yea the least sinne lyeth vnder the curse and wrath of God Now they that are wretched and accursed are adiudged worthy of death by the sentence of Christ himselfe the Iudge of the world Matth. 25.41 and none can bee free from this curse of the Law but by the death of Christ Gal. 3.13 and hee dyed not onely for the greatest but for the least sinnes 1 Iohn chapter 1. verse 7. the least of them cost him dearely or else we must haue payed deare for them This point was expressed vnto vs before chapter 15. verse 30. for as the soule that committed ought presumptuously or with an high hand must bee cut off from his people so if ought bee done by any man through ignorance verse 24. a yong bullocke shall be offered for a burnt offering to be a sweete sauour vnto the Lord and thereby an attonement shall be made verse 25. Now by this offering of euery priuate man or of the whole Congregation they were taught that themselues had indeed deserued death and that they were deliuered by the sacrifice of Christ as the Lambe that taketh away the sinnes of the world represented by the blood of these sacrifices This is so plaine throughout the whole Law of Moses that the sinnes committed thorough errour and ignorance euen the least they could doe were neuer remitted and forgiuen vnto them but through the benefit of the Mediatour Christ Iesus who suffered death for them and therefore the smallest sinnes deserued death and made the committers guilty in the sight of God If any should answer vnto this that it doth not appeare that an offering was alwayes offered for the least sinnes of all because some were wont to be washed away with water let him know that by that washing and by that water the blood of Christ also was signified as well by the death of the sacrifices as the Apostle teacheth Heb. 9.10 11. and he ioyneth the blood and water together and with both the people were sprinkled verse 19. So then not onely they are pronounced accursed as some of the Iesuites cauill Durae contr ââbitak p. 279. that commit most horrible sinnes as murther adultery and the like but he that continueth not in all or else we shall frustrate the whole discourse and disputation of the Apostle A Iesuiticall shift And therefore this is but a Popish shift to help at a dead lift For the Galatians might answer that they had all or the most part of them abstained from those heinous crimes and coulde not bee touched iustly with them and therefore they might haue iustification by the Law Against this iustification by the Law the Apostle doth purposely reason that none can be iustified by the Law because none can keep the Law and he is accursed that continueth not in all things Forasmuch therefore as all are pronounced to be cursed and execrable vnto God which commit the least and smallest sinne and that they are worthy of death that are cursed and execrable it followeth that euery transgression of the Law is worthy of death Obiect But Bellarmine obiecteth the saying of the Apostle Iames chap. 1.18 Sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death therfore vntill it be finished it doth not bring forth death Answer But he should conclude Sinne before it be perfected doth not deserue death for these are two seuerall points and both rest to be prooued First of all this is a weake collection Sinne once finished gendreth death therefore not finished it doth not gender death If a man should reason in this manner the reasonable creature is mortall therefore the creature except it haue reason is not mortall he should conclude fairely but falsely for the beasts and make them noble creatures Or thus All Princes though they be Gods deputies and vicegerents and susteine his person yet are mortall therefore men except they sustaine the person of God are not mortall These we see are weake consequences and yet they are altogether like to our aduersaries as shall appeare if wee consider the wordes and circumstances of the Apostle For his purpose is to describe the proceeding of sinne in vs and to declare that our sinnes are not to be imputed vnto God but to our selues to our concupiscence which seeketh occasions on euery side stirreth vp euill desires bringeth foorth actuall sinne and then sinne leadeth the way to death howbeit from hence we cannot gather that sinne bringeth not death vnto vs except it be finished But what shall we say of euill thoughts that neuer come into act As for example the Pharisees thought and taught that except a man did commit murther and by shedding blood did take away life he was not guilty of eternall death and except he committed adultery he sinned not against the Law But Christ himselfe sheweth that whosoeuer is angry with his brother vnaduisedly is guilty of death and he also that looketh on a woman to lust after her Matt. 5.22.28 Neither of these commit the outward deed and yet because they haue giuen consent the Papists themselues hold that they are guilty of eterall death therefore a sinne committed in thought onely deserueth death albeit it be not finished in the worke euen by their owne confession and themselues being iudges It were endlesse to follow these fellowes and to trace them out in all their shifts they haue so many windings and turnings which argue a bad cause but one more I cannot passe ouer that Bellarmine will haue sinne finished to be nothing else but sinne consented vnto and that concupiscence shall not be sin except it bee consented vnto neither yet bee worthy of death But this is directly against the Apostle and against his owne doctours For the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which the Apostle vseth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ia. 1.18 signifieth to perfect fulfill by worke And so doth Thomas Aquinas vnderstand the same and others also Aquin. Comment in Iacob 1. Gagnae in Iacob 1. But to turne him out of these cauils we will for this time grant so much as he requireth what then will hee answere concerning originall sinne It is already defined in the Councell of Florence that they are worthy of eternall death that are onely guilty of originall sinne albeit they haue not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression Rom. 5.14 That is which neuer committed actuall sinne So then to reason in this sort Sin finished bringeth forth death therefore except it bee finished it bringeth not forth death is a false conclusion Consider this yet farther by another contrary saying of the same Apostle touching good deedes chap. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth tentation for when hee is tryed he shall receiue the crowne of life No man can reason from hence thus The man that endureth tentation when he is tried shal receiue the crowne of life therefore hee that is not tryed shall neuer receiue that crowne And yet this hath the same force and looketh the same way with
their sicknes trust in the Phisition as Asa did 1 Chro. 16 11 12. 1 Sam. 2.5 not in the liuing God who killeth and maketh aliue bringeth downe to the graue and raiseth vp againe hee maketh the wound and bindeth it vp he smiteth and his hands make whole he shall deliuer thee in sixe troubles and in the seuenth the euill shall not touch thee In time of warre and day of battell we trust in our strength armor men munition and defenced places and make them our God Nah. 3.8 â whereas the Prophet teacheth that this is a cursed confidence and shall not leaue a blessing behind it Lastly we learne from hence not to reuenge Vse 4 our own causes quarels For if we be taught in this practise of Moses to go vnto God in all our wrongs who will iudge his people then we are not to render like for like or to requite euill for euill or to repay wrong for wrong taunt for taunt rebuke for rebuke railing for railing but contrariwise blesse knowing that we are thereunto called that we should bee heires of blessing This vse is concluded Prou. 20.22 Say not thou I will recompence euill but waite vpon the Lord and he shall saue thee This is the direction of the Apostle Ro. 12.17.19 Recompence to no man euill for euill dearely beloued auenge not your selues but giue place vnto wrath for it is written Vengeance is mine Psal 94.1 â I will repay saith the Lord. Where we see God claymeth and challenge vengeance to himselfe and taketh it from vs so that such as seeke reuenge sit downe in the seat of God and as much as lyeth in theÌ wrest the scepter out of his hands taking vpon them the person of the accuser witnesse iudge and executioner contrary to all true forme of lawfull iudgement And albeit it bee hard and harsh for flesh and blood to put vp iniuries yet if we wil be the children of God we must haue more in vs then flesh and blood For they that are after the flesh Rom. 3.5 â fauour the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit so then they that are in the flesh cannot please GOD. Wherefore when Zachariah the Priest a faithfull and fruitefull witnesse of God was vniustly and cruelly stoned to death he raged not he reuiled not he reuenged not but said The Lord see and require it When the Lord of life ââ 24.22 Christ Iesus was accused condemned and crucified the iust for the vniust he prayed for his enemies Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe â 23 34. leauing vs an example that we should follow his steps When blessed Stephen who was full of the holy Ghost and saw the glory of God and Iesus standing at the right of God was cast out of the city and stoned with stones hee kneeled downe and cryed with a loud voyce Lord lay not this sinne to their charge â 55.58 When the Archangel mentioned by the Apostle Iude saw that the diuell went about to corrupt the pure worship of God hee would not vse railing and reprochfull speaches â ver 9. but desireth the Lord to rebuke him and repay him for his malice Seeing therefore this duty hath beene practised by Priest and people by men and Angels by the head and the members of his body let vs follow those things that concerne peace let vs be of a patient and meeke spirit which is much set by of God and let vs commit our causes to him that is the God of vengeance It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God Verse 9 10. Then Moses tooke that rod c. Hitherto Moses Aaron haue behaued themselues vprightly in respect of God meekely in respect of themselues and patiently in regard of the people Now we shal see how they offend by transgressing the commandement of God by distrusting his word by raging against the whole assembly God chargeth them to speake to the rocke they spake vnto the people Againe as if it were vnlikely or vnpossible that the rock should yeeld water they smote it twise through impaciency vnbeeleefe Thus they that had beene the instruments of God in so many miracles that had seene him face to face as a man seeth his friend that had stood so often in the gap where the hand of God had made the breach that had diuided the red sea Moses I say and Aaron the Ministers of God the witnesses of his workes the pillars of the truth now begin to faile to faint and to fall down to shew vs and themselues the weakenesse that is in flesh and blood From hence we learne that many are the failings and fals of the children of God âtrine â are the ãâã of the ãâã Howsoeuer the faithfull be borne againe and endued with the spirit of sanctification howsoeuer they desire to please God and endeuor to serue him with all the powers of soule and body yet they often stumble in their race thorough the burthen that presseth down and the sinne that cleaueth so fast vnto them This truth is confessed and confirmed by many testimonies Salomon in his worthy prayer at the dedication of the Temple acknowledgeth it 1 king 8.46 So Iob. 15.14 15. Likewise Prou. 20.9 And the Prophet Psal 14 2 3. All which testimonies doe plentifully teach this truth that howsoeuer through the grace of God giuen vnto them the faithful fight a good fight hauing faith and a good conscience yet all are sinners and no flesh is cleane and cleere from sin which Moses and Aaron here fal into The reasons of this doctrine are First because Reason 1 the Scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne Gal 3 2â Rom. 3.19 That euery mouth might bee stopped and all the world be subiect to the iudgment of God Al matter of glorying in our selues is taken from vs we are found guilty before God wee haue no excuse no defence no cloake for our selues to couer our sins there is no difference Wee haue all sinned and are depriued of the glory of God and euerlasting life so that all both Iewes and Gentiles are proued to be vnder sinne Secondly we see that death the wages of Reason 2 sinne hath raigned and doth raigne ouer all without difference yea it taketh hold euen on children that sinned not actually like the transgression of Adam If then old and yong taste of death all the posterity of Adam are corrupted in him when he wittingly and willingly wilfully sinned against God We flow from an vncleane fountaine we grow out of a bitter root we are as branches of the wilde vine Thus the Apostle reasoneth Death raigned froÌ Adam to Moses Rom. 5.14 euen ouer them also that sinned not after the like manner of the transgression of Adam which was the figure of him that was to come So then sinne and death goe together as mother and daughter
come yet his death was as forcible froÌ the beginning of the world is now also as auaileable and effectuall and shal be euer hereafter to the end of the world as when he hung vpon the Crosse in the dayes of his Passion and when the blood really streamed and issued out of his body The Israelites in the time of the Law were the children of God heires of eternall life and had the promises of saluation as well as we vnder the Gospel God did not seed them and fat them as swine in a stye but vnder certaine figures and types hee gaue them a taste of heauenly things The offering of bruite beasts in sacrifice was a signe that they were made partakers of the redemption wrought by the blood of Christ which was shed to wash away our sinnes Vnder the promise of giuing theÌ the earthly Canaan so often remeÌbred he gaue theÌ a taste representation of the heauenly inheritance The aboundance of temporall blessings was a pledge and earnest penny to them of the life eternall they hauing the same faith Ephe. 4.4 5. 1 Cor. 10. â 4. the same Father the same spiritual meat the same spirituall drinke the same Lord the same hope the same heauen the same Christ that wee haue Albeit Gal. 4.1.2 3.4 they were as little children vnder tutors and gouernours and were taught in rude manner by shadowes and ceremonies which are as certaine pictures and looking glasses to behold the outward manner of his dispensation whereas wee are come to mans estate in comparison of them and behold Iesus Christ openly in the face we know his death resurrection ascension and opening the kingdome of heauen to vs. Therefore our Sauiour saith Ioh. 8.56 Your father AbrahaÌ reioyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad Heb. 11 13 14 15 16. So the Apostle to the Hebrewes sayth That the Fathers dyed in faith and receiued not the things promised but saw them afarre off beleeued them receiued them thankefully confessed that they were Pilgrims and strangers on the earth so that they iudged the promises made to them to bee spirituall and expected more then temporall blessings This is one point which we are to learne and imprint in our mindes touching the Iewes who had an image of the serpents lifted vp to teach them the doctrine of Christ hanging on the crosse If then the vnbeleeuing Iewes in these dayes blaspheme Christ crucified account the blood of the new Testament an vnholy thing and vnpossible to giue saluation let theÌ know that their fathers receiued life and recouered health by a brazen serpent an image without life and motion the meaning signification heereof were not hard but easie to gather sauing that the Apostle teacheth that their mindes are obstinate and that a veile is laid ouer their hearts in reading the old Testament so that they vnderstand nothing c. 1 Corin. 3 14. Thus doth God send them strong delusions that they should beleeue lies that all they might be damned which beleeued not the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse 2 Thess 2 11 12. Thus then we see that the Couenant which GOD made with man to be gracious and fauourable vnto them is one in substance and matter seeing there is but one God 1 Tim. 2 5. one Mediatour betweene God and man one faith one meane of reconciliation and one way of saluation to all that are saued and haue bin saued from the beginning Christ Iesus was appointed ouer all things to be the head of the Church by whom all the body is coupled and knit together Eph. 1 22 4 16. He is the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by him Iohn 1 18 and 14 6. All therefore he being onely the way as well vnder the Law as vnder the Gospel who were to be saued had respect to the only Mediatour Christ by whom alone they were reconciled to God and saued by faith The differences betweene the Iewes and vs were onely in certaine circumstances in promising of corporall benefits in giuing them outward signes and oblations in propounding things more obscurely and darkely in restraining his gifts and in limiting them to the Iewish Nation whereas otherwise the old and new couenant agree together not only in the Author of them which is God and in the Mediatour of them which is Christ but in the promises of grace touching remission of sinnes and euerlasting life to bee freely giuen for Christs fake and in the condition in respect of man that we should walke before him vprightly beleeue the Gospel vnfainedly Vse 2 Secondly we obserue from this similitude the naturall estate and condition of all mankinde what it is wee are all naturally stung with the poison of the olde serpent and the wound is mortall All the Israelites that were bitten by the fiery serpents whether deeply or but a âittle whether more or lesse whether once or often dyed the death if they vsed not the remedy ordained of God albeit the wound were slender and shalow So such as looke not on Christ hanging on the Crosse are sure to fall into damnation The guilt of sin is as the poyson of a serpent this we haue drawne froÌ our first parents by whose offence we are culpable of iudgement We are all stung with it vnto death The wound is so deep deadly that we are guilty of the transgression of Adam being in his loynes We haue the spawne and seed of all sinne in vs we are corrupt in soule and body we are prone to fall into the most dangerous and desperate sins The Israelites felt the anguish of the paine and the danger of death otherwise they would neuer haue looked vp to the brazen serpent If the sicke man finde not the want of his health feele not the greefe of his sicknesse feare not the losse of his life he wil neuer seeke to the Physition for ease and recouery And indeed what should it haue auailed these distressed Iewes to haue any recourse to the brazen ferpent vnlesse they had perceiued themselues to be stung euen to death and no other way or remedy to procure their deliuerance So it behooueth all of vs to haue a liuely and sencible feeling of our spirituall wounds We must know that sinne is as a poyson to the soule and the Law giueth strength to sinne We must be greeued for our sins which draw vpon vs the losse of Gods fauour more then for the lacke and losse of bodily health Let vs not therefore make a mock of sin We see no man will dally or delight in poyson no poyson is so dangerous to the body as sin is to the soule Let vs beware of the wiles and subtilties of the old serpent lest as he beguiled Eue through his craftinesse so hee corrupt our mindes from the simplicity that is in Christ 2 Cor. 11â carry vs headlong to destruction and damnation of soule and
earnest suite that they might bee heires also of that land by right of succession in which as yet they had not the bredth of a foot and therefore the Apostle teacheth that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the euidence of things not seene Heb. 11.1 Thirdly Doctrine We may make our selues guilty of other mens sinnes we see that we may be made partakers of other mens sinnes and therefore we heard before that the people were commanded to depart from the tents of Korah and his partisans lest they should bee defiled by the euils of those euill men Tit. 3 10 11 2 Cor. 6 7. 1 Tim. 5.22 This may bee done many wayes somtimes by counsel and perswasion and thus was Achitophel guilty of the rebellion of Absolon against his father 2. Sam. 16 and Balaam of the whoredome of the Israelites because they committed fornication with the daughters of Moab by his counsel Numb 31 sometimes by commandement as Herod the great sent forth and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem Math. 2 16 and so did Herod Antipas behead Iohn Baptist in prison Math. 14 22 thus was Dauid guilty of the death of Vriah his faithfull seruant and is therfore himselfe charged to haue killed him with the sword of the Ammonites 2. Sam. 12 sometimes by consent and so was Saul guilty of the martyr Stephens death because he consented to his death Act. 9 1 and they that sate in iudgment to condemne Christ to whoÌ Ioseph of Arimathea would not consent and therfore cleared himselfe from his blood which otherwise he could not haue done Luke 23.51 sometimes by flattery as those that call euill good and good euill Esay 5 such are the ministers that sow soft cushens vnder euery elbow Ezek. 13 and such people as would haue the Prophets to prophesie flattering words vnto them Esay 30 sometimes by receiuing as they that take and lay vp stollen goods or buy them of those that haue stolen them these are as bad if not worse then the theeues themselues and to be punished as they are likewise they that receiue false tales to the hurt of their brethren though they doe not first deuise them Leuit. 19 16 sometimes by partaking with theeues and sharing with them as Prou. 1 they tooke part of that which was stollen sometimes by defending those that haue done euill and iustifying them in their vngodlinesse Rom. 1 sometimes it may bee done by holding our peace and saying nothing at all when we may speake and cleare a matter so is hee a false witnes that will not speake in the cause of the dumbe as well as he that vttereth an vntruth thus also is the watchman guilty that should giue warning and blow the trumpet but becommeth as the dumbe dogge that cannot barke Esay 56 10. Lastly by not resisting or withstanding when we are able Psal 82 4. If God giue vs power we make our selues weake the euill that we suffer shall be required of vs. Likewise in the example of Moses we learne to haue recourse to GOD in all matters of doubt we must not runne on vpon an head but go into the Sanctuary and aske counsell of the Lord. Doctrine Sinne is the cause of death and al misery Lastly obserue that sinne is the true cause of death mortality corruption and all the misery that hath taken hold of all mankinde when sinne entred then entred all plagues and iudgements in this life and after this life Gen. 2 17 3.19 1. Cor. 15 21 11 30 Rom. 5 12 21. Iames 1 16. Hebrewes 9 27 28. Reason 1 For sin is the sting of death that is the power and strength and the very armour of death it is as a sword which hee holdeth in his hand to wound vs withall It is as a stinging serpent 1. Cor. 15 and if remedy be not sought against the biting of it it woundeth soule and body to death Secondly it standeth with the iustice and righteousnes of God which will not otherwise be satisfied Wee see how Magistrates whose breath is in their nostrils do punish malefactors and offenders with bodily death their eye doth not spare them no marueile then if the Lord who is a consuming fire Heb. 12. whose person is of infinite Maiesty take hold of soule and body and punish them both spiritually and eternally and therefore the Apostle iustly calleth death the wages of sinne Rom. 6.23 Thirdly sin hath pestered and poysoned our nature corrupting all the powers and parts in vs our mind our will our memory our affections our conscience Eph. 4 17 18.19 Rom. 6 12 13. It is as a worme that is alwayes gnawing at the root of life vntill tree and all fall downe Lastly sin giueth strength to Satan the prince of darknes without which he could not hurt vs it is hee that hath power ouer death Heb. 2 14. 1. Cor. 15 56 and therefore was the Son of man manifested that he might destroy the works of the diuel 1. Ioh. 3 8. But it may be obiected if sin be the cause of death Obiection how commeth it to passe that Christ dyed who knew no sin in whose mouth was no guile found Answ 2 Cor. 5 21. Answ Though Christ were without sin in himselfe yet he that knew no sin was made sin for vs c. he tooke vpon him the sins of all the faithful as a surety taketh vpon him the debt of another And albeit he were not a sinner by transgression yet he may be said to be a sinner by imputation and therefore he must dye yet so that dying hauing no cause of death in himselfe he might destroy death and him that had the power of death that is the diuel Heb. 2 14 Hos 13 14. Againe Obiect if death be a fruit effect of sin how commeth it to passe that the faithfull which haue in Christ remission of sinnes do notwithstanding dy Answ Answ Albeit they haue forgiuenesse of sinnes yet they haue in them alwayes the reliques of sinne through the corruption of nature though it be not imputed vnto them through the mercy of God The guilt of Adams sin followeth vs as the shadow doth the body it cannot in this life be wholly purged it shall bee at the last cleane put off by death It is necessary therefore that we should dye or be changed at the last day that sin may be vtterly extinguished that we may by death as by a dore enter into euerlasting glory Sin is euery day lessened and consumed in the faithfull howbeit still we beare about vs the body of death Psal 51 5 2 Cor. 12 7 Eph. 2 3. We learne from hence what a horrible and hideous thing sin is that bringeth with it such bitter fruit for sin death are coupled together Rom. 8 2. Sin came not in by creation Eccl. 7 31 but by transgression for from the beginning it was not so Sin hath wroght this confusion euen the first sinne of
holden to be ominous And in another place hee sheweth Rom. quest 25 that they held the morrowes after the Calends Nones and Ides dismall and disastrous dayes eyther to set forward vpon any iourney and voyage or to march with an army into the field It is not worth the labour to spend time to rehearse the folly of our sottish Prognosticators that in euery moneth tell vs which are good dayes and which are euill dayes and set downe particular predictions what shall befall vs and how we shall prosper or not prosper and yet themselues cannot tell what shall happen to themselues I remember a pleasant story Eros de lingua reported by Erasmus in the reigne of Henry the seuenth a wise and iudicious Prince of a certaine wizard who would needs be accounted as a Prophet and able to foretell things to come hee prophesied at a time of the Kings death that he should dye that yeare The king hearing of his Prophesie withall laughing at his folly sent for him as if he meant to take notice of his deepe and profound skill and to reward him highly and when he was come into his presence he asked him whether hee had any knowledge of things to come and could tell what should come to passe heereafter he answered he had great skill that way The king demanded of him whether he knew where he shold be those holy dayes that were at hand for this fell out not long before the feast of the Natiuity he answered No Why then quoth the king I perceiue thou hast no skill at all and knowest not so much as I doe for I know where thou shalt be how long and withall willed his seruants to carry him presently to the Tower and after a while hauing made himselfe merry and derided the folly of that wise foole he dismissed him which was more fauour then he deserued This practise of propheticall diuinations and predictions is meere Gentilisme and great pitty it is once suffered among vs Christians to make some dayes lucky and some vnlucky some fortunate and some vnfortunate whereof wee see the practise in the booke of Ester chapter the third verse seuenth They cast Pur that is the lot before Haman from day to day from Moneth to moneth to the twelfth Moneth Howbeit we see how he was deceyued and the enchanters vpon whom he builded and in whoÌ he trusted like to the Papists who long looked for the yeare 88 of which they hadde many Astrologicall predictions and trusted in it no lesse then in the Oracle of Apollo howbeit they were maruailously in a manner miraculously defeated and disappointed and therefore one saith well D. Fulk preface before the RheÌ Testam Octogefimus octanus mirabilis annus Clade papistarum faustus vbique pijs But if we be the true seruants of God our wayes shall prosper Psal 1 3 and it shall go well with vs if we make the word our study and meditation Iosh 1 8 if not let the times be what they will and prognosticate what lucke as they call it soeuer they can yet nothing shal prosper or do vs good whatsoeuer we imagine to the contrary Thirdly the consideration of the feast of Vse 3 the New Moones did put them and doth put vs in minde that we should be new creatures and walke in newnesse of life by the holy Ghost regenerating vs as the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 5 17. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature olde things are past away behold all things are made new Hence it is that we are so oftentimes warned in the Scripture that wee must be renewed in the spirit of our mindes Rom. 12 2. Eph. 4 23. that wee must put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Eph. 4 24 and must put off concerning the former conuersation the olde man which is corrupt according to the deceiueable lusts verse 22. As then the Moone which ruleth the moneth changeth and reneweth the light so should we be changed not in substance of the body but in quality and that in euery part euen in the whole man forasmuch as we are altogether corrupt Now this that must be changed Why our corruption is called the old man is called the old man first because it is in time before regeneration first we are carnall then spirituall first the first Adam then the second Adam hath place in vs first we are borne then we are borne againe Iohn 3. Secondly because as age maketh loathsome and deformed so this maketh vs full of spots and wrinkles before such time as wee taste of the renewing power of God Thirdly because it draweth neere to death for as old age bringeth downe to the graue so doth the olde man draw vs to destruction of soule and body which is the second death This old man therefore must be cleane cast off or else it shall not profite vs for wee must deny our selues and crucifie our sinfull lustes wee must kill and mortifie our vaine desires as Abraham would haue killed his sonne but wee must go farther for wee must after a sort kill our selues cast off the things that are most deare vnto vs though they should bee as our right hand or as our right eye Math. 5. And we must so cast off the old man that no remnant of him cleaue or sticke vnto vs we should put it off not as if we were loth or vnwilling to leaue it but cast it away with a purpose neuer to take it vp or to put it on againe no nor once touch the same but to account it as a menstruous cloth lest we be like to the dogge that returneth to his vomite or to the sowe that was washed and by and by walloweth in the myre or to the Crocodile that layeth aside her poyson but taketh it vp againe On the other side we must put on the new man called new because nothing auayleth without this Gal. 5 6. Againe it is wrought in vs in the second place for we are first old before we are new for this is the latter birth Lastly because it is strong to do the will of GOD as young men are lusty and able to doe the businesse of this life with great alacrity and actiuity Lastly we must remember that it is not enough Vse 4 to serue God outwardly and to keepe the bare ceremony except we ioyne thereunto the seruice of the heart And if the Iewes had resorted diligently euery first day of the moneth to the seruice of God in the Tabernacle or the Temple yet what could it auayle them if theyr hearts were vncleane theyr hands stained with cruelty Therefore the Prophet saith The new Moones and Sabbaths the calling of assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity your new Moones and your appointed feasts my soule hateth they are a trouble vnto mee I am weary to beare them Esay 1 13 14. The Iewes regarded no more
before our eyes the example of Balaam hired to curse the people of God o Iohn 5 34 36. who gaped after gaine and promotion and gaue mischeiuous counsell to the Moabites and Midianites to worke their death and destruction This truth is confirmed by sundry the Apostles Peter Iude and Iohn in the new Testament who mentioning this history declare both that bee loued the wages of vnrighteousnes and laid a stumbling-blocke before the children of Israel to intrap them was reprooued for his iniquity by his Asse Who spake with mans voice and forbad the foolishnesse of the Prophet These things being duly weighed and throughly considered do sufficientlie teach vs who is the author of this Booke not man but God and that the authority of it is diuine and not humane Now let vs see what vse may be gathered from hence and how it may be profitably applyed to our instruction Seeing the Author of this Booke and so of Vse 1 the rest of holy scripture is not man or Angel or any creature but the Lord of heauen and earth we learne that they want not nor stand in neede of the confirmation and approbation of the Church or of men seeing they are approued vnto vs by a greater authority and as it were warranted vnto our consciences from on higher Court where God himselfe sitteth present and president of the same So then as Christ our Sauiour speaketh p I receiue not the record of man but I haue a greater witnesse then the witnesse of Iohn We may truly say the same of his word we haue a better ground to stand vpon and a fairer warrant then the testimonie of the Church to beare record of the dignitie and authority of the word Hence it is that he saith in the same place The works which the Father hath giuen me to fin sh do beare witnes of me that the Father sent me and the Father himselfe which hath sent me beareth witnes of me This serueth to conuince the Church of Rome of the spirit of errour which teacheth that the scripture receiueth authority and credite from the Church insomuch that some of them are not ashamed to auouch q Eckius in Euchirid de autho Eccl. That the authoritie of the Church is greater then of the Scripture and others feare not to blaspheme r Hermannus that they should haue no more authority in regard of vs then Aesops Fables except the authority of the Church did procure it And as they are bold to maintaine that the Church is aboue the Scripture Å¿ Bellar. de verbo dei li. 4. cap. 12. so they teach that the Scriptures are not in themselues necessary neyther were written to be a rule of our Faith Thus they fall from one heresie into another proceed from worse to worse as euill men doe But the assurance of our Faith touching the Scriptures is not builded on the Churches authority but vppon the illumination of Gods spirit shining euidently in the Scriptures theÌselues The holy Ghost openeth the eyes of those that are his that they know discerne his voice from all others For as the Sun is not seene by any lighâ but his owne so we iudge of the truth and all false Doctrines by the Scriptures How do we discerne sweet from sowre but by it owne taste And how can wee better discerne the rellish of the Scripture t Psal 19 10. Which is swâeter then the Hony and the Hony-combe to the taste then by the goodnes and excellency of it selfe True it is wee doe not reiect and refuse contemne or condemne the testimony authority of the true church as the Papists slander vs u What the office and authority of the Church is but wee confesse these points of the Church First it is as the keeper of the rolles and records to preserue them not to authorize them He that is custos rotulorum doth not giue authority to the writings but hath them of trust committed vnto him Secondly it is as a touchstone to distinguish them from bastard counterfeit Scriptures not to make that Scripture which is no Scripture The touchstone of the Gold-smith doth not make gold but discerneth and distinguisheth gold from other mettall what is base and what is rich stuffe so doeth the Church Thirdly it is as the voice of a x Chrisost hom 1. in Epist ad Tit. crier to preach and publish and promulgate and teach the truth as a cryer pronounceth and proclaimeth the Edicts and Decrees of his Prince but cannot adde to them nor take from them nor authorize them nor any way alter change them Fourthly it is as an Interpreter and expounder to expound and interpret them according to the Scriptures As the man of Law deliuereth the sense of the Law but doeth not make it to bee Law These are holy and honourable seruices of the Church and these wee willingly acknowledge to belong vnto it But that the Scriptures should receiue credite from it or bee of no authority without it we cannot admit or acknowledge For they are cleere perfect firme and worthy of all respect and reuerence without the testimony of the Church for the Authors sake The Apostle saith y 1 Ioh 5 6 9 It is the Spirit that beareth witnesse for that Spirit is truth and afterwarde If wee receiue the witnesse of men the witnesse of God is greater Thus then wee see that the chiefe cause why wee beleeue that the Scriptures were deliuered from Heauen is not the witnesse of the Church nor the authoritie of man but because the Spirit speaketh euidently in them so that we can no more doubte of the truth of them though the Church should hold her peace then if we heard God openly speaking vnto vs froÌ the highest heauens Let vs therefore detest the wickednesse and blasphemy of such as say the authority of Gods worde dependeth of the testimony of man which were to preferre man before God to make all his promises hang vppon the vncertaine credite of man and to make the hand-maid take place before the Lady and Mistris which were a presumption and saucinesse not to be endured Secondly we learne from hence who is the Vse 2 best Interpreter of the Scriptures and who is the sole and soueraigne Iudge thereof namely God himselfe who is the author and inspirer of them For as the authority of them dependeth not vppon the Church so the interpretation of them dependeth not vppon the will and pleasure of man according to the saying of the Apostle z 2 Pet. 1 No prophesie of the Scripture is of any priuate interpretation Euery man is the expositor of his owne worke euery Law-giuer knoweth best the meaning of his owne Law a 1 Cor. 2 For what man knoweth the things of a man saue the spirit of a man which is in him Euen so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God for God hath reuealed them vnto vs by his
Church were many wicked liuers of whom the Apostle saith e 1 Cor 10 5. 1 Cor. 10. With many of them God was not pleased but they were destroyed in the Wildernesse Yea such as were the chiefe among them and excelled in godlinesse aboue the rest as the Cedar doth the low shrub had their failings and infirmities as wee see in Aaron in Miriam and in Moses himselfe as we shall see afterward in this booke Wherefore they are deceiued that seeke for a Church in this life without spot or wrinkle Such in former times were the Donatists and such in our dayes are the Anabaptists whoe shall looke vntill their eyes fall out before they shall finde any company or society wholly separated from al contagion of hypocrites Epicures Libertines and such like loose liuers Christ compareth the Church vnto a draw net cast into the Sea which gathereth fish of all sorts both good and bad Againe heere is comfort for the sincere Ministers of the Gospell to whom the dispensation of the Word and sacraments is committed that they ought not to forsake their calling when they behold the greatest part of their charges and Congregations to take no profite and to receiue no instruction by their ministery but to continue and waite with patience vntil f 2 Tim. 2 26. God wil giue them repentance that they may come out of the snare of the diuell of whom they are holden captiue to do his will Fourthly we learne the vnchangeable loue of God toward his people It is euident by Vse 4 this booke more then by the former how diuersly they prouoked him to wrath by their sinnes as their lust murmuring impatience vnthankfulnesse idolatry and fornication they tempted him in the wildernesse whereby they deserued not onely to be depriued of the Land of Canaan but to bee excluded out of the Kingdome of heauen Notwitâstaââing God continued their mercifull Lord still so that his election is immutable g Iohn 13 1. and whom hee loueth he loueth him to the end What then shall we sinne that grace may abound God forbid nay how shall wee that are dead to sinne yet liue therein As his graces guifts are without repentance so they must leade vs to repentance and cause vs to expresse backe againe vnfained loue vnto him who loued vs first Vse 5 Fiftly we haue set before vs many fearefull examples of Gods heauy indignation against sinne and sinners Hee punisheth the murmurings of the people fretting fuming against God in their extremities he taketh vengeance on their idolatry and committing fornication he chastiseth their sedition emulation breach of the Sabboth contempt of authority luste tempting of God and such like wickednesse that thereby wee might learne the feare of God and be admonished to auoide the same sinnes which will bring vpon vs the same or gteater iudgements euen temporall and eternall punishments For God is the same God to them and to vs he will shew himselfe iust and righteous in all his wayes a Psal 5 4. that hee is not a God that loueth wickednesse and that euill shall not dwell with him Hence it is that Paul alluding to these famous and remarkable examples of his iustice saith b 1 Cor. 10 11 These things came vnto them for examples and were written to admonish vs vpon whom the ends of the worlde are come Let him therefore that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall If his wrath be kindled yea but a little blessed are all they that trust in him Lastly as wee haue fearefull examples and Vse 6 threatnings of the Lawe manifested in this booke so on the other side wee haue comfortable promises of the Gospell touching our saluation and redemption by Christ Iesus who dyed for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification For hee is truely and plainely preached in this booke a type of whom wee haue in the brasen Serpent c Num. 21 9. Iohn 3 14 and 12 32. lifted vp in the wildernesse and healing those that were bitten of the fiery Serpents which Christ expoundeth Ioh. 3 to be meant of his death and lifting vp vpon the Crosse That euery one which beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Likewise the Rocke which Moses did strike yeelding vnto them abundance of water as out of a plentifull Fountaine the Apostle expoundeth of Christ for he saith d Num. 20 10 and 21 16. 1 Cor. 10 4. They did all drinke the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of the spirituall Rocke that followed them and the Rocke was Christ The like we might say of Manna of the ashes of the red Cow of the Nazarites besides the sacrifices and ceremonies burnt offerings meat offerings and purifications which were figures painting and pointing out the sacrifice ând sufferings of Christ Iesus But because we haue spoken somewhat of them before and more remaineth to be spoken heereafter we will passe them ouer at this time without farther consideration This serueth to confute those which hold that all things were carnall to the Fathers that they had no knowledge of the Messiah but onely a carnall imagination of earthly things These are disciples brought vp in the damnable schoole of Seruetus an arch-enemy to the faith who contradict the Apostles in many places and make the Iewes as Swine fatted in a Stie groueling vpon the earth and neuer lifting vp their heads to a better life The Apostle Peter reasoning against such as taught the necessity of circumcision saith e Act. 15 10 11 Why doe yee tempt God to lay a yoke on the Disciples neckes which neyther our Fathers nor we are able to beare but we beleeue through the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ to be saued euen as they doe Thus wee see Christ was onely the way to Gods Kingdome and that by faith in him the Fathers looked for saluation as well as we Our Sauiour testifieth f Iohn 8 56. that Abraham reioyced to see his day and saw it and was glad So the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes saith g Heb. 13 8. Iesus Christ yesterday and to day the same also is for euer As therefore the Couenant of GOD touching life and saluation is for substance one and the same so there is one faith one hope and way to attaine to the Kingdome of heauen for the Fathers in the time of the Law and for vs in the time of the Gospell Thus much of the generall vses of this booke The last point which wee propounded in the beginning to be handled h The diuision of this booke into his parts is the diuision of this booke that we may orderly proceede in the seuerall parts of it Some do diuide it into two parts according to the Chronology or computation of time obserued heerein for in the first nineteene chapters he handleth those things which happened in the wildernesse from the second yeare of their departure out of Egypt to the fortieth yeare
