hee is no way obliged though yet such a one is not to be vnkindly intreated Exodus Exod. 22. 21. 22. 21 We doe not so hardly censure him for it but to be vngentle froward and discourteous to those that are neere vnto vs and to whom wee are bound by many strong linkes of nature duty or desert wee commonly hold it for a sauage and vnnaturall part Now christians are all linked one to another in the strictest surest and most inseparable manner which can bee thought we are sonnes of the same Father espoused to the same Master we are heyres of the same promises wee are begotten with the same seed of immortality wee trauell 1 Pet. 1. 23. towards the same Country we are bound for the same hauen and in one word for all wee are members of the same body all flesh of Christs flesh and bone of his bone all fedde at one Gods table all eat 1 Cor. 12. 12. by Faith of one Christs flesh all drinke of one Sauiours bloud all baptised in one Baptisme all professing the same Faith all sanctified 4 Ephes 4. 5. by the same spirit When wee are knit together in so many bands of vnity shall we not consort together in the same Christian affection of loue and Charity If the Brother haue cause to loue the brother and be vnnaturall if he doe it not if the husband haue great reason to affect his wife and be barbarous if hee affect her not if the mother haue cause to tender her child and be accounted cruell if shee regard it not Then how worthily are wee Christians to bee esteemed cruell barbarous vnnaturall if we regard not affect not loue not one another seeing wee are neerer each to other then Parent to Child Husband to Wife Brother to Brother Arctius enim gratiae quam naturae vinculum Austin For the knot is straiter and the band stronger of Grace then of nature the loue of Parents to children is naturall of children to Parents loyall of husband to wife reciprocall of friend to friend mutuall but the loue of Christians is all these and more then these immortall for wee are members of the same body mysticall as neere as the hand to the shoulder the shoulder to the necke the necke to the head the very members of one another Where then are the mutuall 1 Cor. 12. 21. offices which as Pilgrims heere on earth though Citizens in Heauen we should performe one to another When Merchants or trauellers of the same countrey meet together in a strange land as Englishmen in Italy France Spaine or Turkey many of you do know the most of vs may easily cōceiue what a league of loue there is betwixt them what passages of kindnesse exchange of courtesie how forward they will bee to benefit and pleasure one another Syth then we are no other then strangers and Pilgrimes heere in this world all trauelling towards heauen the place of our habitation paulumque morati serius aut citius metam properamus ad vnaem should we not much more imbrace each others acquaintance and striue to expresse our bounden loue by the readyest performance of the best Christian duties wherin we might doe a fauour or bee a furtherance for the good and welfare one of another In a word wee are all tied together by many linkes therefore we should haue much loue Reason 3 Thirdly there is nothing which will make Christians seruiceable and ready to doe good but loue therfore nothing more to be required or desired among Christians than loue for this will make vs all in our seuerall callings whether we be Ministers or Magistrates or Trades-men of the towne or countrey Buyers or Sellers of what estate degree or quality soeuer we be This loue I say will make will make vs prone and willing to employ our wit our wealth our credit our knowledge our counsaile our commodities and all for the good of all All other things without this make vs worse riches will make vs wanton or wilfull to our selues or others iniurious Honour will make vs high minded and in contemning others whom we should countenance ouerhasty and presumptuous Witte will make vs selfe-conceited and either priuately slanderous or publikely schismaticall and seditious Knowledge will make vs swell to be ambitious curious censorious scientia immo omnia haec entia inflant charitas Bern. 1 Cor. 8. 1. solum aedificat Knowledge yea wit honour wealth and all do but blow and puffe vs vp Charity only doth edifie and build vs vp and others and putteth it selfe forth to the vttermost to bee helpfull and beneficiall to all The Prouerbe is Epich ancient excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Loue is all communicatiue of a diffusiue spreading nature not for it selfe alone but ready to impart wisdome wealth counsaile credit head tongue hand foote limbes life and all to the parties beloued It maketh the soule of him in whom it resideth to bee more Vbi mat quam vbi animat Bern. Where it loueth then where it liueth or quickneth Yea it is of so soueraigne vertue and power that it not only restraineth vs from rendring Matth 26. euill for good as Iudas did to Christ which was monstrous villany and curbeth vs from doing euill for euill as Ioab did to Abner which was a sinnefull infirmity or 2 Sam. 3. 27. vrgeth vs to doe good for good as Ahashuerus did to Mordecay which Esth 6. 