fear or shame or any cause whatsoever to deny him 2 That I may drive the nayl to the head let us often set before our eyes that dismal commination so often denounced in the Gospel by the Son of God himself against those who shall deny him Whosoever shall deny mee before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven and again inculcated by St. Paul if we deny him he will deny us a threat then which none more just and yet withall none more terrible just it is in that it is the retaliation of like for like what more rational than that despisers should bee despised forsakers should bee forsaken and denyers should bee denyed and how terrible it is will soon appear if you consider that the Son of God will then deny us when he shall appear in his glory that he will deny us not only before men but Angels nay his Father that if he pronounce upon us an I know you not which is to deny us wee are the cursed of the Father he will not acknowledge them for his adopted children who durst not here own his begotten Son and whom his Son will not then own for brethren yea which consummateth the misery of such Apostates they must have their portion with Hypocrites having denied Christ and being denyed by him they must depart from him into that fire which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels there being no reason that they should bee neer to Christ hereafter who follow him a far off nay run away from him here With these meditations let us arm our selves against this heinous sin that we may be the better strengthened 1 Labour wee to be throughly established upon good grounds in this fundamental doctrin that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God He that imbraceth Christian Religion upon the account onely of the Publike Law or private education will in time of tryal renege it Let therefore our assent to this Doctrin rest upon these sure Pillars primarily the authority of Scriptures and secondarily the Catholike Church and then we shall not easily deny it nor let us content our selves with a Conjectural opinion but strive for a firm and settled perswasion a stake in the ground may bee quickly plucked up but a tree rooted in the ground abideth unmoveable he that doubteth may soon be brought to deny but a well grounded perswasion will not quickly bee moved much lesse removed 2 Learn we according to our Saviours precept to deny our selves since oft times self and Christ come in competition so that one must be denyed and if we have not in some measure taken out this excellent lesson of self denial we shall soon deny him No wonder if an Ancient saith ingenuously Christiani praludium sui repudium the first step in the ladder of Christianity is self-denial 3 Nor must we forget that advice of St. Paul to deny Worldly Lusts for if wee take not our hearts off from the World the World will take them off from Christ it is very observable that our Saviour had no sooner threatned this sin of denying him but hee presently forbids Loving Father or Mother Son or daughter more than him intimating how prone the inordinate love of worldly things is to alienate us from him 4 Finally strive for a real union to Christ by a lively faith hee who is but a visible Christian may cease to be so much as visible but the spiritual union will not endure a dissolution much lesse an abnegation maintain and increase familiar communion with him that thou maiest more and more taste the sweetnesse that is in him and then no allurement or affrightment shall cause thee to deny him I end all as we desire not to be found deniers of the Father Son and Holy Ghost as wee desire to have the Father propitious towards us and Christ to own us before the Father at the last day let us dread to deny let us be ready to acknowledge with our hearts lipes lives Jesus the Christ the Son of God to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be ascribed Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St. JOHN CHAP. 2. VERS 24. 25. Let that therefore abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning if that which yee have heard from the beginning shall remain in you yee shall continue in the Son and in the Father And this is the Promise that hee hath promised to us even eternal life ZEal Sincerity and Perseverance are not so much particular graces as each of them necessary ingredients to every grace Zeal being the fervor sincerity the truth and perseverance the duration of all graces of these three the last is not the least needful since constancy is the best evidence of sincerity nor will fervour avail without permanency no wonder if it be called by Bonaventure conditio annexa cuilibet virtuti an inseparable condition of every vertue and by Aquinas donum que caetera servantur dâ—nae that gift which preserveth all the rest without perseverance our Love will prove not a Star but a Comet our Devotion not a flame but a flash our Repentance not a River but a Pond our Hope not a Staff but a Reed and our Faith not a sub stance but a shadow And since this grace of Faith last mentioned is indeed the First the Root the Mother Grace constancy is not more needful in any than this The truth is there is no Grace more oppugned by the Devil than our faith hee well knoweth that if hee can undermine the foundation hee shall soon overthrow the building for which reason having obtained leave to sift S. Peter our Saviour prayeth for him that his faith may not fail Upon this account it is that more or lesse in all ages the Devil hath raised up false Teachers in the Church whose indeavour it is to with-draw the people from the Ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith and for this cause no doubt it is that one of the chief designs of the holy Apostles in all their Epistles is to stablish Christians in the faith A pregnant instance whereof wee have in this Epistle particularly in these verses whose scope is by most obliging arguments to perswade a stedfast adherence to the truth which they had embraced Let that therefore which you have heard from the beginning c. Which words do plainly part themselves into two generals a mandate and a motive a command and a comfort an exhortation and an incitation The Exhortation enjoyneth a needful duty Let that therefore abide in you which ye heard from the beginning The Incitation adjoyneth a powerful motive drawn from the present comfort and future blisse of persevering Saints If that