know him in his kingdome For the word is the path way that leadeth vnto it and therefore is called the Gospell of the Kingdome This teacheth vs to consider diligently the saying of Christ Iohn 17. Iohn 17 3. This is eternall life that they know thee to be the only very God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ If then we desire eternall life we must labour to know God lest he say to vs in his wrath Wherein the knowledge of God consisteth Depart from me I know you not This knowledge of God necessarily required of vs consisteth in these points following First we must confesse acknowledge him to be the soueraign and highest good Dan. 4 32. incomparison of whom ãâã things are reputed as nothing being as drosse drauery and nothing to be desired with him as Christ saith Why callest thou me good Math. 19 17 there is none good but one euen God If we equall ought with him or preferre any thing in heauen or earth before him wee are ignorant of him and know him not Secondly it behoueth vs to depend vpon him and to put our whole trust in him alone not in any man or Angell for then we make flesh our strength and so leane vpon a broken staffe that cannot stay vs but will deceiue vs. Thirdly wee must draw neere vnto him in time of need as to the fountaine of all goodnesse with all reuerence and humility crauing all things of him by hearty and feruent prayer If we call vpon him hee hath promised to reueale himselfe vnto vs. Fourthly we must giue him thankes for all blessings receiued from him not only in prosperity but in aduersity Now wee shall shew our selues thanâfull vnto him by dooing that which he commandeth by auoyding that which he forbiddeth by praising and aduancing his name for all his works whether they be works of his mercy or whether they be works of his iustice in correcting of his Children and in punishing his enemies Fiftly we must seeke the knowledge of his waies word and increase in the knowledge thereof which bringeth vs to eternall life As we grow forward in knowledge so wee grow forward vnto life and when our knowledge shall be perfected then our life shal be perfected in the next world Now if eternall life consist in this knowledge doubtlesse death is to be found in the ignorance of God The Apostle ioyneth these two as companions together ignorance and death They haue their vnderstanding darkned Ephes 4 38. heere is the ignorance of God are strangers from the life of God here is death For the priuation or want of the life of God is eternal death Wherfore whosoeuer desireth to liue the life of God must auoid ignorance which is the forerunner cause of death And what is the darknesse of ignorance as it were a mist before our eies but the beginning of vtter darknesse in the pit of destruction where shall be weeping gnashing of teeth Hence it is that Christ saith Iohn 10 When he hath sent foorth his owne sheepe Iohn 10.4.5 hee goeth before them and the sheepe follow him for they know his voyce and they will not follow a stranger but they flie from him for they know not the voyce of strangers If then we would approoue our selues to be the sheepe of Christ wee must haue this eare-mark we must know his voice we must heare his word wee must partake his Sacraments otherwise we shall be Goats not Sheepe Many there are that would bee accounted Sheepe but they want this badge cognizance they are not hearers but contemners of his word they follow not Christ Iesus the Shepheard but flye from him they know not his voyce they are not acquainted with his call but they thinke themselues in the best case when they are farthest off from the hearing of it The Lord calleth vs by his worde the preaching of the Gospell is his voice if we regard it not woe be vnto vs we exclude our selues from his Sheep-fold and renounce our beeing in the number of his Sheepe Lastly we must yeeld all obedience vnto him and his word For as all his Sheep are hearing Sheepe and none of them deafe dull eared so are all obedient Sheepe They haue their eares opened which maketh them hearers and they haue them bored to their heart which maketh them obedient and to offer vp themselues as a sacrifice well pleasing vnto God But all our hearing shall hinder vs and serue to further and increase our condemnation vnlesse we ioyne vnto it a carefull obedience according to the doctrine of the Apostle Be ye doers of the word and not hearers onely Iam. 1.22 deceiuing your owne selues If these things be found in vs then we know God aright then we may be assured wee shall be knowne by him and not denied of him This is that vse which Christ himselfe toucheth Iohn 10. I am the good Shepheard and know mine and am knowne of mine Where we see that the consideration of Gods acknowledging vs to bee his should bee a forcible meanes to make vs endeuour to know him For who are wee that he should know vs Yea what is man that he should be mindfull of him or the son of man that he should consider him Wee are dust and asâes rottennesse and corruption yea lighter then vanity no better then enemies to him and the heires of wrath as well as others Seeing therefore the bountifulnesse and loue of God toward vs hath appeared so that of his mercy not our merits hee hath saued vs by âhe wash ng of the new birth Titus 3.5 and the renewing of the holy Ghost let vs passe our pilgrimage heere in feare and aboue all things let vs labor to know him in his owne ordinances and to seâkâ the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse that in the end of our dayes we may be knowne of him to his glory and our endlesse comfort in Christ Iesus our blessed Lord and Sauiour Verse 17. Then Moses and Aaron tooke these men which are expressed by their names 18. And they called all the Congregation together in the first day of the second Month who declared the r kindreds by their families and by the houses of their Fathers according to the number of their names from twenty yeare and aboue man by man 19. As the Lord had commanded Moses so he numbred them in the wildernesse of Sanai HItherto we haue heard and handled the Commandement of God The obedieÌce of Moses and Aaron requiring Moses and Aaron to number the people now followeth their obedience without any delaying or deferring the matter It is meete that the seruants obey the commandement of their Maister and that subiects perfourme the decrees of their Princes Hence it is that Moses taking to him Aaron and the heads of the Tribes do addresse themselues to take a suruay of the people discharging their duty with all diligence He doth not
Obiection that may arise from this doctrine For some man may obiect the world is full of mixtures and confusions so that all is vanity vnder the Sun Wee see good men to suffer euill and to be oppressed euery day on the other side euill men enioy the good of the Land haue al things that heart can wish or desire The godly are afflicted the vngodly are most respected and rewarded are not these great disorders I answer Answer first confusions as they are thus confused are not of God as they are out of order they proceed not from the God of order but from the Prince of darknesse that ruleth in the ayre and the author of confusion that gouerneth in the earth The proper cause of disorder is the Diuell who first disordered himselfe and kept not his first estate but left the heauens and habitation wherein hee was formed hee by deceiuing our first parents and tempting them to sinne brought vpon them and their posterity ruine and destruction So then such as are simply disorders were brought in by sinne and sinne by the Diuell Of this we spake before in the Preface Secondly we must vnderstand that there is order euen in disordered and distempered things the which albeit it do not appeare to vs by reason of the veile of corruption crept in that shutteth our eyes yet it is knowne to God to whose iudgement wee must submit our selues and to whose wisedome wee must subscribe of whom the wise man saith Hee hath made euery thing beautifull in his time Eccles 3 11 howsoeuer it seeme deformed to vs. Thus much of the obiection the vses follow Vse 1 First learne from hence to acknowledge an exquisite order in all Gods wordes and workes aboue and beneath in heauen earth and in all places If we do not alwaies see the same it is our weaknesse and want of sight and it should mooue vs to call vpon God to open our eyes to beholde the same and if we do see it yet to craue we may see it more and more to his glory and our comfort Let vs lift vp our eyes and behold the worke of creation he hath made all his creatures in a most pure and perfect order in number weight and measure Hee hath appointed the Sunne to rule the day and the Moone to rule the night The earth with all her furniture Trees Hearbes Plants Corne and Grasse for cattell and the vse of man The waters with all their store keepe their comely course and order He hath set them a bound which they shall not passe Psal 104 9 so that they shall not returne to couer the earth He hath diuided the parts of the yeare as winter and sommer heat and cold day and night which continue in a constant course according as they are disposed of him He hath assigned and appointed Kings and Princes Rulers and Magistrates to gouerne his people in all good and godly order We shall not need to wander farre off to learne this if we can come homeward and enter into our selues we shall finde sufficient testimonies to confirme this point in our soules and bodies For as we cannot be ignorant how in the frame of this Vniuerse the matter forme priuation simplicity mixture generation corruption action passion compounded of vnlike Elements of earth of water of the aire of fire is notwithstanding preserued by due and distinct proportion which the parts haue seuerally and as in the family the husband and wife the father and children the maister and seruants are knit together by the same reason of analogy so is it in this little world of man wee behold therein the foot-steps of this comely order in the soule minde vnderstanding memory heart reason speech and such like powers the like might be saide of the members of the body placed in a profitable and pleasant order manifestly declaring the wisedome of the Creator And as the admirable workes of God are seene in naturall and ciuill things so much more in spirituall and heauenly things If we enter into the consideration of the goodly and golden chaine of the causes of our saluation we shall see a notable order of them so linked and ioyned together that no confusion at all appeareth therein but all tend to the setting foorth of the glory of his great Name This the Apostle teacheth Rom. 8 30. Moreouer whom he predestinated those also he called and whom hee called Rom 8 30. them also hee iustified and whom hee iustified them hee also glorified This course is neuer broken off the linkes of this chaine can neuer be put asunder no man can make a diuorce and diuision betweene them This coÌnexion of causes is to be looked into and wee must dligently marke the coherence of them We must not aime onely at the last in our desires as Balaam did but wee must learne to ioyne them together and then wee shall finde comfort in them And as there is a distinct order in our generation and regeneration so there is in our resurrection and glorification nay there is the perfection and consummation of all order To this purpose the same Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15 22 23. As in Adam all die euen so in Christ shall all be made aliue but euery man in his owne order the first fruites is Christ afterward they that are of Christ at his coming shall rise againe Albeit therefore the graue seeme to bury all things in confusion and the Chambers of death to be as a Land of darknesse âb 10 21 22. where no order is yet the resurrection beeing as the shining of the day and the bringing of all things vnto light shall make manifest an heauenly order that God obserueth therein Likewise hee speaketh in the same chapter There is one glory of the Sunne cor 15 41 42 another glory of the Moone and another glory of the Stars for one Starre differeth from another in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead c. This order we must reuerence and acknowledge this wee must beleeue and hope for and this we shall haue a blessed experience of in our owne persons when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortall bee cloathed with immortality But among all the works of God none doeth more aboundantly shew foorth the glory and maiesty of him that is the God of order then the word which he hath magnified aboue all other names The worke of creation setteth foorth the glory of the Creator inasmuch as the inuisible thinges of him that is Rom. 1 20. his eternall power and God-head are seene thereby but the power and wisedome and goodnesse and truth of God appeareth much more brightly in those sacred oracles broght vnto vs from his owne mouth True it is the manner of setting downe and placing the seuerall parts of Scripture as they stand in our printed bookes What order of the Scripâure is humane and what diuine is meerely humane and proceedeth from
receiue good from the hand of God and not receiue euill In all this did not Iob sinne with his lips Thus let vs stoope downe bend the knees of our hearts vnto God acknowledging the chastisement to come from him and looking for deliuerance to come from him also The last property to discerne it is cheerefulnesse and ioy in suffering when we are so farre from murmuring vnder it that wee reioyce in it The Apostles of Christ being accused for preaching Christ as for an euill worke scourged as malefactors by the enemies of the Gospel Act. 5.41 departed from the councel reioycing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for his name This was a signe and proofe of their patience For this are the Saints commended Rom. 8. who albeit they were killed al day long for his sake and counted as sheepe for the slaughter yet in all these things they were more then conquerers Rom. 8.37 through him that loued them They are perswaded that neither life nor death nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall separate them from the loue of God The Apostle testifieth touching the Hebrewes that they suffered with ioy the spoiling of their goods Heb. 10.34 knowing in themselues how that they haue in heauen a better and an enduring substance It was a lamentable case to suffer the losse of all their substance gathered together with great labour and sweat or left vnto them by their parents but to suffer this spoyle and pillage at the hands of their kinsfolkes and countreymen and Magistrates whose help they were to call vpon and who ought to haue aided and assisted them this no doubt did double and trebble their sorrow and misery yet such was their Christian patience that they receiued those iniuries and indignities with ioy and great comfort Not that they reioyced at their owne miseries as men that were without feeling or humane affections for if they had beene without sense they could not be renowned for their patience but albeit they were touched with griefe and heauinesse for their aduersities and afflictions yet they were mindful of their profession and of Christs promise that whosoeuer shall forsake houses or brethren or sisters Matth. 19.29 or father or mother or wife or children or lands for his Names sake he shall receiue an hundreth fold more and shall inherit euerlasting life This meditation was it that made them account light of the wrongs they had receiued this hope of an eternall recompence swallowed vp the sadnesse that arose in their heart and wrought in them great gladnesse For what cause hath hee to mourne and lament that maketh an exchange of copper for golde of chaffe for wheat of drosse for pure mettall So great is the price and excellency of heauenly things aboue earthly that we must be ready to beare with patience and alacrity the lacke and losse of them especially considering we are not so much owners of them as stewards neither shall it bring pouerty vpon vs because God will make vs a plentifull amends and recompence neither shall our enemies thriue with them or enrich themselues by them because as theeues and robbers they shall not escape the kingdome of God but he wil feed them with shame and clothe them with dishonor and reward them with confusion in the end 17 Then the Tabernacle of the Congregation shall goe with the hoste of the Leuites in the middes of the Campe as they haue pitched so shall they goe forward euery man in his order according to their standards We haue spoken already of two of the standards and two other remaine behinde to be spoken off In this verse Moses enterlaceth the placing and scituation of the Tabernacle which was so inuironed with the Leuites and they flanked and fortified with the whole hoste that it remained in the middes to wit in a place of the greatest safety and security fittest for accesse in regard of the people and hardest for accesse in regard of their enemies For being placed in the middes of all the hoste the Israelites might more easily approach hauing a commodious ingresse and egresse and regresse vnto it and the enemies if any should enterprise to trouble them should not be able by any meanes to disturbe and disquiet them albeit they deferred it neuer Doctrine 4 so much So then we see that the place of the Tabernacle was not set in a corner of the hoste The Tabernacle was placed in the middes of the hoste or at the one side or out of the hoste but is commanded to be pitched in the midst of the people Hence it appeareth that when the Lord was angry with his people and would no longer reueile himselfe vnto them by his presence among their tents it is saide Moses tooke his Tabernacle and pitched it without the hoste and called it Ohel-moed that is the Tabernacle of the Congregation Exod. 33 ver 7. Exod. 33.7 Heere the people were to meet together here the people were to aske counsell of God and here the Oracle of God would giue answere vnto them True it is this is not to bee vnderstood of that holy place made to bee a worldly Heb. 9.1 that is an earthly and temporall Sanctuary called the Tabernacle whereby they might haue a visible testimony of the presence of God Caluin harmon in hunc locum Caietan O east in Exod. albeit some are of that opinion whether we consider the time or the comming of Moses from the mount or the order of the History In respect of the time because the making of that great Tabernacle followeth afterward Exod. 35. In respect of comming from the mountaine because Moses was newly descended the idolatry of the people newly reuenged and no sufficient leisure afforded for so great a worke lastly in respect of the order of the history because it must be inuerted and transposed Neither was it some peculiar Tabernacle which Moses erected specially for the seruice of God as others suppose and surmise seeing we reade of no such commandement giuen vnto him Osiander and Simler in Exod. and it is not to be thought he would inuent any thing in the seruice of God for which he had no word or warrant For if in the building of the great Tabernacle he did frame all things euen to the rings and pinnes to the snuffers snuffe-dishes Exod. 25.40 and 39.42.43 according to the patterne shewed vnto him in the mountaine how shall we imagine he would set vp a Tabernacle of his own head without the warrant and direction of God Now assuredly we cannot vnderstand it of the great Tabernacle much lesse of any peculiar tabernacle beside whose author God is not remembred to be but of the Tent or Tabernacle of Moses which seruing first for his priuate vse is here appointed the place wher God would manifest himselfe vnto them so that the
heauen is not giuen but to those to whom it is prepared of the Father Matth. 20.23 and 25.34 But election is not of works but of grace and therefore is called the election of grace Rom. 11.5 This appeareth Ephe. 1. Ephe. 1 5.6 He hath predestinated vs to bee adopted through Iesus Christ in himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will c. No man could be saued except Christ had come and had satisfied the iustice of God for the sinnes of the world by his precious blood for there is no other name vnder heauen wherby we must be saued Act. 4.12 but all his benefites proceed from grace and the euerlasting loue of God toward vs as Ioh. 3. Ioh. 3.16 God so loued the word that hee hath giuen his onely begotten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life No man can be saued except he be effectually called to Christ and his Gospel outwardly by the word and inwardly by the Spirit but whence proceedeth this grace but from grace as the Apostle testifieth 2 Tim. 1. 2 Tim. 1.9 Gal. 1.6 He hath saued vs and called vs with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace which was giuen to vs through Christ Iesus before the world was No man can be saued except he hath faith in Christ for the iust shall liue by faith Hab. 2.4 and without faith it is vnpossible to please God Heb. 11. But from whence haue we faith By grace as the Apostle witnesseth Ephe. 2. Ephe. 2.8 By grace ye are saued through faith that not of your selues None can be saued except he be iustified as Psa 34.15 16. The eies of the Lord are vpon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry but the face of the Lord that is his anger and indignation is against them that do euill to cut off their remembrance from the earth But our iustification commeth from grace as Rom. 3. Rom. 3.24 We are iustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus No man can be saued except being iustified by faith he be also sanctified and renewed by the spirit of regeneration for except a man be borne againe of water and the holy Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Ioh. 3. But whence haue we this but from the grace of God as the Apostle expresseth Tit. 3. Tit. 3.6 The bountifulnesse and loue of God our Sauiour toward man appeared and according to his mercy he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the holy Ghost which he shed on vs aboundantly through Iesus Christ our Sauiour No man can be saued without good workes and a carefull and constant endeuour to walke in them for we are his workemanship created in Christ Iesus vnto good works which God hath ordained that we should walke in them Ephe. 2.10 But how are wee inabled to performe them but by the grace and free gift of God as Ezek. 36. Eze. 36.26 ââ A new heart will I giue you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your body and I will giue you an heart of flesh and I wil put my Spirit within you and cause you to walke in my statutes and ye shall keepe my iudgements and doe them The like may bee saide of remission of sinnes No man can be saued without continuall forgiuenesse of sinnes for into many sinnes and offences we fall daily Iam 3.2 But this is giuen vs through his grace onely as the Prophet teacheth Esay 43. Esai 43.25 I euen I am hee that putteth away thine iniquities for mine owne sake that is for no deserts of thine but thorough grace and fauour and will not remember thy sinnes and Ephe. 1.7 We haue redemption through his blood euen the forgiuenesse of sinnes according to his rich grace Lastly no man is saued except he perseuere and continue in faith in loue in Christ in repentance in Christ and in all good works as Matth. 24. he that endureth vnto the end he shall be saued and Reuel 2.10 Be thou faithfull vnto the death and I will giue thee the crowne of life but from what root and fountaine proceedeth this gift and from whence hath it his beginning The Apostles and Prophets tel vs most plainely and directly as Iere. 32.39.40 Ier. 32.40 â I will giue them one heart and one way that they may feare me for euer I wil put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Phi. 1.6.29 and 2.13 God that hath begunne his good worke in his Saints will performe it vntill the day of Iesus Christ Now as we haue said of all the rest so we may say of eternall life Rom. 6.23 that it is the free gift of God and therefore all his giftes and our saluation come not from our our merits but from his mercies not from our deseruings in whole or in part but from his free fauour in Christ Iesus Let vs come to the reasons and consider Reason 1 aright the causes hereof First of all God wil haue the praise and glory of his owne works and will not giue and grant ouer the same to another But if the graces of his Spirit were well deserued of vs and not freely bestowed vpon vs wee had matter of reioycing in our owne selues and of boasting against God The Apostle hauing shewed that the righteousnesse of God is made manifest without the Law saith Where is then the reioycing Rom. 3.27 and 4.2 It is excluded And touching Abraham thâ father of the faithfull he sayeth If Abraham were iustified by workes he hath wherein to reioyce but not with God Likewise writing to the Ephesians chap. 2. By grace ye are saued through faith Ephe. 2.8.9 and that not of your selues it is the gift of GOD not of workes lest any man should boast himselfe So then he giueth all his gifts freely that he may haue the whole praise of his mercy But so much as we take to our selues so much hee loseth of his glory Reason 2 Secondly he knoweth we haue nothing of our owne we craue our daily bread and drinke at his hands We are beggers and destitute of all good things and neuer are able to supply our owne wants Our owne penury is such that we haue nothing to boast off but our misery pouerty blindnesse nakednes and wretchednesse We were saith the Apostle dead in trespasses and sinnes âhe 2.1 2. wherein in times past we walked according to the course of this world and after the Prince that ruleth in the ayre euen the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience We are vnable to thinke or to doe any thing it is God must worke in vs the will and the deed it is he must draw vs before we can runne after him or come
Tribe Gen. 49 17. Dan shall be a serpent by the way an adder in the path that biteth the horse-heeles so that his rider shall fall backward which declareth that the power might of this Tribe should not be great but preuaile rather by fraud and deceit ãâã 15 76.18 27. Thus Sampson preuailed against the Philistims and afterward they ouercame the City Laish ââctrine 7. ââd oftenâââes maketh âise of the ââkest inâââments and burnt it with fire We learne from hence that it pleaseth God oftentimes to chuse and vse the weakest meanest men to bee instruments for the accomplishing of his greatest workes Hee maketh choice of inferiour things to performe his decrees and to do good to his Church and to serue him wheresoeuer hee purposeth to imploy them This appeareth cleerer then the Sun throughout the Scriptures in preferring the younger before the elder in the calling of many Iudges in the election of many Kings in the separating of many Prophets and in the ordaining of many Apostles who were of little reckoning and estimation before their honour and aduancement to verifie that which the Psalmist saith Psal 75 6 7. Promotion commeth neyther from the East nor from the West nor from the South but God is the Iudge he putteth downe one and setteth vp another Saul was a seeker of his fathers asses and though hee found not them he found the kingdome Samuel being sent to annoint him 1 Sam. 10. Dauid was the youngest of his fathers house and the lowest among one of the lowest families left with the sheepe in the wildernesse according to that in the Psalme He chose Dauid his seruant and tooke him from the sheepe-folds ââal 78 70 71 from following the Ewes great with young he brought him to feede Iacob his people and Israel his inheritance And as God chose him from feeding a flocke of sheep to feed a better flocke so he chose some of his Apostles from catching fish to catch foules Peter was a fisherman as before him Amos was an heard-man Thus did God throw downe the strong walles of Iericho not by might of men nor by munition of war but by Rams horns which were blowed by the Priests Iosh 6 20 In the creation he brought light out of darknesse the fowles out of the waters and all things out of nothing Gen. 1 3 20. Heb. 11 3. Christ wrought many of his cures in like manner in healing the blinde man for hee spate on the ground made clay of the spettle and then annointed the eyes of the blinde man with the clay then he had him wash in the poole of Siloam who by and by went his way washed and came seeing Iohn 9 6 7. Likewise in the worke of our redemption the truth of this is more apparant for he wrought by contraries bringing life out of death He came downe to the earth to lift vs vp into heauen Beza Confess chap. 3. art 29. Eph. 2 6. He suffered the punishments of our sinnes that he might make vs free from them Math. 11 28. 1 Pet. 2 24. He perfectly fulfilled all righteousnesse that he might couer our vnrighteousnesse Rom. 5 19. And to the end he might fully satisfie for our sinnes hee was made sinne that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Corin. 5 21. He was bound that we might be loosed hee was condemned that we might be acquitted he was crucified in his body that hee might nayle our sinnes to his Crosse and fasten them there for euer Col. 2 14. He tooke vpon him the curse due to vs that he might appease the wrath of his Father against vs Heb. 10 10. He dyed for vs that we might liue he was buried and laide in the graue that he might ouercome death in his owne cabin and denne Acts 2 24. Lastly he rose againe as a Captain and Conqueror from the dead and could not be holden of the sorrowes of death that wee should walke in newnesse of life Rom 6 4. All these examples of Saul of Dauid of Amos of Peter of Christ of the Patriarkes of the Prophets of the Iudges and of the Apostles serue to teach vs this truth that it is the manner of Gods dealing to make choise of small meanes to effect great matters and to single out weake instruments to worke out worthy enterprises Neither ought this to be maruelled at as Reason 1 strange in our eyes For if there were no other reason to induce vs to beleeue it the only will and good pleasure of God ought to be sufficient as being the highest mouing cause and indeed the cause of all causes His will is a law and who shall heerein controule him of errour or conuince him of folly or condemne him of vnsufficiency If he will let the full rich goe away empty who shall say vnto him Why dost thou so Or who can accuse him of rashnesse This is that which Christ our Sauiour setteth downe Luc. 10 21. In that houre Iesus reioyced in spirit and saide I thanke thee O Father Lord of heauen and earth that thou hast hidde these things from the wise and prudent and hast reuealed them vnto babes euen so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Where wee see he maketh the pleasure of God to be the stay of himselfe so it ought to be with vs if we once come to know what seemeth good in the eyes of God though we know no more though we can see no farther and though ten thousand reasons as a mighty army may seeme to encounter against it yet we must rest our selues vpon it as vpon a rocke and build our house vpon it as a foundation Reason 2 Secondly this serueth best to make manifest the glory of God when as great things are done by a weake hand Now the weaker the instruments are which he setteth on work the more euidently is his power seene and the better doth his praise appeare This gaue Dauid comfort and assurance being a stripling vnarmed and vntrained to the field to encounter hand to hand in a single combat with a mighty gyant he doubted not to ouercome him but was perswaded in his heart of his helpe that neuer forsaketh his that trust in him and call vpon him that he should smite him with his sling take his head from him with his sword and giue the carcasses of the hoste of the Philistims vnto the fowles of the ayre and to the wild beasts of the earth and he maketh this the reason of all That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel 1 Sam. 17.46 1 Sam. 17.46 This also doth the Apostle inferre and inforce in another kind speaking of our saluation and redemption and of those that are counted worthy to be partakers of them 1 Cor. 1.26 1 Cor. 1.26 27 28 29 31. You know your calling how that not many wise men after the flesh nor many mighty nor many noble are called but
before his conuersion to the faith he had been a persecuter a blasphemer and iniurious consenting to the death of Stephen and breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord one borne out of due time the least of the Apostles the least of all Saints not meete to be called an Apostle but rather a destroyer of the faith of the brethren But when he came to preach the faith which before he destroyed he was nothing inferiour to the chiefe Apostles 2 Cor. 11. â more then a Minister of Christ in labours more aboundant in stripes aboue measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft louing him very much of whom he had receiued much so that he gaue no place to the residue of the Apostles Euen as in the manner of the natural generation we see that oftentimes such as are of weakest nature and constitution of body are blessed with increase of children and a plentifull posterity more then those that are of stronger complexion so such as haue meane gifts and lesser knowledge and perhaps neuer trained vp in the schooles of the Prophets may saue more soules and bring more to God then such as haue taken many degrees and haue attained to a great depth and profoundnesse of learning as we shall haue occasion farther to shew in this booke What then Chap. 8. Obiection are Vniuersities to be despised are schooles of learning to no purpose No Answere they are nourceries of knowledge humane and diuine They are as those riuers that water the garden of God The Lord blesse them that blesse those places and curse them that are enemies to the peace and prosperity of them and thrust thorough their loynes that wish their hurt neither let them which goe by say The blessing of the Lord be vpon such we blesse you in the Name of the Lord. Neuerthelesse the Lord is not bound to such as are brought vp in those places but maketh the labours of those that want the Artes and Tongues being conscionable in their callings very auaileable to the glory of his Name and to the sauing of many soules Lastly we are put in mind of this duty that Vse 5 we ought not to rest vpon flesh and blood as vpon a reede that will deceiue vs but vpon God the Rocke of our saluation Some put their trust in horses and some in charets Psal 20. and some in Princes Psal 146. We can make no resistance against the weakest things which are as warlike weapons that neuer returne empty but euen they shall be able to push vs downe and to preuaile against vs and to destroy vs vtterly Let vs not therefore lift vp our mindes against God but humble our selues before him Our strength is nothing our multitudes are nothing our Armor and munition is nothing if God fight against vs. Let vs not thinke to escape his hands who is able to arme few against many and the weak against the strong as 1 Sam. 14.6 1 Sam. 14 6. where Ionathan saith to the yong man that bare his armour Come and let vs goe ouer vnto the Garison of these vncircumcised it may be that the Lord will make for vs for there is no restraint of the Lord to saue by many or by few The same in effect Dauid speaketh to the Philistime The Lord saueth not with sword and speare ãâã â7 47 for the battell is the Lords and he will giue you into our hands Thus also Asa cryed vnto the Lord his God when a great hoste of a thousand thousand came out against him Lord it is nothing with thee to helpe ãâã 14.11 whether with many or with them that haue no power Helpe vs O Lord our God for we rest on thee and in thy Name we goe against this multitude O Lord thou art our God let not man preuaile against thee We must therefore renounce all pride in our selues and that vaine confidence which will deceiue vs. We haue to doe with God If he will destroy vs and deliuer vs as a prey into the iawes of death ãâã praelect ãâã though there be no enemie to resist vs nor power of man to ouercome vs yet we may not secure our selues nor suffer our hearts to be compassed about with presumption as with a chaine he is able with the breath of his nostrils to blow vs away that we shall be no more This vse is concluded by the Prophet Ieremy chapter 37.9.10 ãâã â7 9.10 Thus saith the Lord Deceiue not your selues saying The Chaldeans shall surely depart from vs for they shall not depart For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you and there remained but wounded men among them yet should they rise vp euery man in his tent and burne this city with fire Whereby we see that destruction of a kingdome or of a city dependeth not vpon a multitude of men or vpon the valiantnesse and violence of souldiers but vpon the pleasure of God who executeth his iudgements by what hands soeuer he will For when a few and poore remnant remaine and those of wounded men halfe dead and wholly vnable to resist euen such as are thrust thorough with the sword gasping for life and ready to giue vp the Ghost yet shall they recouer the battel that was lost and obtaine the victory and conquer the conquerer and strike down as bulrushes the strongest and choicest men that before preuailed and had the vpper-hand A notable example and memorable exploit whereof we haue recorded in the Turkish history ãâã history âe life of ârath the ãâã concerning a Christian souldier who sore wounded and all bloody seeing Amurath the third king of the Turkes comming after the victory that he had obtained to take a view of the dead bodies which without number lay on heapes in the field like mountaines seeing him I say rose vp as well as hee was able in staggering manner as if it had beene from death out of an heape of slaine men and making toward him for want of strength fell downe diuers times by the way as he came at length drawing nigh vnto him as though he would haue craued his life of the tyrant and in honour of him haue kissed his feete suddenly stabbed him in the bottome of his belly with a short dagger so that the conquerour was conquered and presently dyed Thus it is with poore weake men when God strengtheneth them for the feeble become strong and the strong feeble 32 These are those which were numbred of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers all those that were numbred of the Campes throughout their hostes were fixe hundred thousand and three thousand and fiue hundred and fiftie 33 But the Leuites were not numbred among the children of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses 34 And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses so they pitched by their standards and so they set forward euery one after
serueth not onely to soften the waxe but to harden the clay Hence it is that many are made worse by the word âatth 13.15 but that falleth out through their owne corruption not through the nature of the word Hence it is that the Lord saith Make the heart of this people fatte and make their hearts heauy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and heare with their eares and conuert and be healed Esay 6.10 âsay 6.10 Be it therefore that none are commonly worse then common hearers who heare indeed but doe not vnderstand and see indeed but doe not perceiue yet is the word to be preached and published though it be the sauor of death vnto death in those that heare it It is as the raine or snow that falleth from heauen which returneth not thither againe but watereth the earth and maketh it bud and bring forth that it may giue seed to the sower and bread to the eater so is it with the word that goeth forth out of the mouth of God it doth not returne vnto him voide but it accomplisheth that which he pleaseth and prospereth in the thing whereunto he sendeth it Esay 55. âsay 55 10.11 Lastly the wickednesse of euill hearers ought to be no barre against the preaching of the word forasmuch as euill persons are oftentimes wonne by the Gospel Publicans and harlots are brought by it to the kingdome of God Matth. 21.31 âatth 21.31 Many of these that crucified the Lord of life and put our Sauiour to death were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we do Act. 2.37 âct 2.37 They gladly receiued the word and were baptized so that in one day there were added to the Church about three thousand soules The like we might say of the Iailour notwithstanding his cruelty and persecution of the Apostles he came to them and said Sirs what must I doe to be saued Act. 16 30. âct 16 30. Who preached vnto him faith in Christ by whose Ministry hee was conuerted Shall we then reason as these men doe Hearers are wicked and as bad as others that heare not therefore away with the word out of the Church pull down the chaire of Moses and downe with all preaching let vs haue no more hearing and let the sound of the word be buried for euer O foolish reason O damnable conclusion Nay wee may inferre contrariwise Such as heard long are sinful stil therfore let them heare more cheerefully and let the Minister deale more roundly with them Let them be told and taught that God will take an account of their hearing according to the meanes he hath afforded vnto them that by the word they shall be iudged at the last day and that as much hath beene committed vnto them so much shal be required at their hands againe that they are to heare the voyce of God while it is called to day and are to take heed they neglect not the accepted time and that as Christ hath knocked long at the doores of their hearts so they know not how suddenly he will depart from them Verse 4. And Nadab and Abihu dyed before the Lord c. We haue already declared how God immediately after the ordering of the Armies of the Israelites describeth the tribe of Leui that was exempted and priuiledged out of that muster and multitude and of what family Aaron came Now wee are to shew what became of his sonnes who albeit they were the sonnes of one man yet they neither liued nor dyed after one manner For the two eldest Nadab and Abihu Leuit. 10.4 Num. 26.60 presuming to offer incense to God and to burne it with strange fire were themselues consumed with fire there went a fire from the Lord and deuoured them and they dyed before the Lord with sudden death Thus by the same thing wherein they offered they perished strange fire brought downe a strange iudgement to declare the iustice of God against sinners but of this point we shall haue better occasion to speake farther in the fift Chapter Thus it fel out in the family of Aaron his two sonnes dyed by fire euen they dyed before their father 1 Chron. 24.2 and had no children to whom the Priesthood might descend therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the Priests office When the Leuites did offer sacrifice in the Tabernacle God sent fire from heauen Leuit. 9.24 to consume the sacrifice whereupon he commanded the Priestes that the fire should be kept euermore burning vpon the Altar and neuer be suffered to goe out Leuit. 6.13 Which the Gentiles also obserued by a foolish imitation So then their transgression against God consisted in these two things First they vsed strange fire contrary to the commandement of God whereas they should haue taken it from the Altar Leuit. 1.8 Leuit. 1.8 Secondly they entred into the holy place which was not lawfull for the high Priest himselfe to doe but vnder certaine conditions and at a certaine time Leui. 16.1 2. Leuit. 16.1 2. Exod. 30.10 Exod. 30.10 Heb. 9.7 Heb 9.7 Thus then as they sinned openly so God punished them openly and made them publike examples vnto others that should succeed them and come after them in that office as he speaketh Leuit. 10.3 Then Moses said vnto Aaron This is it that the Lord spake I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified Babingâon Leuit ch 10. obser 6. It was but yesterday as it were that Aaron and his sonnes had a famous and a glorious consecration into the greatest and highest dignity vpon earth but these sonnes so lately exalted and honoured now lye destroyed before their fathers face to his ouermuch griefe and anguish not by any ordinary and accustomed death but by fire from heauen for their sins and breach of the Law and commandement of God We learne from hence that Godly parents haue Doctrine 2 oftentimes vngodly and disobedient children Godly parents haue oftentimes vngodly children Such as are reformed themselues haue children vnreformed We see this in Adam the first father he had not onely Abel the righteous who obtained good report that he pleased God but also Caine who was of that euill one and slew his brother 1. Ioh. 3. 1 Ioh. 3.12 Because his owne workes were euill and his brothers good Noah a iust man and perfect in his generations Gen. 6.9 had cursed Ham as well as blessed Shim Gen. 9.26 We see this in Abrahams house the Father of the faithfull who rereceiueth this commendation froÌ the mouth of God himselfe Gen. 18. Gen. 18.19 I know him that hee will command his children and his houshold after him that they keepe the way of the Lord to do iustice and iudgement that the Lord may bring vpon Abraham that which hee hath spoken of him yet he had in his
