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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43607	Syntagma theologicum, or, A treatise wherein is concisely comprehended, the body of divinity, and the fundamentals of religion orderly discussed whereunto are added certain divine discourses, wherein are handled these following heads, viz. 1. The express character of Christ our redeemer, 2. Gloria in altissimis, or the angelical anthem, 3. The necessity of Christ's passion and resurrection, 4. The blessed ambassador, or, The best sent into the basest, 5. S. Paul's apology, 6. Holy fear, the fence of the soul, 7. Ordini quisque suo, or, The excellent order, 8. The royal remembrancer, or, Promises put in suit, 9. The watchman's watch-word, 10. Scala Jacobi, or, S. James his ladder, 11. Decus sanctorum, or, The saints dignity, 12. Warrantable separation, without breach of union / by Henry Hibbert ...	Hibbert, Henry, 1601 or 2-1678.; Hibbert, Henry, 1601 or 2-1678. Exercitationes theologiae.	1662 (1662)	Wing H1793; ESTC R2845	709,920	522

8.36 For Christ hath freed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us If the Son make you free ye shall be free indeed And liberty from the bondage of sin Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin saith our Saviour Joh. 8.34 But he that hath the peace of a good conscience is not in subjection to the dominion of sin but is servant to righteousness having obtained the liberty proper to the sons of God to which he is called Liberty from the burden of humane traditions and superstitious inventions of men either crept into the Church through the subtilty of Satan or neglect of the Pastors or impiously imposed by the Antichristian Hierarchy under the shew of piety and Religion 1 Cor. 7.23 Ye are bought with a price be not ye the servants of men Liberty from the fear of Tyrants in matters concerning the solemn worship of God or fear of danger in matters indifferent The conscience of a man rightly informed and guided by discretion is apt to undertake all that may make for Gods glory the Churches good and his own salvation Fear not little flock it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdom The last effect of this peace is Joy and it is called Joy unspeakable in the Holy Ghost such an excess of joy as we want utterance to express it A good conscience that is a pacified conscience saith Solomon is a continual feast it frollicks and merries the heart in the very prease of adversity it encourages a man to alacrity of spirit and a certain hope of victory and it admits no bitter invective to be cast out against us to deject us nor produceth any clamorous accusation to ruine us Am●s but being calm and quiet excusat absolvit consolatur saith Amesius it pleads our excuse it frees us from condemnation it brings in an ebullition or a springtide-like overflow of all soveraign comforts Balaam did wish that he might die the death of the righteous I for my part wish to live the life of the righteous None under heaven can live a more truly jocund life or at greater hearts ease than he that hath an upright conscience towards God and towards man His soul in the midst of tribulation is full ballasted with rejoicing which the world cannot take away Hab. 3.18 It was Habbakkuk's resolution that notwithstanding all misery he would rejoice in the Lord he would joy in the God of his salvation But is it so with the wicked can they participate of saving consolation It cannot be Yet my charity forceth this good wish for them I would they did for then would they bid adieu to all sinful courses which in the end prove dismal I am sure I have seen the wicked rejoice in their wickedness yet that rejoicing as it is like crackling of thorns under a pot of short continuance so it is never hearty And wot you why surely because their conscience can never be at rest There is no peace Isa 57.21 saith my God unto the wicked For their consciences tell them that the Lord hath a quarrel unto them for their sins they see their condemnation printed in their soul as it were with red letters in an Almanack How can it be otherwise Where there is no zealous reluctation to evil but a constant gliding into mischief and study to transgress when sinners confident in the imagination of their giddy heads like Tumblers that stand upon their heads kick against Heaven what expectation of peace or joy or what hope of Divine solace can they have On the contrary They that war against the flesh and will not admit any composition th Satan they that spend themselves to please God and to be in league with heaven It cannot be but being that all your aims bend at peace Isa 57.2 you shall end in peace and rest in joy and glory everlasting Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever There remains yet two other kinds of peace to be treated of peace with one another and with the creatures Sin the cause of all confusion hath so distempered the whole fabrick of man and bred such malignant humors in our nature that unlesse the God of order take us in hand we are apt upon the least occasion to lay violent hands one upon another or else by secret contrivances to work one anothers downfal If unbridled passions once get but an head in man nothing unlesse Gods restringent grace stop him shall hold him from breaking out into outragious disorders Wherefore to cure this malady this running sore it seemed good to the God of peace to send his beloved Son the Prince of peace into the world Part of whose function was not to put men together by the eares Sacrosancta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nobis committitur non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to combine their hearts together by a loving union He came and preached peace to you that were afar off and to them that were nigh My peace saith Christ I give unto you And this is my commandment saith love it self that ye love one another Ephes 2.17 John 14.27 cap. 15.12 17. History reports that the Temple of Janus in Rome Paynim at the time of Christs Nativity had all the gates thereof laid open Histor Rom. which was interpreted to be a manifest intimation of a general peace over all the world And out of doubt in whom the Spirit of Christ beareth rule they are ever addicted to a peaceful life for peace whereof the turbulent spirit makes no reckoning is reckoned among the fruits of the blessed spirit Seeing then that Christ brought it preacht it gives it commands it I shall therefore briefly presse it This kind of peace is twofold Civil and Ecclesiastical As Religion is the King upon which the Government of the Political State depends and moves so Peace is the Raile that keeps both close together Truth hath aver'd it that Kingdoms Cities and houses divided against themselves cannot stand Factious spirits in the Commonwealth and schismatical hot-brains in the Church by their unhappy divisions lay a gap open for destruction to enter in by For the preventing whereof be ever observant of the Apostles wholsome advice which is 1 Thes 4.11 5.13 to study to be quiet and to be at peace among your selves We must not let loose the raines to precipitate passion or let flie distastful language unbeseeming the professors of the Gospel of Christ but ever by a sanctified discretion moderate our minds in love and keep our selves within the precise circuit of Piety and Religion Reason it self pleadeth for a civil behaviour towards all which in reason cannot be denied