without ears nay with both ears because they were to hear both parties so needful is this sense for all civil transactions 3 But lastly Hearing is not onely sensus discipline et societatis but fidei et Religionis the sense of Discipline and Converse but of Faith and Religion in which respect St. Paul is expresse Faith commeth by hearing Aurium sensus ideo datus est saith Lactantius ut doctrinam Dei percipere possimus for this cause chiefly is our hearing given us that wee may receive Divine truths suitable to which is that of Tertallian Vera ornamenta aurium dei voces Gods Words are the best Jewels wee can hang at our ears indeed such is our present state that wee receive the greatest spiritual advantages by hearing oculus organum patriae auditus viae when wee come to our Country wee shall use our eies but whilest wee are in the way our chiefest use is of the ear faith saith the Apostle is the evidence of things not seen and wee are most properly said to beleeve what wee do not see but still wee beleeve what wee hear and by hearing wee come to beleeve at S. Pauls Conversion there was a light seen and a voice heard the light astonished but the voice converted him and in this respect wee may call the Ear the in-rode and thorough-fare of grace the souls custome-house for her spiritual traffique in Divine Wisdome the matrix or wombe of our New-birth the pale into which is put the milke of the Word the still or limbeck of the dew of heaven the window to let in the light of the Gospel the channel of the water of Life the Pipe for the conveyance of Faith in a word the Orifice or Mouth of the Soul by which it receiveth spiritual food for by this means it was these Christians did partake of the Gospel That which you have heard But yet this is not all that is intended in this phrase for in as much as by Hearing we are brought to Beleeving therefore Hearing is used to connote Beleving Thus Timothy heard the form of sound words from the Apostle Paul that is so as to embrace it and therefore he exhorts him to hold it fast in this sense no doubt it is here to bee understood for in that our Apostle would have it to abide it intimateth they had heard so as to receive it so that wee are here implicitely taught wee must so hear with our Ears as to beleeve with our hearts Evangelical Doctrins This is the Character which our Saviour giveth of the good ground that it heareth the word with a good and honest heart which is when the heart doth firmly assent and consent to that which is heard It is the Counsel of Solomon keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and bee ready to hear the latter words in the Hebrew are and near to hear which being joyned with the former clause seem to intimate that the foot should bee near to hear and indeed hee onely heareth aright who heareth with his foot and his heart as well as his ear hee heareth with his foot who so heareth as to obey and hee heareth with his heart who so heareth as to beleeve I shut up this with that usual close of the Epistles to the Churches of Asia He that hath an ear to hear let him hear though all men have ears yet all have not ears to hear there are too many Idol hearers of whom it may bee said as the Psalmist saith of Idols ears have they but they hear not audientes videlicet corporis sensu non audiunt cordis assensu as St. Austin elegantly hearing with the sense of the body they hear not with the assent of the mind Oh let us beg of God that which Solomon telleth us is onely in his power to give the hearing ear Indeed whether we understand it in a corporal or a spiritual notion it is Gods gift hee rightly disposeth the Organ and it is hee who fitly qualifieth the minde the former whereof maketh it an hearing ear in a natural and the latter an hearing ear in a supernatural sense our ears in reference to the Word of God and Christ are stopped not with wax or wool or frankincense but earth let us beseech God to open them they are dull and heavy let us pray him to awaken them that wee may bee diligent and attentive hearers and having by the door of our hearing admitted the Gospel into the closet of our souls that which will be most needful to press upon us is the 2 Duty here required Let that which you have heard abide in you A duty which may bee capable of a double notion either as injoyning a careful remembrance of or 2 resolute adherence to that which they had heard from the beginning 1 Let that which you have heard abide in you by a faithful recordation To this St. Jude exhorts But beloved remember the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ Our memories must bee store-houses and r Teasuries of pretious Truths and holy instructions and like books in a Library must bee chained to them with this agreeth that advice of our Saviour to the Angel of the Church of Sardis Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast by hearing wee receive and by remembring wee retain and hold fast Evangelical Doctrins Nor is this exhortation needlesse when wee consider the badnesse of our memories in Divine matters we ought to give saith the Author to the Hebrews the more earnest heed to the things which wee have heard lest at any time we should let them slip tacitly resembling our crasy memories to leaking vessels out of which the water of life soon slips if they bee not stopped Perhaps like sieves whilestthey are in the water they are full but no sooner are they taken forth but all runs out presently we can remember somewhat whilest wee are hearing but soon after we are gone out of Gods house what wee heard is gone out of our minds in this sense therefore it is needfull counsell Let that abide c. 2 But that which I conceive is the Duty here perswaded is Let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning by a constant adhesion to the end ad fidei constantiam hortatur is Calvins glosse it is an exhortation to constancy in the faith wee may very well expound it by that of St. Paul to the Colossians If you continue in the faith grounded and settled and bee not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you have heard where the two words grounded and settled are metaphors borrowed the one from building the other from a Chair so that as buildings which are upon rocky and firm foundations are not quickly thrown down or as men that are fixed in their Chair are not easily moved out of their place no more