to take paines to teach them in their youth what trade they shall take but we cannot giue a blessing vnto our owne labours The husbandman may plant and sow yet he cannot bring downe the early and the latter raine and if he could doe this he could not make the corne grow for the vse of man So is it with vs we may teach and reproue exhort and admonish but except GOD open the heart the heart remaineth vnreformed It is not to be doubted but Samuel bestowed great labour and diligence in discharging this duty both because he was a faithfull and godly man Heb. 11.32 Heb. 11.32 And because hee had seene with his eyes an example of ouermuch lenity in Eli and had heard with his eares a fearefull threatning of iudgment against him reuealed by the Lord yet his children followed not his steppes but declined from the wayes wherein he walked Let all godly parents therefore comfort themselues in the consideration and contemplation of such like examples knowing that they can onely vse the meanes and that it lyeth not in their power to make them truely religious In deed if wee haue beene negligent in bringing them vnto God and let them runne into all riot and not restrained them we haue cause to lay it to our consciences and to thinke with our selues that we that gaue them life haue also beene instruments of their death But if wee haue done what lyeth in vs to doe if we haue warned them and they would not be warned if we haue taught and trained them vp in the feare of God which is the beginning of wisedome and they haue broken the bands asunder and cast the cordes of duty and discipline from them we may comfort our selues as the Minister doth when he seeth his labour is spent in vaine If he haue beene faithfull and conscionable in his place whether men regard the word or not regard it whether they beleeue or doe not beleeue whether they obey or doe not obey he is the sweet sauour of Christ 2 Cor. 2.15 euen in them that perish because euen then it worketh the will of God and accomplisheth that for which it is sent The Prophet prophesying of Christs comming among the Iewes bringeth him in with this complaint I haue laboured in vaine Esay 49.4 I haue spent my strength for nought and in vaine yet surely my iudgement is with the Lord and my worke with my God God respecteth vs according to our worke not according to the euent or successe of our labour he will reward vs according to our conscience in teaching not according to the peoples diligence in hearing of vs. Thus it shall be with all Christian parents to their endlesse comfort God will not be vnmindfull of their paines that they haue taken albeit they see not that fruite of their labours that they desire Obiect Heere some man peraduenture may obiect that the Apostle saith The woman shall be saued in child-bearing if they continue in faith and charity and holinesse with sobriety 1 Timothy chapter 2. verse 15. 2 Tim. 2.15 Where hee seemeth to hang the saluation of the mother vpon the faith of the children as if she could not be saued except they continued in the trueth I answere Answer this place is in deed so vnderstood and wrested by many interpreters but that cannot be the true meaning Ierome an ouer-great prayser of virginitie and none of the greatest friends of matrimony draweth the words to that sense that he may by this meanes commend the single life and withall withhold women from marriage while they heare that they can no otherwise bee saued then if their children continue faithfull vnto the death The purpose of the Apostle in this place as appeareth by the the circumstances going before is to comfort the woman that shee should not cast away all confidence as one without hope as being the cause of one of the greatest sinnes which brought the ruine of all mankinde The feeling of this heauy burden lying vpon her conscience might terrifie her and work much feare and amazement in her soule and apprehension of the wrath of God and therefore he comforteth her and giueth her hope of saluation But if the former exposition be receiued that her saluation bee suspended vpon many others hee should cast downe Thunder and Lightning vpon her head able to apall and dismay her he should not comfort her but terrifie her he should not lift her vp with hope of life but cast her downe into despaire through feare of death when she should vnderstand that she could not possibly be saued except her children did perseuere in the faith Againe it lyeth not in the power of women to giue them faith and loue much lesse the grace of perseuerance to continue constant vnto the death so that the Apostle should lay a burden vpon their shoulders and put a yoke about their nekes which neither they nor their fathers were able to beare This is not the easie Yoke nor the light burden of Christ For albeit they striue with all their strength and labour with all their power to bring vp their children in godlinesse yet oftentimes they are obstinate stubborne headstrong froward peruerse and rebellious so that they can doe no good with them because they will not obey them nor hearken to their commaundements Furthermore this care of the instruction and institution of children is a dutie required rather of the father who is better able then of the mother who is euery way the weaker vessell as appeareth by the Apostle Ephes 6.4 Fathers prouoke not your children to wrath but bring them vp in the nourture and admonition of the Lord. Lastly the vertues heere commended bebelong rather to the mothers then to the children as when he requireth of them holinesse with sobriety as Tit. 2.3 4. it appeareth The aged women that they be in behauiour as becommeth holinesse c. that they may teach the yong women to be sober c. If any farther obiect âbiect that if the Apostle had meant to referre these last words to the woman he would haue said if she continue in faith and charity not if they continue I answere Answere nothing is more common and vsuall then the change of number especially one of the words being a nowne of multitude For it is plaine and manifest that the Apostle doth not point out some one certaine woman but speaketh in generall of woman-kinde or of all women Thus doth the Apostle vary and alter the number in this present Chapter sometimes speaking in the plurall number as of many In like manner that women adorne themselues in modest apparell Verse 9. sometimes speaking in the singular number as of one Let the woman learne in silence with all subiection Verse 11. This is also easie to be shewed in other places as Galat. 6.1 Ye which are spirituall restore such a one in the spirit of meekenesse considering thy selfe lest thou also be
sentence of death gone out against vs Euen as the children of Israel had beene all the children of death as well as the first borne of Egypt had not God in great mercy and compassion spared them For albeit he deliuered Goshen where the Israelites were from the plagues that wasted and wearied the Egyptians was this thinke we because Israel deserued to be spared or because God could not in iustice comence any action against them No they had learned too much the manners of Egypt they beleeued not the word of the Lord for their deliuerance but murmured against the Ministers of God sent vnto them albeit they had seene his wonders and signes that were wrought among them Their first borne therefore had beene in no better case then the first borne of Egypt had not God beene mercifull vnto them and shewed pitty vpon them So then we are all put in mind of our naturall corruption by sin deriued from Adam in regard of which corruption which is spread as a foule and filthy leprosie ouer all the powers of the soule and parts of the body we are guilty both of temporall and eternall death vnlesse we haue redemption by Christ the promised Sauiour of the world We are by nature wretched and miserable sinners borne as it were out of due time and deserue the wages of sin that is death 1 Ioh. 1 8. Tit. 3.3 Rom 6.20 We our selues were in times past vnwise disobedient deceiued seruing diuers lusts and pleasures liuing in malice and enuie hatefull and hating one another There are many branches of this corruption and sundry points necessary to be knowne of vs concerning the same First we must acknowledge no difference between our selues and others Are we better or more excellent then they No in no wise We all lie vnder sinne and haue the seedes therof within vs. Rom. 3.9 and are ready to fall into all the most horrible sinnes can be named if we be not stayed by the hand of God Secondly we must looke into the Law of God as in a glasse that we may see our defects and deformities We are blinde and cannot see the Law is a true glasse and will shew vs our face truly it telleth what is amisse and flattereth no man for by the Law commeth the knowledge of sinne Rom. 3.20 There cannot be the least spot but it will be made to appeare so that he which is ignorant of the Law knoweth not himselfe Thirdly we must confesse the loue of God to be great toward vs in freeing of vs from the bondage of sinne and setting vs at liberty to be the seruants of righteousnesse Thus doth the Apostle Rom. 7.24 25. O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lord c. Fourthly ' we must learne the vilenesse and greatnesse of our fall which Paul calleth the disobedience of one man containing all sinnes of what kinde and nature soeuer Adams sinne how great which may be considered in those few particulars First he regarded not the promise of God wherby he was willed to hope for euerlasting life so long as he coÌtinued to eat the tree of life Secondly he despiseth the commandement of God restraining him from the forbidden fruite and maketh no account of it Thirdly hee breaketh out into horrible pride and ambition whereby he would be equall vnto God and seeke an estate higher then that wherin he had set him He was not content with his present condition albeit it were most excellent Fourthly he sheweth an vnfaithfull heart to depart away from the liuing God his creator so that he did not beleeue or not regard the threatning of God which was that when he sinned he should die he becommeth the most vnkinde and vnthankefull wretch that could be not considering what infinite benefites he had receiued for himselfe and his posterity and that he was to loose them and leaue them in such sort that they departed both from himselfe and from his posterity Lastly he brake out into foule and fearefull Apostacy from God to the diuell from his maker to the tempter giuing more credite to him that charged God with lying with enuy and with malice then to the Almighty of whose goodnesse he had so great experience Thus he preferred the father of lyes before the God of all truth So that in the first sinne of man August Enchir. ad Laurent ca. 46. we may discerne many sinnes if it bee deuided into his particular parts and considered seuerally as it ought to be of vs. The fift branch is that we must all of vs take notice of the fruits and effects of the former disobedience whereby the image of GOD after which we were created at the first is blotted out onely some few remnants remaining of it so that in stead of wisedome power trueth goodnesse holinesse and righteousnesse wherewith our first parents were clothed as with garments more precious then the carpets of Egypt and all the ornaments of gold and siluer wherein the Nobles of the earth are attyred he punished them with the contrary euills and pulling these from them and stripping them starke naked they appeared most deformed through blindnes weakenesse falsehood foolishnesse prophanenesse and vnrighteousnes which swarmed in them and all their children A cursed roote cursed fruite a wretched cause a wofull effect Hence it is that we are prone to fall into all euil and not able to thinke one good thought 1 Cor. 2.14 2 Cor. 3.5 we are borne dead in sinnes and trespasses Ephe. 2.1 Ier. 17.19 Iob 15.15 And yet this is not all our misery but it brought in as by a violent wind or a raging flood an heape of sicknesses diseases aches and a traine of ten thousand calamities that attend vpon our whole life vntill they bring vs into the chambers of death Lastly when we haue taken good notice of the former miseries and bondage vnder which we lie and thought well vpon them with due meditation they will driue vs out of the loue of our selues and make vs labour to be regenerated and borne againe by the spirit of God Ioh. 3.5 Ezek. 36. â we must seeke to repaire the decayed image of God to be renewed in our mindes that we may be no longer the seruants of sin but of righteousnesse Our olde man must be crucified that the body of sinne may be destroyed Rom. 6.5 Let it not therefore reigne in our mortall body that we should obey it in the lustes therof neither let vs yeeld our members as instruments of vnrighteousnes but yeeld our selues vnto God as those that are aliue from the dead and our members as instruments of righteousnesse vnto God Againe What we are by grace as the figure of the first borne expresseth the natural condition of all mankind deseruing to be destroyed so it setteth foorth the prerogatiue of the faithfull and sheweth what we are by grace For as Christ being
the first borne among many brethren Rom. 8.29 is the Priest of his Church because he offered vp himself to his Father as a perfect sacrifice to satisfie his wrath for our sinnes and maketh intercession for vs and the king of his Church because he hath authority in heauen in earth so he maketh vs kings and Priests vnto God his Father Reuel 1.6 and 5.10 Priests that we should make knowne his wil call vpon his Name in spirit and truth and offer vp our selues to him a spirituall sacrifice and kings that we should conquer sinne Satan and the world through faith in Christ for this is our victory euen our faith 1 Ioh. 5.4 that ouercommeth all these enemies We haue also the adoption of sonnes and we are a chosen generation a royall Priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people that we should shew forth the praises of him who hath called vs out of darknesse into his maruellous light 1 Pet. 2.9 Thirdly this layeth before vs the dignity Vse 3 of Christ Iesus our Sauiour touching whom we learne that he is in deed and in trueth the first borne of God by whom we are deliuered from the wrath of God and redeemed from hell and destruction forasmuch as he was consecrate vnto God and made a sacrifice of attonement for vs who by sinne were become his enemies as we noted before Now hee is the first borne in these foure respects first How Christ is the first borne according to his diuine nature being begotten of the Father before all creatures after an vnspeakeable manner being of the same substance with him and is therfore called the first borne of euery creature Coloss 1. verse 15. Rom. 8. verse 29. He is the eternall sonne of God being borne of him before any creature was created Whereby wee learne against the blasphemous opinion of the Arrians that he is true GOD not a made or a created God but being God from all eternity Secondly according to his humane nature euen as he tooke vpon him our flesh and was borne of the virgine Mary so hee was also her first borne Matthew 1. verse 25. Luke 2. verse 15. Not that the blessed Virgine had other after him but because she had none before him For he is in Scripture called the first borne that first openeth the matrice whether other be borne after or not Thirdly he is called by this title because he was the first that arose out of the graue made a way for vs vnto euerlasting life because it was vnpossible that hee should be holden of the sorrowes of death And therefore hee is said by the Apostle to be before all things the beginning and the first borne from the dead Col. 1 18. This is a notable comfort vnto vs that forasmuch as our elder Brother Christ Iesus arose from the dead to the euerlasting possession of eternall glory in heauen it followeth that we also shall rise againe and not for euer lye in the graue and then be partakers with him of that blessed inheritance prepared for vs from the beginning of the world Hee is gone before to prepare vs a place and when he commeth againe we shall enter into that blessed estate and condition euery one according to the measure of the grace and guift of Christ Psal 45 7. For as Christ was annointed with the oyle of gladnesse aboue his fellowes so he was rewarded with the possession of glory aboue his brethren and highly exalted farre aboue all principalities and powers who ascended aboue all heauens that hee might fill all things Eph. 4 10. Neither let any obiect that some did rise againe before him for they arose againe to this present life and dyed againe but he arose againe to die no more death had no more dominion ouer him but to take possession of the kingdome of heauen and therefore it followeth in the next words that in all things he might haue the preheminence Lastly as the first borne was set apart and then sacrificed vnto GOD I meane the first borne among the beasts that were killed so Christ was separated from sinners Heb. 7 26. as the vnspotted Lambe of God holy and acceptable and then made a perfect oblation of himselfe not for himselfe but for the sinnes of his people Heb. 7 27. He must be holy both in his conception and life that he might be a mercifull and faithfull high-Priest and make reconciliation for vs. For he that must be a Mediatour betweene God and vs and restore vs into his fauour must of necessity be himselfe in the fauour of God and neuer haue offended him Neither could he haue accesse to the Throne of God who is most holy to make intercession for vs vnlesse he had beene holy harmelesse vndefiled and made higher then the heauens Hence also we haue vnspeakeable comfort we are assured that the wrath of God is pacified the curse of the Law is cancelled and all our sinnes are purged and done away Who is it now that shall be able to lay any thing to our charge Rom. 8 33. or to the charge of any of the elect It is God that iustifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen againe who is euen at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for vs. There is nothing then that shall be able to separate vs from this loue of Christ neither tribulation nor distresse neither persecution nor famine nor nakednesse nor perill nor sword neyther life nor death forasmuch as in all these we are more then Conquerors through him that loued vs. Lastly seeing God separated the first borne Vse 4 or eldest of the family from the rest of his brethren as also he did the Leuites from the other Tribes to serue him it teacheth that all the faithfull ought to be separated from the company of wicked men and to abhor them as a sinke of all filthinesse and annoyance that we may more freely and faithfully serue the Lord as the Prophet saith Psal 119. Psal 119 115. Away from me ye wicked and I will keepe the Commandements of my God Thus we see the Church of God to be described to be an holy people elected out of the rest of the world Numb 23.9 They shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the Nations God reuealeth his will to them he gouerneth them he protecteth them he careth and prouideth for them no lesse then parents for their first borne Hence it is that he willeth Moses to goe to Pharaoh and to say vnto him Israel is my sonne euen my first borne let him goe that he may serue me and if thou refuse to let him goe Behold I will slay thy sonne euen thy first borne Exod. 4. Exod. 4 22 23 The like we reade in the Prophesie of Ieremy chap. 31 9. I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my first borne He hath a greater care of them then of all other nations and people
abhominable If we come wickedly and vnworthily to the Lords Supper we eate and drinke our owne damnation Let vs therefore examine our selues and prepare our hearts before we come that so wee may bee meete partakers of those holy mysteries Obiect Before wee come to the doctrine offered vnto vs in this diuision we are to answer one obiection that ariseth from hence For the question may be asked whether this charge heere spoken of were perpetually enioyned to the Leuites that they should carry the instruments of the Sanctuary and the Arke whether I say they were alwayes to beare the Arke Answer or not I answer this commandement was temporary It was their duty for a time vntill the Priests were encreased and multiplied in number that they were sufficient and enabled to carry it Deut. 31 9. But afterward all the examples of the histories mentioned in the bookes of Ioshua and the Iudges of Samuel and of the Kings do manifestly declare that it was the office of the Priests themselus Iosh 3 6. 1 Sam. 14 18. 2 Sam. 15 29. 1 Kings 2 26 and 8 3 4. For the most worthy things were to be handled by the more worthy persons thereby to testifie the worthines and dignity of the things themselues and to procure the greater reuerence and respect vnto them Wherefore the commandement enioyned in this place was for a season onely vntill there were a sufficient number of the Priests to do it 2 Sam. 6 3. The setting of the Arke vpon a Cart was Dauids infirmity though otherwise a man after Gods owne heart for Princes may erre the best of them may be deceiued They followed not the ordinance of God and caused it not to be carried on the shoulders eyther of the Priests or Leuites but followed the example of the Philistims who made a new Cart 1 Sam. 6 7 11. and laide the Arke of the Lord vpon the Cart so did Dauid and all the people they set the Arke of God vpon a new Cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab Againe we reade sometimes in the Scriptures that the Leuites did it 1 Chr. 15 2. Then Dauid said None ought to carry the Arke of God but the Leuites for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the Arke of God and to minister vnto him for euer Thus was Dauid made wiser by the former breach of Gods wrath among them whereby Vzzah was destroyed Howbeit we must vnderstand heereby the Priests that were of the Tribe of Leui as appeareth by the 26 verse of that chapter It came to passe when God helped the Leuites to beare the Arke of the Couenant of the Lord that they offered seuen Bullocks seuen Rams Where we see that such as did beare the Arke did also offer sacrifices but the Priests office onely was to offer sacrifice therefore they onely did carry the Arke For all the Priests were Leuites but all Leuites were not Priests The name of Leuites was a common name to all that belonged to that Tribe whereof some were called Priests other by the common name of Leuites But concerning those that executed the Priests office and were not of that Tribe they were no better then intruders and vsurpers Verse 5 6 c. And when the Campe setteth forward Aaron shall come and his sonnes and they shall take downe c. Moses mentioneth and setteth downe in this place the particular calling of all the Leuites what they ought to do and what they ought not to do wherein they are to busie themselues exercise their gifts and how they may approue themselues in their places as if he should bring euery one of them into their proper field that they were to till For euen as a master of a family appointeth euery one of his seruants their taske and worke that he will haue them do so doth the Lord our God deale with his Ministers and all his people he giueth them their peculiar office and sheweth how and wherein they must employ themselues We learne Doctrine 1 from hence that euery man whether out of the Ministery or in the Ministery It is the duty of euery one to know and learne the duties of his owne calling must learne and know the duties of his owne calling what charge God hath laide vpon him and what seruice he requireth at his hands At the giuing of the law in Mount Sion euery one had his standing place assigned vnto him which he might not passe for as God hath set bounds vnto the sea that though it rage yet it can go no farther then hee hath appointed he hath said hitherto it shall goe and it can go no farther so Moses is charged to deale with the people that they do not breake thorough vnto the Lord Exod. 19 12. Thou shalt set bounds vnto the people saying Take heed to your selues that ye goe not vp into the Mount or touch the border of it c. Thus also the Lord speaketh to Ieremy chapt 1 5 10. Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest foorth out of the wombe I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a Prophet vnto the Nations The Prophet Ionah is reproued that being to go to Niniueh Ionas 1 3. rose vp to flye vnto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Thus doth Paul speake to Timothy for hauing set downe before him the duty of his calling he saith 1 Tim 4.15 16. Tit. 1 5 and 2 15 and 3 â Meditate vpon these things giue thy selfe wholly to them that thy profiting may appeare to all Euery one is taught to labour with his hands the thing that is good Eph. 4 28. and to withdraw himselfe from euery brother that walketh inordinately and not according to the doctrine receiued The reasons to confirme vs Reason 1 in this truth are many First we can neuer practise the duties of our callings except we know them This is the eie that leadeth vs to the doing of theÌ from the beginning to the ending of them The blind man cannot see his way Ioh. 13 17. If ye know these things blessed are ye if ye doe them When once we know what duties are laid vpon vs we are already entred into the way to do them and performe them Reason 2 Secondly such as transgresse the bounds set before them shall surely perish and be punished When the people before the Law was giuen were limited how farre to passe Moses addeth âd 19.12 whosoeuer toucheth the mount shal be surely put to death and the Apostle prosecuteth the threatening further ãâã 12.20 If so much as a beast touch the mountain it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart So then the consideratioÌ of the punishment threatned denounced against all that breake the listes set vnto them which is farther confirmed by sundry examples of Vzzah and of Corah and his company ought so farre to preuaile with vs as to teach vs to continue in the workes
to all Churches therefore hee reprooued them because they neglected an ordinary duty Secondly he commandeth them that themselues should take him away saying Put him out from among you but it had beene vnreasonable to require a myracle at their handes which he knew they were not able to worke Thirdly if he had intended such a miraculous action as they performed against hypocrites and enemies of the truth what neede had there beene of a solemne assembly and consent of the Church But in putting of him out the Congregation had an interest ver 4. When ye are gathered together c my spirit with the power of our Lord Iesus Christ âr 5 4. Fourthly this appeareth also by the ende for which he was to be deliuered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may bee saued in the day of the Lord Iesus âr 5 5. that is that he may repent of his wickednesse in this life and so be saued in the life to come This also is noted to be the end wherefore he deliuered Hymeneus and Alexander to Satan that they might learne not to blaspheme that is that they might renounce their heresies and imbrace the true faith and so repent of their former impiety and iniquity Therefore hee would not haue him smitten with sudden death and taken out of this life and so the time and gift of repentance to be cut off from him Fiftly what it is to deliuer to Satan and to take away the Apostle expresseth in other places keepe not company with them with such eate not purge out the old leauen that they may blush and be ashamed so amend their euill waies Sixtly if this had beene meant of such extraordinary punishments the Apostle might haue done this by his Apostolicall authority and needed not to haue troubled the whole Church with it Seuenthly that which the Apostle heere commanded the Church no doubt practised but they did not take him away out of this world by any myracle neyther deliuered him to bee possessed and punished bodily by the diuell but rather proceeded against him with the censures of the Church as appeareth in the second Epistle where he willeth them to comfort him being afflicted âor 2 6 7. to receiue him being penitent and to cure him beeing wounded Lastly if he had willed them to kill him he had willed them to rush into the Magistrates seate which he would neuer doe for this is proper to the Magistrate alone that beareth the sword Seeing therefore we haue the commandement of Christ and the practise of the Apostle to warrant the sentence of excommunication there shall alwayes bee place for it in the Church euen where the Christian Magistrate is setled established Paul would haue them assemble together in the Name of Christ âor 5 12. that is by his will commandement and afterward hee sheweth that the Churches office is to iudge them that are within albeit the Magistrate haue a sword put into his hand by the ordinance of GOD. What then There is a twofold sword materiall and spirituall he taketh vp the materiall sword and striketh with it The Church handleth the spirituall sword which is the word of God so that the Magistrate taketh away the wicked one way the Church another way The Magistrate killeth and taketh away life if the cause require the Church medleth not with corporall punishment and shedding of blood The Magistrate proceedeth directly according to the Lawes against offenders albeit they repent because he respecteth the execution of iustice and the reuenge of the dishonour done to God The Church proceedeth not in that order but obserueth the degrees appointed by Christ Math. 18 15. If thy brother shall trespasse against thee goe and tell him his fault betweene him and thee alone c and if the offenders repent they are ready to forgiue theÌ For this is the marke whereat excommunication aymeth and the end whereto it tendeth that the sinners being ashamed may be brought to repeÌtance that such as liue in the church might not be corrupted forasmuch as a little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe Lastly it may be said that we should rather Obiection 3 labour how and which way to bring more into the Church then to exclude any out of the Church Men are ready to goe faââ enough out of it but they returne slowe enough to it We are to endeuour to call men to the Sacraments which are encouragements to godlinesse rather then to keepe them froÌ them for their wickednesse It is a signe we lacke charity toward them when wee hide from them that which should do them good I answer Answer it is our duty to do both of them to wit both to encourage them to godlines and yet to keepe them from them so long as they lye in open wickednes not repented of not the first without the latter nor the latter without the first lest wee bee compelled to giue that which is holy to dogges Did the Lord himselfe want charity toward Adam wheÌ he sent him forth from the Garden of Eden Gen. 3 22. lest he put foorth his hand and take also of the Tree of life and eate liue for euer The Sacraments of God cannot profite or helpe wicked men The Supper of the Lord is onely auaileable and comfortable vnto them which come worthily to wit with true repentance with sound faith and with vnfained charity touching others it turneth to greater iudgement and condemnation This doth the Apostle teach 1 Corin. 11 27. Whosoeuer shall eate this bread and drinke this cup of the Lord vnworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Is it not a worke of charity to stay his course that is running into daÌger and like to hurt himselfe to hinder our brother from such an action as that he eateth iudgement to himselfe and maketh himselfe guilty of horrible sinne This were a strange kinde of charity to suffer a man to thrust himselfe through with his sword or to cast himselfe downe headlong from a steepe Rocke when we may hinder him from so doing The Apostle Iude giueth vs other direction in his Epistle that we should haue compassion of some making a difference and others saue with feare Iude 22 23. pulling them out of the fire Wherefore there is no wrong done to impenitent persons if they be excommunicated and consequently barred from the Supper but rather a great benefit is bestowed vpon them and their saluation furthered by this means Neither let any say Obiect that the Church vsurpeth vpon the Magistrate and taketh from him his office For if this were a good reason Answer it was neuer lawfull neither euer shall bee for the Church to excommunicate any offenders because it belongeth to the Magistrate as his duty to punish offences whether he be a Christian or no Christian How then is it that wee take away this authority from the Church in the time of a
24 25. We are iustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ whom God hath set foorth to be a propitiation thorough faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sinnes that are past thorough the forbearance of God The Apostle to the Hebrewes declareth that Christ was to offer vp himselfe once and not often as the High-Priest entreth into the high place euery yeare with blood of others For then must hee often haue suffered since the foundation of the world Heb. 9 26. but now once in the ende of the world hath be appeared to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe By all which testimonies it appeareth that Christ is our Aduocate and hath wrought our peace and attonement and thereby made an end of all other sacrifices The reasons are plaine First because God Reason 1 thereby is well pleased and his wrath appeased so that hee accounteth his death as a full price and sufficient ransome paid for them So the Euangelist witnesseth that a voice came from heauen saying This is my beloued Sonne in whom I am well pleased Math. 3 17. And in the Epistle to the Ephesians the Apostle saieth chap. 5 verse 2. Walke in loue as Christ also hath loued vs and hath giuen himselfe for vs an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweete smelling sauour It is noted in the booke of Genesis that when Noah being come out of the Arke builded an Altar and offered burnt offerings the Lord smelled a sweete sauour Gen. 8 21. which was not the smoke of the sacrifice that ascended for what sweetnesse could there be in that but it was the sweet precious sacrifice of Christ for which his wrath was appeased being shadowed by that ceremony Reason 2 Secondly Christ tooke the whole burden of our sinnes vpon his shoulders presenting himselfe before God in our person and offering vs to God in his person so that he tooke vpon him our vnrighteousnesse and imputed to vs his righteousnesse This the Prophet Esay did most cleerely prophesie off chap. 53 verses 4 12. Surely hee hath borne our greefes and carried our sorrowes and powred out his soule vnto death c. He bare the sinnes of many and made intercession for the transgressors And the Apostle teacheth that in Christ we are reconciled to God For hee hath made him to be sinne for vs who knew no sinne that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Cor. 5 21. And in the Epistle to the Colossians chap. 2 ver 14 15. he setteth out the fruite of Christs death that he hath forgiuen vs our trespasses hath put out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against vs he tooke it out of the way and fastened it to his Crosse hee hath spoiled principalities and powers hath made a shew of them openly and hath triumphed ouer them in the same Crosse This was notably prefigured and foreshewed in the rites of the Law For when any propitiatory sacrifice was to bee offered for the people the Priest was to present the beast before the Lord to lay his hands vpon the head of the beast and to confesse the sinnes of the people vpon it and so it bare their iniquities the truth whereof is Christ himselfe Thirdly there could otherwise bee no remission Reason 3 of sinnes so that it is the blood of Christ in the suffering of the Crosse that purgeth away our sinnes as Hebr. 9 verse 22. Almost all things in the Law are purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no remission and therefore it was necessary that Christ should purge and purifie vs by his blood The greatnesse of our sinnes could not otherwise bee pardoned nor the person that is offended satisfied they are infinite and so require a sacrifice of infinite price and value No treasures no riches no creatures no sacrifices no ceremonies could do it it cost more to saue a soule and to redeeme the captiues and prisoners that are holden by Satan in slauery to do his will Knowing that we are not redeemed with corruptible things as siluer and gold from our vain conuersation receiued by the tradition of the Fathers But with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lambe vndefiled and without spot 1 Pet. 1 verses 18 19. Fourthly nothing but the death of Christ could quench the scorching wrath of God as Reason 4 a consuming fire kindled against vs counteruaile his seuere iustice Hence it is that the Apostle writing to the Hebrewes hauing shewed that the blood of Bulles and Goats could not possibly take away sinnes addeth immediately after When hee commeth into the world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou ordained mee Heb. 9 5. Our sinnes haue a bloody face in the sight of God and we are enemies vnto him so that the robes of the Saints must bee dipped in the blood of the Lambe Reuel 7 ver 14. All the nitre and sope and Fullers earth in the world are weake and vnsufficient and haue not power and strength enough in them to do it So that we must say with the Prophet Psal 50 7. Purge me with Hyssope and I shall bee cleane wash me and I shall bee whiter then snow Thus then we see that Moses mentioning heere the Ramme of attonement whereby an attonement is to be made for sinners teacheth vnder this type this certaine and vndoubted truth that Christ our Sauiour hath by his blood made an attonement betweene God and vs therby reconciled vs vnto his Father The vses of this doctrine are of great weight and importance First it offereth to our considerations Vse 1 this meditation what sin is how it is to be esteemed It is a most fearefull and greeuous thing the wrath of God against it is exceeding great so that nothing in heauen or in earth could satisfie for sinne but the death of Christ Iesus the Sonne must dye for the seruant or rather for the enemy for we are by nature the children of wrath as well as others The iustice of God would not spare him though he were his onely and welbeloued Sonne but forasmuch as he was to beare our sinnes in his body he must die for ir Rom. 8 32. He spared not his owne Sonne but gaue him to the death for vs all We are not therefore to be lightly carried into the practise of sinne but to be much greeued at it to striue with all our force against it and to endeuour to ouercome it and among other things this is not the least that should trouble vs that we haue by sinne brought such misery and shame vpon the Sonne of God Wee ought to lament for this and to bewaile it euery day For if we had not sinned and by sinne beene depriued of the glory of God he had not taken vpon him the shape of a seruant neither beene humbled to the death of the Crosse We doe daily cry out
or without faith either with a cleane heart or an vncleane and we iudge such an action to be wicked which notwithstanding cannot be so censured but is to be accounted good or euill according to the intention or affection of the doer Our Sauiour Christ did conuerse much with Publicans and sinners to the end hee might doe them good by drawing them to God from the kingdome of Satan and making them inheritors of the kingdome of his Father A worke which in all respects was most righteous and holy yet they iudged him to be a friend and fauourer of wicked men as Luke 7.33 34. Iohn Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine and ye say He hath the diuell the Sonne of man is come and eateth and drinketh and ye say Behold a man which is a glutton and a wine-bibber a friend of Publicanes and sinners So when we speake louingly and kindly we are censured to be flatterers Thus was Dauids kindnesse ill accepted and worse rewarded of Hanun king of the Ammonites for when he sent his seruants to comfort him after the death of his father 2 Sam. 10.3.4 his Nobles perswaded him that he sent not his seruants to shew him any kindnesse but to be as spies to search the citie and to seeke meanes to ouerthrow it This kinde of iudgement the Apostle forbiddeth Rom. 14.3.4 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not iudge him that eateth for God hath receiued him who art thou that iudgest another mans seruant to his owne master he standeth or falleth yea he shall be holden vp for God is able to make him stand Eating or not eating is a thing indiffrent therfore free to do or not to do so that it be without offence Wherefore it is a breach of charity which cannot iudge of the secrets of the heart to make a rent in the Church for so small a matter as it were of a sparke to kindle a great fire Such as were strong in faith and did eate all things without difference knowing that they are sanctified by the word of God and prayer 1. Tim. 4.5 did despise the weak that did not eate and were perswaded they ought not freely without difference to eate all things they called them to vse their liberty and eat of all that is sold in the shambles and such as refused they laughed them to scorne as Iewes by imitation not Christians by profession On the otherside these weake ones not instructed in the liberty that Christ had purchased did disdaine them as prophane persons as enemies of Moses and transgressors of the Law of God and made scruple of conscience to eat that which they accounted vncleane Thus did both sorts sinne and offend against God and their brethren The like we might say touching difference of dayes which we spake before of diuersitie of meates Rom. 14.5 This man esteemeth one day aboue another day another man counteth euery day alike let euery man be fully perswaded in his mind Thus we see that in things indifferent Conteâ alwayes about theâ in diffeâenâ euen in the Apostles times the Church hath beene oftentimes shaken and in a manner rent and torne in peeces like a ship that is riuen and in danger of drowning For it hath so bitterly contended about ceremonies that it hath beene like almost to lose the substance as if the seruants in a house should wrangle so long whether it be swept cleane enough vntill euery one in a manner forget to doe his duty And if such contention arose while the master builders were yet aliue and the chiefe pillars of the house of God remained to beare vp the building and to put them to silence that sought to vndermine it alasse how may wee thinke it went with the Church after their departure It is needlesse heere to remember what a trouble and Tragedy Victor Euseb ãâã 5. cap. 14. sometimes Bishop of Rome stirred vp in the Church about the keeping of Easter and touching vnleauened bread as men should contend and go together by the eares about the shadow of an asse or the haire of a goate Erasââ ãâã cent 3. ãâã 1. or striue about smoake and matter of no value And yet this controuersie occupied the heads and pennes and tongues of the learned almost in all places where the Gospel was preached and Christianity professed yea they proceeded in bitternesse of spirit so farre that some were ready to excommunicate others But we need not fetch examples so farre from home I would we had not lamentable experience of the trueth heereof among our selues these stirres and hurly-burlies remaining in remembrance and as it were freshly bleeding before our eyes the which euery one should carry water to quench rather then poure oyle into the fire to make the flame greater and bring a garment to couer the nakednesse of those that haue raised them rather then lay them more bare The peace of the Church ought to bee so deare vnto vs that we should buy it though at an vnreasonable rate and albeit it fly from vs wee ought to pursue after it so that it should not be forsaken through vs neither should brethren contemne or condemne one another for trifles Let the strong yeeld and condescend to the weake and this is to their praise and glory God receiueth both the strong and weake as his children so that they are partakers of the adoption of sonnes and therefore it is a great shame and reproach to despise or despite one another forasmuch as that dishonour returneth vpon God their Master Let vs account those as the sonnes of God as the members of Christ and as parts of the Church which professe the faith and ioyne with vs in the word and Sacraments and professe the same communion of Saints Rom. 1. ââ Let vs not condemne another mans seruant as if we had iurisdiction and authoritie ouer him but the strong haue no power ouer the weake nor these haue no power ouer them for neither of them are masters ouer other both of them beeing seruants of one common Lord and Master who accepteth and receiueth theÌ for his owne seruants Both of them then are another mans seruants both of them are fellow-seruants subiect alike to their Master before whose iudgment seat we must appeare Rom. 14 10 12. and euery one of vs giue an account of himselfe to God Wherefore it is an vniust thing for one seruant to iudge another seruant much more to condemne him Let euery man be perswaded of his worke in his owne heart and doe nothing with a doubtfull conscience whether it please God or not Let the word of God be the rule of our faith whereby his will is fully knowne and sufficiently proued Let vs in all things giue thankes vnto God whether we be strong or weake young or olde in the faith and let this be the end of all our actions and of our whole life