10. was but naturall iustice and equity but it easily draweth vs to recompence euill with goodnesse as Dauid did to Saul and this is without 1 Sam. 24. exception compleat Christianitie Hee therefore that hath a louing heart and heartily affecteth the members of Christ be he what hee may bee for outward respects neuer so base and contemptible he is notwithstanding a profitable and behoouefull member in the Bee-hiue of Christs Church hee bringeth either wax or honny by his payne or his prayers thereunto for the benefit of many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a good man is a common Epict. good But on the contrary he that hath an haughty vngentle spirit in whom the grosse humours of pride and couetousnesse haue bred a stoppage or obstruction of all liberality and kindnesse so that in all his connsails cogitations and actions he aymes at his owne proper gaine or glory not a whit regarding his Christian Brethrens good or relieuing them in their woes their wants their wrongs miseries such a one be he whatsoeuer hee be in the eye of the world neuer so great or glorious hee is yet in the vineyard of Christ but as a briar or thorne and in Christs Church but as a humming droan As the Church of Sardy had a name a liue but was dead so hath he And what the Apostle saith of the Reuel 3. 1 1 Tim. 5 6. voluptuous woman 1 Tim. 5. 6. that may truly be said of him that he is dead whiles hee liueth For
is patient bountifull not puffed vp that it disdaineth not seeketh not her owne thinketh not euill reioyceth not iniquity but in the truth hopeth all things beleeueth all things endureth all things and so forth Was loue then neither malicious nor disdainfull nor suspitious NemineÌ„ enim suspicit Bern. in Cant. Serm. 59. amor nec dispicit quidem as Bern. speaketh Was it liberall then and not auaritious humble not ambitious surely then is loue chang'd much since the Apostles time or else terâ—as astrea reliquit Loue with Iustice is fled from the earth or couched in a narrow corner thereof so that it is most rare to find being vtterly exiled from the coÌ„mon society of men as appeareth euen at this day For otherwise how coÌ„meth it to passe tbat in buying and selling mutuall marchandizing men vse so many false weights false lights and craftie sleights Mille actus veâ—itos mille piacula tentant to deceiue one another and to hurt their brethren whom they are bound to helpe is it not for lacke of the holy sparke of spirituall loue Whence is it that the swallowers of the poore and those yron hearts against whom the Prophet Amos lifteth vp his siluer Amoâ—â— 5. trumpet doe waite when opportunitie will buzz into their eares the desirous newes of a new moone or Sabbath that they may set forth their wheat and make the Ephah small and the shekle great and falsifie the weights by deceit and buy the poore for siluer and the needy for shooes is it not because their hard hearts are not softned by the holy fire of true christian loue And that I may lead you along as the Prophet Ezekiel was Ezek 8. 13. by the spirit from abhomination to abhomination and each greater than other Whence is it that subtilty setteth on fire the tongue of the crafty buyer so that as the Wiseman speaketh he cryeth out It is naught it is naught but when Prou 20. 14. he is gone boasteth of his bargaine and giueth his tongue the lye Whence is this dissimulation and diuision betwixt the tongue and the thought and breaking forth euen for a little red or white earth into lying swearing and forswearing too is it not for want of a dram of spirituall-vpright-dealing loue Whence doe these corrupt streames of extortion vsury oppression bribery mercilesnes and cruelty and the like crying sinnes noysome in quality haynous in degree dangerous in effects proceede and flow is it not from the fountaine or rather the dead sea of an vnlouing vncharitable frozen heart In a word hence it is that some I feare too many of this place rightly termed Latrones puluinarij gracious theeues doe fill their coffers and enrich their treasury by the Diuells Alchymistry by Iewish vsury little better than Achans the euery Iosh 7. Iosh 7. Hence it is that others iustly called griping Extortioners and mercilesse oppressors doe enlarge their liuings and possessions by damnable designments as bad as Ahabs cruelty 1. King 21. Hence it is that the Rulers say with shame 1. King 21. Bring yee Hosea 4. 15. and not onely Hosea 4. 15. superiours but inferiours too maintaine their estate by vniust dealing cogging collusion and Trades more sinfull and shamefull than Gehezies bribery 2. Kin 5. To conclude hence it is that Monopolites 2. King 5. 7. ingrossers regraters forestallers transporters and cormorant like corne hoorders qui in loculis includunt salutem inopuÌ„ Stella in Luc. in tumulis sepeliunt vitam pauperuÌ„ doe secretly laugh at the publique want and penury and make an exceeding benefit of the times extremity and sacrifice to their yarne nets of policie Hab 2. 16. and Habac 2. 16. grind the faces of the poore without measure without mercy sowing in hardnes of heart now and I feare hereafter reaping in horror of conscience for iudgement mercilesse shall be to those which shew no mercy Iam 2. 13. euen Iames 2. 