a sweet savour behind it Wheresoever it comes it will procure favour of God and men When the name that the wicked have gotten shall rot the faithful shall be had in everlasting remembrance Therefore let us be all Zealous this way so shall we be renowned in this world Quàm magnus mirantium tam magnus invidentium populus est Senec. and eternally famous in the world to come Plato was once in such esteem that it was an ancient Proverb Jovem grecè loqui si vellet non aliter loquuturum quàm Platonem But the common people are apt to praise and dispraise with one breath Fame followes desert as the sweet sent doth the rose A man shall be sure to have both the comfort and credit of his worthy parts and practises In the Olympick games those that overcame Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori● Hò●at did not put the garlands on their own heads but stayed till others did it for them That which had been much to a mans commendation if out of another mans mouth sounds very slenderly out of his own It is an hard thing to recover a mans good name if once lost It happened Lau● pro●rlo sordescit in ●re that upon a time Fire Water and Fame went to travel together but before they set forth they consulted that if they lost one another how they might meet again Fire said where you see smoke there you shall finde me Water said where you see marsh or moorish low grounds there you shall find me But Fame said take heed how you lose me for if you do you will ran a great hazard never to meet me again Still the Euge of a good Conscience and Gods approbation is principally to be sought after Whose praise is not of men but of God Rom. ● 29 Mer●t Caelum gratis non accipiam said the Jesuite before grace I had free will to it and when I had grace I deserved glory Satan had perswaded the Scottish Knox he had merited by his Ministery but that God brought to his mind those scriptures What hast thou that thou didst not receive And yet not I but the grace of God which was in me The Jewes of old did seek to be justifyed by their own works and these latter Jewes being asked whether they beleeve to be saved by Christs righteousness or not Answer that every Foxe must pay his own skin to the flear The Church of Rome seekes to be justified by her own righteousness and the righteousness of Christ They hold that Christs righteousness merits that our works should merit And Bellarmine saith De Iustif Opera sanctorum tincta sanguine Christi merentur that is the works of the Saints dipped in the blood of Christ do merit And truely that 's a slie and nice distinction of the Jesuites which they invented of late to make us beleeve that by the doctrine of merits they derogate nothing from the glory of Christ Indeed they say that we make satisfaction for sin and merit heaven yet it is not we that do it but Christ by us not our works simply in themselves but as dyed in the blood of Christ Our Merits are Christs merits and therefore they may deserve heaven I but Christ hath purged our sins by himself not by our selves he hath done it by his own blood immediately not mediately by our works dyed in his blood Therefore that is a meer delusion to mock the world withall Upon those word Heb. 6.10 God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love The Jesuites say It is a world to see what wrything and wringing the Protestants make to shift off this place whereby it is cleer that good works are meritorious and causes of salvation If it be an unrighteous thing with God not to give heaven to our works then we have it not on meer mercy but of justice But we say It is just with God so to do not in regard of our merit Justum est ut reddat qui debet debet autem qui promisit but of his own promise They that came into the vineyard at the last hour had as much as the first yet not of merit but of Covenant It is an unrighteous thing for one to break his promise God hath promised to reward our works with eternal life therefore he should be unrighteous if he did it not yet we must not depend on our merits but on Gods promise ratified by an oath as he sheweth in the following words And for Opus operatum it is not sufficient so much as to acceptance with God because it is not enough to do a good work which God requireth at our hands but we must perform it in such a manner as the Lord requireth We must not only do bonum but bene Besides Merit is a meer fiction sith there can be no proportion betwixt the work and the wages It is well observed Co●●on on Cant. Certum est nos facere quod faimus sed ille ●acit ut faciasmut Aug. Like as Roma is become Amor inversus that the Church in the Canticles is no where described by the beauty of her hands or fingers Christ concealeth the mention of her hands that is of her works 1. Because he had rather his Church should a bound in good works in silence than boast of them especially when they are wanting as Rome doth 2. Because it s he alone that worketh all our works in us and for us We do what we do but it is he that causeth us so to do St Paul is so directly against Popish justification by works that one saith both wittily and well The Epistle of Paul to the Romans is become the Epistle of Paul against the Romans Certainly those misled and muzled soules did worse than lose their labour Act. Mon. fol. 1077. that built religious houses Pro remissione redemptione peccatorum pro remedio liberatione animae pro salute requie animarum patrum matrum fratrum sororum c. These were the ends that they aimed at as appears in stories The Papists think that as he that standeth on two firm branches of a tree is surer than he that standeth upon one onely so he that trusteth to Christ and works too is in the safest condition But 1. They are fallen from Christ that trust to works 2. He that hath one foot on a firm branch and another on a rotten one stands not so sure as if he stood wholly on that which is sound But let them be Moses disciples let us be Christs set not up a candle to this sun of righteousness mix not thy puddle with his purple blood thy rags with his raiment but detest all mock-stayes And account accursed for ever that blasphemous direction of Papists to dying people Conjunge Domine obsequium meum cum omnibus quae Christ us passus est pro me Join Lord mine obedience with all that Christ hath

some times Better to be counted proud saith Luther than be sinfully silent Epist ad Staup. So that there is a time to speak and as sometimes Dixisse culpa sit quae fuerunt retinenda so at another time Tacuisse noceat quae dicenda fuerant Such as love to vaunt themselves and out of ostentation to set forth their good parts to publick view may be compared to a vessel without a cover touching which the Law saith that it shall be counted unclean But to utter a mans knowledge for the benefit of others is not pride but zeal however the world censure it And they have doubtlesse an heavy account to make who hide their Talents Vile latens virtus and having a great treasure of rare abilities will not be drawn to impart them The canker of these mens great skill shall be a swift witnesse against them Silence in some cases is a crying sin Taciturnity is sometimes a vertue but not at all where it tends to the be●raying of a good cause or the detriment of the Church Meam injuriam patienter tuli c. Hierom to vigilantius Whiles the wrong thou didst reached onely to my self I took it patiently but thy wickedness against God I cannot bear with The like Hest 7.4 Isa 62.1 Divines observe there are seven seasons of speaking 1. When we may bring glory to God and do good to our brethren 2. When we have an opportunity to vindicate the honour and truth of God 3. When we may relieve the credit of a brother that is wronged 4. When we may instruct or direct those that are ignorant 5. When we may comfort or support those that are weak 6. When we may resolve and settle those that are in doubt 7. When we may duly reprove and convince those that do evil There are also seven special seasons of silence 1. Till we have a call 2. Till we be rightly informed about the state of the matter or thing to which we must speak 3. Neither may we speak rashly without sutable preparation either actual or habitual 4. Nor when what we speak is like to be a snare unto our selves Amos 5.10 12. with verse 13. 