also as are idle and vnprofitable CAP. XXIX Of Christian prudence which wee ought to vse in all our conferences §. Sect. 1 How wee must carry ourselues when we conferre with those who excell vs in gifts ANd thus we haue spoken of graciousnesse of speech to be vsed in our conferences and of the contrary corruptions which ought to bee shunned The next duty required is that our speeches bee powdred with the salt of Christian wisedome and prudence which not onely enableth vs to speake good things but also to fit these speeches to the persons with whom we conferre to occasions and opportunities to the present purpose vse and necessitie so as they may be most seasonable powerfull and effectuall for the furthering of our owne good and theirs also that beare vs company And this the Apostle vnderstandeth when as hee requireth that our speech should bee alwaies gracious and seasoned with salt that wee may know how Col. 4. 6. to answere euery man for their speciall vse and benefit This is that fit and seasonable speech which the Wise man compareth to apples of gold in Pro. 25 11. pictures of siluer and this is to haue the tongue of the learned when as wee know how to speake a word in season to him that is weary And when as wee Esa 50. 4. Eccl. 12. 10. can fit our speeches to present occasions and so apply them to euery sort and condition of men as that they may be behoouefull and beneficiall to them all in their seuerall kindes As for example when wee conferre with such as excell vs in grace and piety wisedome and knowledge we must reuerencing Gods graces and greater gifts in them yeeld vnto them priority of speech and attentiuely harken vnto those gracious words which proceede out of their mouthes not spending of our small stocke which cannot inrich them but laying vp their speeches as good treasures in our hearts that wee may increase our spirituall store which wee may afterwards lay out when wee come among those that haue more neede And vnto this the wise Salomon aduiseth vs Bow downe thine eare saith he Pro. 22. 17 18. and heare the words of the Wise and apply thine heart vnto my knowledge For it is a pleasant thing if thou keepe them within thee they shall withall bee fitted in thy lips And againe Hearken vnto me now therefore O ye children and attend Pro. 7. 24. 8. 6. vnto the words of my mouth Heare for I will speake excellent things and the opening of my lips shall bee right things And here the Apostle Iames his rule is especially to bee obserued Let euery man be swift to heare and slow Iam. 1. 19. to speake For the words of the Wise are of great vse and profit power Eccles 12 11. and efficacie like goads pricking men forward in the waies of Godlinesse and like nayles fastening and confirming their hearts in all vertuous courses In which regard if we interrupt them in their holy and wise speeches by interposing our vnseasonable and lesse profitable talke wee shall by disturbing their discourse wrong our selues and the rest of the companie and bee more foolish then the foolish virgins who did not Matth. 25. desire to put out and extinguish the lights of the wise but that they might share and communicate with them And therefore when wee come into such companie let vs thinke that wee are in a rich and plentifull market wherein wee may store our selues with what we want In which respect let vs wholy intend to inrich our hearts with all needefull graces by trading with these rich Marchants who abound in them and labour by communicating with them in these holy conferences to increase our knowledge strengthen our faith confirme our affiance nourish our hopes mortifie our corruptions and to bee more and more enabled to new obedience and holinesse of life On the other side when we are in the company of those which are weake and inferiour vnto vs in knowledge and other of Gods graces wee must bee as ready to speake vnto their instruction and edification as to heare those which are superiour vnto vs. And as those who are of meane estate may lawfully desire and receiue gifts from the rich that they may impart them vnto those who are poorer then themselues so must wee also doe in our spirituall trading one with another Which wee neede not grudge to doe seeing wee shall not lose by their gaine but mutually thriue together not much lesse increasing our owne knowledge and other graces by teaching and communicating them then they by learning and receiuing these spirituall gifts herein resembling the Widdowes Cruze of Oyle which filled in emptying and when much was taken out of it for the reliefe of the whole family afforded no lesse store the next meale or like the milke in the mothers brest which if it be sucked by the child continueth and increaseth but if it be not drawne soone faileth and dryeth vp Neither must wee in this case bee so proud and lofty in our own conceits as to scorne or refuse conference with those who are not equall with vs in gifts but as the Apostle exhorteth wee must condescend vnto men of lowestate stoop vnto the vnderstanding of the meanest Rom. 12. 