13. because their corrupt hearts are not seasoned with the soueraigne sauory salt of Christian loue and charity The hauing whereof as it is an Antidote and preseruatiue to keep vs from running into mischeife and impiety so the want thereof is the originall of all vngodlines and villany Witnes this that without exception most horrid and diuelish powder-treason plot and damnable proiect of our Antichristian aduersaries quibus nulla fides nullus amor nisi quantum expedit according to the rule of the Parthians with whom no conscience no religion no band of nature consanguinity alleageance alliance affinitie oath or Sacrament standeth good so it withstand their mischiefe plotting purpose Witnes this I say that their barbarous bloudy purpose and designement of cutting of all the heads of our Land as it were vpon one and the same shoulder by one Catholique blow of blowing vp the Parliament house and so Iudas like purchasing a field of bloud with no lesse price then the life of King Queene Prince and the cheife State of this Land Alas had they beene possessed but with one graine of that truely Catholique Christian charitie whereof they doe so fondly boast they would neuer haue harboured the thought much lesse haue set forward the practise of so vnheard of a villanie of a sinne so exceeding sinfull that no pretence of religion can excuse it no shadow of good intention extenuate it God and the heauens condemne it men and the earth detest it But certaine it is they had set apart all bowells of compassion and naturall affection all thoughts of humanitie pricks of conscience sparks of reason and barres of religion all feare of God and reuerence of men in being authors of so execrable a worke of darknes and desolation which to heare would make a mans eares to tingle and his heart-strings to tremble and in steed of the spirit of loue they were possessed with the Angell of the bottomles pit the spirit Abadon the spirit Apoc 9. 11. of destruction and devastation I would to God this spirit did not raigne and reuell so much now adaies also in the middest of them and euen in their desperate hopes make them to beare deadly hatred to this our Sion so that they cry downe with it downe with it to the ground but so it is that notwithstanding the discouery and defeysance of their manifold mischieuous designments and our miraculous deliuerance for which the Almighties mercy be euer magnified amongst vs they continue still our irreconcilable enemies in their erronious bitter crosbiting books they professe it by their daily machinations and practises they shew it God grant wee doe not hereafter to our greater wrack and woe feele and finde it Howsoeuer let vs be confident and commending the protections of our persons and the defence of our cause to the God of truth who hath hitherto gratiously deliuered and defended vs from those massacring bloudy-minded vnderminers of his truth and gospell Let vs follow the truth in loue as
sum iudicatus condemnatus I am accused iudged condemned and so expired O heare and feare this all yee that desire rather to be feared then deserue to bee loued in the midst of your ruling remember your reckoning and by your more diligent charitable and conscionable demeanor hereafter preuent that iudgement which hangs ouer your heads for your negligence and want of conscience in your callings heeretofore And let vs all euen now begin if not before whether wee be Ministers or Magistrates or persons of inferiour place to looke to our charges diligently to attend on our offices faithfully to discharge our stewardship carefully to examine our receipts and expences daily and accordingly to make vp our perfect reckonings and accounts that when that great day of reckoning shall come our Lord and Master may say to euery one of vs p It is well done good seruant Mat. 25. 23. and trustie Thou hast beene faithfull in a little I will make thee ruler ouer much enter into thy Masters ioy And thus much bee spoken of the first part and of the vses thereof namely Mors est in olla death is our lot none can auoid it Now of the second and that more briefly Spes est in vrna there â—ecunda pars â—iz Spes est in â—rna â—hrys in 22. Math. is hope in the graue beeing dead we shall liue againe none may denie it Tolle spem resurrectionis saith golden mouth'd Chrysostome resoluta est omnis obseruantia pietatis take away the hope of resurrection and the building of piety wanteth her foundation For then Christ is not risen and so our preaching is in vaine and your faith is 1. Cor. 15. vaine and of all others the best christians were most miserable and of al stories the Gospell were most fruitlesse and vnprofitable But the Lords Herauld Isaiah of all the Prophets most Euangelicall of all the Euangelists most Propheticall besides the streame of all holy antiquitie consenting thereunto hath plainly proclaimed it q Isa 26. 19. Thy dead men shall liue with my body shall they rise and againe Peace shall come to the righteous Isa 57. 2. they shall rest in their beds that is their graues vntill the morning of the resurrection Post tenebras spero lucem saith Iob. Sybilla Iob 17. prophesied heereof in this manner Tunc castus Cbristus ponet certamina iusta Sybil. Ornabitque probos aeternaque praemia reddet The great Poet could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—hocilid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wee hope and know that we shall not for euer sit in darknesse or sleepe in the graue but we shall come to the heauenly light liue with Christ r through the power of God in whose 2. Cor. 13. 