5. So likewise nor when our own passions or corruptions are up 6. Nor when men are not capable of what we speak 7. Nor to burthen or grieve the spirits of any especially of those that are already afflicted I conclude then it is a great part of prudence to know when to be silent and when to speak when it is a time to speak silence is our folly and when it is a time to keep silence speaking is our folly A time to keep silence and a time to speak Eccles 3.7 Prolixity O quàm multa quàm Paucis Tertullus knew full well that Prolixity was troublesom when he uttered that insinuating expression That I be not tedious unto thee hear us of thy clemency a few words Acts 24.4 Wish To wish that a thing had been or not been out of a tendernesse that God should be offended by sin is not onely lawful but very commendable But to wish things otherwise than they are as murmuring against and misliking Gods administration or out of a tendernesse to our selves because we suffer is not onely sinful but abominable because our wills rise up against the Will of God But what a zeal to God and love to his countrey-men had Paul I could wish that my self were separated from Christ Rom. 9.3 for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh Vow God it is to whom a vow belongeth Vota sunt promissiones solennes D●o factae de iis quae in nostrâ sunt potestate Deo gratae ad fidem in precibus confirmandam And therefore Aquinas saith Quòd vo●um soli Deo fit sed promissio etiam potest fieri homini And therefore a Vow is properly an act of Religion and of Divine worship One main use of a religious Vow is to tye our selves thereby to the better abearance that we slip not collar that we detrect not the yoke of Gods obedience Broken bones must have strong bands to close them Tottering houses must be crampt with iron bars or they will soon down If the Vows of God be upon us it will help against the ficklenesse of our false hearts which cannot but know that if God be alsufficient to us we must be altogether his His is a Covenant of mercy even the sure mercies of David Ours is a Covenant of obedience to him in every part and point of duty Wicked men break these bonds as Sampson did the green withes and cast away these cords from them And the best are too s●ack though in their affliction they are wondrous apt to promise great matters Us tales esse perseveremus s●ni quales nos futuros esse profitemur infirmi if they may but be delivered Pliny in an Epistle to one of his friends that desired rules from him how to order his life aright I will saith he give you one rule that shall be instead of a thousand That you be sure to be the same when well that you vowed to be when you were sick However that was not right of Hierom * If that holy father be not wronged Melius est vovere quàm votum non Praestare For Isidorus better by Davids example towards Nabal In male promissis rescinde fidem in stulto voto muta decretum quod incaute vovisti ne facias impià enim est promissio quae scelere adimpletur neque debet votum esse iniquitatis vinculum Vow Psal 76.11 and pay unto the Lord your God Covenant The old Romans had a great care to perform alwayes their word whatever it cost them insomuch that the first Temple built in Rome was dedicated to the Goddesse Fidelity In after times indeed Romanis promittere promptum erat promissis autem quanquam juramento firmatis minimè stare They were forward to promise but careless to perform Many such degenerate Romanes we have that can dispence with promises at pleasure slipping them off as Monkies do their collars and Peacock-like all in changable colours as often changed as moved But a good man will rather suffer losse than forfeit his honest word He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not Psal 15.4 Oath Against the Anabaptists It is not unlawful to swear For 1. God never forbids an Oath simpliciter but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. He doth not say in the third Commandment Non assumes nomen Dei omnino sed non assumes in vanum 3. It is commanded as a part of Gods worship And by an Oath God is glorified we professe that is God present every where that he sees the heart that he is a just revenger of untruths Besides humane society is thereby benefited strifes are ended and love is preserved Object But I say unto you swear not at all Answ It cannot be Christs meaning simply to forbid

swearing for he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it He takes away the corrupt glosses of the Pharisees but not the use of an Oath as may appeare in all the other precepts there reformed but not abolished Again as Christ said Ne juretis omnino so he said Ne resistatis malo yet the Magistrate may resist evil There were two glosses of the Pharisees in this 1. If any sware by the Name of God or by those things that did appertaine immediately to the worship of God as by the gold offered to God in the Temple or by the sacrifice on the Altar he sinned But if he did sweare by other creatures by heaven earth Jerusalem the Altar it was no sinne 2. That the breach of the first Oath was damnable but not of the second These Christ reformeth Moreover the Pharisees meant onely of private Oaths in the ordinary speech of men for in publick judgement they did swear onely by God alone Besides if it were unlawful to swear how shall Christ be justified that addes to his speech Amen Amen Indeed for reformation of this vice of blasphemy and ordinary swearing whereby as Chrysostom saith Christ is continually crucified again it were to be wished that that Law made by Ludovicus King of France were universally established That whosoever sweareth vainly should be burned in the mouth with an hot iron An Oath saith Tully is affirmatio religiosa It is lex naturae Heb. 6.16 and Jus Gentium The use of it is mainly to settle minds and end controversies It is the end of all contradiction there is no more litigation when one hath sworn all are to be as mute as fishes We must have a reverend estimation of an Oath Assumere Deum in testem dicitur jurare quia quasi pro jure introductum est ut quod sub invocatione divini testimonii dicitur pro v●re habeatur Aquin. and these conditions must be observed in it viz. Vt sit in 1. Veritate Jer. 4.2 2. Judicio Jer. 4.2 3. Justitiâ Jer. 4.2 It must be 1. For the confirmation of a truth not of a falsehood It is a most vile thing to make God who is truth it self the witnesse of a lie 2. In judgement with wisdome and discretion upon great and weighty causes When the glory of God and the good of our brethren requires it When the truth cannot otherwise he known 3. For just and lawful matters not for things that are unjust and unlawful we must not swear to kill to take a purse or the like Unto the first of these are opposed false Oaths to the second rash to the third unjust The depravation of our Nature hath abused the lawful act of an Oath by equivocations and mental reservations making it like the Gipsies knot fast or loose at pleasure No scruple in a cauteriz'd conscience passing the bounds of Religion But as the wasp falls into the honey that after drowns her so man into the hands of delightful sin that after kills him Therefore the sacred and solemn obligation of an Oath is to be interpreted not by him that takes it but by him that takes his assurance by it He that sweareth Eccl. 9.2 and he that feareth an oath Perjury It is a sin of an high nature Perjurij paena divina Exitium humana dedecus condemned by the light of nature and punished by the Heathens God punisheth Perjury with destruction Men with disgrace This was one of the Laws of the twelve Tables in Rome A man forswears himself Lombard Ex Aug. when he swears that which 1. Is false and knows it to be false 2. Is true but thought it to be false 3. Is false but held it to be true At least the two first kinds are abominable Antiochus muros Hierosolumitanos obsessus Judaeis pacem denunciat libertatemque vivendi legibus illi verò libenter haec audientes fide acceptâ jurejurando interposito Joseph de Bello Judiac lib. 1. c. 15. è Templo exiverunt at Antiochus cùm ingressus vidisset locum egregiè munitum violato sacramento jussit suum exercitum ut solo aequaret murum quo Templum septum fucrat hoc facto reversus est Antiochiam secum ducens Oniam Pontificem qui Menelaus alio nomine dicitur who was slain in Syria by the suggestion of Lycias to Antiochus But for this cruel tyranny and perjury he had a cruel death and doom unexpected Michael Paleologus Emperor of Constantinople made the Greek Church acknowledge the Pope's supremacy and did many other things contrary to his oath And therefore lieth obscurely buried saith the Historian shrouded in the sheet of defame Rodulphus Duke of Sweveland who by the Pope's instigation brake his oath of allegiance to Henry the Emperor by the