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A04284
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The true guide to glory A sermon preached at Plympton-Mary in Deuon, at the funerals of the right vvorshipfull, and ...
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Barlow, John, b. 1580 or 81.
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1619
(1619)
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STC 1440; ESTC S114791
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30,821
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66
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and billowes of the Sea proudly passe by the dangerous Rockes and polling Pyrates in hope that his Barke shall one day returne filled fraughted with the richest Spices What Patient so flegmatique desperate but will swallow the most bitter pill suppe off the most loathsome potion being before-hand perswaded that it will not kill but cure him Shall we then be dead on the nest want spirit and haue no heart to vse the meanes that might either beget it awake it or preserue it Doth not hope of the end set all men aworke in their seuerall proceedings and shall wee haue such a prize as this in our hands and haue no hearts Consider then what Faith is and be idle if thou canst Is not Faith a Prince that wheresoeuer he pitcheth his Tents is accompanied with royall attenâ—â—nâ—s Doth it not purifie the heart settle and secure the soule quench Sathans darts and ouercome the world I say more Faith is the very essentiall forme of a Christian Are we not by it from all other persons distinguished what action good before God but from it as it proper cause hath proceeded By faith we are enliued moued iustified and finally saued Therefore heare reade pray conferre and receiue daily the signes and seales of thy Masters comming the very foode and nourishment of it out-face sinne out-liue sinne seeing thou art assured that thy labour is not lost vaine in the Lord. And thus wee proceede to answer an Obiection that some might cast in the way Obiect If Faith neuer faile then it continues for euer Sol. Some hold it ends at death others at the day of iudgement because all things till then as the Resurrection of the body the revnion of the soule and fulnesse of glory are not in perfect vision And we want not those who thinke that it abideth for all eternity In briefe I answer that it shall neuer faile thee or forsake thee so long as it may make for the glory of thy God and the good of thy soule So let vs come more directly to the words themselues where we note this second Instruction that Doct. 2 God guideth man in his spirituall iourney There be inferiour and subordinate leaders but in this voyage the Lord is the principall conductor we may all of vs thus farre safely confesse with Balaam Numb 24.13 that We cannot passe the commandement of the Lord to doe good of our owne minde And that which the Prophet speaketh of Nebuchadnezzar or Ashur may be in generall applied to all the sons of Adam The way of man is not in himselfe Ier. 10.13 neither is it in man to direct his owne steps Dauid knew it well as you may see in the 119. Psalme the point proued neere 119. times and Paul about to trauell with his friends to Thessalonica praieth 1 Thes 3.11 Now God euen the Father of our Lord Câ—rist guide our iourney vnto you and how easily may Reasons be brought to confirme it Reason 1 Why hath not man the eye of his minde put out 1 Cor. 2.14 is he not borne with a veile ouer his vnderstanding hâ—w can he then finde out the right way or discerne betwixt pathes that differ If any demand how came thâ—s strange thing to passe wee may truely answer Rom 3.11.23 Our Parents haue sinned and wee too in them so that wee are all borne blinde Ionathans eye waxed dimme by fasting but ours and our fathers too Rom. 5.12 were cleane put out by feasting And though Man be in honour Psal 49 vlt. yet he hath no vnderstanding but is like the perishing beast Euery man is a mole Reason 2 Againe hath he any power to trauell is he not lame too are not his anckle-bones crooked and the feet of his affections turned backeward The Creeple who lay at the poole of Bethesda was no more vnable to step into the water of himselfe then we to walke in the pathes that lead to the kingdome of heauen we must first be cured and healed Therefore the Prophet so often as one that had experience of his owne infirmitie prayeth Giue me the Spirit of life and power Psal 119.32.37 and Then shall I runne the way of thy commâ—ndements when thou hast set my heart at liberty That sinne which put out our eyes hath also depriued vs of strength so that we cannot creepe or crawle in this our spirituall iourney vntill the Lord bid vs and giue vs power too to arise and walke Reason 3 Moreouer are not the imaginations of his heart euill Gen 65. hath hee power so much as to thinke a good thought 2 Cor. 3.5 can he of himselfe study to find out the way No he will not giue his mind to turne vnto his God Hos 5 4 Ier. 6.16 he saith in his heart I will none of thy pathes I will not and yet he cannot if he would walke therein 〈◊〉 â— 16 For it is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth â—ut in God that sheweth mercy Reason 4 Adde to all this that he is possest with the spirit of errour and what will you say then can ye denie the truth of the doctrine Alas Ephes 2.2 1 Tim. 2.26 doth not Satan rule in the sonnes of men take them captiue at his owne will and leade them at his pleasure to the land of darkenesse And let none obiect and say that these things are onely so in the children of disobedience 1 Cor. 13.9 for the best man doth but know in part beleeue in part Rom. 1.17 7.9 Gal. 5.17 and is but healed in part and who Christ onely excepted that hath not in his best condition been led out of the way plodded some by-path yea stumbled fallen and wounded himselfe in this his pilgrimage for no sooner can any get the least peepe of light but Sathan clappes on a vaile gather any strength but he labours to weaken it or haue so much as a minde to returne to his heauenly countrey but he hales him on by power policy or some pleasant obiect as the Shepheard or Butcher doth the poore lambe by a greene branch in his hand from the fold and it's bleating Dam vnto the house of slaughter and destruction So that this point is true concerning all persons Shall we make some vse of the same Vse 1 And here also is confuted another point of Popery which would make man the first mouer of himselfe in this his heauenly voyage They haue certaine distinctions as ex congruo ex condigno and compare a man to him that went from Ierusalem to Iericho and fell amongst theeues indeed this Text Luke 10.30 and wee too are fallen among Theeues for say they The eye of the mind is but dimmed the will wounded and the soule weakned but Christ saith Without me ye can doe nothing Ioh 15.5 Eph. 2 1. and his disciples that we are dead Now all men know that hee who is dead can neither see heare