a sinne as to iustifie the wicked Wee ought none of vs to doe that which is abhominable in the sight of God the which he greatly abhorreth A Iudge may offend two waies both by oppressing the innocent and by deliuering the guilty person by pronouncing the transgressor righteous and the righteous man a transgressor This is set downe Prou. 17 verse 15. He that iustifieth the wicked and hee that condemneth the iust euen they both are abhomination vnto the Lord. Such a one spareth the wolfe and hurteth the lambes turneth the edge of the sword vpon the godly and the backe of it toward the wicked and vngodly Reason 4 Fourthly God would haue no man put to death without witnesses For wherefore doth he often establish this in the Law that the witnesses shall come face to face be heard but that no man should perish beeing innocent Wherefore doth hee ordaine that one onely witnesse shall not be taken as sufficient but that hee would haue the cause cleered by moe witnesses This is the decree of God Deut. 17 verse 6. At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death die but at the mouth of one witnesse shall he not dye Hee will not by any meanes haue innocent blood shed Reason 5 Fiftly innocent blood cryeth to heauen for vengeance and shall not suffer him that sheddeth it to escape It is one of the crying sinnes as wee shewed before in this chapter which ascend vp and enter into the eares of the Lord of hosts There is indeed no sinne so little but commeth vp in remembrance before him against whom it is committed his eyes see and his eares heare all the workes of men ãâã 4 13. which are all naked and open before his eyes and nothing kept from his knowledge neuerthelesse to note out the horrour and hainousnesse of some sinnes in comparison of others the Scripture teacheth that they cry vnto the Lord. Moses to shew the greatnes of Caines sinne committed against his naturall brother bringeth in God speaking vnto him Behold the voice of thy brothers blood cryeth vnto me and to shew the barbarous cruelty and inhumanity of the vexing and exacting Egyptians whereby they ouercharged and ouerburdened the people of God he saith to Moses I haue seene I haue seene the oppression of my people which are in Egypt and haue heard their cry because of their Taske-masters Exod. chap. 2 verse 9. Thus also he speaketh to Samuel at another time of their oppression by the Philistims I haue looked vpon my people and their cry is come vnto me 1 Sam. chap. 9 verse 16. Thus God heareth the cry of the afflicted Iob chap. 34 verse 28. They haue caused the voice of the poore to come vnto him and he hath heard the cry of the afflicted This is the reason vrged by the Lord himselfe Exod. chap. 23 verse 7. And Ieremy protesteth and professeth as much to the face of his enemies and persecutors that sought his destruction chapter 26 verse 14 15. As for mee behold I am in your hands doe with mee as yee thinke good and right but know yee for certaine that if yee put mee to death yee shall surely bring innocent blood vpon your selues and vpon this Citty and vpon the inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speake all these words in your eares Thus we see how God sheweth himselfe an enemy against all wrong iudgements and he will not suffer them to escape vnpunished but will enter into iudgement with such partiall and corrupt Iudges The vses heereof are to bee marked diligently Vse 1 of vs. First this serueth to reprooue all rashnesse headinesse and heedlesnesse of such as make haste to inflict punishment before an exact knowledge of the fact and fault Such are no better then cruell wolues that seeke and sucke the blood of the innocent lambes This was the sinne of wicked Iezabel that caused Naboth to bee stoned to death 1 Kings 21. We reade in the Acts of the Apostles how the chiefe Chaptaine commanded that Paul should be scourged that he might know wherefore they cryed so against him Acts 22 verse 24. Heere is a preposterous course to punish first and to enquire of the fault afterward so that the punishment shall be certaine whiles the offence is vncertaine But this is the lot and euer hath beene of Gods children they are punished heere oftentimes as malefactors and euill dooers and their enemies both rage and rush most furiously vpon them that doe possesse their soules with patience and doe not by violence resist against them They are more hungry then Beares more mercilesse then Tygers more rauenous then Wolues more greedy then Lyons more fierce then dogges against them they shew no mercy and they extend no compassion at all toward them They hate them in their hearts they slander them with their tongues they smite theÌ with their fists they grin and grinde their teeth at them they nod at them with their heads they circumuent them by fraud they oppresse theÌ with sorrow they take oftentimes their liues from them Thus did the persecuters deale with Ioseph with Ieremy with Dauid with Daniel with Paul with Silas with Iohn Baptist with Stephen with Iames with Peter and many others But God will in the end make their innocency knowne and the iustice of their cause manifest to all men It is noted by the Euangelist touching Pilate that albeit hee confessed hee found no fault at all in Christ yet hee would scourge him let him go He was the Iudge yet by his owne mouth he may be iudged himselfe that adiudged him worthy to be scourged that was vnworthy to receiue a stripe in whom he could finde nothing blame worthy He called together the high Priests and the Rulers and people and saide vnto them Ye haue brought this man vnto mee as one that peruerted the people and behold I haue examined him before you and haue found no fault in this man of those things whereof ye accuse him no nor yet Herod for I sent you to him and loe nothing worthy of death is done of him I will therfore chastise him and let him loose Luke 23 14 15 16. And as it befell the Master so the lotte fell vnto the seruants that they might drinke of the cup that he dranke off and be baptized with the baptisme wherewith hee was baptized For the Apostles were diligent in preaching Christ and teaching in his Name so that their enemies were not able to withstand the Spirit of God that spake in them and albeit they oftentimes examined them yet their best arguments and cheefest reasons and strongest motiues to put them vnto silence were beatings scourgings threatnings and imprisonments for otherwise they were not able to deale against them Hence it is that when Gamaliel exhorted them to take heed to themselues Acts 4 35. what they intended to doe touching those men to refraine from them
31 13 14. He did not despise the cause of his man-seruant nor of his maid-seruant when they contended with him he grounded himselfe vpon two most notable worthy considerations one from the person of God another from the law of creation From the person of God he vsed mildenesse toward them because with him is no respect of persons What then shall I do when God riseth vp and when he visiteth what shall I answer him If he should not deale mercifully and moderately with them how should he be able to answer it to God who is the Lord both of master and seruant forasmuch as we all serue one common master to whoÌ we must giue an account and as our seruants come to answer before vs so we must come to answer before God Col. 4. It shall one day be said vnto vs Come giue an account of thy Stewardship for wee may be no longer Stewards Luke 16. This consideration if it were duely marked of vs were sufficient to stirre vp all masters Magistrates to iust and equall dealing Againe from the common condition of our creation there is one author of life in him both master and seruant liue and moue and haue their being and both of them must of necessity die and depart out of this life How meane or how high soeuer our place of gouernement be to moderate our affections is a notable vertue in all Gouernors albeit by our authority we may command them silence and stoppe their mouthes and lade theÌ with stripes yet we should giue them leaue to answer for themselues and to pleade their owne causes and to debate the matter freely with vs. True it is Paul requireth of seruants that they should bee obedient vnto their masters Tiâ 1 â and please them well in all things not answering again howbeit the Apostle meaneth giuing of crosse answers replying againe with vnseemely and firelike words such as stand not with the bounds of their calling but they mutter and murmure with their tongues so that though they be reasonable in their seruice yet they are vnreasonable in their cutted and crabbed answers This is the answering that heere is reprooued in seruants who oftentimes abuse the lenity and mildnesse of their superiours Iob by his owne practise sheweth that there was no pride hautinesse or cruelty in him he abused not his superiority and authoritie ouer them he exercised not tyranny vpon them he did not trample vpon them and cast them vnder his feete as if they had beene dogges or bruite beasts but he mastered his affections and bridled his anger did beare with them with all gentlenesse and lowlinesse of minde And there are many motiues to perswade to this meeknesse and mildenesse toward such as are vnder vs. ânes to âade to âenesse âd infeâ First we are all of one molde and matter al are of the earth we are no better in regââd of our originall then those that are vnder vs albeit heere we be aboue them We are all dust and to dust we must returne The master is dust as well as the seruant When the poore Iewes complained against their oppressours to whom they had morgaged their houses and lands and giuen their sonnes and daughters into bondage they vse this âeason Nehe. 5.5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren our children as their children To this purpose the Prophet warneth that we hide not our selues from our owne flesh Esay 58.7 Secondly we haue all one common creator he that made the master made also the seruant and he that created the rich created the poore â 22.2 God is the maker of them both as Salomon teacheth in the booke of the Prouerbes and this we noted before out of Iob who confesseth that he which made him made them and that they had one which fashioned them in the wombe Thirdly albeit we haâe superiority and soueraignty ouer them yet we must consider wee haue one master in heauen âs 6.9 to whom wee must giue an account so that as we are masters ouer them so we haue a master ouer vs and as we haue seruants vnder vs so we are seruants vnder God Such then as are superiours ceasse not to be subiects forasmuch as God is aboue all that will iudge euery one according to their workes euen toward those that belong vnto vs. The masters among the Gentiles neuer considered that they were as stewards and must giue an account of their calling and gouernment and therefore they abused it at their pleasure hauing power of life and death ouer their seruants but the Apostle putteth them in minde that the high possessour of heauen and earth ruleth all and will bring all vnto iudgement Seeing then God hath knit such a fast knot betweene mankinde that cannot be loosed to wit that we haue all one matter one common maker one common master surely such as shall cut this knot in sunder deserueth to haue his name razed out of the number of men because he acknowledgeth not the nature which God hath put into vs but thinketh he hath the bridle put into his own hands to vexe and oppresse such as are vnder him True it is he hath a preheminence ouer others and it is meete he should rule as a master and Magistrate in his owne house howbeit such as serue him and are of low degree ought not to be contemned as abiects or accounted as our footstooles Fourthly as there is one master both of masters and seruants so there is no respect of persons with him This is the nature of our heauenly master he will not sit in iudgement vpon men according to their nobility power greatnesse or riches but deale with them according to their workes as 1 Pet. 1 17. If ye call on the Father who without respect of persons iudgeth according to euery mans workes passe the time of your soiourning heere in feare When men of might and power vexe and tread vpon the poore weake and simple that dare not resist or withstand them they goe away with it for the most part euery one is afraid to oppose against them or to defend the cause of the innocent because men are blinded or daunted by the outward glory of their persons and so they dreame that God is like vnto themselues But the Apostle layeth before their eyes Ephes 6.9 or rather vnto their hearts that they should put away threatning and deale mildly and gently toward them forasmuch as God accepteth of no mans person Fiftly they shall receiue themselues great benefite and profit by their seruice This the Gentiles though God suffered them to wander in ignorance knew well enough and the Philosophers vsed to mooue all masters to equity and gentle dealing toward their seruants True it is menseruants and maidseruants in those dayes were not as they are in our times they had them not by couenant for yeeres they serued them not for wages but they were bondslaues to liue and die
out before you and the land is defiled therefore I will visite the wickednesse thereof vpon it and the land shall vomit out her inhabitants The Prophets are full in all places of the like threatnings There is a notable testimony to this purpose Ier. 5.7 8 9. where the Lord complaineth of this iniquity and of the abuse of his manifold benefits Though I fed them to the full yet they committed adultery and assembled themselues by companies in the harlots houses they rose vp in the morning like fedde horses euery man neyed after their neighbours wife shall I not visite for these things saith the Lord shall not my soul be auenged on such a natioÌ as this We reade in the booke of Genesis that when Pharaoh at the commendation of his Courtiers had taken Abrahams wife into his house the Lord plagued him and his house with great plagues ãâã 12 17. and they ceassed not vntill he had restored her againe and giuen his seruants commandement to doe him no hurt The like we might also speake of Abimelech the king of Gerar when he also sent and tooke her though he had not yet come neere her but onely purposed euill yet the Lord came to him in a dreame by night â 20.3 and said vnto him Behold thou art but dead because of the woman which thou hast taken for she is a mans wife So then there is ordained for all adulterers and fornicators both temporall and eternall punishments These sinnes shall bring a man to beggery euen to a morsell of bread Prou. 6.26 they shall roote out his house destroy his posterity consume his flesh waste kingdomes yea shut out of Gods kingdome and bring to the condemnation of the diuell forasmuch as no vncleane thing shal enter into the heauens but all murtherers and sorcerers and idolaters and whoremongers shall haue their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Reason 1 The reasons hereof are these First the wrath of God is kindled against such In his fauour is happinesse but if his wrath be kindled but a little blessed are all that trust in him For this cause the Apostle saith Ephe. 5.6 Let no man deceiue you with vaine words for because of these things commeth the wrath of God vpon the children of disobedience In the words going before he had shewed that no whoremonger or vncleane person hath any inheritance in the kingdome of Christ and of God the reason is because such lye vnder the heauy wrath of God He is angry with them and therefore woe vnto them If the child see the father angry with him how is hee greeued what saith the Lord vnto Moses concerning the sinne of Myriam his sister Numb 12.14 If her father had but spit in her face should she not be ashamed seuen dayes And the Apostle to the Hebrewes chap. 12 9. We haue had the fathers of our bodies which corrected vs and we gaue them reuerence shall we not much rather be in subiection vnto the Father of spirits and liue What subiect can beare the displeasure of a Prince The feare of a king saith Salomon is like the roaring of a Lyon Prou. 19.12 and 20.2 and 16.14 who so prouoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soule If the lyon hath roared who would not feare as testifieth the Prophet Seeing then the wrath of a king is as messengers of death what shall we thinke the wrath of the King of kings to be who is euen a consuming fire Hebr. 12.29 and deuoureth all as straw and stubble before him Secondly it appeareth to bee a greeuous sinne because it is worse then theft as Salomon Reason 2 maketh the comparison Prou. 6.30.32 Men doe not despise a theefe if he steale to satisfie his soule when he is hungry c. but whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh vnderstanding he that doth it destroyeth his owne soule It is an odious name to be called a theefe but it is more odious to be called an whoremaster A theefe when he hath stollen is carried to the gallowes but the adulterer deserueth it much more What an horrible offence is it to destroy a mans owne soule we pittie him that layeth violent hands vpon his owne body and killeth himselfe Who doth not account Saul and Achitophel and Iudas most infamous who perished with their owne hands but the adulterer doth a thousand times worse he destroyeth his owne soule which is a greater price then the body Thirdly adultery and vncleannesse defile Reason 3 the land not onely the persons and the houses but whole cities and countries vntill all become abominable and the land become full of sinne and therefore no marueile though it be punished of God To this purpose the Lord speaketh in the Law of Moses Leuit. 19.29 Doe not prostitute thy daughter to cause her to be a whore lest the land fall to whoredome and the land become full of wickednesse This sinne is of an infectious nature aboue other suffer it but a little and it will quickly encrease like fire that is kindled in dry wood which suddenly taketh hold and easily passeth from one to another vntill the whole be enflamed Fourthly we must know what our calling Reason 4 is The Gentiles that knew not God and were ignorant of his law defiled themselues with these abominations and were cast out before his face for the land did spew them out as loathsome But we haue learned better things and God hath vouchsafed vs greater mercy he hath called vs to be an holy people to himselfe and redeemed vs that wee should serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our liues This the Apostle noteth 1 Thess 4.3 4 5 7. This is the will of God euen your sanctification that ye should abstaine from fornication that euery one of you should know how to possesse his vessell in sanctification and honour not in the lust of concupiscence euen as the Gentiles which know not God c. for God hath not called vs vnto vncleannesse but vnto holinesse To this we shall adde sundry other reasons afterward when we make vse of this doctrine Vse 1 This serueth to teach vs sundry instructions both touching our knowledge and concerning our obedience First let no man flatter himselfe in this sinne It is accounted of the greatest sort a small and sleight matter a veniall sinne a tricke of youth Such scoffers as these it seemeth were in the Apostles times but now they are more common as the sin is more commonly practised and aboundeth euery where This doth the Apostle declare 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the vnrighteous shall not inherit the kingdome of God be not deceiued neither fornicators nor adulterers nor the effeminate shall inherit the kingdome of God It is a fire that shall deuour to destruction and bring strange punishments vpon the workers of such iniquities The first reproofe Iob 31.3.12 This serueth to reprooue diuers sorts of men
that was not throwne downe If then God spare not most holy places consecrated to his seruice thorough their sinne that abuse them let vs not doubt but our owne bodies shal be smitten by the hands of God except we keepe them pure and vndefiled The last motiue to keepe vs from this sin is to know that we are wholly Gods and not our owne to do what wee list or to dispose of our selues Wee are Christs therefore it is our duty to glorifie him by liuing chastly and continently He hath redeemed vs from the power of the deuill by paying the price of his precious blood as of a Lamb vnspotted God hath good right to challenge vs as his owne forasmuch as he bought vs at a deere rate and we cost him more then a worlde nay a thousand worlds of riches and treasures Christ gaue his life for vs a price far greater then all men caâ conceiue For what can be imagined so precious as the dignity the maiesty the glorie of God which were all after a sort changed and diminished when hee tooke our nature vpon him and suffered in it the cursed and shamefull death of the crosse Therefore it is that the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 6 19 20. Ye are not your owne for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodye and in your spirit for they are Gods It is the propertie of Iustice to giue to euery one his owne and not to vse that which is another mans as his owne Our bodies are another mans right therefore we may not abuse them to filthines at our owne carnall pleasures Wee haue not authority ouer our selues to dispose of our selues therefore we are as another mans seruants We belong to Christ and to GOD therefore we must liue according to his will Christ hath bought vs with a great price and hath redeemed vs from hell from satan from death and from sinne therfore we be Christs we pertaine as a proper possession to him and no man can lay claime vnto vs. Let vs liue as becommeth his seruants our profession our calling and our redemption but they that follow after fornication serue his enemy forasmuch as our sinnes were the enemies that put him to death Vse 3 Lastly let all married persons liue chastly and keepe the vessels of their bodies in holynesse and in honor There is indeed a twofold chastity one of the single life the other of the married Chastity of single life is with al carefulnesse with fasting and prayer to keep their minds affections and bodies in holines Chastity in marriage is when the pure and holie vse of wedlocke is obserued Hence it is that the Apostle saith Heb. 13 4. Marriage is honorable in all and the bed vndefiled but Whoremongers and adulterers God wil iudge Matrimony is an holy league or couenant as it is called in the Scripture If a man forge or falsify a couenant that is made in bargaine and sale either by conueying some secret title or interest to himselfe or by suborning false Witnesses it is and ought to be sharpely and seuerely punished But behold by an vncleane life the chiefe and most holy Couenant that can be in the worlde is broken and violated A solemne declaration is made of the faith that the husband oweth to the wife and the wife to her husband they come into the church as it were into the presence and before the face of God they call vpon him to be a witnesse and Iudge if either of them keepe not promise yet oftentimes all this vanisheth away and commeth to nothing Hence it is that the Lord complaining against the people of Israel and conuincing them of whoring and such like wickednesse threatneth them that Therefore the Land shall mourne and euerie one that dwelleth therein shall bee cut off with the Beastes of the fielde and with the fowles of the heauen and also the Fishes of the sea shall bee taken away Hosea chap. 4. and the 2. 3. verses This sinne spreadeth farre like a foule and vncleane Leprosie The seuerall kindes of whoredome and catcheth hold of one part after another till the whole bodye bee defiled like to fire that being once kindled runneth from one place to another vntill all bee consumed There is an adulterie of the heart Math. 5 28. condemned by our Sauiour Christ which being once entertained is compared to a burning or boyling 1 Cor. 7.9 that so disturbeth and disquieteth the soule and the exercises of the soule that it cannot suffer a man to serue the Lord in a quiet mind and a pure conscience There is an adultery of the eyes which are as the windowes of the heart 2 Peter chap. 2. verse 14. as Saint Peter speaketh of fleshly minded men Whose eyes were full of Aduiterie This made Iob to make a Couenant with his eyes that they went not astray and caused him to go astray The looking after a woman to lust after her is called by Christ the committing of Adulterie And the Prophet reprooueth the daughters of Sion because they walked with out-stretched neckes and wanton eyes Esa chap 3 verse 13. There is an adultery of the eares the which wee fall into when wee listen vnto vnchaste and vncleane talke vttered by others when wee haue itching eares after it and are content to heare it and yet shew no dislike vnto it no hatred of it There is another adultery and that is of the tongue when wee take delight in vnchaste speeches and filthie Ribaldry by which the heartes of others are corrupted and our owne are manifested to bee corrupt already forasmuch as from the abundance of the hart the mouth speaketh Mat. 12. What religion soeuer we professe it is in vaine wee deceiue our owne hearts except we learne to bridle our owne tongues Iam. 1 26. And the Apostle giueth this exhortation Ephes 4 29. that no corrupt communication should proceede out of our mouths but that which is good to the vse of edifying that it may minister grace to the hearers And in another place he teacheth 1 Cor. 15 33. that euill communications corrupt good manners Lastly there is an adultery which is outward in fact and is called sin finished all the former are as steps degrees leading to this and in the end bring it foorth as a birth which they haue conceyued For wherefore do vncleane persons nourish in themselues the adultery of the heart of the eyes of the eares and of the tongue but because they purpose to commit the outward acte when time and place and person and other occasions shal be offered vnto theÌ But wee must bee carefull to auoide all these kindes which should not bee named among Christians Ephes 5 3. as becommeth the Saints of GOD. No maruell therefore if this wickednesse bee punished of God with heauy iudgements as that which in an high degree sinneth against God The greeuousnes of the sin of adultery against our neighbour and against our selues
good end we may boldly pronounce that maÌ and not God is the author of them Obserue therefore from this type that Christ Iesus is our Passeouer that was sacrificed Vse 1 for vs. Iohn the Baptist pointeth him out with the finger and expresseth the meaning of this figure saying Behold the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world Iohn 1 29 36. And afterward in the history of the passion it is shewed that the souldiers which brake the legges of the theeues which were crucified with him brake not his legges that the Scripture might be fulfilled A bone of him shall not be broken Iohn 19 36. These words are spoken in the law of the Paschall Lambe thus doth Iohn apply the type to the truth it selfe and thereby maketh the Paschall Lamb a figure of Christ the onely person put apart by God the Father to be the ransome of the world who hath by his obedience the merit of his passion taken away from all that beleeue in his Nnme both among the Iewes and Gentiles their sinnes of all sorts satisfying the seuere iustice of God to their endlesse comfort and saluation Hence it is that the Prophets and Apostles say He was brought as a Lambe to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumbe so he opened not his mouth Esay 53 5. Gal. 2 20. 1 Pet. 1 19. Reuel 5 9. Acts 8 32. There is no other way that could releeue vs and redeeme vs all the most precious things in the world were too base and all creatures in heauen and earth too weake to worke this wonderfull worke Esay 59 16. Heb. 2 14. and 10 14. How many waies Christ Iesus taketh away our sins Now we must vnderstand that he remoueth our sinnes foure waies by ablation by imputation by expiation and by mortification First he taketh theÌ away from vs by remouing the guilt and the punishment from vs againe as our surety he put them vpon himselfe And thus by imputation our sinnes became his and his righteousnesse is made ours because he that knew no sinne was made sinne for vs that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2. Cor. 5 21. He bare our sinnes in his owne body on the tree that we should liue vnto righteousnesse 1 Pet. 2 24. Furthermore he hath taken away sins when he remooued them out of the sight of God by expiation and propitiation 1 Iohn 2 2 3. Esay 38 17. Mich. 7 19. Lastly he remoueth them away in this life by mortification and in death by perfect sanctification These things being duely considered nothing should reioyce a man more then the remembrance of Christs death whereby the bondage of all misery and the misery of al bondage is taken from vs Acts 2 26. This made the Apostle say God forbid that I should glory saue in the Crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ Gal. 6 ver 14. He felt in his soule the wrath of God the terrors of death and the torments of hell for vs Esay 53 10 11 12. Iohn 12 27. Math. 26 38. which made him cry out that he was forsaken Math 27 46. This was figured out by the rosting of the Lambe with fire for the wrath of God due to vs and our sinnes was kindled as a furnace made seuen times hotter then it was wont to be made and he was cast into the burning fiery furnace He trode the winepresse alone and of the people there was none with him Esay 63 verse 3. In him we haue the remedy for all euils and can haue saluation from none other Acts 4 12. and therefore we must all come vnto him Whosoeuer is sicke I speake of spiritual sicknesse let him make haste to Christ for he is the Physition of our soules Math. 9 verse 12. He that is hungry let him go to him for he is the bread that came downe from heauen Ioh. 6 verse 33. He that is dry through heate and thirsty let him make haste and runne with speed vnto him for hee is a well of water springing vp to eternall life Iohn 4 verse 14. He that is couered with the darke mistes of ignorance let him seeke to him for he is the true light which lighteth euery man that coÌmeth into the world Iohn 1 verse 9. If we be pressed downe with our vnrighteousnesse and our sinnes he is our righteousnesse and sanctification 1 Corin. 1 verse 30. If we be in bondage he is our redemption if we finde our owne folly and simplicity toward all good things he is our wisedome If we feare death he is our life if we desire to ascend vp to heauen he is the way if we would be deliuered from error he is the truth Iohn 14 ver 6. If we would come vnto the Father he is the doore no man can come vnto him but by him This should moue all impenitent persons to turne from sinne vnto righteousnesse and from the kingdome of Satan vnto God and this will moue vs if any thing in the world will Euery man is by nature the seruant of sinne bondslaue of Satan Christ Iesus to heale vs of this plague-sore when no other physicke could cure vs made a plaister of his owne blood the paine which he tooke in the making of it caused him to sweate droppes of water and blood and cost him his life then wo be to vs if we lay not this precious plaister to our harts which will draw away the corruption of theÌ and worke a speedy and certaine cure forasmuch as by continuing in sinne we frustrate the death of Christ and as much as lyeth in vs crucifie the Sonne of God afresh vnto our selues and put him to an open shame Hebr. 6 6. For our sinnes are the nailes that nailed to the Crosse his hands and his feete and as the speare that thrust him to the heart When the Israelites did eate the Passeouer in Egypt and sprinkled the blood of the Lambe vpon the postes of their doores the Angel sent to destroy passed ouer their houses and destroyed them not but the Egyptians whose doore-postes were not sprinkled were destroyed by the destroyer So if we feede on Christ by a liuely faith and sprinkle the doores of our harts with his blood the iudgements of God in this life and the terrible curse of death with the fearefull sentence of condemnation and al punishments rightly due to our sinnes shall passe ouer vs and shall not come neere to vs so much as to touch vs. But contrariwise if we lay not hold on Christ all these curses shall come vpoÌ vs ouertake vs. For as it was not enough for the Israelites to kill the Lambe but they must sprinkle the blood thereof vpon the postes of their owne doores not of other men so must we by a liuely faith apply his merits And as the blood of the Lambe did figure out the blood of Christ so the sprinkling of it vpon the doore postes representeth the sprinkling of it
Are the old freed from this duty through their age It is noted of Hannah that she was an old woman that had beene a widdow fourescore and foure yeaâes yet she went not out of the Temple that is all her delight was to be there shee was neuer well and at hearts ease till she was in Gods house she made the Temple as her owne house to dwell in she made the word worship of God her meate and drinke to feed on seruing him with fasting and prayers day and night Luke 2 37. So Simeon came into the Temple by the motion of the Spirit when the Parents brought the babe Iesus to doe for him after the custome of the Law verse 27. Peter and Iohn might haue prayed at home in their houses as many pretend they can and yet doe it not but they went vp together into the temple at the ninth houre of prayer The Lord giueth commandement ãâã 19 30. Ye shall keepe my Sabbaths and reuerence my Sanctuary I am the Lord. Such then as shew no loue to the Sanctuary of God haue no care of sanctifying the Sabbath but do defile it and prophane it yea they neuer consider that they contemne the Lord himselfe neither with whom they haue to doe in this businesse Christ our Sauiour when he could be found no where else by his parents seeking for him he was found in the temple Thus we see the practise of Dauid of Hannah of Simeon of the Apostles and of Christ himselfe touching the publike seruice of God But behold the difference betweene those times and ours or rather betweene them and vs. Dauid longed to be in the house of God our soules long and faint to be out of it Hannah dwelt in the temple and could hardly be gotten out of it wee had rather dwell in the tents of wickednes with much ado are brought to come vnto the Temple Simeon was old as well as Hannah we thinke our selues too old and plead weaknesse and faintnesse that we cannot go so farre and yet we can stretch out our limbes to goe farther at other times and for other occasions Simeon came into the Temple by the motion of the Spirit ãâã âhat ãâã âo faith ãâã ââey ãâã need âhurches by whose motion do others keep themselues from the Temple and what shall we say ruleth in them surely not the Spirit of God what other spirit then it can be I had rather leaue it to themselues to consider then declare it to them Christ Iesus could be found no where but in the Temple if one would enquire for these yea vpon the Sabbath day yea in time of diuine Seruice you shall haue them rather in the Tauerne then in the Temple or sitting vpon an ale-bench rather then in place where it were more meet they did shew their presence euen where God hath promised to shew his presence True it is he hath said that heauen is his throne and the earth his footstoole that he dwelleth not in Temples made with hands Esay 66 1. ãâã 7 48. â4 But the meaning is that hee is not included or as it were imprisoned in them his power is not tied to any place neuerthelesse he hath made a speciall proâiâe tâat where two or three are gathered together in his name Math 28 20. there is he in the midst of them Wherefore great shâuld be our zeale toward the house of prayer wee should much desire to be at it we shold more and more be in loue with it and with great reuerence remaine in it He that findeth not the Lord heere where his honour dwelleth let him neuer looke to finde him elsewhere For whosoeuer despiseth in the pride of his heart the place of Gods worship âeâuseth to yeild his presence there deceiueth himselfe if euer he thinke that God will make himself known vnto him any other way Verse 21 22. And so it was when the Clowd abode c. Heere we haue the cause of their marching and resting declared to wit the cloud which was vppon them by day when they went out of the campe Numb 10.34 When that staied ouer them whether it were two daies or a month or a year they abode in their tents and iournied not but when it was taken vp they iourneyed This cloud had the nature of a Sacrament and signified the presence of Christ conducting them The doctrine Doctrine from hence is this that Christ Iesus is the substance of the Sacraments both of the olde and new Testament Christ Iesus is the substance of all Sacraments old new Whatsoeuer the signes were and howsoeuer they varied yet he was signified by them all This appeareth in this booke plentifully by the cloud in this place by Manna chap. 11. and the rock ch 20. al which were Sacraments vnto them all were the same with our baptisme and the Lords Supper and all of them were figures of Christ as appeareth not by some probability but by the expresse testimony of the Apostle 1 Cor. 10 1 2 3 4. I would not haue you ignorant how that all our Fathers were vnder the cloud and all passed through the sea were al baptized vnto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat did all drink the same spiritual drinke for they drank of that spiritual rocke that followed them and that rocke was Christ First touching the cloud passing ouer the sea if we consider the letter of the history there was a great miracle in them both The clowd in the day time defended them from the heat of the Sun their passage through the Sea gaue them safety and security froÌ the tyrannie of Pharao and froÌ the danger of present death Neuerthelesse this is not all which wee are to mark nor the chief thing which we are to consider because there lay hid as it were vnder a veile a greater mystery inasmuch as both the cloud and the sea serued them in stead of a certaine kind of baptisme representing and performing that vnto them which our baptisme doth vnto vs. For as baptisme is a signe and signification of the grace of God a Sacrament of regeneration and a certaine passage from death to life so the Cloude was in effect to them as much to wit a tokeÌ and testimony of the presence of God their passing through the sea was as a passing froÌ death to a new life For while they were in the depth and bottom of the sea where were they but in the midst of death and when they had escaped to the farther shore did they not after a sort rise from death to life So then the Apostle teacheth that both the Cloud and the Sea were as a certaine Sacrament vnto the Iewes that common to them all Christ is the substance of our baptisme because all were couered with the cloud all of them passed through the sea euen as we that professe Christ are all
washed with water which signifieth our washing with his bloode and our partaking of his righteousnesse Rom. 6 3. Galath 3 27. Hence it is that many are saide to be baptized in the name of Christ Act. 2 38. 19 5. which noteth not the forme but rather the end or effect of their baptisme It may be said we reade no such signification of the cloud or of the sea in the olde Testament how then did the Fathers vnderstand them to be Sacraments True it is this is not expressed but the Apostle the best interpreter of the Scripture giueth vs a good warrant so to vnderstand them and to conceiue of them And there is no doubt but Moses and Aaron and others instructed by them and by the Spirit of God thus vnderstood these mysteries For how can we thinke that they which dealt faithfully in the house of God would be silent in these things not teach the people Neither may wee admit of the grosse conceit of Illyricus who noteth that the Apostle inflectit paulò violentiùs ipsum simile Illyr Gloss super 1 Cor. eap 10. that is doth somewhat violently wrest this similitude God forbid that we should thinke that Paul would lay violent hands vpon the Scriptures or wrest any part of the worde of God from the naturall meaning 2 Peter 3 16. The vnlearned and vnstable wrested the writings of Paul as they did also the other Scriptures would Peter haue complained of such if his beloued brother Paul had done the like Now it cannot bee denied that they were true Sacraments because they signified Christ Iesus True it is they were not ordinary nor perpetuall but extraordinary and temporall and transitory howbeit they had a spirituall signification The cloud was in stead of the outward element and visible signe neyther was the word of grace wanting and therefore it is called the Lord and the Cloud of the Lord Exod. 14. Numb 14. 19. If then the word ioyned to the element do make a Sacrament this also must be acknowledged to be a Sacrament forasmuch as it was a signe to them of the protection and preseruation of God The like we might say of their passing through the sea they had this word of promise Feare not stand still and see the saluation of the Lord which he shall shew you to day Exod. 14 13. c. These indeede were outward blessings but they pointed out spirituall blessings to the faithfull to wit the fauour and grace of God and ledde them as it were by the hand to Christ in whom is the accomplishment of all promises True it is all were partakers of the temporall benefites but all did not partake of the eternall howbeit this came to passe thorough their owne fault infidelity inasmuch as they wer offered by God albeit not receiued by them For all haue not faith 2 Thes 3 2. and therefore all haue not Christ the pith and marrow of the Sacraments If any aske why the Apostle maketh choice of these two Obiection the cloud and the sea and calleth them by the name of a Baptisme and doth not rather remember circumcision which was to the Iewes in stead of our baptisme forasmuch as their circumcision is our baptisme and our baptisme is their circumcision Phil. 3 3. Coloss 2 11. and both of them are a Sacrament of our regeneration and adoption The answer Answer is that in the cloud and the sea is a more plaine and euident resemblance and proportion with the water in baptisme and the passage from death to life was more liuely and cleerely shewed and shadowed in them then in the circumcision For they that stood vnder the cloud as of all them did what did they in a manner but stand vnder death because the cloud hanging ouer their heads seemed ready in a minute and moment to fall vpon them and ouerwhelme them So to goe downe into the bottome of the Sea what was it to them but a kinde of death and to passe to the other shore what was it but a rising againe from death to life And this doth the Apostle speake of baptisme as wee haue heard So then the cloud and the sea were as a baptisme to the Iewes and our baptisme is as the cloud and the sea to vs Christians all looked at Christ all signified grace life saluation remission of sinnes and regeneration thorough him To these we must ioyne Manna and the rocke the one was spirituall meat vnto them the other was spirituall drinke and both of them the same with the Lords Supper and therefore they were not inferiour vnto vs. Our Supper is spirituall meate and spirituall drinke they also had their spirituall meate and Manna and their spirituall drinke out of the rocke and all these had reference to one and the same Christ and therefore Paul saith verse 4. The Rock was Christ So the Manna was Christ for he is the hidden Manna Reuel 2 17. Reuel 2 â These are called spiritual because they had a spirituall signification Thus are the Iewes made equall to vs in the other Sacrament also which is a signe and seale of the nourishment which we haue by Christ The Sacraments were diuers in the outward signs but in the thing signified they are one and the same This Manna the rock were as the Supper of the Iewes Aug. Tracâ so the Supper of the Lord is as the Manna and rock of vs that are christians Thus then we see that the cloud was Christ the red sea was Christ the Manna was Christ as the Apostle expresseth that the rock was Christ as Christ sheweth that the bread was his body the cup is the new Testament in his blood 1 Cor. 10 Math. 26 Luke 22. â the breaking of bread is the coÌmunion of the body of Christ and the cup of blessing is called the communion of the blood of Christ 1 Corin. 10 16. So that we see all Sacraments whatsoeuer did figure out Christ and point him out as with the finger Vse 1 This sheweth the agreement betweene the Sacraments of the old new Testament they are the same in regard of the grace represented and signified by them The same Christ is in both the one figuring him out to come the other pointing him out as already come in the flesh Hence it is that their Sacraments were darke and obscure ours doe serue more plainely and cleerely to confirme our faith and to seale vp our saluation For as the Apostle teacheth that the Israelites were baptized as well as we and did all eate spirituall meate and drinke spirituall drinke as wel as we so he sheweth that we are circumcised and haue a Passeouer sacrificed for vs and therefore it followeth that they had the same spirituall communion with Christ that we haue Out of this we haue three things to be considered of vs. First that the Couenant of God with man hath euermore beene in substance the same âât the coâânt