16. thinking it as necessary an office in Gods family to put milk into the mouthes of little babes as to set stronger meate before those that are able Iohn 21. 15. to sit at the table with vs and feede themselues Vnto the performance of which dutie Christian wisedome and discretion is very necessary to giue vnto euery one a fit portion as they are able to beare and not to glut and ouercloy weake stomacks with these spiritual dainties till like the Israelites Quailes they come out of their nostrils For if they surfet through saciety and bee crammed till it bee ready to come vp againe they shall for the present offend God thereby and loath this Spirituall food for the time to come And therefore when wee meete with weakelings let vs haue respect vnto them and not so much consider what we could willingly giue as what thier weake stomackes are able to disgest intermixing as it were sawces to their meate ciuill morall and pleasant speeches tending to their profit or delight that thereby their appetite being quickned they may feede vpon more solid and wholesome nourishment with lesse saciety §. Sect. 2 How we must behaue our selues when we conferte with ciuill worldlings Againe if those with whom wee conferre are but meere worldlings wee must wisely consider whether they bee morally ciuill or openly prophane and desperately wicked If they be of the former sort we must cherish those common gifts and graces of the Spirit which we obserue in them yet so as we doe our best to worke them out of a Pharisaicall conceit of them as though they needed nomore to assure them of their saluation To which purpose we
communion of Saints carefully auoyding the proud superstitious and ignorant practice of those who in Gods publike seruice make a rent in the Congregation reading of a booke when others are praying and praying priuately to themselues when they should ioyne with the rest of the people in the hearing of Gods Word First then when the Minister prayeth we are to ioyne with him as being our spokes-man who in our name as well as his owne maketh knowne our suits vnto God and returneth vnto him praise and thankesgiuing for all his benefits In which regard we are to accompany him in this holy exercise with such reuerence and attention zeale and deuotion faith and feruency of spirit as if his tongue were the interpreter of our harts But of the duties of prayer I haue spoken before and therefore here passe them ouer Secondly wee must apply our selues to heare the Word diligently and attentiuely when it is read vnto vs by Gods Minister not slighting it ouer as a duty of small moment which we may as well performe at home seeing this ministeriall reading in the Congregation is more effectuall for our spiritual good then our priuate reading euen as a Sermon preached is more powerfull and effectuall then a Sermon read because these publike meanes are Gods holy ordinances the which hee accompanieth with his grace and holy Spirit infusing by them more vertue and vigour into those who rightly vse them then by priuate exercises §. Sect. 2 Of our hearing of the Word and what is required vnto it The third duty is that we carefully and diligently heare the Word of God preached vnto vs with all reuerence and attention alacrity and cheerfulnesse faith humility and a good conscience First we must heare the Word with all reuerence and feare and to this purpose wee must remember that we are in Gods sight and presence who taketh notice of all our carriage and behauiour Secondly considering that the Minister Act. 10. 33. Esa 66. 2. 2. Cor. 5. 20. speaketh not in his owne name but as Gods Ambassadour we must heare that which he speaketh not as the word of a mortall man but as it is indeed 1. Thes 2. 13. Luk. 10. 16. the Word of the euerliuing God whereby one day wee shall bee iustified or condemned Moreouer we must heare it with all attention and not suffer our eyes to roue and our minds and hearts to bee carryed away with Luk. 4. 20. wandring thoughts but our eyes must be fastened vpon the Preacher as the eyes of our Sauiour Christs hearers were vpon him and like them Chap. 19. 48. we must hang vpon his lips as the child vpon his mothers brests to sucke from them the sincere milke of the Word that we may grow vp thereby 1. Pet. 2. 1. Neither must we want only affect the froth of humane wit and eloquence but the pure and powerful Word of God which is able to saue our soules not such flashes and idle conceits as tickle the eare but neuer pierce the heart and worke a present delight but neither informe the iudgement nor reforme the affections but sound doctrine and wholesome nourishment For no more is the Minister bound to preach the Word in the demonstration of the Spirit and power plainly and profitably then the people to hunger after the sincere milke of the Word and the wholesome food of their soules which is fit to nourish them vnto euerlasting life Thirdly we must heare the Word with alacrity and cheerfulnesse seeing Psal 110. 3. Esa 2. 