THE GOOD MANS PRIVILEDGE A SERMON LATELY PREACHED AT PLIMMOVTH IN DEVON By I. B. AND NOW PVBLISHED AT the request of some that then were Auditors PSALM 4.6 Who will shew vs any good MICAH 6.8 He hath shewed thee O Man what is good LONDON Imprinted by F. K. for Nathanael Newbery and are to be sold at his shop vnder St. Peters Church in Cornhill and in Popes-head Alley ouer against the signe of the white horse 1618. TO THE WORSHIPFVLL FRANCIS DRAKE OF BVCKLANDDRAKE IN DEVON Esquire I. B. wisheth all grace and glory I Am constrained good Sir to satisfie your desire in so small a request as the publishing of those lines whereunto sometimes you in your owne person gaue attention and after the deliuery an acceptable approbation Now if it be well done you were the first mouer and deserue the honour of the action but if not I cannot impute the fault to any except my selfe Well howeuer it be I haue but done your desire and my owne duty for I freely confesse that your loue many waies manifested to me deserues aboue my abilitie to make equall requital proportionable satisfaction You are well acquainted with my familiar phrase rude manner of speaking therefore I cease to make any apology or defence in my owne behalfe yet truth is truth that as good cloath may haue the coursest colour the most precious stone bee put in the vncleanest corner and sometimes set too in the impurest mettall so may matter of great worth bee couched vnder a meane stile and come to view in a familiar and plaine habit For as the siluer vessell in which the meate is dished doth not adde to the essence of the dyet but comlinesse and content no more doe choise words to the truth deliuered only they may giue some outward glosse which may delight and that 's all Might I speake my opinion then it is this I doe affect and commend Rhetorique and elegancie of speech with any of any for therein the wisedome of God shineth But to haue queint phrase and a neate stile amongst the vulgar is though lawfull not expedient Hee therefore that will benefit the rude people must speake plainely carry a low sayle and descend to their capacities Was not our Lord Christ Wisdome it selfe did hee not notwithstanding draw similitudes from the most familiar and common things as the hiding of leauen the loosing of a groat and children playing in the market place Who wiser except the first and second Adam then Salomon yet none plainer then hee in his Prouerbs He telleth of wringing the nose churning of milke and of a ring in a Swines snout was this want of art wisdome or learning Wherefore let him that can and will amongst the simple grapple with his Greeke flourish with his Fathers bring foorth farre fetcht Etymologies and obscure Hebraismes but as for me I either cannot or will not And thus I commend you with all yours vnto God and to the word of his grace which is able to build further and to giue you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified Amen Your Worships in all dutie IOHN BARLOVV From my Study in Plymmouth Iuly 8. 1618. TO THE READER REader it is concluded for our parts whatsoeuer our aduersaries affirme that there are but two ends for all men at the last either life or death saluation or condemnation Then from this truth I collect this necessary position that All men are either tending to the one or trudging to the other If thou bee in the narrow path which is comfortable these few lines will yeeld thee some though little roome ease and ability to goe on with the more cheerfulnesse the which to a wearie and almost tyred traueller cannot but giue good content But if thou be in the broad which is fearful they may through the good hand of God be of force to cause thee smite thy hand vpon thy thigh and alter thy iourney For the producing of either which effects was the cause I first preached it and now since though requested haue penned it Who knoweth not the frowardnesse of mans will how improne it is to run after the rule of Gods commands And what mā but vnderstandeth that Good or Euill be the proper obiects for to moue and allure it to turne the perfect way Then this being truth reade these though ragged lines for they will giue thee to see into many mysteries secret things that be in the course of godlinesse and declare vnto thee what thing is profitable for all things so that if thou canst but obtaine one thing thou shalt want nothing Thou thinkest this a hard matter Well bee it so yet reade on and then consider consult and giue sentence Thine in the Lord Iesus I. B. THE GOOD MANS PRIVILEDGE Rom. 8.28 And we know that all things worke together for good to them that loue God and are called according to his purpose AMongst many three things haue and doe most molest the children of God One is The guilt of sinne another inbred or originall corruption the last is troubles and affliction Now the Apostle being a skilfull Physition prescribeth a threefold