cutting off of his faithless right hand lost his life Vladislaus King of Hungary for his perjurious setting upon the Great Turk at the battel of Varna Turk Hist fol. 297. was deservedly defeated Mind Amurath's prayer unto Christ Behold thou crucified Christ this is the League thy Christians in thy name made with me which they have without any cause violated Now if thou be a God as they say thou art and as we dream revenge the wrong now done unto thy name and me and shew thy power upon thy perfidious people who in their deeds deny thee their God A Turk causing a Christian to pay a summ of money most unjustly twice over by taking an oath before the Judge where the matter was examined to the contrary fol. 1310. April 16 1611. that he had not paid it The Christian withall prayed God to shew some publique signe which of them had done the wrong And thereupon the Turk going forth to repair home to his own house fell down dead in the street Perjury is a sin which violates the name of God exceedingly and evidences that men have no fear of God in them that they make an Idol of him to serve their own turns That such men are neither for God nor man to trust not only Religion but even common honesty suffers by them No marvel ten if the Lord recompence such sins upon mens heads Thou shalt not forswear thy self Mat. 5.35 Read Zech. 5.4 5. Mal. 3.5 c. Remembrance Seneca brings in Hercules In Traged lamenting and saying Tot feras vici horridas reges tyrannos non vultus meos in astra torsi Oblivio Jovis erat causa miseriae Fulnesse breeds forgetfulnesse saturity security Many in their low estate could serve God but now resemble the moon which never suffers Eclipse but at her full and that is by the earths interposition between the sun and her self at which time also she gets furthest off from the Sun It s the saying of one that Solomons wealth did more hurt than his wisdom did him good it was his abundance that drew out his spirits and dissolved him and brought him to so low an ebbe in grace

Deut. 8.10 The fed hawk soon forgets her Master Therefore when thou shalt have eaten and be full then beware lest thou forget the Lord. Let us be careful we forget not Gods word neither let slip any one sermon without some profit There are several helps to memory Attention Men remember what they heed and regard Attend to my sayings saith wisdom keep them in the midst of thine heart that is in such a place where nothing can come to take them away Where there is attention there will be retention the memory is the chest and Ark of divine truths and a man should see them carefully locked up Affection That 's a great help to memory men remember what they care for Delight and love are ever reviving and renewing the object upon our thoughts Application and appropriation of truths We will remember that which concerneth our selves Hear this and know it for thy good This I must remember for my comfort Meditation This is a covering of the word that the fowles of the air do not snatch it from us As an apple which is tossed in the hand leaveth the odour and smell of it behind so often revolving the word upon the thoughts Mary kept Christs sayings and pondered them in her heart Conference with others The Disciples that travelled to Emmaus conferred together The Bereans that came from St. Paul his sermon took their Bibles and conferred together Many eyes see more than one that which one hath forgotten another may remember Repetition will be as a nail to fasten the things we have heard Prayer Our corporal meat will do us no good except God bless it no more can the food of our souls And beg the Spirit of God whose work it is to bring things to our remembrance And observe the accomplishment of truths such occasions observed will make old truths come to mind afresh Practise Christians can remember the circumstances of that sermon In sucoum sang●inem by which they get profit This is the digesting of our spiritual meat and the converting of it into our substance It is never our own truly and indeed till it be practised Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard Heb. 2.1 Nè praete●fl●amus lest at any time we should let them slip Abstinence Nature is contented with a little Natura pau●is contenta For who perceiveth not that at all things are seasoned by the desires Darius in his flight when he drunk of the water that was dirty and polluted with dead Carkasses affirmed he never drank sweeter or more pleasant The reason is because he never abstained from drink untill he was thirsty Cicer. Quest. Tus● It is necessary that every one be so far forth continent as may destroy the vices not the flesh for oftentimes in the pursuit of the enemy Greg. therein we kill the Citizen whom we love And oftentime while we do as it were spare our fellow-Citizen we further the enemy in the skirmish Abstaine from all appearance of evil 1 Thes 5.22 Testimony Testimonium est fallibile in fide humanâ in fide divinâ infallibile The witnesse of the Holy Ghost is the work of faith the witnesse of our spirits the sense of faith wrought This is better felt by experience than expressed by words known altogether and onely to them that have it The state of Gods children is full of sweet certainty and assurance he that having a cause to be tried and hath two sufficient witnesses doubts not of the day Now Gods Children have two witnesses Omni exceptione majores 1. Their own spirit which is not to be condemned for if conscience a natural thing be a thousend witnesses much more the spirit which is a supernatural power given of God 2. The Holy Ghost which cannot deceive or be deceived witnesseth with our spirits Besides what an honour is this to the Saints that the Holy Ghost should bear witness at the bar of their consciences There are several wayes of bearing witnesse to Christ 1. By openly publishing the truth of Christ promulging of the Evangelical truths concerning the Messiah 2. By leading lives answerable to the Christian profession holinesse and uprightness of conversation doth attest and credit the Doctrine of Christ 3. By suffering especially death it self for Christs cause and the Gospels To such the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is eminently applied Under the law one witnesse was allowed sufficient in case of Religion Deut. 29.16 17. Malitia tua te adduxit ad mortem non nos Lyran. V●erque Diabolum habet isle in linguâ ille in a●re Dav. Detractores Canini dentes Diaboli Pa●isien But two were required in civil cases Cap. 19.15 Witnesses of old were wont to put their hand upon the head of the offendor and say It is thy own wickednesse which condemns thee and not we We may neither raise an evil report nor receive it neither be the tale-bearer nor tale-hearer The one carries the Devil in his tongue the other in his ear Not only those that make a lye but those that love it when it is made to their hands are shut out of heaven Rev. 22.15 Every man hath two great witnesses either for or against him 1. Conscience within him 2. God above him Other faculties may rest but no passage shall be able to scape the record of conscience Conscia mens ut cuique sua est Ovid. ita concipit intra Pectora pro facto spemque metúmque suo This is Gods deputy-judge holding court in the whole soul bearing witnesse of all a mans doings and desires and accordingly excusing or accusing absolving or condemning comforting or tormenting But yet the witness of God is the most desireable witness The witnesse we have on earth is nothing worth unless we have a witnesse in Heaven If we have not the inward witnesse of our own conscience it is little advantage though we have a thousand outward witnesses Conscience is more than a thousand witnesses but God is more than ten thousand consciences As the witnesse of good men is more desirable than the witnesse of all other men and the witnesse of a good conscience is more desirable than the witnesse of good men so the witnesse of God is more desirable than without which we cannot have it and with which we shall have it the witnesse of a good conscience Job 16.19 Behold my witnesse is in heaven and my record is on high Contemplation A contemplative life without practice is like unto Rachel Jacobs wife beautiful and bright-sighted but yet barren It is good therefore to have Rachels beautiful face to be seconded with Leah's fruitful womb If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them John 13.17 Consideration Cras tibi respondebo said Melanchton to his adversary Eccius It is but little that can be learned in this life without due and deep consideration which is an