2. Psal 122. 1. as the Lord loueth a cheerfull giuer so a cheerfull receiuer and hearer and in all duties especially requireth the seruice of the heart The which we shall the better doe if we consider that the Word is the spirituall seed whereby we are regenerate and begotten vnto God the food of our soules which preserueth spirituall strength and nourisheth them to life eternall the light that guideth vs in the way of saluation the physicke that cureth vs of our corruptions the meanes of working in vs all spirituall graces and of assuring vnto vs euerlasting happinesse Fourthly wee must bring faith to the hearing of Gods Word without which it will profit vs nothing Heb. 4. 2. as the Apostle speaketh By which faith we doe not onely stedfastly beleeue those things which are soundly deliuered out of Gods Word but also effectually apply them vnto our selues for our owne particular vse as if they were spoken to none but vs. And thus wee must apply the threatnings of the Law for our humiliation that wee may escape Gods Iudgements instructions for our information admonitions and reprehensions for our repentance and amendment counsels for our direction and consolations for our comfort By which application we make the food of our soules our peculiar nourishment for the begetting and increasing of all Gods graces in vs. Fifthly we must heare the Word with humility submitting our selues vnto it as Gods ordinance and Scepter of his Kingdome to be ruled and gouerned directed and instructed admonished and reproued by it that so it may bee mighty in vs to cast downe the strong holds of sinne and to make way for Gods graces against all oppositions of carnall reason and proud will Finally wee must heare with a good conscience propounding vnto our selues in this religious duty the glory of God as our maine end that knowing his will we may serue him in yeelding vnto it intire and sincere obedience and next vnto it our owne saluation by being edified thereby in our most holy faith and more and more inriched with all sanctifying and sauing graces And to the end that we may daily profit in attaining vnto these ends we must labour not onely to conceiue and vnderstand what we heare but also to apply it vnto our owne vse for the sanctifying of our hearts and affections and not to heare it as an vnprofitable discourse suffering it to goe out at the one eare as it commeth in at the other but to lay it vp in faithfull memories that we may bring forth the fruits of it in our liues and conuersations To which end we must carefully obserue the Preachers method and order as the coherence of his Text with that which went before and followeth after the maine drift and scope of the holy Ghost in that Scripture the explication and meaning of the words the diuision of the Text into its seuerall parts and branches the maine poynts of doctrine which are gathered out of them seuerally and in order how they are proued by Scriptures or reasons grounded on them illustrated by similitudes and inforced by exhortations And finally the vses which are raised out of them for confutation of errours admonition reprehension or consolation or if this method be not obserued which ordinarily is most profitable in a mixt and vulgar auditory but the maine poynt in the Text is handled by way of common place then are we to obserue his definitions of the
in the by-wayes of sinne become an easie prey to the rauening Wolfe In which regard we must keepe a carefull watch ouer our mindes and cogitations that they doe not take their liberty when we are alone to roue and range after worldly vanities the pleasures of sinne and things that being vtterly vnprofitable doe vs no good though we spend many houres in thinking on them For what sinne and pitty is it that such excellent faculties of the soule the minde imagination and discourse of reason should be so vainely imployed either about things euill and hurtful or fruitlesse and impertinent that if after much time thus spent we should call our selues to account and say Soule what good hast thou reaped by so many houres study and Meditation either for the subduing of thy corruption or thine inriching with grace and inabling vnto any holy duty either for thy better securing from sinne and death or further assurance of life and happinesse it would be stricken dumbe and not able to answere any word Contrariwise our care must be that in our solitarinesse our mindes and imaginations be exercised in good Meditations as in the consideration of Gods nature and sauing attributes his Wisedome and power his Iustice and mercy his infinite Goodnes in himselfe and graciousnesse towards vs the excellency and perfection of his Law and his admirable workes of creation and prouidence the great mystery of our Redemption by Iesus Christ and of the meanes whereby we may be assured of the fruit and benefit of it of the inestimable priuiledges which belong to all true Christians and of the innumerable miseries which are incident vnto them who liue still in the