our care and endeuour be to dwell with him first in his other house which is the lower house of which sort is euery particular assembly where God doth also dwell to which he giueth lawes and ordinances as an housholder vnto his house of this Paul speaketh 1 Tim. 3.15 Thou must know how to behaue thy selfe in the house of God which is the Church of the liuing God Let vs examine our loue to the one by our loue to the other our loue to the kingdome of heauen by our loue to the kingdome of grace If we care not for the former we shall neuer haue entrance into the latter God must know vs to be guests in his first house otherwise he wil neuer acknowledge vs as his friends in the second To the many thousands in Israel The words in the original are to the ten thousand thousands a certaine number for an vncertaine A notable description of the church of God Doctrinâ Whence obserue that the people which belong to God are many thousand thousands The peopââ that beloââ to God aââ many thoâsand thoâsands They are a great flocke of sheepe they are a plentifull haruest of corne they are a wonderfull hoste and army of men This God promised to Abraham Gen. 15.5 he brought him forth and said Looke now toward heauen and tell the starres if thou be able to number them for so shall thy seed be Rom. 4.18 So Psal 2.8 Psal 72.9 11. Aske of mee the heathen for thine inheritance and the vttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Thus Esay prophesieth of the amplitude of the church Chap. 54.2.3 Enlarge the place of thy tent c. In the New Testament Christ telleth vs that many shall come from the East and West and sit downe with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen Matth. 8.11 so that his elect children are many in number For first of all the mercy of God is the Reason 1 more manifested thereby Hee might iustly haue reiected all because all had sinned in Adam but the more to manifest the greatnes of his goodnesse and the largenes of his compassions it pleased him to call and gather together a great people that they might take hold of his mercy and sing of his louing kindnes to his glory Rom 11.3 God hath concluded them all in vnbeleefe that he might haue mercy vpon all By nature all are alike all vnbeleeuers all disobedient all miserable the elect are no better then others by birth He speaketh heere of beleeuers among Iewes and Gentiles Secondly Christ Iesus will not lose the price of his death neither suffer it to be void and of none effect He died for many and therefore many belong vnto him as sheep of his pasture and as members of his body The Apostle teacheth that by the obedience of one not a few but many shall be made righteous euen as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners Rom. chap 5.19 And the Euangelist Saint Matthew declareth Christ in the deliuering of the Cuppe at his last Supper said This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sinnes ãâã 26.28 ãâã 2.10 whereby he brought many sonnes to glory Thirdly none is able to count the number of them which are as the starres that are innumerable and as the sand on the sea shore This made Balaam pronounce afterward in this booke chap. 23.10 Who can count the dust of Iacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel And Iohn speaking of the number of them that were sealed saith he saw a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kinreds and people and tongues clothed in white robes and palmes in their hands Reuel 7.9 They must needs be many thousand thousands seeing the number of them is without number Vse 1 The vses follow See heere the key to open and vnlocke sundry places of holy Scripture speaking of an vniuersality appointed vnto life and eternall glory as where it is said God would haue all men saued 1 Tim. 2.4 all men to come to repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 that Christ dyed for all 2 Cor. 5.14 2 Pet. 2.1 These speeches must be vnderstood of an vniuersality and generality of the elect onely for they alone are elected they alone are iustified they alone are redeemed they alone shall be glorified They must not be vnderstood though they speake of all and extended to euery particular of Adams seed nor be taken of euery particular person but must be limited and restrained to beleeuers of all sorts and conditions as Rom. 10.12 God is rich to all that call vpon him and Gal. 3.22 the Scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise of faith in Iesus Christ might be giuen what to all no but to all that beleeue Ioh. 11.52 There is therefore an vniuersality and a world of beleeuers as wel as of vnbeleeuers and they are expressed vnder the word All because they are many in number and consist of thousand thousands which cannot be accounted and therefore Iohn saith Christ is the propitiation for our sinnes and not for ours onely but for the sinnes of the whole world 1. Ioh. 2.2 that is for the sins of all the elect and beleeuers dispersed thoroughout the world To conclude Christ may be said to saue all as he is said to heale all sickenesses and diseases among the people Matth. 4.23 and 9.35 that is some of all sortes and kinds and as the Pharisees are said to tithe all herbes Luk. 11.42 that is all sorts Vse 2 Secondly we may gather from hence that most glorious shal the name of Christ be when all meeâ together in one to magnifie his grace and mercy toward them as appeareth Reu. 7.10 11 12. The Angels and the Elders ascribe blessing and glory and power and thankesgiuing vnto God When we shall all sing Hallelu-iah in the heauens what a sweet and pleasant melody will this make O how should we labour to be of this company that we may beare our part euery one in this triumphant song Hence it is that the Iohn saith Reue 19.1.3 I heard a great voice of much people in heauen saying Alleluia saluation and honour and power vnto the Lord our God and againe they said Alleluia Blessed are they that accompany the Saints to sing with them with heart and voyce Alleluia If we be not of this communion of Saints we cannot tune the right accent we cannot be in the number of these sweet singers our musicke iarreth and hath a discord in the eyes of God he will soone find it out Heere the godly seeme to bee thinly sowen as wheat couered with chaffe and so the song to consist of a few voyces onely The corne which seemeth little while it lyeth in the heap and maketh no shew when once the fanne hath scattered away the chaffe it appeareth to be much in quantity so when the Lord Iesus at his second
though one be surbordinate to the other yet both of them as good friends ioyne hand in hand and neyther of them ouerthroweth the other The Sunne doth not in vaine rise and set euery day thogh God as the first cause created the light The fields are not in vaine ploughed and sowed by men and watered with the early and latter raine from heauen although GOD bringeth foorth corne out of the earth and giueth bread to strengthen mans heart Psalm 104 verses 14 15. Our bodies are not in vaine refreshed with food albeit God be the life and the length of our daies Acts 17 28. And thouching our soules it is not in vaine to beleeue in Christ to repent from dead works to heare the preaching of the Gospel and to yeeld obedience thereunto although our saluation and eternal life be the free gift of God Rom. 6 23. Secondly whosoeuer is predestinated to the ende Zânch de âtribut ãâ¦ã cap. 2. they are also predestinated to the meanes without which the end cannot possibly be attained Such as are appointed to eternall life are also appointed to the meanes by which life euerlasting may bee got and obtained For almighty GOD hath from euerlasting decreed both the ends and the meanes not the end without the meanes nor the means without the end but both of them and none must make any diuorce betweene these God himselfe hath prescribed vnto vs the meanes to bring vs to the ends all that shall be saued wil carefully vse them No man well aduised will reason thus If it be determined by Gods prouidence that I shall recouer my health there is no need that I vse either food or physicke and if it be otherwise determined I shall vse in vaine the helpe either of the one or of the other forasmuch as Hezekiah receiued such promise of deliuery and recouery yet he must take a lumpe of figges and lay it for a plaister vpon the boyle that he may recouer Esay 38 21. No man in his right mind will argue thus If God haue ordained that I shall come to my iournies end I need not goe ouer the bridge I may leape into the water I am sure I shall be safe and not be drowned Or if it be determined that theeues shall not rob me nor haue any power ouer me I may thrust my selfe into all companies I may trauaile into dangerous places at all houres of the night and though I stand there of purpose they shall not be able to lay hands vpon me nor to spoile me of my goods If this kinde of reasoning be extreme folly how is it that we see not the vanity of the other Lastly as God appointeth good meanes to Vse 5 bring vs to the end of our faith so it is required of vs to beware of euill meanes and euill waies which leade to hell and tend to destruction There are many in the world that perswade themselues they may follow their euill waies with greedinesse and delight and yet that they shall escape death and damnation well enough that albeit they sowe to the flesh yet they shall not reape corruption Thus hee tempted and seduced Eue in the garden that she might eate freely of the forbidden fruite and yet she should neuer die the death but be as God knowing good and euill Gen. 3 4 5 But we must know that God hath linked together as with a brazen chaine that cannot be broken the pleasures of sinne and the punishments of sinne Rom. 6 23 and 8 2. The Apostle ioyneth sinne and death together coupleth them together as the cause the effect for the wages of sinne is death Thus we see the diuels cunning to beguile teaching that we need not to do good things and yet wee shall come well enough soone enough easie enough to heauen and that we may follow euill things and yet we shall escape hell and destruction See more of this afterward chapter 20. 17. And Moses sent them to spie out the Land of Canaan and saide vnto them Goe you vp this way Southward and goe vp into the Mountaine 18. And see the Land what it is and the people that dwelleth therein whether they be strong or weake few or many 19. And what the Land is that they dwell in c. Albeit the Lord had promised to Abraham and his posterity to giue them the land of Canaan for a possession yet hee will haue them beare themselues wisely and warily prudently and circumspectly in the search and viewing of it to enquire into the people their Cities their Land their multitude their strength and so to get a perfect knowledge of them and for this cause doeth Moses so carefully instruct them The doctrine Doctrine The faithfull must deale wisely in all their enterprises Wisedome is a gift required of the faithfull in all their enterprizes to doe nothing headily rashly rawly and ignorantly We must deale not onely lawfully iustly honestly and godlily but wisely prudently politikely Rebecca hearing of the purpose and intent of Esau waiting opportunity to kill his brother and being desirous to preserue them both but especially Iacob conueyed him away Gen. 27 verse 43. The like appeareth in Abigael 1 Sam. 25 18. she preuented Dauid and the mischiefe hanging ouer her owne head and is therefore commended by Dauid himselfe So 2 Sam. 20 16 17 18. And 2 King 4 verse 23. we haue a notable example in the Shunamite she wisely dissembleth the cause of her iourney lest she should greeue the heart of her husband onely she desireth leaue and liberty of him to goe âo the Prophet So Acts 23 verses 6 7. Paul knowing the great iarre and diuision in iudgement among those of the assembly which consisted of two sorts or sects partly Saduces which denied the resurrection and partly Pharisees which acknowledged it he taketh aduantage of the present opportunity to seuer them and to deliuer himselfe Prouerbs chap. 13 verse 16. Rom. chapter 16 verse 19. For first wisedome is more worth much Reason 1 better then all weapons of warre Prou. 21 verse 22. A prudent man is to be preferred before the valiant and indeed he can do more Hee can by counsell take a City wherein the valiant are and by his stratagems throw downe the bulwarkes and Castles thereof Eccl. chapter 7 verse 12 and cha ver 9 13 14 15 16. Secondly if Gods seruants should not Reason 2 deale wisely they should lie open to euery enemy to be hurt and destroyed to be ouertaken and circumuented in an excessiue hand The times wherein we liue are dangerous the persons with whom we deale are pernicious the sleights of Satan that dealeth against vs are mischieuous his instruments are growne cunning and crafty Prou. 1 verses 11 12. If then wee should not deale as well wisely as lawfully wee should not bee able to withstand them If we should not order our affaires discreetely and with good aduise forecasting the issues and preuenting their attempts we should
full of good workes and almes deedes he kneeled downe and prayed ãâã 9.40 and turning him to the body hee bad her arise and she opened her eyes and sate vp Heereunto also we may not vnfitly apply the examples of such as haue recouered out of eminent dangers and haue beene in a manner in the iawes of death and helde their soules in their hands as Hebr. 11.17 19. Touching Isaac hee lay bound with cords as a sacrifice vpon the Altar the knife was lifted vp to haue killed him and his father ready to haue offered him for a burnt offering and therefore he is also said to haue offered him accounting that God was able to raise him vp euen from the dead from whence also he receiued him in a figure The like we might say of many other the Saints that haue had experience of Gods power who being no better then dead in their own opinions by incurable diseases and incredible dangers haue notwithstanding been suddenly restored Hezekiah was willed to set his house in order for he should die his disease was mortall yet by prayer hee obtained the prolonging of his dayes When Daniel was in the lyons denne and the three seruants of God in the fiery furnace Noah in the Arke vpon the waters Ionah in the belly of the Whale where were they but after a sort in death yet all these had deliuerance and flourished againe like the Almond rod in this place The like we might say of Paul Cor. 11.26 and 1.9 10 he was pressed with trouble out of measure aboue strength insomuch that he despaired euen of life and receiued the sentence of death in himselfe yet God which raised the dead deliuered him from so great a death We reade in the actes of the Apostles that he was stoned with stones so that they drew him out of the citie supposing that he had beene dead but when the disciples stood round about him ãâã 14.19 20 ãâã 2.27 he rose vp and came into the citie So doth this Apostle speake of Epaphroditus he was sick nigh vnto death but God had mercy on him and not on him onely but on me also lest I should haue sorrow vpon sorrow This was likewise the flourishing of the Almond rod of Aaron Reason 1 This is not to be maruelled at forasmuch as God is the liuing God he hath life and being in himselfe and he giueth life and breath and being vnto other things This is a title proper and peculiar to God Matth. 22.32 and therefore it is said Hee is not the God of the dead but of the liuing Secondly he is of infinite power and was Reason 2 able in the beginning to create all things of nothing Heb 11.3 so that the things which were seene were not made of things which doe appeare Thirdly he Reason 3 can take away life and breath so often as it pleaseth him yea cast body and soule into hel Psal 104.29 Matth. 10.28 The vses remaine First this was a type as Vse 1 also the whole Priesthood was of the person doctrine Priesthood and kingdome of Christ as appeareth in many places of the Prophets Esay 11.1 2. Psal 45.6 and 22.14.18 Act. 13.23 Al our saluation springeth from his crosse and our life from his death He offered vp himselfe vpon the crosse for the redemption of our bodies to obtaine for vs euerlasting peace perfect righteousnesse and the kingdome of heauen he rose againe from death to life for our iustification Rom. 4 25. This is the rod that came out of the stemme of Iesse and as a branch that grew out of his roots who though he were put to death in the flesh and became as a dry and withered stalke and staffe that was not regarded 1 Pet. 3.18 Rom. 4.24 yet he was quickened by the spirit and God raised him from the dead so that hee became as the flourishing rod of Aaron in whom we haue redemption through his blood the forgiuenesse of sinnes according to the riches of his grace Eph. 1.7 Secondly heere is also a type set forth for Vse 2 the confirmation of our faith in the doctrine of the resurrection of the body at the last day which as dry seede is cast into the earth and brought to dust yet in due time shall flourish againe as the rod of the almond in this place Dan. 12.2 Ioh. 5.25 and 11.24 25. Ioh. 19.25 26 29. This hath beene taught in all ages of the Church from the very beginning Gen. 4.10 and 5.24 Heb. 11.5 Iude ver 14 14. Exod. 3.6 15. 2 King 2.11 Esay 26.19 Notwithstanding in all ages some haue been found that haue denyed the resurection Among the people of God that Sadduces taught that man perished wholly and that after death there is no rising or returning to life but that he perisheth as the beast Matth. 22.23 Act. 23.8 And the Apostle Peter foretelleth that in the last dayes should mockers arise that should say Where is the promise of his comming 2 Pet. 3.3 4. and what is this else but not to beleeue that Christ will come againe to iudgement nor raise vppe the dead to life And in the Church of Corinth some were found which said there is no resurrection of the dead 1 Cor. 15 12. Some haue confessed the immortalitie of the soule as many also of the heathen did but touching the resurrection they haue fansied it to be in this life and not after death so that the resurrection with them is nothing els but regeneration to wit a dying vnto sin and arising againe to newnesse of life The authours of this heresie seeme to haue beene Hymeneus and Philetus of whom the Apostle saith Concerning the truth they haue erred saying that the resurrection is already past ãâã thereby doe destroy the faith of some 2 Tim. 2.18 Neither is this heresie dead with them but is reuiued and continued in the damnable sect of the Family of loue who hold that hell and heauen are in this life and no other resurrection of the body or day of iudgment or comming of Christ theÌ in this world To these we may ioin as next neighbors the Anabaptists of our times who vtterly deny that the same bodies which now we haue and shal lie in the dust shal euer rise againe but they hold that God at the second comming of Christ will make vs new bodies This is to maintaine a new creation of new bodies but to deny the resurrection of the former bodies For it is one thing to make and another to raise vp Against all these errors wee must cleaue to the simplicity of the Scriptures The resurrection proued For this is a fundamentall point of Religion if this be shaken and ouerturned all religion is pulled vp by the rootes Hence it is that the Apostle reasoneth against these at large 1 Cor. 15. and prooueth the point soundly substantially by many arguments The first reason First if there be no resurrection
then Christ is not yet risen from the dead ver 13 15 16. but he is already risen and death shall haue no more dominion ouer him Rom. 6.9 and if the head be risen then the members shall rise also The head cannot be without the members and how can that head be said to haue life in it if all the members should lie couered in the dust and neuer be vnited to the head neither one to another The second reason Againe if no resurrection then of all men the beleeuers were most miserable vers 19. Here they are vexed with sundry enemies Satan the world and the flesh Lazarus heere wanteth and suffereth hunger while the rich glutton is clothed with purple and fareth deliciously euery day Luk. 16.19 The godly weepe and lament while the vngodly reioyce and be glad Ioh. 16.20 At this stone the godly haue often stumbled Psal 73.2 3. Ier. 12.1 2. and from hence the reprobate take occasion to harden their hearts in wickednesse because they thinke there is no God will reward them that seeke after him Mal. 3.14 but they are greatly deceiued Psal 58.11 For woe were it to all Gods seruants if there were no resurrection eternall life But they are not the most miserable because they are pronounced blessed by the mouth of Christ Matth. 5.4 6 10 11. Luk. 16.25 2 Thess 1.5 6 c. The third reason Thirdly if there should be no resurrection of the godly from death to life then the first Adam should be more mighty and powerful then the second so that the second Adam should be impotent and weake if hee should not be able to deliuer them from the iawes of death Adam and Christ are compared vnto two trees Adam and Christ comâred and both of them communicate to Vse 4 their boughes and branches such things as they haue of their owne Adam was as an euill and rotten tree and therefore communicateth so men these properties and no better Christ is the good tree and full of sap and life and he infuseth into his members goodnesse and life and no worse then these It is not possible that an euill tree should bring foorth good fruite or a good tree euill fruit Mat. 7.17 Fourthly The fourth reason all our enemies and the enemies of Christ are to be taken cleane away made subiect to Christ and to vs ver 25 26. All shall be put vnder his feete Psa 8. and he must raigne vntill all his enemies be made his footestoole Psal 110.1 The last enemie of the head and members is death this shall be quite abolished at the last day and not before True it is that Christ himselfe can die no more Rom. 6.9 Heb. 7.25 yet hee accounteth it his enemie because it is an enemie to his children How death is Christs enemy and how ours and he accounteth that as done to himselfe which is done to any of his members Act. 9. And it is our enemie because it daily cutteth off part of our life and seeketh to take hold of it it weareth and wasteth our dayes by his messengers or harbengers to wit troubles and calamities sickenesses sores and aches it bringeth sundry paines and dolours it separateth the dearest and neerest friendes that euer were the body and the soule it leadeth the body captiue and clappeth it vp in a loathsome prison full of wormes and filthinesse and rottennesse it destroyeth that Tabernacle which was at the first a most glorious creature and as farre as lyeth in it it would depriue the body of eternall life and keepe it in ignominy for euer vnder the earth so that it is a most spitefull malicious enemy raging vpon vs without any mercy or compassion Fiftly The fift reason If there were no resurrection to what end and purpose are any baptized for dead if the dead rise not at all Verse 23. why are they then baptized for the dead This place is darke and commonly vnderstood of the Sacrament of Baptisme but then it will not necessarily proue the point for w e it is brought and it is brought to proue the resurrection Wherefore to make the Apostles reason good we must vnderstand it either of the washing and cleansing of the bodies of the deceassed as the word baptisme often signifieth Mar. 7.4 He. 9.10 for this was a common custome among the people of God that first they washed the dead bodies and then annointed them Act. 9.37 yea among the heathen themselues which was a certaine testimony to the liuing of the resurrection of the bodies of the dead To this purpose doth Seruius alledge an old verse of the Poet Ennius Tarquinij corpus bona foemina lauit vnxit Serui. in Aeneid lib. 6. That is A certain deuout woman washed and annointed the body of Tarquinius The like doth Pliny auouch in one place of his naturall histories Pliny as the same Seruius testifieth and expresseth the cause that thereby they might make tryall whether the vitall spirits yet remained in the body or not And Virgil Virgil. Acâââ lib. 6. declaring how the Trojanes solemnized the funeral of Misenus hath these words Pars calidos latices ahena vndantia flammis Expediunt corpusque lauant frigentis vngunt That is Some brought the waters warm with heat and cauldrons eke appoint The body cold they wash and then with ointments it annoint These witnesses doe sufficiently prooue that the Gentiles did ordinarily vse to wash their dead and then to annoint them and this was a very ancient practise among them Or else we may vnderstand the place of the death and afflictions of the Saints of GOD which they suffer for righteousnesse sake in which they are ouerwhelmed as the body is plunged in the waters and thus the word is taken Luk. 12.50 Matth. 20.22 23. where our Sauiour calleth them backe from their ambitious thoughts of superiority ouer their fellowes and warneth them to prepare themselues for troubles yea for death it selfe This is the cup that all must drinke off 2 Tim. 3.13 Act. 14.22 Baptisme properly signifieth a dipping or plunging into the water and the crosse is a certaine plunging into calamities Thus then the reason is framed If there be no resurrection then should they doe foolishly that would seale vp the trueth of the Gospel with their blood and lay downe their liues for the testimony of God but such as resist vnto blood and suffer persecution for the words sake are not foolish Life is precious and deare vnto them as well as vnto others they would not therefore be so lauish and prodigal of it as to lay it downe except they looked for a better life which the Apostle farther amplifieth by his owne example Matth. 10.39 33. 2 Tim. 2.12 and 4.7.8 1 Cor. 15.30 31. Act. 5.41 16.25 Ioh. 21.19 âhe sixt reaân Lastly the Apostle reasoneth thus If there be no resurrection of the flesh then the Epicures and Libertines taught well that
this chapter is this God hath instituted the way and meanes how the vnclean shal be cleansed wherby to assure themselues that no infirmity shall separate them from the fauour of God The parts of this Chapter are two The contents of this Chapter the first is touching the water of clensing or separation so called because such as were separated for any vncleannesse were sprinkled with it the second touching the persons that were to vse it and to be cleansed by it Touching the water we are to know the matter wherof it was made of the ashes of a redde cow without spot without blemish without yoke And the rites vsed about the heifer before it was offered and also following the offering all which may bee learned in the words themselues The persons that were to vse this water of separation are the vncleane which are of two sorts first by touching a dead body of any man Secondly by approching and comming neere to the tent where the dead lyeth c. It is dangerous to be neere any vncleane person which pointeth out the danger of euil and teacheth to haue no communion with it Whosoeuer neglecteth this law and beeing vncleane seeketh not to be clensed shall be cut off from the coÌgregation verse 13 20. declaring that we should not suffer sin to rest vpon vs though we fall into euill and cannot keep our selues vpright yet we must not lie in sin neither giue it any entertainement no not for a time But to passe ouer particulars obserue the scope and drift of this chapter which is to proclaim the mercy of God to such as confesse and forsake their sinnes âctrine â penitent âons shal be ãâã into ãâã fauour The Doctrine then is this that all penitent persons shall bee receiued into Gods fauour so that no euill shall come nere them Esai 1 17 18. It skilleth not what our sins are or how great they haue bin but how true and sincere our repentance is Ier. 50 20. 1 Iohn 1 9. Ezek. 36 25 26. This truth is farther confirmed by many examples as Manasses 2 Chro. 33 12 13. the sinful woman that had many sinnes forgiuen her Luke 7 48. the penitent Theefe vpon the crosse Luk. 23 41 42 43. To those that put Christ to death the Apostle Peter preached repentance and many of them beleeued and were saued Actes 2.37 Reason 1 The grounds of this are first that no sinner should despaire with Cain 1 Tim. 1 26. or be damned with Iudas Iohn 6 70. or be reiected with Esau Heb. 12 17. Reason 2 Secondly Christ Iesus hath satisfied for vs all Esay 53 5 6. Rom. 8 33. he is our suretie and hath paid all our debt for vs whatsoeuer could in iustice be required of vs. God the father is the creditor we are the debters Christ is the surety sin is the debt hell is the prison into which we deserue to be cast But as the creditor cannot come in with any after reckonings nor put the poore debter into prison when once the debt is satisfied by the surety so the Lord will not lay any thing to our charge nor send vs to hell as to prison forasmuch as his owne Sonne hath laide downe his life as the full price of all our iniquities whereby his wrath is appeased and his iustice satisfied Vse 1 The vses First we learne how it commeth to passe that the sin against the holy Ghost is said to be the vnpardonable sin the sin that shall neuer be forgiuen neither in this life nor in the life to come Matth. 12 32. Marke 3 28 29. 1 Iohn 5 16. not because God cannot forgiue it for his mercy is infinite and greater then all our sinnes but because such as commit it can neuer repent Such as were once lightned with the knowledge of the truth haue receiued the heauenly gift haue bin made partakers of the holyghost haue heard the good word of God with ioy and tasted of the powers of the world to come if they fall away it is vnpossible they should be renewed againe by Repentance seeing they crucifie to themselues the son of God afcesh and put him to an open shame Heb. 6 4 5 6. 10 29. These are not onely malicious and obstinate offenders but desperate sinners that dash themselues in peeces against the rocke they know the truth and saluation to be by no other then Christ yet they reiect and renounce saluation by him These are like desperate murtherers that hang themselues or cut their owne throates True it is that many weake Christians languishing vnder the burthen of sinne are oftentimes afraid they haue committed this sin but whosoeuer feareth he hath committed that sin I dare pronounce no euill against that soule For I take this to be a certaine rule that Whosoeuer feareth he hath sinned against the holy Ghost hath not committed that sinne neither can commit it but is altogether free from it Such as are so forsaken and giuen ouer of God to fall into it are not afraide of it but rather boast of it glory in it and liue and dye with it The feare to offend this way is but the shadow of it and not the substance and this shadow is a notable preseruatiue to keepe them from it and it from them and therefore shall hurt no man no more then the shadow of the sword can cut in peeces which hath no edge But those wretched sinners that sin this sin do it to despite God to his face would if they were able pull him out of heauen they tread vnder their feete the Son of God and count the blood of the Couenant wherewith they were sanctified as an vnholy thing and do despite vnto the Spirit of Grace Heb. 10 29. Secondly it reproueth the Church of Rome Vse 2 and quencheth the fire of Purgatorie which they haue kindled They finde it to be gainefull merchandize and a fire that heateth all their kitchins and therefore as Demetrius and the rest of the craftsmen which receiued no smal gaine by making siluer shrines for Diana were zealous for idolatry because thereby they had their wealth so are the Romanists zealous for their Purgatory knowing that if that fal their whole craft is in danger to be set at nought Actes 19 24 27. And if they did not find aduantage by it they would soone giue ouer the defence of it For it is directly against the Scriptures which make onely two places heauen and hel Lu. 16 23. and two sorts of persons such as beleeue such as do not beleeue Mar. 16 16. And as this is a meere fiction deuised in the idle brain of superstitious men so is their doctrine of praying for the dead no whit better We reade Leuit. 4 3.13 22. of sundry sacrifices appointed for all sorts of people For the Prince for the Priest for the Congregation for sinnes of ignorance of knowledge ch 5 6. but we reade no where of any for the dead We reade
but it was vsed to wash them from the pollutions of the Law when they had touched a dead corpes or such like But what is all this being granted to heale diseases or to driue away diuels according to their doctrine teaching that these sanctified creatures may be vsed to these purposes And if this holy water had any such secret force or inherent vertue what needed so great a multitude of poore impotent people blinde halt withered to wait for the moouing of the water of the poole of Bethesda at Ierusalem or he that had an infirmity thirty eight yeeres to lye languishing so long for want of one to put him into the poole whensoeuer the Angel went down to trouble the water Ioh. 5.2 3 4 Seeing both he and all the rest might haue bin healed so easily by euery Priest if the water of separation or the water of iealousie could haue helped them We reade of many possessed by diuels brought to Christ that he might cast them out of them Libr. chry Ioh. â praelect could the Iewes themselues doe it by this sprinkling of water If they could not then is Bellarmine grosly deceiued and goeth about to deceiue his readers when he affirmeth that these are creatures which were indeed effectuall to worke some effects were also effectuall to worke these supernaturall effects to wit to driue away diuels and to heale diseases This had beene a ready way and a quicke dispatch if any thing could haue beene done by them When the disciples of Iohn came to Christ to know whether he were the promised Messiah or that they should looke for another he wished them to tell Iohn what they had seene and heard The blinde receiue their sight the lame walke the lepers are cleansed the deafe heare and the dead are raised vp Matth. 11.5 But if the common and ordinary vse of the waters of expiation and cleansing could haue effected these miraculous workes he would neuer haue gone about to prooue himselfe to be the Messiah by these arguments which should haue beene weake vncertaine and vntrue Nay doe the Iesuites thinke that the waters of iealousie haue now any force to try the adultresse that after she hath drunke thereof her belly should swell and her thigh should rot No doubtlesse and therefore if it retaine not the effect which it had at the first institution how shall wee thinke it can haue other and the same farre greater and stranger effects True it is when God appointeth the creatures to be vsed they haue oftentimes supernaturall effects as when Elisha by salt healed the vnwholesome waters 2 King 2.21 and did cleanse and cure the leaprosie of Naaman by his seuentimes washing in Iordan 2 King 5.14 when the Apostles and Elders did annoint the sicke with oyle Mar. 6.13 Iam. 5.14 and when Christ vsed spittle to heale the blinde man these we confesse were made signes of the power of God but the question is whether without any word or warrant from God wee may vse the creatures to such effects The waters which now we speake off haue approbation and allowance from the mouth of God and therefore no maruell if they be effectuall to the ends for which they were established In like manner the water in Baptisme we sanctifie the bread and wine in the Supper of the Lord we consecrate as signes and seales of the power of Christ assuring vs of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes See then how our aduersaries dally and delude the world to make them beleeue that we deny that any consecrated creatures may be vsed to worke supernaturall effects whereas they should ioyne issue with vs in this whether they be able to doe thus without the word of God but in this they are altogether silent and hold their peace as if they were stricken dumbe The Prophets and seruants of God vsed these things well but it followeth not hence that the Priests of Baal the Romish Priests may therefore vse them Plutar. conti septem sapient no more then wee conclude that because the shepheards may eate one of their sheepe therefore the Wolfe also may doe the like Or thus Ismael was circumcised at thirteene yeeres of age therefore his sonnes the Arabians and the Mahometans after his example might doe the like Or the woman of Samaria conclude Our fathers Iacob and his sonnes worshipped in this mountaine therefore we may sacrifice there also This kind of reasoning was the error of the disciples Eliah prayed that fire might come from heauen and consumed them that reproched him therefore we may vse such a prayer Luke 9. Thus did the Cerinthians Ebionites Ethiopians and other heretikes reason Christ was circumcised therefore wee also ought to be circumcised This is the conclusion of Bellarmine and of the Wolfe who gathered by the force of this reason that he might deuoure the sheepe as as well as the shepheards but the Wolfe was a theefe the sheepeheards did eate that which was their owne So saith the Cardinal Moses vsed water to supernaturall effects Elisha cured the waters with salt and the broth with meale cast into it 2 King 4.4 Therefore wee may vse holy water blessed after the Popish fashion both to cure diseases and to driue away diuels albeit the water were neuer instituted of God to any such vses and purposes For wee must consider there is great difference of times of places and of persons that which is lawfull at one time is vnlawfull at another that which is allowed in one is not to be allowed in another And that which is good done after one manner is euill being done in another Besides we are not left to our selues to deuise in Gods worship what we list Deut. 12.32 Luke 2.22 with Leuit. 12.8 1 Sam. 15.15 Gen. 22.16 compared with Ieremy chap. 19. verse 5. Lastly this practise giueth way and allowance to sorcerers enchanters charmers and coniurers to vse the word and creatures of God to their leud practises to cure diseases and such like whereas God hath appointed no such meanes to heale them Vse 2 Secondly from hence the Romanists go about to establish their vnsound distinction of sin into mortall veniall Some they say are so litle as that they deserue not eternal death but may be washed away with these holy waters that now wee speake off Doubtlesse these sinnes must be exceeding little or the force of these waters must bee exceeding great when men are sprinkled with them Whereas the Apostle is plaine speaking of this heifer and of this water Heb 9. that being bodily they can onely purifie the body but in no sort purge the conscience from dead workes True it is they say these sinnes doe somewhat offend God yet they adde facili negotio expiantur that is they are with little adoe easily purged and put away But we teach according to the Scriptures that all sinne in it owne nature euen anger and concupiscence which they call veniall is mortall True it is there is a difference
betweene sinne and sinne both in nature and in the punishment due vnto them some are greater some lesser some worther of greater punishment and some of lesser yet the least sin committed in thought and motion deserueth euerlasting death and separation from the gracious presence of God if he deale with vs according to the rigour of his iustice and looke vpon vs without the satisfaction of Christ The writers and teachers of the Popish Religion publish to the world that wee hold the sottish Paradox of the Stoikes that all sinnes are equall The Papists slander vs ãâã make all siâ equall the contrary whereof is manifest in the harmony of the confessions of our Churches And why do they slander vs with this dotish doctrine or vpon what foundation doe they ground this accusation forsooth because we hold that all are mortall But this is a weake consequent and will not proue the point for which they alledge it All men are mortall euen Princes as it is said in the Psalme 82.6 shall we hence conclude that the people are equall to Princes because they are alike subiect to mortality In the breach of the seuenth commandement there are sundry sortes of vncleannesse and incontinency forbidden as fornication when men defile themselues with filthy harlots and concubines adultery betweene them that are married incest committed with such as are neere in consanguinity or affinity the sinne of the Sodomites Who leauing the naturall vse of the woman burne in lust one toward another man with man working filthinesse Rom. 1.27 reuenged with fire and brimstone from heauen Gen. 19. Among all these seuerall kindes there are degrees of sinne one is greater then other adultery worse then fornication incest then adultery and Sodometry then them all and all these by the confession of the Papists themselues are mortall and yet by their owne confession also one is more heinous and horrible then the other If then their conclusion bee good against vs that we hold all sinnes to bee equal because we teach that they are mortall how should it not stand as strong and firme against themselues that they also hold all these sinnes to be equall fornication as bad as incest and adultery as heinous as Sodometry because they teach that they are all of them mortall The like absurdity wee might easily inferre against them in the rest of the commandements and that out of the Roman Catechisme But to vnderstand this point the better let vs consider that our Churches teach no other doctrine then the Scriptures teach that as all sinnes proceede out of the same fountaine of corruption and infidelity so all of them make vs guilty of eternall death and damnation vnlesse we obtaine pardon by faith in the Mediatour Christ Iesus Luke 12.47.48 All sinnes whether committed of ignorance or knowledge deserue stripes either many or few and these stripes are no other then eternall punishments as appeareth by the wordes of the Apostle 2 Thes 1.8 so that they which know not God neither beleeue the Gospel shall be punished in hel because according to the opinion of the Papists themselues when the Lord shall come in flaming fire to iudge the quicke and the dead Purgatory shal vtterly ceasse and be no more the prison dores shall be broken the fire shall be quenched the place shall be emptyed and the poore soules shall be discharged then shall be a gaile deliuery they shall be quit by Proclamation To vnderstand this the better we must know that sinnes may bee said to bee mortall or veniall three wayes âs may âd to bee âll or veââhree âs First in regard of the euent Secondly in regard of the cause Thirdly in regard of the nature of the sinnes themselues They are veniall in regard of the successe or euent which doe obtaine pardon and when forgiuenesse followeth them though they be in themselues most greeuous as 1 Ioh. 5.16 where the Apostle calleth those onely sinnes vnto death whose reward certainely is eternall death and those not to death which may bee forgiuen howsoeuer in their own nature they merit damnation Thus we may say that Dauids adultery and murther were veniall sinnes because howsoeuer in the nature of them they were deadly yet were they veniall in regard of the euent because Nathan said vnto him The Lord hath put away thy sinne thou shalt not dye 2 Sam. 12.13 âss ordin in âr 11. No sinne is veniall so long as we follow it and no sinne is mortall when once we forsake it Pro. 28.13 All sinnes are made veniall by repentance no sin is veniall without repentance Secondly sinnes may bee said to bee veniall in regard of the cause from whence they proceed whereupon they sooner obtaine pardon because they are not done of malice and a setled purpose but of ignorance and infirmity as Paul sheweth this to bee the cause why his sinne was veniall vnto him and why he obtained mercy and forgiuenesse because he did it ignorantly through vnbeleefe 1 Tim. 1.13 And in the fifteenth Chapter of this booke it is said the Priest shall make attonement when a priuate person or the whole Congregation hath committed any thing through errour or ignorance and it shall be forgiuen them for it is ignorance Numb 14.25 These sinnes springing from this fountaine are damnable in themselues from hence it came that Paul was a persecuter and a blasphemer but the Father of all mercies and compassions gaue him pardon because hee sinned of ignorance and infirmity So then his sinnes were veniall in regard of the euent and of the cause But sinne considered in the nature of the thing it selfe is not veniall but deserueth temporall and eternall punishment Now the Papists themselues teach â Popish ãâã of ãâã sinne that sinne is truely and properly called veniall when it is so in it owne nature and deserueth onely a temporall punishment either in this life or in the life to come so that if God would examine it and enter into iudgement with it according to his most rigourous and seuere iustice hee could not punish it with eternall death for as much as in it owne nature it deserueth pardon or at least some slight or temporall punishment And of these the controuersie is betweene the Church of Rome and vs and not of those that are veniall by the euent or by the cause But the Scripture teacheth vs that all sinne is the transgression of the Law 1 Ioh. 3.4 This is a true and perfect definition of sinne for euery transgression of the Law is sinne and euery sinne is a transgression of the Law From whence wee reason thus Euery transgression of the law is worthy of death Euery sinne is a transgression of the Law Therefore euery sinne is worthy of death The first part is plainely proued by many places Gal. 3.13.10 Deut. 27.26 Matth. 5.22 whereby it is manifest that the Prophet the Apostle and Christ himselfe speake generally without limitation that whosoeuer committeth any