remedie for his distempered patients the which being truly vnderstood and rightly applied will expell the danger of the diseases and restore them that be sicke thereof vnto perfect soundnesse For the first Hee that would escape the guilt of his sinnes and be able to stand iust before God must not relie vpon the merit of his owne workes but by faith beleeue in and rest vpon Christ Iesus Psal 130.3 For if the Lord should marke what is done amisse man were neuer able to abide it neither the rigour of the Law or the seuerity of his iustice But he that beleeueth in the Sonne of God and is by faith made one with him becommeth truly and perfectly righteous 1. Tim. 1.9 so that the law of God cannot condemne him or the iustice of God lay hold vpon him for hee hath in Christ and by him a righteousnesse that can and will giue a full payment and an absolute satisfaction both to the Law and the Author of it Wherefore the Apostle maketh this peremptorie conclusion that to such There is no condemnation vers 1. where by the way wee may learne a double lesson Vse 1 First the vanity of the doctrine of the Papists that relie vpon their owne workes and worthinesse for iustification before the Lord when as Paul though knowing nothing by himselfe 1. Cor. 4.4 yet confesseth ingeniously hee was not thereby iustified Vse 2 Againe this must direct vs what to doe when the number of our sinnes are too heauie for vs viz. to labour to be found not hauing our owne righteousnesse which will neuer answere the iustice of the law Phil. 3 9. but the righteousnesse which is by faith in Christ Iesus For the second Inward and originall corruption will cause the man of God to droope to hang downe the wing like a Hawke that is
the way Rom. 1.6 turne into the right path and walke on in the gate that leadeth to glory And this effectuall calling is that that is here by the Apostle nominated whether ordinarily or extraordinarily effected that skils not for so a thing bee well done it matters not whether it bee effected by a common or more speciall manner of proceeding for that is not of the essence but an adiunct to rhe thing Hebr. 8.5 According In this word is a similitude of equall proportion To his That is Gods they that referre it to man are deceiued and corrupt the Text for God calleth not any for his foreseene faith 2. Tim 1 9. or workes but of his owne good pleasure and that when man hath no purpose to bee called at all Purpose This word seemes to haue in it two things the one a rule by which a thing is done the other a setled resolution to doe according to that rule the first hath relation to the vnderstanding the second to the will and we ascribe both to God For hee effecteth nothing without knowledge and all acts proceed from the will the one guiding and the other working perfecting Now both these without offence to his Maiesty may be ascribed vnto him And now will you heere the Metaphrase in order as it is summarily in the verse contained then thus it is briefly plainly as if the Apostle had thus more amply reasoned related I cannot denie but that afflictions and persecutions are troublesome and not easily vndergone by them that either preach or professe the Gospell yet notwithstanding this may be a meanes to strengthen the weake and feeble mindes of the faithfull for we that are the Disciples of Christ doe know by experience in respect of times past and are by faith assured for the future daies that there is nothing whatsoeuer as sinne sorrow death or what can be named or conceiued but to those that loue the Lord and are effectually called of his good pleasure it shall in the euent and finall conclusion by his wise disposing turne for the bringing of them to the truth of grace here and the eternall perfection of glory hereafter And this I conceiue to be the very true and naturall sense of the verse wee haue in hand so let vs now proceed to gather some particular Doctrines for our better and further instruction and this I take to bee one of the principall that Doct. 1 All things worke together for good vnto the children of God The Apostle in another place hath a speech something to the same purpose 1. Tim. 4.8 Bodily exercise saith he profiteth a very little yet godlinesse is profitable for all things But for the better prosecution of this point we will make a fourefold distribution All things that are for our good come either first from God secondly Satan thirdly others fourthly and lastly from our selues for in these wee may comprehend the most if not all things whereof wee haue to speake And concerning God we will consider either his attributes or his acts For his attributes though they bee many yet foure onely shall bee mentioned And because that Knowledge in God is most excellent for Satan at the first vsed it as an argument to seduce our Parents Genes 3.5 Yee shall be as gods knowing good and euill we will declare how it worketh for the