state of infidelity and corruption of the excellency of spirituall graces and of those heauenly ioyes wherewith they shall be eternally crowned in the life to come or of the meanes wherby we may attaine vnto them and bee more and more assured of them of the foulenesse and odiousnesse of vice and sinne and of the fearefull condemnation and horrible torments of the wicked who liue die in them without repentance So also wee are to meditate of mans misery through the fall and of the meanes wherby we may be freed from it more particularly of those speciall sins vnto which by nature we are most inclined and wherewith we are most often ouertaken and of the meanes whereby we may be strengthned against them and inabled to mortifie and subdue them and contrariwise in what vertues and graces wee are most defectiue and of the meanes whereby they may bee increased in vs with what tentations wee are most often and dangerously assaulted what part of Christian Armour is most wanting and what place in body or soule being weakest is likely to giue aduantage vnto our spirituall enemies in their assaults of tentation and to indanger vs to be surprized and ouercome Or if our minds bee not thus taken vp in things appertaining to the good of our soules yet at least they must be exercised about matters that concerne our temporall estate and the workes of our callings and how wee may so well contriue our worldly businesses as that they may by our care and prouidence succeed the better when we vndertake them But heere our care must bee that our mindes be so exercised about these worldly things as that they bee not wholly swallowed vp of them and that like Eagles they stoope downe to them as vnto their prey for the relieuing of our present necessities but that they doe not wholly dwell vpon them but according to their diuine and excellent nature they doe againe raise themselues vpon the wings of faith and soare aloft in diuine contemplations spending some part of our solitary houres in our holy soli-loquies and conferences with God diuine Meditations Prayer at least by short eiaculations and thankesgiuing vnto God for all his benefits reading of the Scriptures and other holy and religious bookes for the increasing of our knowledge and strengthening of our faith and the directing and reforming of our liues with such other religious exercises §. Sect. 3 That in our solitarinesse we must auoyde carnall concupiscence and the pleasures of sinne With like care we must in our solitarinesse watch ouer our hearts that they be not poysoned with carnall concupiscence nor inueagled and inamoured with the pleasures of sinne and that they doe not affect and fasten themselues vpon worldly vanities nor dote vpon vncertaine riches voluptuous delights and vaine honours vnto which naturally they are so much inclined and so commit with them a kinde of contemplatiue idolatry when as they are debarred of actuall fruition and cannot in this solitary absence performe vnto them any reall worship But seeing God requireth to haue them as his owne peculiar and chiefe possession we must keepe Pro. 23. 26. them fast linked vnto him and so fasten them vpon spirituall and heauenly excellencies that no worldly thing may cause a separation And because we haue no bond strong enough to tye them together in this inseparable vnion we must often pray with Dauid that the Lord will knit our hearts Psal 86. 11. Ier. 31. 33. 32. 40. vnto him with his holy Spirit and so ingraue his Law and put his feare in them that they may neuer depart from him And that they may not bee fixed and fast glewed vnto earthly things we must with an holy violence pull them often asunder and lift them vp with holy desires affecting yea Psal 42. 1 2. 84. 1 2. Ps 119. 97 103. 17. 15. Psal 131. 2. hungring and thirsting after such things as are spirituall and heauenly as after the food of our soules and Gods presence in the Sanctuary after Christ and his righteousnesse and the meanes of our saluation after the perfect and full fruition of God when as beholding his face in righteousnesse 1. Pet. 2. 1. we shall be satisfied with his Image The which our desires and affections must be feruent and earnest like those of little children after their mothers brest when as they are newly weaned or of women with child which are Mat. 5. 6. so sicke with longing that they are ready to miscarry if their desires bee not satisfied or of men neere famished with hunger and thirst after their meates and drinkes §. Sect. 4 That we must in our solitarinesse beware of sinfull actions and secret sinnes Finally though our mindes and hearts doe sometimes breake thorow the watch at vnawares yet at least let vs not so negligently keepe it as to be ouertaken in our actions with any grosse sinne as either by spending our time in idlenesse without any imployment because there is none to take notice of our sloth or by committing any sinne which wee would bee loth to doe if wee were in company and had the eyes of men to looke vpon vs. And to this end let vs consider that in the greatest solitude wee haue God present to beare vs company who