the former And therefore themselues teach that infants baptized though they cannot be tryed yet goe immediatly into heauen and receiue the crowne of life But suppose this were a good conclusion yet he plaieth the notable Sophister in that he prooueth not that sinne is not worthy of death which he ought to haue done before hee conclude that some sinnes are in their owne nature veniall For many sinnes doe not bring death which notwithstanding are worthy of death they doe not bring death through Gods mercy but they are worthy of death through their owne merit Wherefore this place of the Apostle being well vnderstood directly ouerthroweth this distinction of sin from whence it goeth about to seeke shelter and defence Vse 3 Thirdly vnder these types and shadowes heere rehearsed touching the water of separation which was made with the ashes of a redde heiffer without spot wherein no blemish was which was brought out of the host to be killed and the Priest must sprinkle her blood seuen times before the Tabernacle of the Congregation c. I say vnder these shadowes the chiefe mysteries of our faith are handled For there was no way of saluation but by Christ from the beginning â 14 6. and there shall bee no other new way vnto the end He was euermore the doore by which all enter into the kingdome of God â 10 9. He is the same yesterday and to day and for euer Heb. chapter 13 verse 8. This the Apostle teacheth vs plainely by alluding to these words Hebr. chapter 9 verses 13 14. If the blood of Bulles and Goats and the ashes of an Heiffer sprinkling the vncleane sanctifie to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ which through the eternall Spirit offered himselfe without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serue the liuing God Heere the Apostle hath reference vnto the redde heiffer mentioned in this place whose ashes gathered together were sprinkled in the waters of separation and serued to sanctifie touching the purifying of the flesh so that such as were shut from the Congregation being sprinkled therewith had free liberty to come to the Tabernacle The truth of all this was Christ Iesus he is this redde heiffer his blood is the true purging Psal 51 verses 2 7. 1 Pet. chap. 1 verse 2. And as the doore postes of the Israelites were sprinkled with the blood of the Lambe so must our hearts with the blood of Christ Now of this type obserue these principall points of religion First that Christ Iesus is true man found in the forme and shape of man That hee might humble himselfe and become obedient vnto death euen the death of the Crosse Phil. 2 verse 8. This is the cause that hee is pictured out vnto vs in the colour of the redde heiffer rather then in any other to put vs in minde of his death and the shedding of his precious blood Thus also he is described by the Prophet Who is this that commeth from Edom with died garments from Bozrah c. I that speake in righteousnesse to saue Wherefore art thou redde in thine apparell and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fatte Esay 63 verses 1.2 This is no small comfort vnto vs especially in all tentations thogh our sinnes haue a bloody face before his face though they be red as scarlet yet the blood of Christ hath washed them away These are they which came out of great tribulation and haue washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lambe Reuel chapter 7 verse 14. Hee hath a feeling of our sorrowes and is touched with our infirmities being made like vnto vs in all things sinne onely excepted Heb. 2 17 18. and 4 15. Secondly we learne from this consideration that the Heiffer must be without spotte and without blemish that Christ Iesus was a pure and perfect offering without any sinne Hebr. chapter 7 verse 26 he was holy harmelesse vndefiled separate from sinners and made higher then the heauens This is our comfort also and consolation for if he had bene sinnefull we should yet walke in our sinnes as an infant walloweth in his blood and the price of our redemption were yet vnpaid Hence it is that Moses doth so carefully set downe this in describing of all sacrifices burnt offerings meate offerings trespasse offerings peace offerings all oblations brought to God must be without spotte and without blemish thereby to teach the people vs to the end of the world that there was no sinne in him that tooke vpon him our sinne For hee was wounded for our transgressions and hee was bruised for our iniquities Esay 53 5. He suffered indeed for vs but the iust for the vniust 1 Pet. 3 18 and 2 22. Thirdly in that this Heiffer was such vpon whom neuer came yoke Verse 2. it appeareth that Christ being at his owne liberty bound to none offered himselfe freely for our deliuerance therefore when such as were sent to take him told him they sought Iesus of Nazareth hee answered If yee seeke mee let these goe their way Iohn 18 8. Hee gaue himselfe not by perswasion of others not by compulsion from others but willingly euen vnto the death Phil. chapter 2 verse 8. Iohn chap. 18 verses 4 5. Esay chap. 53 verse 12. His death was not by constraint for then it could not be meritorious If it had not beene voluntary they could not haue taken it away from him for they often lay in waite for him and sought to put him to death Iohn 10. verses 17 18. What he was able to doe if it had pleased him hee shewed in the Garden for so soone as hee had told them that hee was the man whom they sought for they went backward and fell to the ground Iohn 18 verse 6. He knew all things that should come vnto him yet he went forth vnto them that were come with Lanternes and Torches and weapons to take him verses 3 4. He had therefore power to lay downe his life or not to lay it downe but how then should the Scriptures bee fulfilled But they had no power of themselues to lay hands vpoÌ him as he telleth Pilate chap 19 11. This also serueth for our comfort that Christ died not against his will but willingly and of his owne accord performing obedience vnto his Father Not that his enemies could ouercome him for he ouercame them cast theÌ backe to the earth with a word speaking And what words did he speake Were they terrible and dreadfull Were they words of thunder No he rored not as a lyon but spake mildely as a lamb I am he Now if the voice of CHRIST by gentle and amiable were notwithstanding so effectuall to throw them all downe headlong to the ground how powerfull shall the angry voice of Christ be to throw his enemies as with a sudden flash of lightning into the pit and paines of hell at the last
of it wast thou taken because thou art dust and to dust thou shalt returne Where the reason is thus framed Thou art made and taken out of the dust therfore thou shalt returne to the dust Secondly we must all die the death because Reason 2 all haue sinned and are depriued of the glory of God for the Scripture concludeth al both Iewes and Gentiles vnder sin True it is man was created to immortality and if he had euer loued God and neuer sinned he should euer haue liued without seeing death But wheÌ sinne entred death followed in the world as the wages doth the worke according to the threatning of God Gen. 2 17. In the day thou eatest of the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death For as they that are adiudged and condemned to dye âsost hom ââen 3. are accounted as dead men albeit they be kept aliue in prison so our first Parents although they did not immediately die yet immediately were subiect to death by desart of sinne So the Apostle Rom. 5 12. By one man sinne entred into the world and death by sinne and so death went ouer all men in whom all men haue sinned Where he proueth the cause by the effect that sinne was before Moses and the Law giuen by him because death was in the world which seizeth vpon young and old infants sucklings whereby euery one is conuinced of sinne ãâã 3 19. euery mouth is stopped and all the world subiect to the righteous iudgement of God Seeing therefore wee are all made out of the dust and carry about with vs this body of sin we haue here no continuing City but are placed in the world for a season as men set vpon a Stage to play our parts then must be gone to giue roome to others according to the saying of Salomon One generation passeth and another generation succeedeth Vse 1 The vses follow First the rich the mighty the learned and men of high degree must acknowledge that there shall be no difference betweene them and the poore the lowly and vnlearned in the graue vnto which all must descend True it is there is a difference and distinction betweene rich and poore high and low great small in their life time in friends in honours in houses in lands in liuings in food in apparell in duties in dignities such like externall priuiledges and prerogatiues which shall haue an end yet all these shall ceasse and all degrees must equally meete together in the graue so that albeit an vnequall life haue gone before yet an equall death shal follow after ârat oda li. 1. This is it which Iob pointeth vnto chap. 17 which we named before where he sheweth that all worldly prosperity and hope shall faile They shall goe downe into the bottome of the pit surely it shall lie together in the dust And the Prophet Psal 49 9 10 11. sheweth that neither wit nor wisedome neither might nor mony neither fauour nor policy can preuent or put away death that all without difference respect of persons must yeeld to Nature and that all meanes which they can deuise for the continuance of their names shall come to nought For hee seeth wise men die and also that the ignorant and foolish perish and leaue their riches for others Secondly let men of excellent and eminent Vse 2 places liue iustly and deale vprightly in their callings wherein they are set As they are placed aboue others so they are seene marked before others and notwithstanding all their honour and estimation their riches and retinue they must die and depart hence when it shall be said to them ââ 16 2. Come giue an account of thy stewardship for thou maiest be no longer steward The remembrance of death must therefore admonish them of their duties that they dreame not of immortality and they promise not to themselues continuance heere and perpetuity This Dauid toucheth and teacheth Ps 82 2 3 6 7. How long will ye deale vniustly and accept the persons of the wicked Doe right to the poore and fatherlesse doe iustice to the poore and needy deliuer the poore and needy saue them from the hand of the wicked I haue saide yee are Gods and ye all are children of the most High but ye shal die as a man and ye Princes shall fall like others So then when we are tempted to euill we must remember death and the estate that followeth death Therefore the Apostle chargeth them that are rich in this world 1 Tim. 6 17 18. that they bee not high-minded neither trust in vncertain riches but in the liuing GOD because we brought nothing into this world and it is certaine that we can carry nothing out Thirdly this consideration of the common Vse 3 condition of al flesh must stirre vp our affections from resting relying vpon men whose breath is in their nostrils to depend vpon the eternall God which continueth and liueth for euer Let vs beware of all vaine confidence We are ready to rest vpon creatures and stay our selues vpon an arme of flesh as vpon a broken Reed whereby we deceiue our selues of our hope and rob God of his honour This we learne Psal 146 3 4 5. Put not your trust in Princes nor in the sonnes of man for there is no helpe in him his breath departeth and he returneth to the earth then his thoughts perish Blessed is hee that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe whose hope is in the Lord his God Man is vaine and all his pompe is lighter then vanity If then we make him our stay and staffe we beate the ayre wee labour in the fire we build vpon a weak foundation and rest vpon the vncertaine life of mortall and miserable man Psal 144. who vanisheth as a shadow passeth as a dreame flieth as an Eagle speedeth as a Poste consumeth as a garment and goeth away as a thought that cannot be recalled His life is as a span soone measured as a vapour soone gone as a tale soone told as an hand-bredth soone measured as a winde soone ouerblowne and as the weauers Shuttle quickly sliding Lastly it is our duty to prepare for it before Vse 4 it cometh that we may bee found ready and haue oyle in our lamps wheÌ the Bridegroome cometh For death spareth none it respecteth no person no age no Sexe no State or condition no power can withstand it no wisedome can preuent it no bribe can corrupt it no cunning can ouercome it And albeit we often recouer of some diseases yet in the ende we are taken away The whole life of a Christian should be a continuall meditation of death to teach vs as it were to die daily and to number our daies that we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome not to set our whole loue and liking on the world which wee must shortly leaue Will a man bestow cost and charges on an house and tenement in which hee shall not long dwell
band knitteth faster nor bindeth closer then this while loue and liking lasteth so no contention is so bitter no hatred so deadly as that of brethren and others that are neere in blood when the knot is broken and dissolued The tender glasse when it is once broken will neuer be set together againe No water proueth so exceeding colde as that which was once heated exceeding hot so no hatred prooueth like to the hatred of brethren which are often found mercilesse one toward another such as can neuer be appeased as we see in the malice of Cain toward Abel This is it that Salomon pointeth out in Prou. 18 19. Prou. 18 19. A brother offended is harder to win then a strong City their contentions are as a barre of a Castle For as they loued most entirely deerely before so when once they grow enemies they hate one another most extremely whose hearts are as stony wals that cannot be pierced and as barres of iron that cannot bee broken Now as the Prophet teacheth That it is a good and comely thing for brethren to dwell together in vnity Psal 133 1. so it is a noisome and vnnaturall thing to behold greatest enuy and most mortall malice where the greatest and neerest bands of kindred should knit together Secondly how much more is it required of those that spiritually are knit together in the profession of the same faith to loue and helpe one another that haue one God to bee their Father one Church to bee their Mother one Christ to be their elder Brother one Heauen to be their hope and one Faith to be their assurance These considerations are of far greater might and moment then al bands of other societies which begin in the flesh and end in death Wherefore the Apostle handleth this at large Eph. 4 3 4 5 6. Ephe 4. â 5 6. Endeuour to keep the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace There is one body and one spirit euen as yee are called in one hope of your vocation There is one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all which is aboue all and through all and in you all To this purpose Christ our Sauiour teacheth that there is a neerer coniunction betweene himself the faithfull as also betweene the faithful among themselues then betweene brethren and kinsfolkes in the flesh For when some of his hearers saide Behold thy Mother and thy Brethren stand without desiring to speake with thee he answered and saide to him that told him Math. 12 â 48 â9 5â Who is my Mother and who are my brethren And hee stretched forth his hands towards his Disciples and saide Behold my mother and my brethren for whosoeuer shall do my Fathers will which is in heauen the same is my brother and sister and mother Lastly there is no man in the world but we are after a sort charged with him to affect him as a brother to account him as a friend to help him as a neighbour and to loue him as hee is a man Albeit hee be neuer so far remoued from vs albeit we neuer saw him albeit wee know him not in the flesh yet we are appointed as his keeper and guardian to doe him good all the dayes of his life Esay 5 â defending him from wrongs garding him from enemies sauing him from dangers It was a prophane voice of a prophane man who being asked where his brother was answered I cannot tell Genes â Am I my brothers keeper Therefore our Sauiour in the Parable of him that fell among theeues teacheth Luke ââ Rom. â that euery man is to be called and accounted our neighbor It is not for any to aduance and lift vp himselfe aboue his brethren in disdaine or pride of heart be he neuer so high great in the world but to acknowldge from whence hee came and in that respect to make himselfe equall with them of the lowest sort Thy Brother Israel Hitherto we haue spoken of the strength of the reason and considered the words not simply in themselues but as they are referred to the point they argue that is to perswade their passage Now we wil weigh them as they stand by themselues They declare in their plea that there is a coniunction betweene them in the flesh Doctrâââ Amonâ ãâã kinde ââtain bâ hood âââmon ãâã The Doctrine from hence arising is this Among kinsfolkes and generally among all mankind is a certain brotherhood acquaintance familiaritie and vnion one toward another True it is there is not fleshly kindred immediately among all men to make them so neere of blood as to cal one another kinsmen and to descend of the same line and linage but there is a certaine common kindred in generall to ioyne bind vs one to another So then all mankind thogh seated and placed farre one from another by large and many Countries and distinguished by seuerall languages rites lawes religions and customes are one blood one flesh yea all as brethren issuing out of one fountaine hewne out of one Rocke Euery one is of kin to euery man whether Iew or Grecian Turk Barbarian Scythian French Spanish Italian German c. This appeareth in many places of the word of God ãâã 20.32 â3 Thus Ahab calleth Benhadad King of Aram his Brother that is his Friend So Christ compriseth euery man vnder the name and title of a neighbor This also the heathen knew and acknowledged well enough as the Apostle testifieth Acts 17 26. God hath made of one blood all mankinde to dwell on all the face of the earth and hath assigned the seasons which were ordained before and the bounds of their habitation declaring hereby that there is an vnion and coniunction among all mankinde Reason 1 The Reasons are these First we had all one beginning from God who is the Creator and Maker of all things visible and inuisible and therefore hee being the efficient cause of all there must be some dependance vpon him and some fellowshippe among the workes of his hands This the heathen confessed as the Apostle alledgeth out of their owne Poet Acts 17 29. ãâã 17 29. We are the generation of God Hee is the Creator we are the workes of his hands he is our Father we are his children consequently brethren one to another Reason 2 Secondly as we had one beginning so we al were made of one mould and matter being framed of the clay and dust of the earth which the Lord tempered and fashioned to make man as appeareth in the history of the Creation So then the matter of all mankinde is remembred vnto vs to be the earth This Moses teacheth Gen. 2.7 3 19. Heereunto the Apostle accordeth 1 Cor. 15 47 The first man is of the earth earthly Thus the most noble and notable creature of a wonderfull frame and composition representing in it the glory of the world was made of the most base matter
Patriarkes and Prophets that by faith receiued a good report concludeth that we must rather looke to the example of Christ the Author finisher of our faith who endured the Crosse and despised the shame for the ioy that was set before him If theÌ the example of God be to be followed of vs we must be moued to shew mercy where we see the bountiful hand of God opened before vs. Reason 2 Secondly we are the children of God wee are the seruants of God we are the subiects of his kingdome we must therefore seeke to be like to him resemble him in our obedience to his Commandements as the Apostle Peter sheweth 1 Pet. 1.14.15.16 As obedient children fashion not your selues vnto the former lustes of your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so bee ye holy in all manner of conuersation because it is written Be ye holy for I am holy And thus saith the Lord by Malachy the Prophet ch 1 6. A sonne honoreth his father and a seruant his master If then I be a Father where is mine honour If I be a Master where is my feare Hereunto accordeth and agreeth the exhortation of Christ Ioh. 13 12 13 14. Know ye what I haue done to you Yee call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am If I then your Lord and Master haue washed your feete ye ought also to wash one anothers feet For I haue giuen you an example that ye should do euen as I haue done to you Vse 1 The vses First let vs learne to acknowledge from hence this truth that great is Gods mercy who neuer faileth nor forsaketh those that are his For assuredly his mercy and compassion should neuer be propounded to vs as a rule to direct vs and as an example to guide vs if there were not infinite loue in him and in our God plentifull redemption Wherefore we may safely conclude this principle of our faith and teach it to others that the mercies of God are sure and certaine to his Church This the Prophet handleth at large Psal 103 8 11 13. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy slowe to anger and of great kindnesse as high as the heauen is aboue the earth so great is his mercy toward theÌ that feare him As a father hath compassion on his children so hath the Lord compassion on them that feare him There is no end no measure no limitation of his mercy compassion The height of it is not to be taken the depth of it is not to be found the length and bredth of it is not to be comprehended It is higher then the heauens it is deeper then the graue it is longer then the earth it is broader then the sea Who is it that by searching can finde out God Iob 11 7 8 9. or search out the Almighty to his perfection For loue and mercy pitty are not in God as they are in men In vs they are such graces of the Spirit of God as wee are qualified withall througâ his gift they are streames flowing from his Fountaine and as light drawne from his Candle But in God are no qualities or accidents he is of none but hath his being of himselfe giueth being to all other things Therefore the Apostle saith God is loue it selfe not onely the Fountaine and well-spring of loue 1 Iohn 4 16. but loue it selfe And one saith truely and properly Bernard in de d. l g. Deo God is not wise but wisedome it selfe not iust but iustice it selfe not pittifull but pitty it selfe not mercifull but mercy it selfe not good but goodnesse it selfe This is a great comfort and refreshing to vs in all afflictions be they neuer so great be they neuer so greeuous there is no infirmitie and weaknesse in God his mercy is ouer al his works he is infinite in compassion he can no more ceasse to bee mercifull then ceasse to be God and therefore it being essentiall to him our misery can neuer exceed or counteruaile his mercy Secondly we must Vse 2 learne from hence to loue all the creatures of God albeit not all equally after the example of God We reade euery where in the Scripture of the loue of God louing not onely his Sonne his Church his Elect Zanch denâ dei lib. 4 âap quest 2. Acts 14 17 but the rest of the world the reprobate and all his creatures Giuing them raine and fruitefull seasons filling their hearts with ioy and gladnesse Let vs therefore first see what the loue of God is He loueth all his creatures euen all the works of his hands He saw all that he had made and loe Gen. 1 31. they were exceeding good Yea he doth good to all in him they moue liue breathe and haue their being Notwithstanding he loueth his elect and chosen people ordained to eternall life more then the rest of mankinde whom he leaueth in their sinne to worke out their owne confusion as the Apostle teacheth Iacob haue I loued but Esau haue I hated For touching the faithfull Rom. 9 14 Rom â 3â Rom 3 2â 1 Thess 5 â Iohn 14 2â Math. 25 â he calleth them effectually he iustifieth theÌ freely he sanctifieth them throughly in soule and body yea as the faithfull increase in grace the exercises of piety so they more and more feele the loue of God toward them as Christ speaketh He that keepeth my Commandements is he that loueth me and he that loueth me shall bee loued of my Father Heere then we haue an example before vs for our continuall instruction to guide vs in the matter and measure of our loue For first the meanest of the creatures are to be loued none of them are to be abused of vs. Hereunto tend the lawes giueÌ to the Iewes not to oppresse our Cattell not to musle the mouth of the Oxe nor to take the dam with the young to helpe vp the Asse sinking falling vnder his burthen and such like Secondly we must much more loue mankinde made after the Image of God yea euen our enemies according to the commandement of our Lord and Master Christ Math. 5 44 45. This is not a counsell but a Commandement charging vs to loue our enemies seeking their good thirsting after their saluation ouercomming euill with goodnesse heaping coales of fire vpon their head and thereby gathering an assurance to our owne hearts that wee are the children of God Thirdly it belongeth to the faithfull to loue the faithfull with an especiall loue as children with them of the selfe same Father heyres with them of the same kingdome for heereby we shall know that we are translated from death to life âhn 3 14. because wee loue the brethren This the Apostle teacheth Gal. 6 10. While we haue time let vs do good to all men but especially vnto them that are of the houshold of faith So that in the duties of loue we must preferre our godly
are cut off by death do renue the Leuitical priesthood and labour to raise it out of the graue which hath long ago bene buried with honor For this is common to them both to end their daies and leaue their Priesthood to others so that the Dart which the Apostle casteth against the Leuiticall Priesthood pierceth and perisheth the very heart of the Popish priesthood when he saith and proueth that there can bee no other Priests but Christ vnder the new Testament Heb. 7 23 24. because he continueth for euer considering that the multitude of Priests and succession of them one after another ariseth from the imperfection and insufficiency of the Priests which were continually by death taken away If then the vpstart Priests of the Sinagogue of Rome will bee Priests properly they cannot be Priests after the order of Melchizedek as they wretchedly and blasphemously claime themselues to bee who was both King and Priest Heb 7 5. neither caÌ they be successors of Christ forasmuch as hee hath none to succeede him For if the Iews might not continue to offer their sacrifices and oblations after the sacrifice of Christ was once offered because it was perfect and all-sufficient yea the consummation of all that went before it followeth that the Popish sacrifice being an addition vnto that which is perfect as a rotten and ragged patch to a new garment cannot stand but is to bee throwne downe and abolished like an abhominable idoll Verse 29. All the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty daies when the Congregation saw that Aaron was dead The last point obserued in this chapter is the affection of the people after the death of Aaron one of the chiefe pillars and protectors of the Church and of true Religion among the Israelites They mourne for him not a day or a weeke but a whole month to declare what a sensible feeling they had of the incomparable losse of the Church We learne hereby that when the chiefe members stayes props Doctrinâ When the cheefest pâ of the Câ be takeÌ aâ the rest aâ bee greeâ 1 Thess 4 â and pillars of the church be taken away the rest of the parts are to be huÌbled and touched to the quicke for the same True it is a measure in mourning and lamentation is to be vsed that wee bee not sorry as men without hope yet by this example wee see it is lawfull to mourne for the dead the greater losse the Church hath receyued the greater lamentation and greefe ought to bee expressed This is euident by the practise of Gods seruants in all ages of the Church proportioning their sorrow according to the greatnesse of their losse We see Ge. 50 1 10 11. when God called Iacob to himselfe out of this worlde a Father of the Church and a great light that shined not onely within the dores of his owne family but in the darknesse of Egypt hee was greatly and exceedingly lamented for the space of seuenty dayes so that the Canaanites said This is a great mourning vnto the Egyptians So when Moses the seruant of the Lord died like vnto whom there arose not a Prophet in Israel vnto whom GOD spake not by vision or dreame but face to face as a man talketh with his friend Deut. 34 8. the children of Israel mourned for him thirty dayes whom hee had guided with a fatherly care many yeeres So when Samuel another principall pillar of the house of God dyed 1 Sam 25 1. All Israel assembled and mourned for him and buried him in his own house at Ramah When God took away good King Iosiah like to whom there was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soule 2 King 2â and with al his might according to all the law of Moses who bowed neither to the right hand nor to the left who remembred his Creator in the dayes of his youth and honoured God with the first fruites of his life all Iudah and Ierusalem mourned for him 2 Chron. 35 23 24. yea Ieremy lamented Iosiah and al the singing men and singing women mourned for him in their lamentations and made the same for an ordinance to Israel behold they be written in the Lamentations But touching Iehoiakim the son of Iosia who degenerated from his father walked not in his wayes ãâã 22 1â 19 it is said They shall not lament him saying Ah my Brother or ah my Sister neyther shall they mourne for him saying Ah Lord or ah his glory he shall be buried as an Asse is buryed euen drawne and cast forth without the gates of Ierusalem The like comparison wee see in the new Testament when as Stephen was stoned a faithfull witnesse of Christ a worthy member of the Church and a constant defender of the faith ãâã 8 2. certaine men carried him to be buried and made great lamentation for him But when Ananias and Sapphira filled with Sathan keeping away part of the price of their possession tempting the Spirit and lying vnto God fell downe and gaue vp the ghost ãâã 5 5 10. young men arose tooke them vp and buried them but no mention of any teares or lamentatioÌ much lesse of any great lamentation made for them God swept them away as dung from the earth for their hypocrisie but the Church lamented not the death of these wicked persons So then to omit many other examples that might bee alledged we see that howsoeuer men may be mourned for in a natural affection compassion by their friends and kinsfolks yet chiefly and principally we are to bewaile the losse of the church wheÌ such are taken away as might do good seruice to God and his people Reason 1 This truth appeareth by good force of reason First the Ministers are as the Chariots horsemen of Israel in their Ministery that is the strength and defence of the Church and Commonwealth Therfore Elisha seeing Eliah taken vp by a whirlewinde into heauen cryed out Kings â 12. My father my father the Chariot of Israel the horsemen thereof And as Elisha said of Eliah so did Ioash the King of Israel of Elisha For being sicke of his sicknesse whereof hee dyed the King came downe vnto him King 13 14. and wept vpon his face and said O my father my father the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen of the same Thus spake the King himselfe to the Prophet and these honorable Titles he gaue vnto him And no maruell For they fight and bend their forces against swearing blasphemy contempt of Gods word prophaning of his Sabbaths whoredome drunkennesse idlenesse couetousnesse and such like as lay vs open to the wrath of God These and such like sinnes are they that weaken the land and lay it naked to the inuasion of enemies ãâã 32 25. as appeareth Exo. 32 25. Moses saw that by their idolatry the people were naked for Aaron had made them naked vnto shame among
Patron of that people could do them no good but suffered them to be taken and spoyled Such is the vain hope of poore Idolaters in their Idols which cannot helpe or deliuer themselues much lesse their worshippers that trust in them Lastly touching the Israelites they spoiled them that were the spoilers and conquered them that were the conquerors for they recouered for themselues and for their owne vse the Townes and Cities which the Moabites had lost Thus Israel medled not with the Moabites neither tooke any thing from them but peaceably possessed that which they won froÌ the Amorites none laying any claime or title thereunto as Iephtah pleadeth Iudg. 11 13. And this is the right which the Israelites had to dwell in the Cities of the Amorites and to possesse as their owne goods the labours and liuings of other men which they could iustifie by the Law of God and man For when Abraham had subdued in battell the fiue Kings he chalenged to himself a right in the prey that was taken and payed the tenth of all to Melchizedek Gen. 14 20 21 Hereunto belongeth the commandement giuen of God touching the diuiding and retaining the spoyles of war saying All the spoyle thereof shalt thou take vnto thy selfe and shalt eate the spoyle of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee Deuter 20 14. Xenoph. lib. 7. Cyropaed Halicarnas li. 6. And this we might plentifully prooue by the Lawes Decrees and Constitutions of Princes and States in former times Verse 21. Then Israel sent Messengers In this diuision generally is set foorth the end of the enemies of the Church that albeit they preuaile for a season and plow vpon the backs of the godly and make long and large surrowes albeit they plant themselues strong flourish as the greene Bay-tree yet they passe away suddenly and are cast downe in desolation The persecuters and enemies of the Church shall perish and come to confusion Doctrine The persecuters of the Church shall perish Howsoeuer they lift vp their heads hornes on high and their honor reach vp to the Clouds there shall be a downefall they shall be confounded and consumed in his wrath Looke vpon Caine who was the first persecuter of the church in Abel and we shall see the same confirmed which is offered to our considerations in these present examples He killed his brother Gen. 4 11 and wherefore slew he him Because his owne works were euill and his brothers good But did cruell Caine escape No the curse of God came vpon him he was made a runnagate and fugitiue vpon the earth and so God reuenged the innocent blood of his brother Abel which he had shedde with barbarous and vnnaturall cruelty The like we might say of Pharaoh an arch-enemy of the Church in Egypt who oppressing the people of God with burdens and destroying their children was ouerwhelmed in the red Sea Exod. 14 28. Another fearefull example we haue in Saneherib which set himselfe against the people that called vpon the liuing God and blasphemed his Name which is holy throughout all generations hee was slaine of his owne sonnes 2 Kings 20 37 which iudgement the Lord foretolde that being accordingly performed accomplished it might be knowne whence it was wherefore it came to passe The like is reported recorded of Haman in the booke of Ester ch 7 9 who procured the Kings writ to roote out to kill and to destroy all the Iewes young and olde children and women in one day yet abusing his high fauour with the King and great honour in the Court God threw him downe and layd his honor in the dust so that he was hanged on the same tree which he had prepared for Mordecai that spake good for the King Thus his mischiefe returned on his owne head and his cruelty fell vpon his owne pate and himself was taken in the snare which he made for another Hereunto tendeth the end of Nebuchadnezar whose seruice God vsed to chasten his owne people to destroy the Temple to waste the City and to cary them away captiue Dan. 4.30 hee was throwne downe his reason was taken from him and he had the heart of a beast giuen vnto him The Iewes to whom pertained the right of adoption the glory of the Arke the tables of the Couenant the giuing of the Law the seruice of God the accomplishment of the promises the comming of the Messiah the Oracles of trust committed vnto them were notwithstanding all these priuiledges enemies of Christ and of the Apostles enemies of Christian Religion and the professors thereof they put the Sonne of God to death and persecuted his Apostles that he sent among them to preach and teach the Gospel of the Kingdome Matth. 24.21 in the end themselues were iustly slain for sedition which they falsely charged vpon the Apostles nay as themselues cried his blood be vpon vs Ioseph de belâ Iuda lib. 7. cap. 4. 8. and vpon our children so that which Christ foretold came vpon them in full measure pressing downe and running ouer when the abhomination of desolation sate in the holy place there was such trouble amongst them and so great tribulation came vpon them that the like neuer was nor shall be to the end Herod that bloody tyrant which had slaine Iames with the sword and putting Peter in prison intended the like measure and murther vpon him this wicked wretch escaped not the hands of God for being arrayed in his royall Robes sitting vpon the Iudgement seate and making an Oration vnto the people The Angel of the Lord smote him he was eaten of wormes Acts 12 23. Iudas the child of perdition and betrayer of the Son of God despaired Hung himselfe burst in the middest and his Bowels gushed out Acts 1 18. for whom it had bin good if he had neuer bene borne What shold I say more If we remember the late dayes of persecution wherin the patience of the Saints was tried by bloody executions tortures murthers massacres hanging beheading burning and imprisonment wee may obserue that the heauy hand of God was one way or other against those bloody Inquisitors and cruell persecutors that had imbrued and defiled their hands with their blood that they dyed not the ordinary and common death of all See Acts and Monuments in the end nor were visited after the visitation of all men Some died fodainly falling downe on the ground that they neuer stirred as Ananias and Sapphira some had their bowels and inward parts fall out and died the death of Iudas their elder brother some could not swallow and digest their meate but it came forth againe sometimes at their mouth and sometimes at their nosthrils most horribly to behold Some were striken in the one halfe of their body that they lay benummed halfe aliue and halfe dead to the great terror and astonishment of all that were present and did looke vpon them Some brake their Neckes others became
is added vnto it is the ioy of the seuerall parts and the multiplying of many members is matter of great reioycing to the whole body and cause of stirring of vs vp to the praise of God who quickeneth theÌ that are dead and maketh them to bee found that were lost In the naturall body found deformed or defectiue if sight were giuen to the blinde or hearing to the deafe or speech to the dumb if life or limb were restored where it was wanting ãâã 3 7 8. ãâã â 24. what great comfort would this bring what great reioycing would it worke So in the mysticall body of Christ when any part or when many parts are added as ornaments of the body and helping to accomplish the number of the elect let vs break foorth into ioy of heart and reioyce that wee haue part and fellowship in this company Thirdly let vs not measure the Church by Vse 3 our owne outward senses When Idolatry and open wickednesse when superstition cruell persecutions ouer-spread all as an vniuersall darknesse couering the earth let vs not suffer our selues to be deceiued nor iudge rashly of Gods people We thinke the Church oftentimes like to perish and to be rooted out of the earth but the foundation of God alwaies remaineth sure and hath this seale the Lord knoweth who are his Therefore the Apostle teacheth That the Lord hath not cast away his people Rom. 11 1 2 3 4 5. When Elias saw the Prophets of God killed and the Altars digged downe God said vnto him I haue reserued vnto my selfe seuen thousand men which haue not bowed their knee to Baal Euen so then at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace Wherefore let vs not iudge rashly of priuate persons whether they be in the number of the elect or not much lesse of whole Nations and kingdomes We say commonly he runneth farre that neuer returneth Paul was a persecuter of the Church 1 Tim 1 13 but Christ appearing vnto him made him a Preacher of the Gospel Manasseh was an Idolater a sorcerer and shedder of much innocent blood when hee sate in his Throne and kingdome but hee remembred God afterward in the dayes of his affliction 2 Chron. 33 12. Mary Magdalen who led a wicked life out of whom Christ cast seuen diuels Mark 16 9 had her sinnes forgiuen and loued him much of whom she had receiued so great mercy The theefe that all his life had runne astray Luc. 23.40 and hunted after the goods of other men was vpon the Crosse conuerted to the faith he abhoâred his former life confessed his sinnes craued pardon blamed his fellow and longed after the kingdome of God This the Apostle auoucheth concerning the Corinthians when he had taught That neither fornicaters nor idolaters nor adulterers nor wantons nor buggerers nor theeues nor couetous nor drunkards nor raylers nor extortioners shall inherite the kingdome of God he addeth Such were some of you but yee are washed but yee are sanctified but ye are iustified in the Name of the Lord Iesus by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6 9 10. So theÌ we must iudge nothing before the time vntill the Lord come who shall lighten things that are hidde in darknesse and make the counselles of the heart manifest 1 Cor. 4 5. and then shall euery man haue praise of GOD. And let vs not be daunted and dismayed at the great number of the wicked of Atheists Libertines Epicures Idolaters Hypocrites Scorners Blasphemers seeing there is an vniuersality of the elect and faithfull though few appeare to our senses as did to the eyes of Eliah who in heart soule ioyne with vs of whose prayers we are partakers Lastly seeing there are many elected vnto Vse 4 life and saluation let vs vse all meanes to draw others to faith in Christ and repentance from dead works Let vs exhort one another while it is called to day lest any be hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sinne Heb 3 13. Let vs prouoke to good workes and so much the more seeing the day of the Lord draweth neere Heb. 10 25. For what knowest thou O man whether thou shalt win thy brother The husbandman planteth and watereth 1 Cor. 3 7 he tilleth soweth and when he hath done he committeth the successe to God looking with patience for early and latter rayne So must all the Ministers of God which are his laborers preach in season and out of season diuide the word of truth aright and take all occasions to win soules to God And this is that vse which the Lord himselfe teacheth and prescribeth Acts 18 9 10. Feare not but speake and hold not thy peace For I am with thee and no man shall lay hands on thee for I haue much people in this City Where wee see that howsoeuer Paul found much opposition against him at Corinth some resisting and others blaspheming himselfe ready to depart yet the Lord appeareth vnto him and encourageth him to continue his labours with promise of a plentifull haruest a rich recompence of reward that hee should not labour in vaine but be the Minister of life vnto many This is the greatest comfort to the Ministers of God to turne many to righteousnesse This shall be our Crowne and glory in the great day of account when the cheefe Shepheard of the sheepe shall appeare Therefore the Apostle chargeth the man of God to be of a patient spirit gentle towards all men 2 Tim. 2 24 25. suffering the euill instructing them with meekenesse that are contrary minded prouing if God at any time will giue them repentance that they may acknowledge the truth and come to amendment out of the snare of the diuel of whom they are taken prisoners to do his will To conclude let vs remember the saying of the Apostles Iames chap. 5 19 20. Brethren if any of you haue erred from the truth and some man haue conuerted him let him know that he which hath conuerted the sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sins Where the Apostle teacheth that so manie of vs as haue receyued any gifts at the handes of God it is our duty not onely to vse them to our owne comfort but to labour diligently to profit others that so we may gaine glorie and winne soules to God by furthering the saluation of our brethren It followeth in the Text. Let mee dye the death of the righteous In these wordes is contained the second part of the conclusion of this first prophesie which is Balaams demand and desire that after the end of this temporall and mortall life hee may rest with the Saints and obtaine the blessed estate reserued for them This had bene a good and godly prayer if it had not proceeded from an euill heart and beene stained with a wicked life This desire of his was not constant and followed vnto the end but