good of all his children First by knowledge hee discerneth them from all reprobated bastards and is able to call them by name Exod. 33.12 And is not this good for them will it not comfort a child in that his father knoweth him By this hee also vnderstandeth not onely who we be but where we be what we be and the things that be the best for vs. Ignorance was a cause why Isaac blessed Iacob in stead of Esau for had he knowne it Genes 27.23 he would not haue done it Ignorance was the ground why some of the Princes of this world put to death the Lord of life for had they knowne him 1. Cor. 2.8 they would not haue crucified him 1. Tim. 1.13 Ignorance caused Paul to persecute the seruants of God and many more euils haue sprung from this blindnesse Wherefore God that knoweth his cannot passe by them and giue his blessings vnto others So that knowledge in God is for his childrens good Was it not good vnto Hagar Genes 16. Matth. 2. that the Lord knew her in the wildernesse for Iesus when he was in Egypt for Dauid seeing the vprightnesse of his heart and for Paul also The Lord knoweth whether I loue you or not yea 2. Cor. 11.11 by this all-sufficient and seeing eye he can collect the Elect from the foure ends of the world single them out of the deformed multitude gather together their very bones number their haires make a re-union of the same soule and body conuent them at the last day before him and reward them according to their workes Nay the discerning of our thoughts is profitable for the elect for thereby they shall not be hindred but helped And by his Omniscience hee discouereth the plots of the wicked and knoweth thereby how to frustrate and confound their close and cunning enterprises The sicke patient is comforted when as the Phisitian vnderstandeth the nature and danger of his disease and the best way and meanes that can cure him It cannot but be a vexation of spirit to be in calamitie and his best friends ignorant of his perplexitie Hence haue these sorrowfull speeches sprung Little doth my father and friends vnderstand where I am and my wofull condition would to God they did for then they would vse meanes to free mee comfort me Wherefore when men are imprisoned vnder the Turke or any Enemie the first thing they doe is to let their friends by letters or other waies to haue knowledge of it Truly Gods knowledge is the very first ground of comfort to all the faithfull for it maketh way that euill may be remoued from them and all that is good conferred vpon them and the more wee thinke vpon Gods Omniscience the more will it yeeld vs matter of mirth and great reioycing Dauid when he would encourage his sonne Salomon to serue God 1. Chron. 28.9 vseth it for a strong inducement for the Lord knoweth all hearts Christ pricketh his people for to pray on the same ground Matth 6.6 Your heauenly Father knoweth the things whereof ye stand in need Paul thereby strengtheneth the feeble minded in the apostacy of such as had made great profession 2. Tim. 2.19 The Lord knoweth who are his Peter and others perswadeth the children of God to doe good and suffer affliction producing it as a reason for the eye of the Lord is ouer the righteous He knoweth their works 1. Pet. 3.12 Reuel 2.19 and their dwelling place So that we see the Omniscience of God in all respects may and shall worke for his childrens good And from Gods
fall from the certaintie of perfect blessednesse Againe the worke of creation and mans generation is good for his people for that is the beginning of their actuall well-being and a step to blessing howbeit it had been good for Iudas Mat. 26.24 and the vnbeleeuers they had neuer been borne And mans effectual Vocation is good too whether it be sooner or latter if the Lord call a man in his youth why is not this a rare priuiledge and shall he not be better enabled to resist all euill in the time of age Suppose the Lord single a man out in his more ancient yeeres yet it shall bee good for him also for hee shall discerne more clearely and that with admiration the patience and long suffering of the Lord perceiue his power the more in turning him from that long and strong habit of wickednes he will make the more haste to heauen as the shaft to the marke that hath been long held in the bowe worke the more willingly in the Lords vineyard so short a time and he thereby will be the more hopefull of old sinners lesse proane finally to censure any And is not this also good for him Besides let one depth of afflictions like the waues of water slow after another yet shall they leade him from sinne and draw him more close to the Law of God make him more pitifull to his sick brother and weane him from the loue of this world exercise all grace in him to the vttermost and seale to his soule the more certaintie of his saluation 2. King 22.20 What if death destroy his daies in youth is he not tooke from the euill to come and shall