4. booke all our members are written God hath a threefold book The first is his priuate booke Enchiridion or vade mecum in which onely the names of the elect are written whom hee knoweth and calleth by their Å¿ Exod. 32. 32. names whose â—sa 43. 1. names hee will not put out of the booke t Reu. 3. 5. of life è libro praesentis iustitiae aut praedestinationis aeternae as the Schoolmen distinguish The second is his booke of accounts and black booke blurde and blotted with the register of sin wherein onely the wicked are written according to that Dan. 7. The Dan. 7. 10. iudgement was set and the bookes opened The third is his vniuersall common-place booke wherein both good and bad are recorded according to that of the Prophet In thy book are all my members written Psalm 139. so that albeit in death there be a dissolution of body and soule yet in the resurrection there shall bee a restitution and revniting of the same body in substaÌ„ce though altered in quality to the same soule that the ioy of both may be consummated to which purpose God is said to write all our members in his booke Yea he keepeth the very bones of his Saints Psal 34. and not a haire of their heads Psalm 34. 2 Luk. 21. 18. shall perish Luk. 21. Hence it is that the Prophet Daniel speaketh so expressely Many Dan. 12. 2. that sleepe in the dust shall awake and rise againe some to euerlasting life some to shame and perpetuall contempt Hence it is that our Sauiour Christ speaketh so plainelie Maruell not at this for the Ioh. 5. 28. 29. houre shall come in which all that are in the graâ—es shall heare his voice and they shall come foorth that haue done good vnto the resurrection of life but they that haue done euill vnto the resurrection of condemnation To which infallible truth Saint Paul beareth witnesse 2. Cor. 5. We must all appeare Cor. 5. 10. before the iudgement seate of Christ that euery man may receiue according to the things which are done in his body whether good or euill Whereunto that of the beloued Disciple Saint Iohn is very agreeable Reuel 20. where the maiesty â—eu 20. 11. 12 of Gods throne is described the singularity of the Iudge is declared the vniuersality of all both great and small which must stand before him is manifested and the equity of proceeding in iudgement excellently shewed by the bookes opened and the sentencing of euery mans cause according to his workes Whence by the way wee may Note note the difference betweene the act of iustification and the act of iudgement for the act of iustification wherein God maketh vs righteous which were vniust is onely by u Rom. 3. 24. faith i. by the apprehension application and appropriation of Christs merits righteousnesse by a liuely faith But the act of iudgement wherein God declareth those to bee iust which Mat. 25. 2. Cor. 5. were iustified in this life is according to our workes God iudgeth not according to the root of faith which is hidden but according to the fruits of faith namely good workes which are open and manifest and the fittest meanes to try euery mans cause and to discerne who were by faith working in loue Gal. 5. 6. iustified in this life Not to affect more testimonies of proofe in a point of christianitie so plaine This holy perswasion of the resurrection after death impression of immortality hath euer possessed the hearts of Gods Saints and seruants and hath bene as a naile of the Sanctuary to keep them from desperate distractions in the errours of this life and to set them forward to perfection vndanted constancie in the terrors of death Iob patient and iust Iob in the plea Iob 19. 25. of all his miseries with the single eie of faith held fast by this hope and made it the issue of all his maladies I know that my Redeemer liueth and I shall liue againe c. this sentence of vndoubted assurance is matter worth the remembrance and therefore Iob setteth a Preface vnto it O saith he that Iob 19. 23. 24. 25. my
the Apostle exhorteth Ephes 4. and loue one another â—phes 4. 15. yea euen our enemies as our Sauiour in my Text commandeth and be no waies partakers of those fornamed grosse sinnes of craft and cruelty which proceede from hatred malice couetousnes and enuy but be euery way abundant in good workes which are the fruits of true Christian loue and liberalitie Vse 3 And now lastly for our instruction sith loue is not onely a necessary implement but also an excellent ornament for a Christian and therefore by our Sauiour so earnestly required at our hands let vs know that it is our duety by humble and hearty prayer to seeke it at his hand let vs therefore beseech him to grant by grace that true loue vnto vs which nature cannot giue let vs humbly intreat him so to shed his Spirit abroad in our hearts that wee may loue his seruants as wee ought that those which are neere and deere to him may be so to vs and where he loueth most wee may there be most inlarged in our loue and kindnesse also that our very soules may fully rest themselues in the liking and embracing of Christians not looking to their present wants and imperfections but to their future perfection and glory not considering what they be in themselues but rightly conceiuing what they be in Christ this prayer this meditation will be an effectuall meanes to make our loue abound wherevnto if we shall adioyne the commendable practise of other Christian duties and in our often meetings conferre and discourse charitably and conscionably of holy things and make one another partakers of the benefit of our reading and hearing especially on the Sabboth day surely this would be as fewell and towe and bellowes too to blow and stirre vp this grace of loue in our hearts and to make it flame in a great measure to our mutuall comfort and commodity 2. Tim 16. Wherefore as euer we would haue louing hearts and bee loued of him that alone knoweth our harts let vs alwaies striue to haue our companies and societies seasoned with holy and religious exercises and in steed of prophane talking ripping vp of other mens faults scoffing and iesting which are things vncomely Ephes 5. and Ephes 5. 