ergo vult audita intelligere festinet ea quae jam audire potuit opere implere Whosoever therefore will understand let him first make hast to do what he heareth 2. Again Would we keep his Commandements let us know him These two Knowledg and Practice are necessary attendants the one upon the other Those two Sisters Leah and Rachell are fit Emblems of Contemplation and Action Contemplation like Rachell is Beautifull Action like Leah is Fruitfull And as those two sisters were Marryed to Jacob so are these two Graces concomitant in every Christian Those Cherubims which the Prophet Ezekiel speaketh of are described to have hands under their Wings The Wings saith St Gregory are an Embleme of Knowledg whereby we flye in our thoughts to Heaven the hands of Practice whereby we do good on Earth and all true Christians like these Cherubims have hands under their Wings That is Operation attending Meditation This that Father looketh upon as resembled by those two sisters of whom we read in the Gospell Martha and Mary whereof Vna intenta operâ— altera contemplatioâ—â— the one was intent upon doing the other upon hearing Indeed these two are not only as two sisters but as the Mother and the Daughter Divine Knowledg both engaging and inabling to Obedience so as it doth not only follow upon but flowe from it The true Knowledg of Divine things is not otiosa but officiosa a loyterer but a labourer As her principall Object Christ is Incarnate so is Shee having Eyes of Charity Bowels of Mercy Hands of Bounty and Feet of Obedience Indeed you may as well sever the Beams from the Sun heat from the fire motion from life as practice from a right Knowledg to which purpose is that note of Calvin upon the Text. He admonisheth us that Christian Knowledg is not idle but active by its efficacious vertue producing Obedience So that they who know him really will nay cannot but keep his Commandements To illustrate this Truth the more clearly I shall briefly resolve these two Queries what it is to know him and what it is to keep his Commandements whereby we shall learn both why a right Knowledg of Christ enableth to keep the Commandements and what keeping the Commandements floweth from this Knowledg 1. The full Explication of this Knowledg and its Influence upon keeping the Commandements will best appear by considering both the Object whereabout it is conversant and the Acts which it puts forth 1. The Object of this Knowledg is insinuated in that Pronoune Him and if you ask whom the answer is to be given from the first Verse where we read of the Father and Jesus Christ the Advocate According to this it is that our blessed Saviour maketh the Object of saving Knowledg to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent It is not then that Knowledg we have of God by his Works by his Law but by his Gospell whereof St John here speaketh So Beza upon the Text. Agitur hic de cognitione Dei in Evangelio The Apostle here speaketh of Evangelicall Knowledg which must needs engage to Obedience Inasmuch as it is a Knowledg of the Love of God and Christ towards us and those choise benefits he hath wrought for us and certainly he that knoweth how much Christ hath done for his Salvation cannot but be ready to do whatever Christ requireth for his Service Indeed that naturall knowledge we have of him as a Creator carrieth in it an Argument of Obedience It is the acknowledgment of the Elders Worthy art thou O Lord to receive glory and honour for thou hast created all things It being most equall that to him we should return service from whom we receive our being Yet further that legall knowledg we have of him as our Law-giver and Judge is an enducement to obedience Inasmuch as the breach of his Law cannot but provoke him to inflict the curs but still the knowledg we have of God as a Father of Christ as an Advocate and propitiation is both the sweetest and the strongest Obligation nothing being more rational then that our Father our Redeemer should be our Lord and that we should be wholly devoted to him who is so dearly affected to us Especially considering this is the very end of his delivering us out of the hands of our enemies that we should serve before him without fear in righteousness and holiness all the daies of our lives 2. The Acts of this knowledg will the better appear by observing that various acceptation of this word know which may fitly be accomodated to our present purpose Among others there are three constructions of this word 1. To know is sometimes as much as to acknowledg When we read of a Pharaoh risen in Aegypt which knew not Joseph Of God complaining concerning Israel that she did not know he gave her Corn and Wine and Oyl And again of Christs answer to many at the last day I know you not It is plainly manifest that to know is as much as to own acknowledg And in this sense that Latin word is used by the Poet Cognoscere for Agnoscere Dominum cognoscite vestrum This acceptation is here made use of by Tirinus and not unfitly If we know him that is acknowledg him as our Lord and Jesus and own him as our Prince and Saviour And thus knowing him we cannot but account our selves obliged to keep his Commandements It is very observeable to this purpose what Christ saith in St Johns Gospel concerning his Sheep They know my voice and they follow me True Believers acknowledging Christ to be their Shepherd and owning it to be his voice which they hear in the Scriptures follow him by an active conformity to his Precepts It is Gods own reasoning in the Prophecie of Malachy If I be a Father where is my honour If I be a Master where is my fear And therefore Christians acknowledging him to be their Father their Master cannot but give up themselves to the honour fear and service of him 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to know the same with to believe It were easie to multiply Instances of this kind but one may suffice instead of all where God saith concerning Christ By his knowledg shall my righteous servant justifie many Which is no doubt to be construed by Faith in him he shall justifie according to that of St Paul being justified by Faith And believing is called knowing upon a double account 1. Partly Because Knowledg is a necessary ingredient of Faith It is the Apostles assertion concerning himself I know whom I have believed and his question concerning the Heathen How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard thereby asserting it impossible and the reason is because they cannot believe on him whom they have not known Indeed Faith formally considered is an assent