full of milke and their bones runne full of marrow Ier. 5.28 they are waxen fat and shining But where grace entreth like a pinching frost it maketh the flesh wither and fall freezeth the very marrow and congealeth the fatnesse so that the body often is weake and pineth away Psal 39.11 3. That much goods and Grace are not inseparable companions These two meete not as the Sunne and Moone runne their course night and day in one and the same subiect Therefore saith our Lord Matth. 19.23 How hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdome of heauen and be saued Sometimes we grant they may but seldome It is said that Naaman the Syrian 2 Kings 5.1 was a mighty man and valiant but a Leper great for riches peraduenture valiant for body so that it may proue this at the least the former Doctrine But what rich or strong man amongst vs beleeues this report 4. That wicked persons often prosper Their Bullocke gendreth and faileth not Iob 21.8 9. c. Their Cow calueth and casteth not her Calfe They send foorth their children like sheepe and their Sonnes daunce Their Seede is established and they grow vp in wealth 5. That not to be afflicted is a marke of the wicked They haue no changes therefore they feare not God Psal 55.19 whereas the godly are chastened euery morning else bastards not sonnes Heb. 12.8 6. That peace in death is no sure signe of a better life They that liue like Lyons and dye like Lambs may not haue their names writ in the Lambes Booke of life But if a good life be the Antecedent this no bad but a desireable consequent this crosseth the iudgement of the common people Oh say some how quietly he dyed But I say how well hath hee liued Let vs then iudge men by their liues not by their deaths lest we acquit the guilty and condemne the innocent For all outward things come alike to all men iust or vniust This is one of those euils Eccles 9.1.2.3 that the wise man saw vnder the Sunne Againe from their Effects or Actions might many things be obserued as 1. That when wicked men haue most then they sinne most Hence it is that some hauing much money turne biting Vsurers and deuoure by oppression The bountifulnesse of God towards them doth not though indeede it ought leade them to repentance Rom. 2.4 And from the foure following accidents we note a foure-fold instruction First that notwithstanding the wicked be rich and strong yet they stand vpon a sandy foundation They are set on slippery places either vpon the Ice on the which if they slippe or it breake they be drowned spoyled or vpon a Quag-mire that is growne ouer with a thin skinne through which if they shrinke they sticke fast and are all be-mudded Secondly that wicked men shall dye certainly and suddenly Iob 12.2 in a moment the Text saith They spend their dayes in pleasure and suddenly goe downe to the graue Thirdly that prophane persons shall rise and come to iudgement And lastly that at the day of iudgement they shall haue their full torment Dan. 12.1 For they shall rise to shame and contempt eternall And thus we leaue them where God shall leaue them wishing their harmes may make vs to beware And so proceede we to the godly person of whom wee haue many things to say but because time will not permit vs we will omit them onely reducing them to these heads 1. A Conflict and 2. The Issue of it In this Combat note 1. Who they be that quarrell 2. The causes of it It is the Flesh and Spirit Faith and Infidelity that striue these twins are in euery regenerate person man or woman Sinne must not be counted as a meere priuation or nothing but we must conceiue of it as a strong man or corroborated habit Rom. 7.24 c. The ground of the quarrell groweth either from the fell opposition that is betwixt them for these are contrary one to the other Gal. 5.17 or the diuers condition of the wicked and the godly When the prophane man prospereth and the righteous are in aduersity it worketh strangely euen in the most sincere hearted Therefore the wicked are counted blessed For they that worke wickednesse Mal. 3.15 they are set vp and such as tempt God they are deliuered From this consideration this good mans steps had almost slipt and he embraced the world yet he hauing recourse to the word of God saw his owne folly and their miserable end so that though the combat for a time was fierce and the issue thereof doubtfull notwithstanding Faith preuaileth at the length and winnes the field triumphing with this confession Lord thou wilt guide me c. But before wee come to the words let vs obserue some things by the way And here we may see that 1. The prosperity of the wicked fretteth the godly There is a secret enmity betweene the seede of the Woman and the Serpents Also that 2. In the time of temptation the flesh will play its part Furthermore that 3. He that would see the present and future condition of good and bad must haue recourse to Gods word not flocke to the Stage or prophane History for they may deceiue this Booke cannot And so we come to the words in hand the which haue a double reading at the least Some reade them prayer-wise Lord guide me c. But I rather choose to reade them as a Confession being a speech of great reioycing and a declaration of the fruit of his faith that followed this great and terrible combat In the which we may obserue a double proposition and in either of them two principall things comprehended In the antecedent part this good man saith First that the Lord will guide him Secondly he acknowledgeth wherewith viz. by his counsell In the consâ—quent proposition hee confâ—sseth that he will also glorifie him and telleth the time when or order how after he had guided him by his counsell Thus you see the parts of it Now we come to shew you the meaning or sense of the words Thou that is GOD Father Sonne and holy Spirâ—t for all three consent in euery action done towards the creature what one doth all doe mediately or immediately yet in a diuers manner God the Father is said to guide by the word Christ by his example and the Spirit by immediate motions and irradiations iniected vpon mans vnderstanding yet with one ioynt consent all tend to one and the same thing There be Relatiue properties in the Deity that are peculiar to the distinct persons As the Father to beget the Sonne to be begotten and the Spirit to proceede but these wee speake of are internall not externall actions vpon the creature Shalt or wilt This word containeth in it the faith and confidence of the person how that hee did depend vpon God and assure himselfe that he would be his guide for future