haue in the first place our hearts purged and purified from the filth of sinne For naturally our hearts are full of all vncleanenesse fountaines of maliciousnes and sinkes of sinne spiritually blind and foolish but vnto all impiety witty sharp-sighted and as the Prophet speaketh wicked and despightfull aboue all things auerse vnto all Ier. 17. 9. good and prone to all euill dead and dull to Gods seruice and full of life and vigour to the seruice of the diuell the world and our owne carnall concupiscence Finally they swarme with all noysome lusts as pride hypocrisie couetousnesse voluptuousnesse ambition malice enuie disdaine worldly loue and all manner of carnall corruption And therefore it is most necessary that our hearts be first cleansed and purged before wee can offer vnto God any acceptable seruice for what can issue out of these sinks and puddles of corruption but all manner of sinfull impiety and what streames of Gods seruice so pure in themselues which will not bee polluted if they runne thorow these dennes and ditches of all abominations Now this purging of the heart consisteth in the mortification of the flesh and its sinfull lusts and in spirituall renewing vnto holinesse and new obedience whereby we begin to hate all that euill which we formerly loued and to loue that good which we formerly hated to loath the tyranny of sinne and Satan vnto which with all willingnesse we subiected our selues in time past and to imbrace the true seruice of God in all sincerity which before we eyther neglected or performed after a formall cold and careles manner And finally haue our hearts and affections weaned from the loue of the world and earthly vanities vpon which in the dayes of our ignorance wee wholy doted as on our chiefe delight and treasure because we now see that they are vncertaine momentany and mutable worthlesse and vnprofitable yea to those that set their hearts vpon them hurtfull and pernicious And contrariwise adhere and cleaue vnto the Lord with all our soules as being all-sufficient and infinite in all perfection chusing him for our portion and inheritance our rocke and refuge and farre preferring him before all earthly treasures and delights And thus the Lord when he called Abraham out of Vr of the Chaldeans to bee his seruant withdraweth his heart from the loue of worldly things as being insufficient to preserue him from euill or to furnish him with any true good by promising that he himselfe would be his shield and exceeding great reward And thus he perswadeth him vnto vprightnesse of Gen. 15. 1. heart and to walke before him in holinesse of life because if hee would chuse him for his portion he should finde him almighty and all-sufficient and therefore able to preserue him from all danger and to relieue and Gen. 17. 1. supply all his wants though for his profession and practice of Gods true Religion he should be abandoned of all worldly helpes exposed to the malice of many and mighty enemies And thus Moses contemned the world and refusing the pleasures of Egypt and the honours of Pharaohs Court adhered vnto God and his pure Religion chusing rather to suffer Heb. 11. 25. affliction with his people then to inoy the pleasures of sinne for a season So Dauid being in his heart and affections like a weaned child and lothing the worlds brests from which he had formerly sucked the sweet milk of earthly Psal 131. 2. vanities with so much delight doth with all his heart and soule cleaue vnto the Lord chusing him for his portion and inheritance and esteeming him as his sole treasure The Lord saith he is the portion of mine inheritance Psal 16. 5 6. and of my cup thou maintainest my lot The lines are falne vnto me in pleasant places yea I haue a goodly heritage And when he was forsaken of all worldly helpes in the day of trouble hee was not like worldlings as a man forlorne and desperate but he cryed vnto the Lord and said Thou Psal 142. 5. 119. 57. art my refuge and my portion in the land of the liuing So elsewhere he professeth that all his ioy and comfort was in the Lord and the assurance of his loue the which was better and greater then was incident to worldlings in all their posterity There be many saith he that say Who will shew Psal 4. 5 6 7. vs any good Lord lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs. Thou hast put gladnesse in my heart more then in the time that their corne and their wine increased And thus the Church in the Lamentation was not in her greatest misery left hopelesse and helpelesse but cleauing to the Lord with her heart shee cryeth out The Lord is my portion saith my soule therefore Lam. 3. 24. will I hope in him §. Sect. 6 Of the causes of the hearts purity And these are the things wherein this purity of heart doth consist The principall efficient which worketh it in vs is the whole Trinity the Father Sonne and holy Spirit God the Father beginneth this sanctification and holinesse in our hearts by taking away their hardnesse and making them soft and tender and by giuing vnto vs his Spirit to purify them from the filth of corruption and to quicken them in the life of grace according to that promise I will giue them one heart and I will put a new spirit Ezech. 