Decor corporis It hath parts civil and parts effeminate For Neither gold nor precious stone so glistereth saith Plato as the prudent mind of a pious person Nothing so beautifieth as grace doth cleanness of body was ever esteemed to proceed from a due reverence to God to society and to our selves As for artificial decoration it is well worthy of deficiency being neither fine enough to deceive nor handsom to use nor wholsom to please Behaviour seemeth to me as a garment of the mind and to have the conditions of a garment It ought to be made in fashion it ought not to be too curious It ought to be shaped so as to set forth any good making of the mind and hide any deformity and above all it ought not to be too strait or restrained for exercise or motion Too much outward neatness saith one is a signe of inward nastiness The Kings daughter is all glorious within Psal 45 13. Food Animantis cujusque vita est in fuga Were it not for the repair of nutrition the natural life would be extinguished The Latines call Bread Panis of the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is the chief nourishment In pane conclusus est quasi baculus qui nos sustineat therefore called the staff of bread yet without Gods blessing it can no more nourish us than a clod of clay God can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham yea God out of Christ Jesus the Corner-stone hath raised up the children of Abraham And whereas Sathan said to Christ Command these stones to be made bread He himself the chief Corner-stone of his Church is the bread of life that came down from heaven Meat doth not nourish by its own power but by Gods appointment Else it would be more likely to choak than to feed But his word of command is able to soften stones Fides famem non formidat and make poyson to be both meat and medicine Therefore if bread fail feed on faith Daniel and his fellows their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the Kings meat Mat. 4.4 God hath given us the creature Beza not only for necessity but for delight Deus multa plura condidit quibus facilè carere possemus quàm quibus necessariò nobis opus est Our Saviour Christ himself was at a feast in Cana of Galilee where when wine failed he supplied it by miracle But have a care we turn not this liberty into wantonness being the most wicked when we should be most thankful and grieving God most when he gives us both occasion and means of rejoycing And let us mind our selves ab ovo ad mala that our hearts be not drowned in the creature and that we make not our belly our God It is said Aves propter viles escas gratias agunt t● preciosissimis opulis pasceris ingra●us es Tettul the Elephant turns up the first sprig towards heaven when he comes to feed God is the great House-keeper of the world providing sustenance for all from the greatest to the least from the Elephant to the Mouse from the Eagle to the Sparrow from the Whale to the Shrimp He carves them out their meet measures of meat and at sit seasons Of him they have it per causarum concatiuationem The eyes of all wait upon thee Psal 145.15 16. and thou givest them their meat in due season Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing Sleep A certain Commander finding the Centinel asleep slew him saying Mortuum inveni mortuum reliqui The Night and Sleep are well called Malorum domitrices the conquerors of evil and victors over sorrow Hence Christ Mat. 6.34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of it self sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof Sleep is the sweet Parenthesis of nature a medicine for all diseases They are likeliest to sleep who together with their clothes can put off their cares And say as Lord Burleigh did when he threw off his gown Lie there Lord Treasurer Sweet sleep is not from a soft bed or an easie couch but from the especial blessing of God therefore let us bless God for it and not our beds A good nights rest is the good gift of God and deserves daily acknowledgments by man So he giveth his beloved sleep Psal 127.2 Dream When men are plunged in sleep and are as it were neither in the number of the living nor the dead Then many times the Reasonable soul cometh into the shop of Phantasie and there doth strange works which are vented in our Dreams A Dream is an imagination which the mind of man conceiveth in sleep For the causes and kinds of Dreams they are either 1. Natural from the temper or distemper of the body Or 2. Moral as a man works in the day his fancy works in the night Or 3. Divine The Scripture is full of instances Or 4. Diabolical permitted the Devil causeth sometimes filthy and sinful Dreams Aug. confes l. 10. c. 30. It is conceived by some that the Dream of Pilat's wife Mat. 27.19 was from the Devil because thereby he would have hindered the work of mans Redemption Richard the Third after the murther of his two innocent Nephews and Charls the Ninth of France after the Parasian Massacre had such dreadful Dreams that they became a terror to themselves and to all about them But to instance in better men Calvin being sick of the Gout dreamed Bez. in vit that he heard a great noise of Drums beaten up most vehemently as they use to be in warlike marches Pareus that he saw all Heidelbergh on a thick smoke but the Prince's Palace all on a light fire Phil. Pa● in vit David Par. operib ejus praefixd The Antients funcied that a Dream had wings like a bird of the air Antiqui somnium Deum fingebant volatilem c. it is so speadily gone Hence a wicked mans joy is but the joy of a Dreamer which quickly vanisheth A beggar dreameth of gold but he awaketh and his purse is empty The prisoner dreameth of liberty but he awaketh and findeth himself in irons Such is the wicked man in his prosperity As a dream when one awaketh so O Lord when thou awakest thou shult Psal 73.20 despise their image Eccl. 5.7 Isa 29.8 Life present Our life is Davids span seventy years half spent in sleep so thirty five remain Abate then days of youth and childhood which Solomon calls vanity in some old age in which we take no pleasure with our dayes of grief which we wish had never been Deduct these the time of sleep youth age sorrow and only a span remains Prosper said to them that wept about him The life I have enjoyed was but given me upon condition to render it up again not grudgingly but gladly Gods child

of them but to offer up an Expiatory sacrifice for the wrong God received and a sufficient price for the impetration of our sins remission To this end another Priesthood as was necessary was ordained in mercy by the effectual execution whereof sin committed should be expiated and an access made for transgressors unto the Throne of grace And this is the Priesthood only of Jesus Christ the Righteous who knew no sin and in whose mouth was found no guile Being holy harmless undefiled and separate from sinners Before this high Calling should be actually executed by Christ in person it was the will of our Heavenly Father 1. That men should be apprehensive of the want thereof by the conviction of conscience of the multitude of sins and gravance of them 2. That the minds of men should be throughly toucht with a longing for it are it came to the real performance yet so as that in the interposing time their hopes might be supported against despair that might spring out of the remorse of conscience for their sins which would not be taken away but by that High-Priest which taketh away the sins of the world Hereupon a Typical Priesthood was instituted for a time till the fulness of time called the time of reformation Heb. 9.10 determin'd by the most prudent Dispenser of times and seasons should come Men of infirmities and subject unto sin were then by the Law of a carnal precept appointed to offer up for the sons of