saluation with fear and trembling seeing the day of account commeth and seeing we must all appeare before the iudgement seat of Christ to receyue the things which are done in this body whether they be good or euill so soone as the some body are separated Let vs remember our Creator in the daies of our youth Eccl. 12 1. Let our conuersation while we liue vpon the Earth be lifted vp to the heauens Let vs mortifie the lusts of the flesh and not walke in the wayes of our owne hearts assuring our selues that for al such things God will bring vs to iudgement Therefore the Apostle Peter speaking of the dissolution of the world the passing away of the heauens the melting of the elements the burning of the earth and the destruction of the vngodly draweth from these words this exhortation Seeing therefore all these things must be dissolued what manner of persons ought ye to bee in holy conuersation and godlines looking for and hasting vnto the comming of that day of God 2. Pet. 3 11 12. Let vs set this day before our eyes whatsoeuer we do and then we shall not sinne for euer Let vs arraign our selues at his bar and thereby prouoke one another and be prouoked our selues to our duties For if wee would iudge our selues wee should not be iudged of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. Let vs be carefull to lay a good foundation of saluation and neuer giue ouer vntill wee haue Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith and receiue the spirit of adoption to cry in our hearts Abba Father For if wee depart out of this life without faith in Christ and without hope of saluation it had beene better for vs that we had neuer beene borne Matth. 26 24. as Christ speaketh of Iudas the son of perdition For what will it profit vs to winne the whole world then lose our own soules To liue in pleasure to haue all that our hart can wish or desire for a season and afterward to be tormeneed in hell fire for euer Vse 5 Fiftly this is a great and exceeding comfort to the childreÌ of God to know that after this short this weak this feeble this fraile life our soules shall returne to the Lord and be lifted vp to the kingdom of heauen Let vs therfore prepare our selues for death that we may bee fit vessels for eternall lâfe and commend our soules into the haÌds of God at our departure This was it which the Apostle practised Phil. 1 23. 2 Cor. 4 18 5 1.2 The greatest afflictions that can befall vs heere are nothing in respect of the blessed reward of immortality as the same Apostle teacheth Rom. 8 18. I count that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shal be shewed to vs. Let vs not feare the enemies of the Church they may separate the soul from the body but they can neuer separate the soule from God They may kill the body but they cannot kill the soule They may take from vs a little momentany pleasure of this life but they cannot keepe vs from the presence of God at whose right hand are pleasures for euermore This is that which Christ teacheth his Disciples Mat. 10 28. Nay they haue no power ouer the body further then God permitteth them as Christ answered to Pilate glorying in his authority saying Knowest thou not that I haue power to crucifie thee and to loose thee Thou couldest haue no power at all against me except it were giuen thee from aboue therefore he that deliuered me vnto thee hath the greater sin So then let vs not feare their feare whose power is limited is limited restrained death with one stroke shall set vs at liberty and free vs from the yoke of all oppression to our vnspeakable and endlesse comfort Contrariwise this is a dolefull and woful doctrine to the wicked and vngodly who liue here after their owne lusts follow their pleasures delighting in vanity and forgetting God to consider the perpetuity immortality of their souls and that they must giue a streight account of all their wayes and workes This must needs be a doctrine of fear and terror vnto them able to break their stony hearts and astonish their inward senses and dash them vpon the rockes of hopelesse and helplesse desperation What can be more heauy newes to a seruant that hath wasted consumed his masters mony with riotous liuing then to heare of a day of reckoning account to be giuen of his Stewardship So is it with all the vngodly they feare nothing more then their appearing before the heauenly Iudge to be tryed according to their workes Oh it were well with them if their soules were mortall that they might sleepe in the dust and lye in the graue for euer to bee buried with their bodies neuer to bee raised againe Oh their case were happy and thrice happy shold they be if they might neuer come to iudgement or had beene borne as toades and serpents or wormes of the earth that liuing their life they might also dye their death But it shall not be so with them their case shall not be so well the end of this life bringeth them into eternal torments and when they haue tasted the first death the second death shall take holde on them Then they shall pronounce a thousand woes against themselues then they shal wish they had neuer bene borne Then they shall weepe and houle without recouery then they shall gnash with their teeth and gnaw their tongues for anger Mat. 22 12. Reuel 6 Luke 23 TheÌ they shal desire the mountaines to fall vpon them and the hils to couer them from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of âhe Lamb c. For as they are happy that die in the Lord beeing ioyned to him and freed from all sorrowes so they are wretched and a thousand times miserable that depart hence out of Gods fauour haue the sinnes of their youth and age accompanying them to whom he will say Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angels Matth. 25 41. We see how the consideration of the Sessions or Assises striketh a terror into the heart and conscience of the guilty malefactor how much more then shall the solemne day of the Lords last iudgement amaze affright and astonish the Reprobate who haue drawne sinne vnto them as with Cart-ropes and haue cloathed themselues with shame as with a Robe This wil be a day of blackenesse and of darkenesse a day of clouds and obscuritie a day of horrour and confusion vnto them that dwell vpon the face of the earth when God shall come to iudge without respect of persons For what rest or comfort can the malefactor take when he is alwayes in expectation of the comming approach of the Iudge Whereas the godly haue peace of conscience and shall lift vp their heads
and the heart to feele the horror thereof together with the heauinesse of his wrath indignation for the same This made Cain to speake desperately My punishment is greater then I can beare Gen. 4 13. This made Iudas to do desperately when he wrought his owne destruction and hanged himselfe Mat. 27.5 This made Dauid to say If thou Lord streightly markest iniquities who is he that shal be able to endure thy iudgement They then are grossely deceyued and most vnhappy who thinke happinesse to consist in committing of sinnes with all greedinesse These are in the number of those fooles howsoeuer worldly wise that make a mocke of sinne Prou. 14 9 12 13. There is a way that seemeth right to a man but the issues thereof are the wayes of death euen in laughing the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heauines The world hath alwayes bene full of such fooles but if they depart hence without the feeling of Gods fauor in the forgiuenesse of their offences it had beene good for them that they had bene bruite beasts or that they had neuer bene borne as it is sayd of Iudas Math. 26 24. No vncleane thing shall enter into the kingdome of heauen Such as haue not their sins pardoned haue no part in Christ Out of Christ there is no saluation nor vnto such any imputation of his righteousnes Sinne shutteth vp the way that leadeth vnto life it separateth vs from God and his Kingdome it maketh vs the children of the diuell God displeased with vs for they that are in the flesh cannot please God Thirdly we see some are happy in this life Vse 3 and attaine to the certainty of their saluation The saluation of the Church standeth in the remission of their sinnes Luke 1 â7 We doe not then begin to be happy when at the end of our dayes we enter into the kingdom of heauen but while we are vpon the earth we lay the foundation of our happines and set the first stones of it or else we neuer attaine vnto it We are all in this life builders 1 Cor. 3 9. We haue a great and waighty work to set vp it requireth a long time and great labour to bring it to passe and perfection Euery day of our life shold adde somwhat to the building this day should make it in greater forwardnesse then the former Let vs diligently consider these things and seriously examine our selues what wee haue done for the furthering of our saluation whether wee haue alreadie made an happy entrance into it So soone as we begin and the first stone is laid the doore of the kingdome of heauen is opened vnto vs. The further we proceed the neerer wee come to the marke This our Sauiour preached to his hearers Iohn 5 24. Verily verily I say vnto you he that heareth my word beleeueth him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into condemnatioÌ but hath passed from death to life When Zacheus was conuerted to the faith and testified the sincerity of his repentance by actuall restitution he saide This day is saluation come vnto this house forasmuch as he is also become the sonne of Abraham Luke 19 9. So the Apostle speaketh Rom. 13 11 Considering the season it is now time that we should arise from sleepe for now is our saluation nerer then when we beleeued it And in that holy Praier of Christ recorded by the Euangelist Iohn hee saith This is eternall life to know thee to be the only very God whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ Iohn 17 3. This is the great mercy of God to giue vs here a taste of the glory to come We haue heere as it were the first fruits of eternal life and by hope possesse that which we shall really inherit so wee may truly say with the Apostle 2 Tim. 1 12 I know whom I haue beleeued and I am perswaded that he is able to keepe that which I haue committed to him against that day Heereby we see that it is not a doctrine of pride and presumption as the Church of Rome teacheth to beleeue the remission of our owne sinnes For generally to beleeue that God forgiueth sinne or that some men haue their sinnes forgiuen is no priuiledge of the Church but the common faith of the diuels Iam. 2 19. All the Articles contain the confession of a speciall faith and a particular application to our selues As I must beleeue God the Father to be my Creator the Son my Redeemer the holy Ghost to be my Sanctifier so I am bouÌd to beleeue the remission of mine owne sinnes the resurrection of mine owne body and that life euerlasting shall be giuen to me Thus the Apostle speaketh Gal. 2 20 I liue by the faith of the Son of God who loued me and gaue himselfe for me This special faith must be the faith of vs all Vse 4 Lastly from hence we are put in minde of sundry good duties necessary to bee practised of vs. First seeing euery true member of the Church hath the forgiuenes of his sins giuen assured vnto him it is our duty to acknowledge our selues to bee greeuous sinners to haue godly sorrow for them which may cause repentance not to be repented of and to seek pardon by dayly prayer for the forgiuenes of them at the hands of God ââg 8 46. Hee resisteth the proud and giueth grace to the humble He filleth the hungry with good things and sendeth the rich empty away He is ready to forgiue and to haue compassion on his children he is slow to anger and of great kindnes Hee doth not deale with vs after our sinnes nor reward vs according to our iniquities Hence it is that the Apostles haue taught and the godly haue acknowledged themselues greeuous sinners yea euen the most regenerate as Dauid Daniel Paul and others Seeing therefore we haue a promise of forgiuenes as it were a priuiledge aboue others of the world it behooueth vs to haue in vs an humble acknowledgement of our sinfull estate ioyned with godly sorrow and earnest prayer for the forgiuenes of them Secondly it is required of vs to haue a reuerent care and feare not to offend him any more as heeretofore wee haue prouoked him yea a most earnest studie and desire to please him better theÌ we haue done This the Prophet teacheth Psal 103 3 4. If thou O Lord streightly markest iniquities O Lord who shall stand But mercy is with thee that thou maist be feared This was the instruction that Christ gaue vnto the diseased man whom he had healed when hee found him in the Temple hee saide vnto him Behold thou art made whole sinne no more lest a worse thing come vnto thee Ioh. 5 14. Thus the Apostle Paul describeth true repentance by the fruites and effects of it 2 Cor. 7 11. Behold this thing that ye haue bene godly sorry what great care it hath wrought in you yea what clearing of your selues yea
therefore to be esteemed aboue al the glory riches pleasures and profits of this world This made the Prophet Dauid say Many say Lord who will shew vs any good But Lord lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs thou hast giuen me more ioy of heart then they haue had when their wheat and their wine did abound Psal 4 6 7. Hereunto accordeth the Apostle Phil. 3 20. So then they are conuinced condemned to be prophane beasts possessed with the euill spirit of Esau that will not keepe the Lords Sabbaths nor attend vpon his worship but make that day a time of toyle and trauaile about their worldly businesse and a day to be spent in dancing and dallying in surfetting and drunkennesse in gaming ydlenes thereby making that which is the Lords day by his institution to be to theÌ the diuels day by their prophanation The Gospel and al things of a better life are lightly regarded of all such as are giueÌ to their profits and pleasures and delight to pamper vp the flesh No Religion could enter into the rich glutton that was clad in purple and fared deliciously euery day Luk. 16 19. The rich man whose ground brought foorth fruites plentiously whose tongue promised to him perpetuity and whose heart bred in him security neuer thought what should become of his soule neuer dreamed of sodaine death neuer minded his owne saluation and therfore God saide vnto him O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast prouided Luk 12 16. The Apostle Peter maketh it a speciall marke of the prophane beasts in that time 2 Pet. 2 13. that they accounted it their chiefe pleasure to liue deliciously for a season And the Apostle Iude speaking of the like liuers saieth Iude 11. they were feast-hunters filling pampering themselues Of this sort are all drunkards gluttons epicures and belly-gods speake vnto them to embrace the truth to minde heauenly things to consider wherefore they were created and to remember the shortnesse of their life they cannot heare the belly hath no eares They are ready to answer with carnall minded men what will the Gospel aduantage me Why should I be a professor and become a by word of the world What good cometh to a man by hearing the word by reading the Scriptures or by being the childe of God It can get me neyther many in my purse nor cloaths to my backe nor food to my belly nor any other pleasure to my heart I had rather haue the company of good fellowes and a draught of wine or strong drink then to heare the best Sermon that can be preached And heere consider with mee prophane Esau once againe When Iacob demanded of him the sale of his birth-right the said Loe I am almost dead what is then this birthright to me Gen. 25 31. Thus the Atheists speake in the booke of Iob chap. 21 15. Who is the Almighty that we should serue him and what profit should wee haue if we should pray vnto him Such prophane Esaues there be many in the world monsters among the sons of men proud gyants that are at opeÌ defiance with God that regard the cup and kan the pot and good fellowship before heauen and heauenly things that prize the most precious pearles of God most basely like Iudas the son of perditioÌ that valued Christ at thirty pence so these sell euerlasting life and giue heauen depart froÌ saluation some for their whore some for their drinke some for their money and other for other base and beastly pleasures all these shall one day know the price of their folly and confesse with their owne mouthes that they were worse then fooles and mad meÌ that euery one is ready to point at with the finger Euery one is ready to sit in iudgement vpon Esau to condemne the prophanenes of his hart because hee regarded more the satsfying of his present lust and moment any pleasure then to be the successor of his father in the Church of God yet of this number there bee infinite thousands in the world that prize the precious treasure of Gods heauenly graces the vse of the Sacraments the frame of Christian Religion the glorious ministery of the Word the hope of a better life and the endlesse ioy of Gods kingdom things more of value then the whole world beside as brutishly basely as euer Esau did his birthright are ready to sell them for euery filthy gaine drudgery pleasure They thinke of no other life then this present and know no other God but Mammon and therefore howsoeuer they haue oftentimes the praise of the world and the commendation to be ciuill honest men they are not onely enemies vnto their soules but to the crosse of Christ ãâã 3 18. and are in the fearfull estate of condemnation Verse 14. Come I will counsell thee such things as this people shall do to thy people in the latter dayes Heere we haue set downe vnto vs the cheefe occasion of that great iudgement which fell vpon the people wherein foure twenty thousand perished as appeareth in the chapt following namely the diuellish counsell of Balaam which hee gaue vnto Balak to draw the people into fornication But it may seeme at the first sight that Balaam speaketh very vnproperly For whereas he sayth I will counsell thee such things as this people shall doe to thy people some may suppose he should rather haue sayde I will counsell thee such things as thou and thy people shall do to the people of Israel Notwithstanding if wee consider the words aright we shall see his meaning to bee so in effect So then if we marke what the people of God should do to them wee shall finde what they shall do to the people of God The Israelites as we see in the seuenteenth Verse Shall smite the coasts of Moab and destroy them subdue them and bring them vnder so was the drift of his counsell to lay a plot and prepare a snare whereby the Israelites shold be weakned and many thousands of them destroyed by the hand of God As if hee should say I know this people whom thou hatest shall waste and weaken thy posterity in time to come but hearken vnto mee and obey my counsell I will shew thee how thou shalt ruine them and compasse theyr destruction and so do vnto them that which they shall do vnto thy people Thus we see the wickednes of Balaams heart to bee exceeding great who when he was restrained from cursing opened his mouth to wicked counsell thereby the children of Israel fell into horrible sinnes and drew vpon themselues heauy punishments âctrine ãâã an horriâ ãâã to giue ãâã counsell Hereby we learne That to giue euill counsell is a greeuous sinne It is not enough for vs to abstaine from doing euill but wee must beware of this great sinne that we do not counsell any to
the wicked into sheards like a potters vessel Psal 2 9. We see how men admire the proud and haughty of the world and esteeme the vngodly as the great Magnificoes that may not be contemned or controlled the poorest and meanest Saint of God shal in time to come be their Iudge sit with Christ vpon the bench in glory when they shall stand as their vassals at the barre and bee iudged as most wretched caitiffes and malefactors and receiue their wages according to their works Then they shal say with horror of conscience We fooles thought their life madnes their end without honor but now they are counted among the children of God and haue theyr portion among his Saints Hence it is that the Apostle reprooueth the Corinthians that abased and abused their dignity that did bring their causes to be tryed and iudged before the wicked Do ye not know that the Saints shal iudge the world If then the world shall be iudged by you are ye vnworthy to iudge the smallest matters c 1 Cor. 6. verses 2 3. This is a great honour vouchsafed to the faithfull no earthly honor can be compared vnto it all temporall glorie hath not so much as a shew or shadow of it On the other side great shall be the dishonor and disgrace the shame and contempt that shall be poured out vpon the vngodly Dan. 12 2. They haue heere the riches of the world the pleasures of this life the praise of men they are feared of some and flattered of others but when this glory shall passe away as the wind and flye as an arrow that is shotte at a marke then they shall be arraigned as euill doeâs and euery seruant of God shall treade them vnder their feete Then they shall be separated from the presence of God Then they shall see all the godly whom they haue scorned and derided receyued into the kingdome of heauen and themselues shut out of the doores Then they shall haue the continuall fellowship of the diuell and of his angels in hell fire where shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Vse 2 Secondly we must all be carefull to walke worthy of so great a calling We must bee as spirituall Kings to rule and beare sway ouer our thoughts wils and affections ouermastering them as much as may be proclaiming continuall warre against our corrupt natures against the diuell and against the world And verily he that can beare rule ouer his owne heart is a true king indeede and shall surely reigne for euermore with Christ in the life to come Reuelat. 1 6. He that hath beaten downe the kingdome of sinne and sathan and receyued some measure of grace to reign ouer himselfe hath performed a greater and more glorious work then he that hath subdued a kingdome For all these enemies of our saluation be horrible hideous monsters and fearfull Serpents Their sting is deadly their poyson is mortall It is an hard labour to pull out their sting and take away their poison from them But they which are caried away with the swinge of their corruptions as with a violent streame hauing blindnes ignorance to reign in their minds rebellion in their wils and loosenesse in their whole life are not spirituall kings but base slaues and bondmen The strong man sathan keepeth the hold of theyr hearts Luke 11 21. and as Lord and King setteth vp his scepter there Wherefore my brethren in respect of this our high calling wee must make conscience of euery sinne We heard before that we are made the iudges of the world It is a shame for a Iudge to be a Theefe that sitteth in iudgement to condemne a theefe so is it a shame for vs to be giuen to wickednesse that must iudge the wicked world when the iust shall appeare A Iudge must take heede of those sinnes in himselfe which he must condemne in others lest it be sayd vnto him Thou which teachest another teachest thou not thy selfe Rom. 2 21 22. This is that vse which the Apostle maketh to the Thessalonians chap. 1 10 11 after he had shewed that at the comming of the Lord Iesus in might and maiesty he would bee glorious in his Saints made maruellous in them that beleeue hee intreateth that God would make them to walke worthy of their calling And surely if we haue any the least sparke of grace or any feeling of our naturall condition when we were the children of wrath and the fire-brands of hell it could not but work in vs a maruellous loue vnto God a desire to please him and a delight to bring foorth the fruites of righteousnes Thirdly our victory in Christ offereth comfort Vse 3 vnto vs in all troubles tentations pouerty and in death it selfe We are to arme our selues with this power of Christ agaynst all terrors and feares that seeke to dismay vs. We are in Christ appoynted Kings and Iudges ouer those that trouble vs conquerours ouer sathan and death Our feare then is already past let vs lift vp our heads and bee of good comfort This is that which the Apostle is bold to put vs in mind of 1 Cor. 15 56 57. O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victory Now thankes be vnto God who hath giuen vs the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ We shall not neede to feare the day of iudgement for then our redemption draweth nere We shall not neede to be affrayd of the comming of the Iudge for he shal be our Sauiour Howsoeuer therefore we seeme base vnto the world and of vile account in the eyes of carnall men whose portion is in this life yet wee are indeed aduanced into the highest honour about him receyuing by our communion and fellowshippe with him a communication of his kingly power and glory to subdue vnder vs the diuell and his angels For if wee fight with him and vnder his banner wee cannot lose the field but shall bee assured to reigne with him They then are deceyued that think them the scum and off-scouring of the world This should also perswade all carelesse and backward persons to embrace true Religion and giue it the cheefe seat in theyr hearts forasmuch as it maketh them of the vesselles of wrath and vassals of sathan glorious Kings and triumphant Conquerors ouer the powers of darknes Furthermore it should encourage the Ministers of the Gospel and make them glad to labour in preaching the Word and in winning soules vnto God being set apart by Gods mercies to consecrate men Kings and Priests vnto him which is a great priuiledge For they haue mighty weapons giuen them by their captaine Christ to wit the power of his Spirit and the vigor of his mighty word which causeth them to preuayle Therefore the Lord sayth by his Prophet Hosea chap. 6 5. I haue cut downe this people by the Prophets slaine them by the words of my mouth And the Apostle teacheth 2 Cor. 10 5 6 That the weapons
thing for a man to climbe aloft and not consider that the higher he climbeth the greater is his fall to couet the fruite not consider the height of the tree whereon it groweth wee must take heede least while wee labour to attaine vnto the top we fall downe with the boughes that we doe embrace All things are here turned and tossed with vncertainties and nothing continueth in one stay or state There is nothing so sure that is not in danger of his inferiour The Lyon hath beene sometimes the food of small beasts and the rust doth consume the iron Let vs therefore like and looke after better things that doe continue earthly things although we haue them in greatest abundance cannot saue vs in the day of danger let vs not trust in them whose helpe is in vaine Verse 25. Then Balaam rose vp and went and returned to his place Heere is briefly the conclusion set downe as the euent and issue of all the deuices and purposes of Balak and Balaam they rose vp and went their way without doing any thing that they intended And first touching Balaam we haue often noted that the marke which hee aymed at was his wages yet see heere how coueting an euill couetousnes and thirsting after money which he made his god he is deceiued loseth his wages yea and his life too at length as appeareth afterward in this Booke Num 31 8. Doctrine Such as couet after an euill couetousnes are oftentimes deceiued Heereby we learne for our instruction that they which gape after vnlawfull gaine and the deceitful wages of wickednesse are oftentimes deceiued of that which they looke for and finde contrary to their expectation losse instead of gaine and hinderance in stead of aduantage This is confirmed vnto vs by sundry examples in the word of God Looke vppon the example of Achan recorded in the booke of Ioshua he thought to enrich himselfe by the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment which he had purloyned contrary to the commandment of God who would haue all those destroyed not conuerted to the priuate profit of any but it fell out to his owne destruction and the destruction of those that belonged vnto him Iosh 7 25 The like iudgment came vpon Gehazi he turned after Naaman and tooke of him a bribe to enrich himselfe but the leprosie of Naaman did cleaue vnto him so that his losse was greater then his gaines 2. King 5.27 Ahab rose vp and tooke possession of Naboths vineyard which lay commodiously for him but withall hee purchased the wrath of God the destruction of his person the ruine of his house the losse of his kingdome the vndooing of all his posterity 1. King 21 16. Iudas betrayed his Master Mat. 26 27 and sold him for thirty pence he was carried after his couetousnesse and shed innocent blood euen the blood of the immaculate Lambe of GOD but how he was enriched hereby the Euangelist declareth when he saw that Christ was condemned he repented himselfe and brought againe the thirty peeces of siluer to the high-Priests and Elders saying I haue sinned betraying the innocent blood Hereunto accordeth Salomon in his Prouerbs who saith Hee that is greedy of gaine troubleth his owne house but hee that hateth gifts shall liue Prou. 15 16. Where he teacheth that such as increase their riches by hooke and by crooke they care not how or gaine by wrongfull meanes are the causes and occasions of many euils in their estate and family This appeareth also by that which was spoken to the rich man in the Gospel Luke 12.20 Thou foole this night shall they take away thy soule from thee and then whose shall all these be that thou hast gathered together All which places of Scripture serue directly to prooue that such as are giuen to vnlawfull gaine and get the goods of this life wrongfully are oftentimes deceiued of their hope and expectation which made the Apostle Iude speaking of the matter that now wee haue in hand to call the hire that Balaam sought after The deceitfull wages of Balaam Iude 11. Reason 1 The reasons may easily be discerned of vs if we consider that GOD would haue his wisedome and iustice to appeare in crossing their carking and caring for these transitory things This wee see in all the examples before alledged of Achan Iudas of Gehazi Ahab and of the rich man For God knoweth to deliuer the godly out of tentation and to reserue the vniust vnto the day of iudgment vnder punishment 2. Pet. 2.9 How can it bee therefore that such as fill their houses with the riches of iniquity and with the spoyles of the righteous should prosper and bring a blessing with them when as God which is the God of all righteousnesse and trueth shall set himselfe against them root out the things which they haue wrongfully gotten Reason 2 Secondly euery sinne is deceitfull and profiteth nothing whatsoeuer shew of profit and commodity it make This is set forth vnto vs in the booke of Iob I haue seene the foolish well rooted and suddainly I cursed his habitation his children shall be farre from saluation and they shall be destroyed in the gate and none shall deliuer them Iob 5 3 4. All sinne to the naturall man is sweet and pleasant he findeth it sweet to his taste but it is as sweet meate that hath poyson mingled and tempered with it Iob 20 12 13. And as poyson though it be sweet in the mouth bringeth death and destruction with it when it entreth into the body so it is with sinne it delighteth in the committing but it biteth at the latter ending for God turneth it to destruction Therfore the Apostle saith we should take heed wee be not seduced and deceiued through the deceitfulnesse of sinne Vse 1 The vses are to be thought vpon that wee may apply the doctrine to our selues First we see heere the common Prouerbe truely verified that couetousnes bringeth nothing home So may it be said of all other sinnes of prophanenesse of contempt of the word of abusing the Name of God and his Sabboths of vncleannesse of whoredome of drunkennesse and of all sinfull pleasures whatsoeuer which naturall men make their happinesse and felicity they may delight for a time and please the carnall desires of naturall men but they bring an heauy account and reckning in the end So then we may say to all the men of this world whose portion is in this life as Abner said in one case Knowest thou not that it will be bitternes in the latter end 2. Sam. 2 26. We heard how Naboths vineyard was an eyesore to Ahab and made him enter into vngodly courses and bloody practices he destroyed Naboth and his children hee seemed to haue made his title strong secured his estate but what broght it in the end the vtter ruine of his whole house Euery man can say readily when a man groweth prodigall and spendeth excessiuely and holdeth a right course and
them stedfastly in the faith We shall be fitted to beare out this triall if we be carefull to vnderstand the acceptable will of God and if we be able to weild the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Our Sauiour teacheth his Disciples to beware of false Teachers which come in sheepes cloathing but inwardly are rauening Wolues Mat. 7 15. This is the vse which the Apostle Iude maketh chap. 4 where making mention that seducers were entered secretly and subtilly among them hee mooued them to striue and contend for the common faith taught by his ministry If we wold know how this shold be let vs haue our faith stablisht in the grace of God and our hearts setled in the truth Faith is a precious Iewell the Iewell of Iewels it must then be kept well and warily If a man haue a pearle of great price committed vnto him he will not let it lye about commonly and carelesly for euery one to pilfer purloyne but keepe it vnder lock key that it may be preserued safe and sure True Religion builded vpon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles is such a Pearle it must be kept with watch and ward or else it will bee stolne and taken from vs. It is such a Iewel as when a man hath found it he will sell all that he hath to keepe and retaine it The people beganne to commit whoredome with the daughters of Moab We haue heard before the author of that stumbling-blocke which was laid before the feet of the people of God to cause them to fall to wit Balaam from him the counsell came by him the net was made and by Balak it was spred to intrappe them Now we see what they committed wherein they offended So soone as the plot is deuised and the counsell followed by and by the Israelites are taken in the snare They banquet with the Moabites in the idoll feasts so fall into fornication These are tentations on the right hand delights to the flesh and enticements to pleasures Doctrinâ Tentatioâ by pleasuââ are most ââgerous The Doctrine arising from hence is this That tentations from pleasures delights are of all other most dangerous more effectuall to preuaile ouer vs then such tentations as stand on the left hand to witte crosses aduersities Indeed we are assailed on euery side on the left hand by pouerty shame contempt persecutions and such like which cause many to hang down their heads to cast away their confidence to renounce their faith to depart out of the field without striking a stroke but such as present themselues at our right haÌd as riches power honor glory preferment profit pleasure which dazle the eyes and entangle the hart with the delights therof these are most cunning Engines and instruments vsed or rather abused by Sathan to our destruction This was the last tentation as most auaileable in it selfe that the diuel vsed against our Sauiour Christ Mat. 4 8. shewing and offering vnto him the kingdomes of the world the glory thereof Faire promises of high preferment preuailed with Eue to eate of the forbidden fruite Genesis He gaue Dauid the foile by vncleannesse and Noah by drunkennesse Salomon by idolatry and Hezekiah by prosperity when he could not shake them by crosses and persecutions Gold and siluer haue opened the gates of the Citty when the force of the Cannon shot could not This is that which the Prophet Dauid meaneth when he saith I saide in my prosperity I shall not be remoued Psal 30 6. The Church of God was neuer so ouertaken with aduersity as with abundance and prosperity more are brought to condemnation by riches pleasures and worldly lusts then by pouerty and persecution Reason 1 The Reasons to inforce this doctrine are diuers First prosperity puffeth vp not onely the wicked but also the godly and stealeth away the heart of man before he feele the danger and can thinke vpon that which will follow Pleasures make vs forget God and our selues both seducing worldlings and such as remember not God all their life long and ouertaking the faithfull which haue walked in the feare of God when they haue al things at will so as they haue not knowne themselues any more When Salomon was old his wiues by flattery turned away his heart 1 Kings 11 4. So did Dalilah the heart of Sampson iudg 14. 15 who was made so weak impotent by the look of a woman that he yeelded himselfe to her lure or lust most reproachfully brought himselfe into extreme bondage and slauery through her enticements Reason 2 Secondly carnall pleasures and riches are deceitfull they appeare otherwise then they are They are like to a baite that couereth a deadly hooke they are like the greene grasse in which lurketh and lyeth a Serpent ready to sting vs vnto death they are like some cunning Couering that hideth a deepe pit prepared to swallow vs. This is the reason vsed by the Apostle shewing That they which will bee rich fall into tentations and snares and into foolish and noysome lusts 1 Tim. 6 9 1. Salomon speaking of falling into whoredome sayeth Prou. 7 21. 5 2. The lips of a strange Woman drop as an hony combe and her mouth is softer then Oyle when as her end is as bitter as wormwood as sharpe as a two-edged sword her paths leade to the graue and her wayes tend to hell by this means she catcheth fooles and bringeth them to the stocks as an Oxe to the slaughter Vse 1 The vses follow to bee considered of vs. First let vs learne from hence to confesse that prosperity is a slippery estate and howsoeuer it bee much desired and admired yet it is full of great dangers and hedged in with diuers difficulties This is not knowne nor vnderstood of the men of this world True it is wheÌ God sendeth famine or warre or pestilence and infectious diseases all men can say Alas these are hard and heauy times terrible and troublesome seasons we are alwayes in danger of death But wee must remember that when we liue at ease and all of vs be at peace when God deliuereth vs from diseases wee must not be secure and fall asleep in such prosperity but consider that we are set in slippery places This the Apostle Paul teacheth 2 Tim. 3 1 where hee saith In the lâst daies shall come perillous times for men shall bee louers of themselues proude couetous boasters louers of pleasures more then louers of God hauing a shew of godlinesse but denying the power thereof Hee speaketh of rough and greeuous times yet he neither nameth nor meaneth plague pestilence famine sword or such like calamities but hee telleth of things more dangerous although we take our selues to be free and farre from all danger We account no times tedious and troublesome but when wee liue in feare of death or feele our bellies pinched or else are crossed in the things of this