not a well-led life yeeld comfort at the day of death doth he not the sooner take possession of his fathers inheritance and rest from his labours Reuel 14.13 yea and is not then the day of a good mans death better then the day of his birth And if his life and daies be prolonged why Prou. 16 31. is not gray haires a crowne of glorie being found in the way of righteousnesse Now from God and his acts come wee to Satan and wee shall easily discerne that his plots and malice shall worke for good He caused man to fall from his integritie at the first but what lost he first is he not a member now of a more glorious head Christ the Lord Secondly is not his standing more certaine and he not subiect to change and fall for euer and this is the reason why Adam had a Sacrament in the Garden of good and euill to seale life or death but we in Christ haue none but such as seale vp our saluation Thirdly shall not our estate be more glorious in respect of the place of our habitation For if Adam had stood probably as some thinke we had neuer been translated from earth to heauen for euery creature say they was to be blessed in that state and place where the Lord at the first put them as Angels in heauen Fishes in the sea and consequently Man and Beast on the earth and our ascension comes by Christ for from the Deitie hauing more power to carry the humanitie to heauen then the humanitie any waies to moue the Deitie springs our so great exaltation And Paul seemes to confirme this proposition 1. Cor. 15.47 when he saith that The first man was of the earth earthly the second from heauen heauenly endeauouring not only to proue the resurrection but the ascension of the body also by the merits of Christ Iesus So that Satan did not hurt but helpe vs though not willingly yet through the mercy of God on his part freely but on Satans by necessitie And what though he tempt vs still why we may learne wisdome of him as for to get power against the day of euill and it will assure a man that he is Christs sheepe and in the path to heauen when hee finds Satan so to tempt him and resist him for thus he disputeth If I were not at liberty why should the diuell thus trouble me tempt me Luther saith that he learned much good meaning in these former respects from the aduersary of mankind though the Papists blind guides scandalize him for it and accuse him to haue been familiar with the diuell And no doubt but as a man learnes wit by going to Law with a cunning aduersarie so the sonnes of God in our daies haue good by his tentations in finding out his depths and feeling Gods strong arme to plucke them out of his mouth and he that neuer learned wisdome from Satan though he intend not to teach him any may be iustly suspected not to be in the way to heauen 2. Cor. 2.11 Thus from him let vs step to mankind the which bee our brethren in the flesh or spirit and we will begin with the wicked ones What if the Canaanites be still among the Israelites is it not good for them for first if the sonne runne from his father why let him fall into the hand of an vncircumcised Philistim he will whip him home againe Secondly the prouidence of God ouer his will the more appeare in their preseruation Thirdly it will make the faithfull to looke better to their footing that they haue not cause to blaspheme the name of the Lord or speake euill of his lawes wee see Lot liued better in Sodom amongst sinners then when hee came to Zoar from out of them Fourthly they preuent much sinne that the righteous are subiect vnto for suppose that a man would wrong the King of his impost and custome sell away as wee haue heard some doe their powder shot and the like prouision why an honest man cannot if hee would haue way for the wicked for they lie at euery aduantage and like dogs deuoure that carrion that might choake and poison the godly And doe we not see that a flower growing amongst Onyons and Garlicke is sweeter then if it were among more pleasant herbes for the sower roote suckes the bad iuice and leaues the better for the other And it is out of all question that one good man hath benefit by another For first they are partakers of one anothers prayers and is not this a good thing Secondly they haue a fellow-feeling of one anothers miseries and is not this to be eased of part of their burthē Thirdly they will comfort thē if they be feeble minded and relieue them in necessity and what better for such as bee in that condition Fourthly they all concurre to make vp one compleat and perfect Temple for Gods Spirit to dwell in and by this relation haue they not good one by and from another what if they iarre now and then as Paul and Marke were sometimes stirred amongst themselues yet shall not the falling out of friends bee a meanes to renew more firmely their former affection like a bone being knit that hath been broken is the firmer afterwards yea such shall be reconciled in due season for