men innocent beasts in whose death by the effusion of their blood wherein consisted their life they did contemplate their own merit These creatures did not any thing worthy death as was rightly conceived neither could these Sacrifices cleanse the Sacrificers from sin to perfection as pertaining to the conscience This was understood wherefore then they could not but conclude that being they did offer such they did but give to God under their hands and seals an acknowledgment of their errors and a confession of a due debt Yet seeing God was the Author of the institution of them and accepted them at their hands as sacrifices of a sweet smelling favour they conceived a lively hope of grace and pardon framing with themselves the like discourse to that of Samson's mother Judg. 13.23 If the Lord were pleased to kill us he would not receive a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands Heb. 10.1 Bona gratia gloria These Figures then being but the shadows of good things to come not the very image of the things did bear up their hopes and in some measure establish their confidence in him by whom they expected good things to come This is the ground of the Apostles reasoning Heb. 9.13 If the blood of bulls and goats sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh there 's the shadow how much more see the substance shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God Here then I am to intreat of my Saviour's Priesthood whereby eternal Redemption is obtained that they who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance A Subject challenging most reverent devotion and care Now that I may not rove from the Apostle's intended scope Three things should be handled 1. Of him as he is a Priest befitting us Such an High-Priest became us 2. Of his personal qualities related in the concrete Who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners 3. Of his dignity to which he is advanced Made higher than the heavens How deep are all men in the guilt of sin all men enlightned with the knowledge of the truth easily perceive who when brought to the acknowledgment of this cannot be so ignorant as not to know the depth of their misery The depth of their misery without the successful Mediation of the Son of God is their abiding under the wrath of God which cometh upon the children of disobedience For the removal whereof the Supreme Moderator that dwelleth in the Heavens ruling all things hath anointed his Son High-Priest to deal in things concerning men To whom as he gave the nations for his inheritance Psal 2. Psal 110. and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession so hath he confirmed him to be an High-Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec From whom by an heavenly decree he expected the full discharge of the Priestly function imposed upon him Sacerdos q. Sacer dux the intent and purpose whereof was to bring men to God And this being the act of Mercy according to the good pleasure of his will willing to pass by offences his Justice whose rigor is inflexible ever loving righteousness and haring iniquity steps in to claim satisfaction This must have been given for the sins of the sons of men before they could have vouchsafed them any perfect hope of a gracious reconcilement To join therefore Mercy and Justice together whereby to end the difference the Divine Wisdom concluded That the punishment due to sin should be converted into an Expiatory sacrifice and this should appease and quiet the one and make an easie way and entrance for the other At quarendum Sacrificium But such a one was to be sought for and such a one too as might be Sacerdes Sacrificium both Priest and Sacrifice Here was a work fit only for the scrutiny of the Sacred Trinity infinitely surpassing the imagination of Man though never so vast All the Creatures could neither afford the one nor the other An Angel could not be Priest Man must to plead the cause of men with God Neither could the Sacrifice for man be an Angel because it was not meet that the death of an Angel should be the expiation of a crime perpetrated by man Nay further might it be so we should I believe be hardly induced to believe that an Angelical oblation offered by that Spiritual nature would profit us The nature that offended ought in all equity to purge away the offence and to suffer for it Among Men therefore must the search be made but there was little hope to find out one that could that would sufficiently effectually undergo so great a task All were sinners terrified with the horrid guilt of their accusing consciences and held captive in the chains of sin under the tyranny of the Prince of darkness None of these durst approach to present an offering unto God who is pure Light neither were any of them able were any willing to sustain or endure the severe countenance of an angry God before whom he was to appear Yet a Man must have done the deed if ever the deed were done Hereupon it was agreed upon that the Son of God God over all blessed for ever should be made the Son of man to be made the Saviour of man the worlds Creator should become one of the creatures of the world to redeem the rest fram'd after the similitude of sinful

are reconciled to God St. Chrys on those words in Colos Chrysost in Cap. 1. Epist ad Cosos it pleased the Father by him that is by Christ to reconcile all things unto himself whether they be things in earth or things in heaven understandeth by things in heaven the holy Angels of God who saith he became enemies to all men by reason of their universal rebellion against the Lord their God But now beare good will to us after we are reconciled to God by Christ and are of the houshold of faith Hereupon it is as our Saviour saith that the Angels in heaven rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner unto God Heb. 1 14. and the Apostle writing to the Hebrews saith they are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heires of salvation They guard such as their proper charge saith devout Perkins that be in Gods favour and carry them as a nurse doth a child in her armes that they dash not their foot against a stone Perkins on Revel 1. Psal 91.11 Wherefore some Christian Philosophers out of Act. 12.15 where speech being made of St. Peter it is said it is not he it is his Angel collect that every elect man of God hath his good Angel to protect him to guide him in all his wayes and upon occasion when it seemes good to God many as Elijah had Thus we are at peace with good Angels as for the bad we must have no peace with them Origen on● Rom. 5. for then we shall have no peace with God Origen on the 5. of the Romanes tells us that Ipse supra omnes cateros pacem habet apuà Deum qui impugnatur à diabolo c. he above all others hath peace with God who is ever combating with Satan Warre against Satan procures peace with God Wherefore being he will do us no good the Lord so works as that he shall do us no hurt As for the other creatures all of them are in league with a good man their lesive facultie is restrained by the supreme power from doing violence to the Lords redeemed whereas the wicked are still exposed to the danger of their power The starres in their courses fought for Israel against Sisera Judg. 5.20 The fire did not hurt the three children in the fierie surnace The hungry lyon preyed not upon Daniel in the den Isa 11.6 8 9. lying at the mercy of that ravenous beast A little child saith the Prophet Isaiah shall lead the young lyon the sucking child shall play on the hole of the Aspe and the weaned child shall put his hand on the Cocokatrices den neither these nor any of the rest shall hurt or destroy in his holy mountaine in his holy Church It was a most comfortable promise which God made to Judah and Israel and in them to his peculiar people that he would make a covenant for them with all creatures Hos 2.18 the beasts of the field the fowles of the aire the creeping things of the ground heaven earth corn oyle and all Yea the child of God shall tread upon the lyon and the serpent and they shall not hurt him Thou shalt be in league saith Eliphaz the Temanite to Job with the stones of the field Psal 91.13 Job 5.23 