11. 19. 36. 26. within you and I will take the stony heart out of their bodies and will giue them an heart of flesh And againe After those daies saith the Lord I will put my Ier. 31. 33. Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts And therefore if we would haue this grace we must with the Apostle haue our recourse to God praying for our selues as he did for the Thessalonians The very God of peace sanctifie you wholy and I pray God your whole spirit and soule and 1. Thes 5. 23. body be preserued blamelesse vnto the comming of the Lord Iesus Christ God the Sonne purifieth our hearts by shedding his precious blood that it might be a Lauer of regeneration wherein our polluted hearts might be cleansed For so deepely are they engrayned in the skarlet dye of sinne that nothing else will take away their spots and staines and bring them vnto snowy whitenesse It is onely his Crosse that crucifieth these carnall corruptions and the vertue of his death that killeth and mortifieth sin in vs. And this is that Fountaine which the Lord promiseth should be opened Zach. 13. 1. to the house of Dauid and Hierusalem for sinne and for vncleanenesse in which if our hearts be not washed they will remaine in their naturall filthinesse God the holy Ghost purifieth our hearts by vniting them to Christ by dipping and washing them in this Fountaine of his blood and so maketh Ioh. 3. 5. the death and merits of our Sauiour which are sufficient
true holinesse So Hierome to this purpose saith That there are two kinds of Gods Duo sunt genera mandatorum in quibus clauditur tota iustitia c. Ad Celantiam Commandements in which all Iustice is comprehended The one forbiddeth the other commandeth for as euils are prohibited so good things are inioyned There cessation and rest worketh here study and indeuour There the minde is restrained here incited Here it is a fault to Innocentiae imprimis fundamentum ponatur supra quod facilâ—us possit arduum culmen iustitiae erigere Hieron ibid. doe there not to haue done And therefore to the leading of a godly life it sufficeth not as many thinke to bee harmelesse and innocent vnlesse wee also bee diligent and constant in doing of all holy and iust actions but we must as hee addeth vpon the foundation of innocencie erect the building of righteousnesse Yea in truth a godly life more principally consisteth in doing then not doing in action rather then in forbearance And he no lesse displeaseth God and sinneth against his owne In quouis proposito in quouis gradu aequale peccatum est vel prohibita admittere vel iussa non facere ibid. soule who neglecteth the good which he requireth then he who committeth the euill which he forbiddeth The Idolater offendeth no more haynously in worshipping a false god then the Atheist that acknowledgeth no God nor the superstitious person who worshippeth him in a false maner then the prophane worldling who worshippeth him not at all He that hid his talent was cast into vtter darkenesse because he did not vse it to his masters aduantage as well as they that abuse and misspend it Diues was cast into hell for not feeding Lazarus as well as others that rob and oppresse the poore the foolish virgins were shut out who had not in their lampes the oyle of grace and the light of a godly life And they at Christs left hand shall at the day of Iudgement haue their portion with the deuill and his angels who did not feed the hungry and clothe the naked as well as they who spoile them of their food and rayment seeing there is but this difference betweene them that the one withholdeth their right which God hath allotted them the other taketh it away when they already haue it The one like the nurse withholdeth the brest from the hungry child entrusted to her care and keeping the other pulleth the teate out of his mouth when he hath taken hold of it Or if they differ at all as in some cases there is some difference there shall be onely this difference in their punishments that these innocent and harmelesse men who haue power to doe good and doe it not shall be damned in hell but not in so deepe a degree of condemnation as the other §. Sect. 2 That a godly life consisteth in euangelicall obedience both in forsaking that euill which God forbiddeth and in doing that good which he commandeth Vnto a godly life therefore it is required that wee hate and forsake all euill and that we imbrace and practise that which is good that is that we abhorre and renounce sinne in all kindes without exception and those most of all which whilest we liued in the state of infidelity we most loued and to which as yet our corrupt nature most inclineth seeing they are our greatest and most dangerous enemies like traytrous Rebels raising intestine warre within vs doe