4. faults too common in our priuat meetings and as it were the puddle water to quench loue and the incentiues to prouoke hatred Let vs on the contrary vse godly conference and delight in the practise of prayers and singing of Psalmes the like duties of Christianity as often as our company in any place is thereto required whereby occasions of hatred may be preuented whereby Christians perceiuing the spiritual excellency which is in ech other may be the faster glewed and linked and obliged in their iudgements wills and affections one to an other Finally to shut vp this point with the exhortation of the Apostle Ephes 5. 1 2. Beloued be ye followers of Eph. 5. 1 2. God as deare children and walke in loue as Christ hath loued vs. And Let euery man please his neighbour in that which is good to aedification Rom 15. 2. and the Ro 15. 2. God of peace and loue grant that in the eternall peace-maker Christ Iesus wee may loue each other aeternally And thus much of the first doctrine and of the seuerall vses and reasons thereof And so the time cutting off the intended handling of the two other points following in the feare of God I commend you all to the grace of his word which is able to build you Act. 20. 32. further and to giue you an inheritance with those which are sanctified and commit that which hath been spoken euen this little graine of loue to the ground of your hearts the blessing thereof to him who is able to make an handfull of corne to proue like the top of Lybanus Psal 72. 16. and the Psalm 72. least graine of mustard-seed to ouertop the trees of the forrest Matth 13. Math 13. though he which sowed the same depart Euen to God the Father the inexhaustible fountaine of goodnes the Sonne the incomprehensible wisdom of the Father and the Holy Ghost the indivisible power of them both To whom being three in persons one in essence the same onely wise immortall and invisible Diety we ascribe and desire to be ascribed all praise power might maiesty and dominion now and for euer Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL AND worthilie regarded Sir ROBERT CHICHESTER Knight of the noble Order of the BATH c. increase of all grace and true happinesse heere and the blessednesse of immortality hereafter SIR Beeing often sollicited by the earnest entreaty of men of no meane quality to publish these slender fruits of some few daies labour and to let them passe to the eie of this censorious world as things in their iudgement worthy longer life then to fade with the houre or two to which they were destinated I haue at length after much reluctancie yeelded consent to satisfie their importunity addressing my selfe with the more alacritie to the businesse because I saw oportunity offered thereby to let the world see how I reuerence your person regard your place and vnfeignedly desire to make publike acknowledgement of my bounden seruice to you for all such beneficiall fauours as haue bin at any time vouchsafed vnto me in that place and calling wherein by Gods grace I stand Sentinell for the soule-sauing good of you and many others I hope whom the Lord of grace hath ordained to glory beeing in duty and conscience obliged so farre as the nature of my ministeriall functioÌ„ shall guide me and the power of my poore ability can reach to returne vnto you the interest of spiritual bles sings the comforts of a better life eternall in lieu of such corporall benefits as vnder Gods prouidence your patronage I do enioy for the maintenance of this fraile life temporall As a pledge of which duty I doe here humbly present vnto your eies that funerall sermon which lately you heard with your eares presuming that by your fauorable acceptance and benigne countenance you will giue vnto the same a kind of second life especially because it was penned preached vpon the occasion of your much esteemed friends death at the solemnising of his buriall In the which if there bee any sentence of instruction rule of direction example of religious resolution whereof your christian wisdom according to the pregnancy of your wit apprehension shall make a conscionable and comfortable vse to the furtherance of your saluation the matter occasioÌ„ of my thanksgiuing to God for his blessing on my poore labours shall hereby greatly be enlarged and my respectfull readines vpon your encouragement to vndergo the like employment shal be much augmented Thus humbly beseeching your Worship to rest assured that how weake and meane soeuer my counsels and endeauours bee my vowes and praiers for your truest happines and honour