and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee Thus Gods Children in Christ Jesus shall receive no detriment by any thing that God made but by his blessed providence they shall find assistance and comfort from all his creatures Now the God of peace that sent his Son with the Gospel of peace and his messengers with the glad tidings of good things grant that we may live in peace and depart in peace according to his word to leade an everlasting Sabboth of rest in the highest heavens Great mens births are commonly celebrated with the joyful acclamation of their dependants every one being in a readiness to noise abroad the newes that includes happinesse whereby others might be partakers of their joys and excited to do the like in imitation Thus the glorious and blessed Angels the inhabitants of heaven and the immediate attendants of the most high do the birth of the Son of God the King of Kings like wel-bred Courtiers in significant terms divulge the birth of so great a Prince and melodiously express what good what great benefits come by the birth of so good so great a person Which ought to be a forcible incentive unto us after their example to render due honour unto God and ●o worship that day-star which from on high hath visited us with everlasting comforts All the holy Angels of God are obliged to praise him but we much more he restored not them to any felicity for they lost none we lost the primitive goodness of our unblemished creation and yet restored he us He redeemed not them they needed it not nor the wicked Angels that needed it but wrought our redemption when we were enemies worthy condemnation O then let us praise the Lord for his peace and merce for both endure for ever What the Angels sung will serve our turn Glory be to God on high c. The parts of our discourse are 1. The glory we owe to God 2. The peace God sent on earth 3. Gods good will towards men Concerning the two first I have no more to say than what I have already but proceed unto that last and maine point whereupon depend all our future hopes of eternal blisse which is Gods good will and mercy I confesse that the very name of peace is a sweet word and sweeter the work but sweetest that of mercy which is the cause of it Being then that mercy must be the subject of my present meditations first I betake my self to thee O God of mercy and eternal Spirit of truth humbly beseeching thee to enable me by thy gracious illumination and to rectifie the retired cogitations of my soule that whilest I display thy mercy thy goodness thy salvation and when all is done there may be in mens hearts a deep impression of true joy and a perfect sense may be obtained of thy loving kindness and good-will toward them To behold God sitting in his throne of justice is to a sinner most full of dismal horrour but to view him seated in his throne of mercy is to a distressed soule most full of heavenly consolation If there be any that obstinately forget God and carelesly cast behind their backs his sacred ordinances let them expect to be torn in picees of him and none to deliver them let them look to be consumed of that God whose Jealousie burns like fire If there be any that are heartily submissive and sincerely penitent in the sight of our all-seeing God for their enormities let them joy up in abundance for in him there is mercy and plenty of redemption although all of us have highly offended him and multiplyed our transgressions above measure yet if we can

nature he had made ours by grace And here we may be as bold as to conclude we are the sons of God because the natural Son of God assumed body of our body flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones that he might be the same with us and we the same with him Thus he became our Kinsman to whom of property by the old Law it did belong to redeem his brethren Which that he might effect he did conquer Death and who could do this but he who is our Life He did vanquish Sin and who could do this but Righteousness it self He did bring into his subjection the Forces of the world and the Powers that rule in the air and who could do this but he that is the Power of God And who is this Life this Righteousness this Power of God but Jesus Christ very God of very God and yet the Son of Man Christ was God and Man Man that sin might be punished in the nature offending yet Man without sin to fulfill that Righteousness which none of us sold under sin can fulfill He was Man that as by the disobedience of the first Adam sin entred into the world so by the obedience of him who is the second Adam righteousness should bring justification to life And as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous By the righteousness of his obedience Active and Passive Active in perfecting all the duties injoined by the Law Passive in suffering the wrath of God the punishment of our disobedience Thus our confusion is taken away and life and righteousness are restored unto us And he was God withal that the Justice of God might receive compleat satisfaction by a punishment that should be infinite or equal to infinite which none but God could give And therefore Christ is said as God to have purchased his Church with his own blood Act. 20. 1 Joh. 3.16 and to lay down his life for us And though his punishment was not so infinite but that it was finite yet it was only finite for time but was for value as it ought to be infinite Thus the Son of True God did bear the burden of his Fathers wrath in our nature which no other Nature ought to do but the soul that sinned which no other but God could do because God is a consuming fire and his wrath unquenchable by any creature Forasmuch as God alone could not die because not subject to passion nor Man alone overcome death because too weak It was requisite that our Redeemer who should die for our sins should be both that by the weakness of the one nature he might submit himself to the power of death thereby to undergo punishment due to sin and by the strength of the other he should by sustaining the Manhood make good his part against death and swallow it up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory But thanks be to God Sarcasmo conflat hostili derisione quâ mors ridenda propinatur saith one that hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ And thus much of the Person humbled which is Christ God and Man The next point to be discuss'd is Wherein his Humiliation did consist that is in general He suffered From the time of his nativity to the very hour of his death was he not free from suffering He was no sooner born but Herod sought his life He was subject to the infirmities of our nature sin excepted He was hungry and thirsty weary and faint sorrowful and discontented his poverty was extream though Lord of all and Possessor of heaven and earth he had not so much as whereon to lay his head Grievous was the temptation he suffered by Satans onset infinite were the injuries that were offered him by the cursed brats of Satan both in word and deed In word by false calumnies and forged accusations by contumelious detractions and cursed blasphemies In deed by framing of projects and laying of plots how to take away his life He was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrowes and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him Isa 53. He was despised and we esteemed him not surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrowes Yet we esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted His whole life was a perpetual passion He was never let alone until upon the Cross he gave himself a ransom for all and his enemies never ceased until they drew out his hearts blood which he for our redemption in his loving kindness was willing to part withall He had power in his own hand to lay down his life and he had power to assume it again For albeit his life lay at the stake yet could he were he so disposed command legions of Angels beside his own power which was alsufficient to deliver him either by putting his enemies to flight or by repressing their violence that either they would not or they should not hurt him or by utterly subverting them But being that he came into the world