as much as in them lyeth expose vs to the malice of our open enemies the deuill and the world In which totall relinquishing of sinne we must bee constant in our resolutions and indeuours and not doe it by fits and flashes as wee shall see heereafter And with the like constancie we are to settle our selues in imbracing and practising all good duties whether they be hard or easie pleasant or displeasant profitable to our worldly estate or to our losse and hinderance Now because the Word and reuealed will of God is the rule and squire according to which we are to iudge of good and euill that being good which it commandeth and euill which it forbiddeth therefore a godly life consists in our conformitie obedience to Gods will reuealed in his Word or to all Gods Commandements contained both in the Law and Gospell For because we cannot performe obedience to the Law legally that is in that perfection which the Law requireth therefore a godly life is not as wee vnderstand it in this Treatise an absolute conformity vnto the Law though it bee most absolute when it is most conformable but when we conforme our selues and all our actions according to the rule of the Law after an Euangelicall manner that is desire resolue and indeuour to performe vnto it as perfect obedience as we can which because through our frailty and corruption it is defectiue and nothing imperfect can be acceptable vnto God therfore vnto such a godly life as may be pleasing vnto him there is required that to our obedience of the Law we adde our obedience to the Gospel which requireth a liuely faith in Christ whereby applying vnto our selues both him and all his benefits the imperfections of our obedience are couered with his perfect righteousnesse and our sins and corruptions washed away in his blood And also that we shew foorth the fruits of this faith in our vnfained repentance whereby we bewaile our sinnes past and resolue and indeuour to leaue and forsake them for the time to come lament the imperfection of our obedience and labour and striue after more perfection without which obedience to the Gospell our imperfect obedience to the Law will not be accepted of God nor intitle vs to this godly life which is pleasing in his sight §. Sect. 3 That we must in a godly life performe obedience to the Law after an Euangelicall manner Our obedience therefore to the Law is required seeing it is the rule of holinesse and righteousnesse according to which all our thoughts words and actions are to be conformed and our obedience to the Gospell to supply and amend what is imperfect and defectiue through our frailty and corruption and to make our workes straight in Gods sight when through ignorance or impotencie we haue swarued from our rule The Law must be obserued of all that will leade a godly life because as a Schoolemaster it teacheth vs what is good and what is euill what we must doe and what wee must leaue vndone The Gospel also with no lesse care because it sheweth vs how it is to be done and also ministreth courage and strength whereby we are inabled to performe our duties We must make the Law the Canon according to which wee must carry our selues in all our thoughts words and workes because so farre foorth onely as they are conformable vnto it they are holy and righteous but withall the Commandements of the Gospel requiring faith and repentance must be obeyed that what is
another case will not pull out their brests though full of milk for the feeding of Gods children committed to them but let them starue and perish for want of nourishment herein worse then the other who hauing dry brests cannot though they would affoord vnto them the sincere milke of the Word Whereas these are so hard-hearted that they can but will not chusing rather to let their milke corrupt in their brests and to dry vp for want of drawing then to preserue their owne plenty by communicating to the peoples necessities And not much better are they who preach but very seldome hauing gifts and strength sufficient and then not so much out of conscience to performe their duty as to auoyd the penalty of the Law or the blemish of ignorance and insufficiency Seeing the life of grace in Gods people cannot ordinarily bee Esa 28. 9 10. preserued in any vigour by a monethly meale but needeth frequent nourishment as the people are able to heare and beare away And therefore the Apostle layeth a strait charge vpon Timothy and in him vpon all Gods Ministers not onely that they should preach the Word but also that 2. Tim. 4. 1. Mark 4. 33. Act. 20. 28. they should doe it instantly in season and out of season that is often and vpon all occasions Fourthly the worke of grace and godlinesse is much hindred in the people when as the Ministers preach themselues and not Christ chiefly intending to shew their owne gifts learning and eloquence and not the edification and saluation of the people When as they doe not preach the Word with power and authority like our Sauiour Mat. 7. 