to the end to suffer to compass for us a world without all end he withdrew not his neck from the yoke but set himself forward to bear the iniquity of us all laid upon him Thus Christ was subject to passion but not according to his divine but humane nature For as he is God he is Actus purissimus and cannot suffer but yet he being God suffered in the nature assumed which was capable of suffering that is in his Manhood So that here we have the highest Person and the lowest Humiliation met together Wherefore in this suffering of our Lord there are three things according to Bernards observation specially noted Bernard Opus modus causa In opere patientia in modo humilitat in causa charitas commendatur Patientia singularis humilitas admirabilis sed charitas inestimabilis There are the work the manner of performing and the cause In the work which is suffering his patience is commended in the manner his humility in the cause his charity for charity moved him to suffer with patience and humility His patience is singular none like it his humility admirable none ever came never shall come near it his charity inestimable for it is incomparable All which may appear unto you by presenting to your view his special sufferings immediately preceding his death In these sufferings of our Saviour you may see the foulest act of Treason that ever was committed the greatest Cruelty that was ever heard of both hatcht in the pit of hell Judas his familiar friend comes and betrays him with a false-hearted complement a Kiss his love was only from the teeth outward deceit was in his heart and the poison of asps under his lips but no wonder the Devil was in him Peter his Disciple than whom none more forward in times past to confess him to be

in the salvation of penitent and beleeving soules the glory of his justice in the condemnation of obdurate and perverse malefactors As it is a perfect law so it is a law of liberty oppos'd to the Mosaical which is lex senvitutis a law of thraldome The liberty of this law in respect of our twofold condition is twofold 1. Gracious here in the life of grace wrought by Christ the Son of the everliving God if the Son make us free we are free indeed Joh. 8.36 Wherefore we have a free accesse at all times to call upon the Father of mercys imploring his powerful assistance in holy actions and invincible protection from all evil 2. Glorious in the life of glory called Vindicationis libertas the liberty of compleat redemption the creature being delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God Phrasis qulgatissima est Deum colere Non secus at que agri fertiles inprimis optimi sic Dei cultus f●uctus fert ad vitam aternam uberrimos Of this twofold liberty there are these parts 1. A liberty from sin our submission to the Gospel and faithful embracing of the promises of God in Christ frees us both from the raigning power of sin and from the condemning power For being made free from sin we become servants to God and have our fruit unto holiness and the and everlusting life Rom. 6.22 2. A liberty from the yoke of the ceremonial law and bondage of the morall From the yoke of the ceremonial law which was so ponderous as that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear but now by Christ and the law of faith it is blotted out quite abolished and taken out of the way And from the bondage of the moral law in these ensuing particulars 1. From the curse and consequently from the punishment of sin the transgression of the law Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Rom. 8.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Apostle certifies us that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus 2. From the rigour and exaction of the law requiring of us for our justification perfect righteousness inherent in us and perfect obedience to be practis'd by us 3. From the terrour and coaction of the law which ingendereth servile fear in those who are under it and compelleth them through the horror of torment as bond-slaves by the whip or rack to the outward though unwilling performance of it But those that are under the law of grace are zealously addicted to good works and services of God which are over done by them with the free consent of a plous mind the original cause whereof is not any natural disposition but the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given unto us 4. from the instigation of the law for which reason saith Pareus on 1 Cor. 15.56 it hath got the name of the strength of sin whereby sin appears more sinfull which is not caused by any fault in the law in it self good and condemning sin but through the viciousness of our unregenerate nature that takes occasion from the sacred prohibitions of it to transgresse which irritation is accidentall not essentiall to the undefiled law of the righteous Lord. Another part of this liberty is a liberty from death which is twofold the first and the second They that are effectually in subjection to the Gospel the glad-tidings of peace are free from the first death as it is a punishment And from the second over them the second death shall have no power Tollitur mor● non ne fiat sed ne obsit Aug. To them the nature of the first death is changed and made but transitus ad vitam a passage from death to life it is the end of sin and misery and the beginning of our unspeakable happiness the high-way from the vale of teares to the Kingdom of glory and Celestiall joyes the Period of a mortall life and the innitiation of a life immortal Last of all there is a liberty from Sathan and the world granted to the sons of God adopted in the Son of God the Son of God hath over come the strong man Not imperium Principis but Carnificis à Lapide and bound him as being stronger than he thorough death he destroyed him that had the power of death that is the Devil and delivereth them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. 2.14 Get thee behind us Satan as Christ said to Peter and let the wicked world follow thee which Christ hath over-come Joh. 16. ult And since O loving Saviour we live free men free from sin reigning condemning free from Satan and the world under the easy yoke of thy Evangelical Law and under the protection of thy wings We will with thy disciples follow thee whithersoever thou goest and run after thee whither thy good Spirit shall lead us Thus it is apparent how the Gospel of Christ is a perfect Law of liberty into which whoso looketh and continueth therein he being not a forgetfull hearer but a doer of the work shall be blessed in his deed From the bottome of the stairs or ladder we now go up the steps the first whereof is speculation whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty Joh. 5.39 Audite saeculares comparate vobis Biblia animae Pharmaca Chrysost Prono capite propenso collo accurate in trospieere 1 Pet. 1.12 It was a good advice blest be the mouth that gave it Search the Scriptures which is made good by the reasons rendred for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me saith our Saviour hence this search must not be slight this speculation not vain this looking not perfunctory our Knowledge of Christ and eternal life depending on it This is intimated in the original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying an exact and accurate prying into a thing as if one to find out somewhat difficult to find out should stand in this posture with his body or head bended towards the earth his eyes contracted and fixed upon some object as if he did intend to look it through and so to inform himself fully Thus when we attempt to look into the abstruse mysteries of divinity to acquaint our selves with the sacred Principles of Religion a superficial view is of no avail Profound matters require a serious and frequent meditation an indefatigable study hence the Apostle St Peter describing the desire of the Angels to know the hidden mysteries of salvation expresseth it by the same word the Angels desire to look narrowly into the things revealed to us by the Holy Ghost a work worthy their and our pains not to be posted over with a careless run but to be stuck close unto and prosecuted until finished and the mind in