29. Christ nor in the euidence and demonstration of the Spirit to their hearts and consciences that they may cast downe the strong holds of sinne but come 1. Cor. 2. 4. in the inticing speech of mans wisedome to tickle the eare and soare aloft in idle and heartlesse speculations farre out of the reach and aboue the capacity of their hearers filling their heads with the froth of witty conceits which haue in them no solid nourishment Wherein they carry themselues contrary to the charge which our Sauiour giueth to the Apostle Peter and all his faithfull Ministers namely that in their teaching they should take care to feed not onely his sheepe but also his tender lambes Joh. 21. 15. Act. 20. 35. Finally the people are much hindred in their growth of godlinesse when as their Ministers take no paines publikely to catechize and instruct them in the maine principles of Christian Religion seeing no good building can be erected by them who neglect to lay a sure foundation or priuately to resolue their doubts and to prouoke them by holy conferences and Act. 20. 21. earnest exhortations and perswasions to put in practice those duties which they haue learned by their publike ministery Through which faults and defects in worldly and carelesse Ministers the people committed to their charge are much hindred in the wayes of godlinesse For where prophecie faileth there the people must needs perish Where there is a Pro. 29. 18. Amos 8. 11. famine of the Word what can follow but faintnesse and feeblenesse for want of food Where the Gospell is not preached which is the power of Rom. 1. 16. 2. Cor. 2. 16. God vnto saluation and the sauour of life vnto life to all that beleeue what can ensue hereupon but impotent weaknesse vnto all good duties and death and destruction of body and soule If the Watchmen sleepe who should giue warning to Gods people of the approch of enemies how easily may they surprize and vanquish them If the Gardener and Vintager be slothfull and idle in planting and watering how shall Gods Plants and Vines flourish And if they busie not themselues in pruning and weeding how shall the Garden and Vineyard thriue and not rather be ouer-growne with weeds and thistles If the lights be put out or hid vnder a bushell what can follow but palpable darknesse through which the people of God must necessarily erre out of the waies of truth Rom. 10. 17. And if the Gospell of Christ bee not painfully preached which is the ordinarie meanes of begetting Faith how should the people come out of the state of infidelity and beleeue that they may be saued And what can follow of all this but the vtter neglect of all the duties belonging to a godly life when sauing knowledge and a liuely Faith the foundations of it are ouerthrowne §. Sect. 3 Of the means whereby the former impediments may be remoued first in respect of the Ministers For the remouing of which impediments first the Ministers are to be exhorted and perswaded to doe their dutie And in the first place that none presume to take vpon them this high calling which God hath neuer called vnto it being altogether vnfitted and vnfurnished with gifts necessarily required to this high dutie seeing they purchase their meanes and maintenance with the price of blood not of the bodies but of the precious soules of the people the which shall be required at their hands in that terrible day when as Christ shall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead And secondly those which God hath furnished with gifts are to be mooued and admonished in the feare of God that with all care and good conscience they feed the flocke of Christ committed to their charge not for filthy lucre 1. Pet. 5. 2 3. but with a willing minde chiefely ayming at the glorie of God in the saluation of the people To which purpose let them first remember those names and titles giuen them in the Scriptures implying not only their dutie but great and high priuiledges whereby they should be incouraged vnto it For they are appointed of God to be the Lights of the world and what sinne and shame is it to hide their Light Matth. 5. 13 14 15. and to let the people sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death They are the Salt of the earth appointed not onely to be sauorie in themselues but also to season others which salt of Grace and Wisdome if they lose they are good for nothing but to be cast vpon the dung-hill and to be troden vnder feete They are Gods Watchmen Ezech. 3. 17. 33. 7. who haue the care of his armies committed vnto them to giue them warning of the approch of their enemies which if they neglect the blood of those which perish through their sloth shall be required at their hands They are appointed to be Captaines ouer the people to Matth. 15. 14. goe out and in before them and to traine and teach them how to fight against the enemies of their saluation They are Gods Husbandmen 1. Cor. 3. 6 9. Gardeners and Vintagers to plant and sow purge weede and prune his fields gardens and vineyards that they may bring forth fruit 1. Cor. 4. 1 2. in due season They are