youth Shall wee make a mocke of it and a may-game at it These prophane beasts haue filled vp the measure of their sinne and are set downe in the seate of the scorners God alloweth no more liberty in sinning to youth then he doth to age The wise man willeth such to remember their Creator in the daies of their youth Eccl. 12 1. 11. and telleth them that for all the lustes of their eyes the vanity of their mindes the swinge of their pleasures and the lewdnes of their harts God will bring them to iudgement The Apostle teacheth That whoremongers and adulterers shall not inherite the kingdome of God 1 Corinth chapter 6 verse 9. The wise Salomon saith He that committeth adultery with a woman destroyeth his owne soule Prou. 6 verses 22 33. and so is accessary to his owne death And in another place he saith He shall finde a wound and dishonour and his reproch shall neuer be put away and shall wee make a sport of it to delight our selues in it We are admonished by the Apostle Paul that our bodies are the Temples of the holy Ghost 1 Corinth 6 19. so that seeing God vouchsafeth vs this honor to choose our vile bodyes which are dust and ashes earth and rottennesse to make them Temples and Tabernacles for his holy Spirit to dwell in let vs not turne them into filthy stables and vncleane styes and so driue him from vs who would possesse vs as his mansion and dwelling place Heereby then we vnderstand that wee are not to iudge of whoredome after the common opinion of men which make but a sport and pastime of it as we see how scoffers iest at it and despisers of God make a game of it Such mockers were risen vp long agoe in the dayes of the Apostle of whom he exhorteth vs to beware For hauing said that no whoremonger neyther vncleane person hath any inheritance in the kingdome of God he addeth in the next place Let no man deceiue you with vaine words for for such things commeth the wrath of God vpon the children of disobedience Eph. 5.5 6. And this example of the people of Israel which now wee haue in hand in this Chapter is able to strike a terror and feare into our hearts for euer breaking out into this iniquity The life of man is precious and deare vnto God we are creatures created according to his image he taketh no pleasure in our destruction Now in that hee destroyed such a number of his owne Images and Creatures for this sinne must not this sinne of fornication be great greeuous which kindleth such a fire of his vengeance and indignation that flamed out so farre and could not bee quenched but with the slaughter of so many thousands Thirdly it behoueth euery one according Vse 3 to his place and calling to punish this sinne seuerely that so euill may be taken out of Israel But such as haue a light estimation of this sinne which is the cause of the encrease of it do obiect the example of Christ who hauing a woman brought before him Obiect that was sound committing adultery in the very acte would not condemne her nor pronounce sentence of death vpon her but said vnto her Goe and sinne no more Iohn 8 11. Heere our Sauiour seemeth to free her from the law of Moses Leuit. 20 10. I answere this is Popish Diuinity Answer taught in the dayes of darknesse which cannot beare the tryall of the light For this is to make it not onely a venial sinne but no sinne at all Christ forgaue her freely and denounced no punishment at all against her neither of limb nor life nor chasticement nor other mulct bee inflicted vpon her so that if it doe not proue that the Magistrates should not punish whoredome sharply it proueth as well that he ought not to punish it at all if it ought to receiue no correction we cannot acknowlenge it for any transgression Furthermore the Iewes beeing in subiection vnto the Romanes and constrayned to beare the yoke of forraigne gouernment had the ciuill punishments of death eyther wholly taken from them or at least suspended vpon the will and pleasure of their officers which were sildome vpright often corrupted This is it which the Pharisies confesse in the Gospell For when Pilate willed them to take Christ to iudge him after their owne Law although the malice of their hearts and the cruelty of theyr hands were against him yet they sayde vnto him It is not lawfull for vs to put any man to death Iohn 18 31. Lastly the office of Christ was not to be an earthly Iudge to giue sentence of death but to be a Sauiour to call sinners to repentance Hence it was that hee refused a temporall kingdome when it was offered vnto him Iohn 6 15. and denyed to diuide the inheritance when he was requested as wholly impertinent vnto his calling and therefore he said Man who made me a Iudge or a diuider ouer you Luke 12 14. So then this Obiection being remoued it belongs to all Magistrates to be zealous in punishing this sinne and to sharpen the law against this other sins that bud vp and grow apace among vs lest they ouerthrow good Corne. Yea it appertaineth not onely to Magistrates but generally to all men to bring such offenders to open shame that so they may come to amendment of life The Apostle speaking of vnclean liuers saith If any that is called a brother bee a fornicator or couetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such an one eate not 1 Cor. 5 5 11 and speaking of an incestuous person he chargeth the Corinthians to put him from among them and to deliuer him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may bee saued in the day of the Lord Iesus Such vncleane liuers should bee swept out of the Church of God and haue the sword of excommunication drawne out against them that so they might learne not to transgresse But so long as wee beare with such persons and foster them in the bosome of the Church as the practise is too common neyther are we their friends neyther are we the friends of the Church neyther indeed are we the friends of almighty God For if we were their friends and loued them aright we would seeke their conuersion and repentance wee would vse the meanes to bring them to a shame of their offences to a sight of their sinnes and vnto a confession of their iniquities And if we were the friends of the Church we would labour to separate the vncleane from the cleane and the infected from the sound knowing that a little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe And if we were the friends of God we would be zealous of his glory and not suffer his Name to be prophaned through the lewde and wicked life of such rotten members For so long as such are harboured in the Church which is the body of
brethren But they proceed by little and little from step to step and from one degree to another till they feare nothing and are ashamed of nothing Therefore in the example of one man heere set before our eies Moses declares to what impudency shamelesnesse they were come that they brought their harlots into the hoast to despite God to anger Moses to corrupt the people to pollute the worship that was set vp by the commandement of the Lord. For this man who is afterward named as if he had beene absolute in power as he was indeed resolute in will dissolute in his whole life brought his whorish woman in the sight of God in the sight of Moses in the sight of the congregation and in the sight of the Tabernacle to shew that he had filled vp the measure of his sinne Doctrine Euill men proceed by degrees from worse to worse The doctrine arising from hence is this that euill men doe not vsually make any stay in euill but proceede from degree to degree to worse worse The nature of sinne is to draw all such as delight in it and follow after it from one euill to another vntill in the end they become most corrupt and abhominable This is it which the Prophet Ieremy noteth in the people of his time when he sayth Were they ashamed when they committed abhomination Nay they were not ashamed no neither could they haue any shame therefore they shall fall among the slaine when I shall visit them they shall bee cast downe saith the Lord Ier. 6 15. The like we see in the 18. chap. following ver 11 12. Speake to the men of Iudah and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem saying Thus saith the Lord Behold I prepare a plague for you and purpose a thing against you returne you therefore euery one from his euill way and make your wayes your workes good But they said desperatly Surely we will walk after our own imaginations doe euery man after the stubburnes of his wicked hart The truth of this hath bin euideÌt in al ages of the Church When the Lord was determined to bring an vniuersall flood vpon the face of the earth for the sinnes of man and had giuen them a time of repentance while his patience endured Gen. 6.12 They ceased not from sin neither repented of their wickednesse saying what haue I done Math. 24 38. But euery one turned to their race as the horse rusheth into the battell For in the time that was limited theÌ their sin increased our Sauior shewing how they were giuen ouer vnto all loosenesse vntill the flood came and swept them all away This the Prophet Dauid noteth if hee were the penner of that Psalme where hee obserueth the degrees and stayres by which men ascend to the heighth and top of sinne first they beginne to walke in the counsell of the wicked then they proceed to stand in the way of sinners lastly they come to sit downe in the seat of the scornefull Psal 1.1 And this we may further obserue in the faylings of the faithfull and in their fallings into sinne No man becommeth extreamely euil at a sudden nor desperately setled and obstinatly resolued to continue in sin in a moment but as he that will climbe vp to the top of an high tower doth ascend step by step and by little litle so he that maketh no conscience of any sinne but walketh in all prophanenesse with greedinesse commeth to that height by degrees one sinne drawing on another the lesser making way for the greater and the greater obtayning passage for the greatest of all Wee see it in Euah when she fell from God first Gen 3 6. she listned vnto Satan secondly shee made a light resistance to his tentation thirdly shee beganne to doubt waueringly of that which God had deliuered absolutely fourthly shee grew in concupiscence the eye liking the heart lusting and both of them desiring the forbidden fruite lastly she fell to flat apostacy infidelity and rebellion This likewise is set before vs in the example of Peter who getting into the high-Priests hall and thrusting himselfe into euill company hath left vs a strong proofe of his owne weakenesse and of his declining from euill to worse First hee answereth faintly and fearefully that he knew not the man Math. 26 70. A dangerous beginning When hee was further vrged and pressed to answere and that he saw his bare and cold denyall would not be accepted hee thought to goe one step farther hee denyed with an oath that he neuer knew him Yea when they were importunate vpon him and would not suffer him to be in rest he began to curse himselfe and thereby to cast himselfe into the depth of sin into the gates of hel and into the hands of Satan The Reasons follow First sin groweth Reason 1 in the heart as the childe doth in the wombe For as the infant hath his increasings and augmentations from a small beginning vntill hee come to the birth proceeding from one degree and age vnto another as Iob setteth foorth our first creation Thou hast powred me out as milke and turned mee into cruds like cheese thou hast clothed me with skinne and flesh and ioyned me with bones and sinnewes Iob 10 10 11 so is it with a sinner his beginnings are small but the further hee runneth the longer he continueth and the deeper hee plungeth himselfe in sinne the more corrupt and abhominable he becommeth As a spring that ariseth out of the earth is first little and shallow but the further it groweth the more ground it floweth and the more streames come into it the greater the riuer is or as a fire which at the first is a little sparke being nourished becommeth in short time a great flame so is it with sin it is little in growth weake in strength slender in appearance at the beginning but being cherrished and fostered in the soule of the sinner it multiplyeth exceedingly and bringeth foorth many children of the same nature whereof we may truely say Like mother like daughter This is that comparison which the Apostle Iames vseth to expresse the fruitfull nature of all the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse Euery man is tempted when hee is drawne away by his owne concupiscence and is enticed then when lust hath conceiued it bringeth foorth sinne and when sinne is finished it bringeth foorth death Iam. 1 15. VVhere the Apostle sheweth that first a man is tempted to euill then concupiscence conueyeth it after it is in trauaile and bringeth foorth and lastly it doth finish it as a perfect birth This comparison is also vsed by the Prophet Dauid Behold he shall trauaile with wickednesse for he hath conceiued mischiefe but he shall bring forth a lie Psal 7 14. Reason 2 Secondly the wrath of God falleth vpon such as make no conscience to fall into lesser sinnes hee giueth them ouer to a reprobate sence to a slumbring spirit and to hardnesse of heart that
regard neither God nor men neyther heauen nor hell neyther saluation nor damnation This is indeede a dangerous estate and a feareful condition Vse 2 Secondly seeing euill men waxe worse worse we may conclude that their iudgment sleepeth not but is encreased as their sinne encreaseth yea it is not farre off but lyeth at the doores Euery sinne is in it owne nature a sin to death and a remouing from God the wages of it is death and prouoketh to an vtter consumption of vs Rom. 6 23 how then can we answere so many thousands if one bee so grieuous For if the Lord marke what is done amisse who shall be able to stand Thus the Apostle setteth downe their condition that were setled in wickednesse That their condemnation long since resteth not their destruction stuÌbreth not 2. Pet. 2 3. So then we may assure our selues that the iudgments of God follow at their heeles when men are come to the top and heighth of their sinnes Thus it was with the old world when their wayes were wholly corrupted then was the earth vniuersally drowned When the Sodomites became exceeding sinners against the Lord and their sinnes cryed to heauen the Lord rayned downe fire brimstone vpon them When Israel abounded in all sinne that there was no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land but that by swearing and lying by killing and stealing they brake out and blood touched blood the Lord denounceth by his Prophet That the land shall mourne and euery one that dwelleth therein shall he cut-off Hos 4 1 2. When the Amorites had filled vp the measure of their sins Gen. 15 14. they should be rooted out of the Land and the people of God come in their stead Where the Lord declareth that howsoeuer this people were exceeding sinners in the dayes of Abraham and deserued to be rooted out at the very first yet did he withhold his hand and waited for their repentance a long time vntill they were past recouery Do we then see any waxe worse and worse and encrease in sinne as they grow in age We may conclude that so soone as they are become ripe nay rotten in their sinnes the appointed time of God draweth on to destroy them For euen as men when their Corne is waxen ripe and the fields are white vnto the haruest doe thrust in their sickles Mark 4 29. and cut it downe so will the Lord deale with all the vngodly for when their sinnes are at the highest then his iudgements are at the neerest according as the Apostle Iohn sheweth that an Angell came out of the Temple crying with a loud voyce vnto him that sate on the Cloud Thrust in thy sickle and reape for the time is come to reape for the haruest of the earth is ripe Reuel 14 15. This is it which was declared in a vision vnto Amos where the Lord shewed vnto him a Basket of Summer fruite and saide Amos what seest thou who answered A Basket of Summer fruite Then the Lord saide vnto him The ende is come vpon my people of Israel I will passe by them no more Amos 8 1 2. Declaring thereby the ripenes of their sinnes and the readinesse of Gods iudgements to giue them their reward Wherefore whatsoeuer sinnes vngodly men commit the old are not forgotten and onely the new remembred but all both old and new do come together adde vnto the heape that the measure beeing full pressed downe shaken together and running ouer certaine destruction may fall vpon them Let vs not make a mocke of sinne or thinke that God hath forgotten it when wee haue forgotten it The iniquities that men commit one day are forgotten with them the next and such as are practised in their youth are past their knowledge before they come to age but we cannot hide them from the Almighty Who writeth bitter things against vs and maketh vs to possesse the iniquities of our youth Iob 14 26. Psal 25.7 Euery sin shall helpe somewhat to encrease the weight and make our account the greater in the day of account for as euery Corne of wheat helpeth to fill vp the bushell and to enlarge the heape so doth euery sinne that we commit helpe to bring our wickednesse to the full And as men keepe their bookes of reckonings and accounts which they wil bring forth when they are to reckon so the Lord to the end we may know that he seeth and remembreth our offences is saide after the manner of men to keepe a Register of the deeds of men and to write them vp in the same and euery sin serueth to fill vp the accounts Reuel 20 12. He noteth so many oathes as euery day come from our vncleane mouthes our drunkennesse at this time and that place and in that company our whoredomes vncleannesse and wantonnesse our contempt of his word our neglect of this sermon and that sermon on this Sabboth and on such a Sabboth so that wee shall finde when the day of reckoning commeth sins vpon sins and heaps vpon heapes vntill the measure runneth ouer and when wee must goe the way of all flesh they will stand before vs as an huge Sea whereof we can sound no bottome to swallow vs vp For if we must giue an account for euery idle word at the day of iudgment Mat. 12 36 how much more for our blasphemies and vncleane deeds which are without number Which should make vs cry out with the Prophet O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himselfe neither is it in man to walke to direct his steppes Lord correct me but with iudgment not in thine anger lest thou bring me to nothing Ier. 10 23 24. To conclude howsoeuer God spare long because hee is patient yet if wee grow worse and worse and abuse his patience and run into all ryot and excesse of sinne he will fill vp the viole of his iudgment and powre out his wrath vpon vs to the vtmost This serueth to answere the curiosity and to stop the mouthes of many men who seeing wicked men proceede in sinne and prosper in their wayes are offended and are ready to say Doeth not the Lord see this Or is there no righteousnesse in the Almighty Why doth the way of the wicked prosper and why are they in wealth that rebelliously transgresse Ier. 12 1. God suffereth wicked men a long time because their sinnes are not yet full the measure is not filled vp but waite a while and they shall not goe vnpunished Vse 3 Lastly seeing men giuing themselues ouer to sinne come at the last to bee frozen in the dregges of it it is our duty to resist the beginnings to preuent the breach and to stop the first course of it It is as a serpent that must be trod on in the egge it is as a birth that would be smothered in the conception Let vs take heed that sinne grow not into a custome and get an habit This is it which
hands of all those that haue suffered and fostered it in others by their negligence in gouerning and remisnesse in punishing Wee heard this before in Ahab 1 Kings chapter 20. verse 42 who letting Benhadad goe free life must goe for life he should answer for the other We see this euidently in the example of olde Eli who not controlling and correcting his children when they sinned greeuously against the Lord is himself directly charged to haue committed those sinnes 1 Samuel chapter 2 vers 29 to honour his children aboue the Lord to make himselfe far of the first of all the Offerings and is punished with suddaine death by breaking of his neck So likewise shall the sinnes of sinful men that liue vnder our roofe and shroud themselues vnder our protectioÌ be required at our hands if we vphold them in their euill or do not punish them for their euill according vnto the meanes that God hath giuen vs. Lastly seeing God is well pleased appeased when sinne is taken away as the cause of Vse 3 his displeasure let vs not carry til the Magistrate draw the sword out of his sheathe but euery one turne vnto God and enter into iudgment with our selues that the Lord may not enter into iudgement with vs. We must be carefull to gaine and get God to be our friend The way is to forsake our sinne and to walke with God as being euer in his presence Can two walke together except they be agreed Let vs then reconcile ourselues to God and hee will be reconciled vnto vs Let vs draw neere vnto him and he will draw neere vnto vs Iam. 4 8. This must be done of vs by cleansing our hands and by purging of our hearts Abraham the father of the faithfull beeing righteous by faith is called The friend of God Iam. 2 â3 This is it which our Sauiour teacheth Yee are my friends if ye do whatsoeuer I command you Iob. 13 14. If then we would be at peace with God and desire the friendshippe of the most High if we would haue him turne away his wrath and heauy displeasure from vs we must be carefull to auoid sinne seeing it bringeth the iudgements of God and putteth a sword into his hand to destroy vs. From hence as from the principall cause come all manner of punishments that God inflicteth war death famine the plague pestilence our sinnes are the fountaines of them all Therefore the Apostle in this respect willeth vs to try and examine our selues that we may finde out the true cause of our troubles when he saith For this cause many are weake and sicke among you and many sleepe for if wee would iudge our selues we should not be iudged 1 Cor. 11 31. So then the best course to preuent iudgements or to remoue them which are already brought vpon vs is by repentance The Lord hath many wayes visited vs for our sins somtimes by the raging of the pestilence sometimes by inundations ouerflowings of waters sometimes by dearth famine of bread all which are as sharpe arrowes which hee taketh out of his Quiuer and shooteth theÌ out of his Bow and we are not able to stand before them for who is able to stand before his fierce wrath Or who can abide the greatnesse of his power Nahum 1 6. The onely way left vnto vs to take is to seeke reconciliation with God and to turne vnto him by vnfeined repentance We must make conscience of all sin For so long as we flatter our selues in any one knowne sinne the wrath of God will neuer be appeased but he hath still some controuersie against vs. We must not therfore leaue one sin vnrepented of When Moses was to leade the people as a flocke of sheepe out of the Land of Egypt and Pharaoh permitted the fathers and the children to go serue the Lord in the wildernesse onely their sheepe and cattell should abide Moses answered Our Cattell also shall goe with vs there shall not an hoofe be left behind Exod. 10 26. So must our obedience be vnto God it must bee perfect and entire we must not repent to halfes we must not leaue one sinne behind but search the secret corners of our deceitfull hearts For when God shall search with lights to finde out our hidden sinnes he will visite the men that are frozen in their dregs and say in their hearts the Lord wil neither do good nor euill These neuer mourne for their sinnes and therefore God will make them mourne lying vnder his wrath If they will haue no feeling of their sin they shall haue a feeling of his punishments and of the burden of his iudgements Verse 9. And there died in that plague foure and twenty thousand In these words Moses setteth downe the number of all those that perished as well of the Princes as of the people How this agreeth with the Apostle that nameth onely three and twenty thousand wee haue already declared in the exposition of the words and answering of the Questions that arise out of the words We haue heard before that albeit Balak Balaam intended by their sorceries to curse the people of God yet they could by no meanes doe them hurt they were guarded by the protection of God as with a sure watch For God is the watchman of Israel that neyther slumbreth nor sleepeth Psal 121 4. But so soone as they forsook the liuing God and fell a whoring with the daughters of Moab and Midian by and by God departeth from them and his heauy iudgements breake in vpon them The force of sorcery could not hurt them but the strength of sinne doth weaken them and greatly diminisheth the number of them Heereby we learne Doctrine Sin depriââ vs of Gods protection that sinne depriueth vs of Gods protection and layeth vs naked and open to the fiercenesse of his wrath and to the fury of our enemies The sinnes wherewith the Church in general or any member in particular doe prouoke GOD bring downe iudgements of all sorts cause his wrath to be kindled and giue strength to the enemy to preuaile against vs. When the people of God had committed Idolatry made them gods to goe before them it is said by Moses that the people were naked for Aaron had made them naked vnto their shame among their enemies Exod. 32 25. This appeareth also in the booke of Ioshua when Achan had sinned and stolne the babylonish garment the shekels of siluer and the wedge of gold they could not stand before their enemies Iosh 7 4. but fell before them as naked men beeing vtterly destitute of Gods defence by reason of the offence committed among them We see this oftentimes in the Bookes of the Iudges of the Kings and Chronicles when they rebelled against God and prouoked him to anger presently hee sold them into the hands of their enemies they became subiect to sundry calamities they fell into all kinde of miseries that were layde vpon them When they began to do
number and greater in waight follow after these When God sendeth the barrennesse of ground the blasting of corne the vnseasonablenesse of weather the ouerflowing of water the infection of sicknes such like scourges of his hand they are euident marks of his wrath and the very prints of his footsteppes whereby we may trace him out comming against vs to destroy vs. They are the messengers of God to cite and summon vs to answer before him for our contempt of his word and of his former threatnings When he taketh away faithfull men that feare his name especially good Princes and godly rulers it is an assured token that his wrath beginneth to be kindled and wil ouertake the remnant of the people When the head is smitten it cannot be but the rest of the body must immediately after smart for it Thus God threatneth in the Prophet Esay 3 2. 57 1. That he will take away the strong man and the man of war the Iudge and the Prophet the prudent and the aged the captaine of fifty and the honorable and the counsellor And in another place The righteous perisheth and no man considereth it in heart and mercifull men are taken away and no man vnderstandeth that the righteous are taken away from the euill to come A notable example heereof we haue in Noah and his family so soone as they were entred into the Arke and the doore of it shut vp immediately the rain fell the flood came the fountaines of the deepe were broken vp the windowes of heauen were opened the inhabitants of the earth were drowned Gen. 7 16. 19 16. When Lot and his family were brought out of Sodome and set without the City the Lord being mercifull to them The Lord rained fire and brimstone from heauen vpon the people of Sodome and Gomorrah When the godly King Iosiah was taken away that his eyes should not see all the euill which the Lord would bring vpon the land the wrath of the Lord arose against them they mocked the messengers of God despised his words and misused his Prophets and hee brought vpon them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword and spared neither yong man nor virgin ancient nor aged God gaue all into his hand 2 Kin. 22 20 2 Chron. 36 16. Moreouer the Lord hath other scourges which belong to the soule as when he taketh away godly Ministers with them his holy word So he threatneth by the Prophet Amos to send a Famine of his word chap. 8 11. This is a token that God will forsake that people and condemn them to death when he taketh from them the meanes and maintenance of their life These are the beginnings of greater iudgements and by them we may iudge the wrath of God to be at haÌd which are as a warning peece vnto that volly of the Lords Ordinance which our great sins haue caused him to mount vp against vs and he threatneth to discharge vpon vs. So then it behooueth vs not to bee dull and drowzie in marking the iudgements of God the signs of his wrath to the end we may be prepared to preuent them and to meete the Lord by vnfained repentance before they fall vpon vs. Vse 3 Thirdly it is our duty to pray vnto him and to intreate him that albeit we continually prouoke him by our sins yet that he would not fall vpon vs in his wrath nor punish vs in his sore displesure but deal with vs as a father with his children This is it which the Prophet craueth at the hands of God Psal 6 1. 38 1 2. To this purpose Ieremy speaking of the captiuity at hand prayeth thus Ier. 10 24 25. O Lord correct me but with iudgement not in thine anger lest thou bring me to nothing poure out thy wrath vpon the Heathen that know thee not c. If the Lord should deale with vs according to our sinnes and recompence vs according to our deseruings we were not able to stand in his sight If hee should enter into iudgement with vs no flesh should be righteous before him Wee must therefore desire him to chastise vs as a father not as a Iudge to amend vs not to destroy vs as the Prophet speaketh of his owne experience Psal 118 18. The Lord hath chastened me sore but he hath not deliuered me to death Vse 4 Lastly we must be prouoked vpon the consideration of the wrath of God full of rage iealousie moued with our sinnes to seeke to please him to forsake our iniquities and to be reconciled vnto God This is the vse which the Apostle maketh Heb. 12 28 29. Seeing we receiue a kingdome which cannot be shaken let vs haue grace whereby we may so serue God that wee may please him with reuerence feare c. So we are charged to mortifie our members which are on earth as fornication vncleannesse and such like because for such things the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience Col. 3 5 6. So then the consideration of the fiercenesse of Gods wrath must bring vs neerer vnto him and make vs obedient to his will Let vs walk in all his commandements and make conscience of all our wayes Let vs studie to please God in all things and to be fruitfull in good workes Let vs liue soberly righteously and godly in this life and shew forth the liuely fruits of him that hath called vs out of darknesse into this maruellous light that so his wrath do not ouertake vs nor his iudgements finde vs vnprepared We should alwaies liue as if wee should dye presently or the day of iudgement come immediately For what shall it profit vs to liue in all pleasures and carnall delights for a few yeares and then to suffer eternall torments What shall it auaile vs to win the world then to lose our owne fouls Matth. 16 26. Are not they more then madde men that will hazard their soules procure the heauy wrath of God for a little profit and a short pleasure Let such as wil not be drawn from their sweet sins assure themselues they shall one day pay dearly for it and taste the most bitter woes that can be conceiued when they shal be separated froÌ God shut out of his fauour and bee barred out of his kingdome Oh! that there were in vs wise hearts to consider these things betimes and to preuent all the iudgements of God that hang ouer our heads Let vs prepare our selues against the houre of death then which nothing is more terrible against the day of iudgement then which nothing is more horrible and against the danger of hell fire then which nothing is more intollerable the paines pangs whereof are without end without ease without remedy Verses 10 11 12 13. Then the Lord spake vnto Moses saying Phinehas the son of Eleazar hath turned mine anger away from the children of Israel c. We haue seene the zeale of Phinehas in
house like the house of Ieroboam c and also of Iezabel spake the Lord saying The dogs shall eate Iezabel by the wals of Izreel Who are then the greatest enemies to their children but vngodly parents And who bring vpon them a greater woe and ruine then they that should build them vp and leaue a blessing behinde theÌ When Moses describeth the nature of God that hee is abundant in mercy toward the righteous he addeth Holding not the wicked innocent but visiting the sinnes of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation Exod. 34 8. This must moue parents and gouernours to make conscience of their carriage and conuersation and to bewayle their sinnes that haue endangered their off-spring For God may and doth in Iustice visite with sundry and diuers iudgments those families and societies where wicked Parents and prophane gouernors are All they be cruell tyger-like parents that be vngodly parents for they are the murtherers and butchers of their children ouerthrow of their posterity in time howsoeuer they be spared for a season What vnmercifull vnnaturall parents were Cain Cham Canaan Ieroboam Iezabel Ahab such like that caused euery one of their house that could water a wall to be destroyed and vtterly to haue their race and remembrance rooted out It is therefore a diuellish and wicked Prouerbe Happy are those children whose father goeth to the diuell A diuellish Prouerbe Nay rather cursed are those children whose fathers fall into hell for there is a great presumption that they will follow them without the great mercy and speciall grace of God yea it is a blessed thing to spring from a godly stocke to rise from faithfull parents For often did the Lord spare Israel for Abrahams Isaacks and Iacobs sake When the posterity of Dauid became wicked hee continued them in their kingdome deliuered them from their enemies did not destroy them for Dauids sake When the Lord was angry with Salomon because he had turned his heart from the Lord God of Israel which had appeared vnto him twice and charged him not to follow strange gods he threatned to rent the kingdome from him to giue it to his seruant Notwithstanding in thy dayes I will not do it sayth the Lord because of Dauid thy father 1. King 11 12. This appeareth more plainly afterward in Abiiam the sonne of Rehoboam who walked in all the sinnes of his father which he had done before him yet for Dauids sake did the Lord his God giue him a light in Hierusalem and set vp his sonne after him and established Hierusalem because Dauid did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and turned from nothing that he commanded him all the dayes of his life saue onely in the matters of Vriah the Hittite 1. King 15.4 5. 2. Chron. 21 7. This is it which the Lord promiseth in the second commandement of the Law That he will shew mercy to thousands of them that loue him and keepe his commandements Exod. 20.6 Seeing then wicked and wretched parents are most deadly enemies vnto their children who beare the curses of God vpon them for many generations for the impiety of their fathers this serueth as a great terror to those parents that goe about by fraud and oppression by wrongfull and iniurious dealing to enrich themselues to set vp their names and make their posterity to bee great vpon the earth after them For this is the ready way to bring the curse of God vpon them and to pull downe their houses Where the curse of God entreth it maketh hauocke and wasteth all before it God is an auenger of al such things 1. Thes 4 6. Surely if men were not altogether faithlesse but had faith to beleeue the word of God that all wicked courses and vile practices would ouerthrow their houses and not build them vp that they could not fill them with euil things but they will pul down the plagues of God vpon them and all theirs it would make them feare to offend by fraud and vniust dealing which cryeth for vengeance vnto heauen and the cry thereof entreth into the eares of the Lord of hoasts Iames 5 4 All men by nature haue a loue vnto their children and a desire to leaue them great men in the world but many are greatly deceiued in the meanes and wander farre and wide out of the way For if we wold leaue them a sure inheritance and settle them in an estate to continue wee must take heed that wee doe not enrich our selues with the spoyles of others nor fill our houses with the riches of iniquity lest we fill them also with the vengeance of God which is the reward of iniquity Let vs eate our own bread which wee haue gotten by lawfull meanes There is more comfort in a little truly gotten then in great riches and reuenewes that carry with them Gods marks and curses being wrongfully obtayned and vniustly retayned Lastly it is required of vs to repent beleeue Vse 3 the Gospell that so wee may procure a blessing vpon our selues and our children This duty the Apostle Peter preacheth vnto the Iewes that were pricked in their hearts Amend your liues be baptized euery one of you for the remission of sinnes for the promise is made vnto you and to your children c. Acts 2 38 39. When God promised to Abraham to make a couenant with him and to multiply his seed exceedingly hee requireth this condition at his hands Walke before me and be thou vpright Gen. 17 1. VVee must walke in the midst of our houses with pure and perfect heart and guide them with a watchfull eye wee must looke to their wayes and to our gouernment This would be a great helpe to the Ministery and a singular furtherance to his labours The neglect of this care bringeth vtter ruine to father and childe This appeareth in the example of Eli who through his indulgence and negligence ouerthrew himselfe and his posterity This is the cause of so many cursed youths so many riotous men women which procure the ruines of so many excellent houses their tender age was not sanctified neither they seasoned by their parents with the fear of God So then godly parents must haue a care to bring vp their children families in godlines righteousnes It may be a meanes by the blessing of God to saue thy sonne from death and to deliuer his soule from destruction The Lord himselfe speaketh of Abraham That hee knew him that he would teach his sonnes and his houshold after him that they keepe the way of the Lord to doe righteousnesse and iudgement Gen. 18 19. The Apostle chargeth parents to bring vp their children in the nurture and information of the Lord Eph. 6 4. No parents must presume that because they haue obtayned to bee faithfull therefore theyr children must of necessity bee so also Faith is the gift of GOD and not of Nature It is not
blood Do not our Gentry for the most part think it their glory to haue their hands embrewed in the blood of innocents What conscience is made of fighting quarrelling for point of pretended honour but in truth for assured dishonour and disgrace vnto them to their names and to their posterity for let theÌ set what varnish soeuer they please vpon their combates they shall carry the marke of an horrible sinne to their graue God grant it bee not to hell and the place of perpetuall torment and if euer GOD open their eyes they will weepe day and night for it and bee humbled for it all the dayes of their liues Secondly Vse 2 it is the duty of Magistrates especially and of all men generally in their places to make diligent search enquiry when blood is shed by whom the blood hath beene shedde and if the murtherer bee not found they shold craue pardon at the hands of God And touching the Magistrates and others I would commend to them the consideration of two things first that they be carefull that no man dye innocently that they put no man to death without cause Ier. 25 14. of which we shall speake afterward in the end of this chapter Secondly when murther is committed all men must do their endeuour to the vtmost of their power and meanes to detect the authors of that bloody acte Hence it is that God requireth that when a body is found slaine vpon the ground in the Land which he had giuen the Israelites to possesse and it is not knowne who killed him then the Elders and Iudges shall come forth to the dead body and wash their hands ouer a Bullocke whose head was striken off and protest and say Our hands haue not shed this blood neither haue our eyes seene it O Lord bee mercifull to thy people Israel whom thou hast purchased and lay not the guiltlesse blood vpon them and the man-slaughter shall be forgiuen them Deut. 21 7 8 9. Where we see that the killing of one man is a defiling of the whole country and what care the Lord hath of the life of euery man For murther is so hated of God that albeit the dooer thereof be vnknowne yet hee would haue a solemne cleansing and cleering thereof to be made And see what God requireth at the hands of the Magistrates and ministers of iustice It is not enough for them to protest that they haue not committed or supported or fauoured any euill when causes and complaints haue beene brought before them but they must search carefully and enquire diligently of disorders albeit no man sollicite or seeke vnto them yet themselues must be watchfull in their places Howbeit this duty is oftentimes ill obserued and slenderly practised For how many are there that thinke themselues fully discharged and flatter themselues with a fond imagination that they are greatly to be commended when they patiently giue men the hearing and make countenance to helpe them But God is not contented with this he will take an account of them of a farther duty and will not take it for a sufficient discharge to bee able to say though it be truly There was no information giuen no man made any complaint If then Magistrates that haue the sword of iustice put into their hands to cut off euill doers from the City of God shall suffer any wickednesse to lurke in any Citty or corner they themselues are guilty thereof and it is as much in Gods sight as if they had giuen theyr consent to the practising of it These are they that must after a sort answer for the whole body of the people if euill doers be suffered to nustle vnder them through their negligence Vse 3 Lastly it is the duty of euery one to beware of all occasions and allurements that may draw vs to this bloody sinne For as there is a murther of the hand so there is a murther of the tongue which is therefore in holy Scripture resembled vnto a Razor to a sword to coales to arrowes to poyson to fire all which kill and are the instruments of death and likewise there is a murther of the heart of which the Apostle Iohn sayeth Whosoeuer hateth his brother is a murtherer and yee know that no murtherer hath eternall life abiding in him Iohn 3 15. So then we are guilty of this sinne euen by anger and malice in the heart onely and shall haue our portion in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone If any man haue not a feeling of this in his heart hee is more then dead and if he labour not to repent of it it argueth him to be past all grace and so out of the number of those which shall see God to their comfort For albeit such haue the shape and forme of men yet they haue the hearts of the very beasts If they had the right vse of reason in them and the gouernment of theyr corrupt appetites and affections it could not be but that they would haue a care of the life of their brethren and which is more of theyr owne liues also So then euery man should examine himself and try his owne heart how farre he hath bin guilty of this sinne of murther in euery kinde and branch thereof that so wee may humble our selues Albeit it bee but the anger of the heart yet it is murther in the sight of God is therefore as well to be repented of as the outward acte of murther it selfe To this wee may ioyne the sinne of enuy when men so repine at the good of others that they cannot bee quiet or contented because they want that which others haue and haue not so great a portion as they for this also we should humble our selues and labour continually against it To conclude we see also what crueltie and hard-dealing is oftentimes vsed against poore labouring men that get their liuing by the sweate of their browes and yet many thinke they may vse them as they list eyther with turning of them off with an halfe-peny for a peny or else in exchanging other things for their worke which haply are not worth halfe the money or in keeping backe their wages for weekes moneths or yeares which Saint Iames speaketh of Chapter 5 verse 4. Behold the hyre of the Labourers cryeth and the cryes of them are entred into the eares of the Lord of Sabbath Let vs labour by all meanes to keepe our selues free from bloud and not onely from the outward acte it selfe but from the inward thoughts of the heart as enuy hatred and malice as also from the slaughter of the tongue by cruell and cursed speeches Such a murtherer was Shemei when hee railed vpon Dauid True it is hee charged him to be a murtherer but the murther might iustly and fully bee discharged vpon himselfe for he was the man of blood and a sonne of Belial 2 Sam. 16 7 8. Indeed if a man haue an iniury done vnto him it is lawfull for him
how farre shall wee haue such cousins restrayned once onely remoued or twise or how many degrees And if any answere onely the first degree I would know why the first more then the second or the second more then the third seeing that the one is no more to be proued out of the Law of God then the other As for those that alledge the words of the Law Leuit. 18 6 None of you shall approch to any that is neere to him to vncouer their nakednesse if they be rightly weighed they giue no colour to such interpretation nor liberty of such extension but rather serue as a barre to seclude them out of the prohibition For if any other degrees then are after expressed should bee meant then all cousinâân any degree though neuer so farre off euen an hundred times remoued should be included within the former prohibition which no wise man will affirme Neyther may wee imagine that the Lord would giue such a Law not to come neere any of the kinne and neuer expresse what kinne hee meaneth but leaue vs at randon euery man to coniecture and euery man to hold what he pleaseth So then it is euident that the wordes are not to be stretched so largely but are to bee gathered into a more narrow compasse and to a more strict senfe such as may bee inclusiue to all the degrees afterward in particular rehearsed and recited and exclusiue to al others Fiftly the Law of God setteth downe sundry threatnings of most horrible iudgments vpon the heades of such as breake the bounds of Nature and are pursued with the censure of abomination of wickednesse of villany of filthinesse committed Leuit. 20. and with the sentence of blood of death of cutting off of fire and of barrennesse not onely vpon the one party but vppon the other neyther onely vpon the man but vpon the beast neuerthelesse among all these the cousin germans are no more touched in the punishment then they were before in the prohibition Lastly as the threatning is noted so also is the execution of the threatning remembred For there is no incest committed against the holy Law of God mentioned in the Scripture but it alwayes carrieth a note of reproof and a brand of Gods iudgement with it but in the examples of the marriages of cousin germans which are many in Scripture not the least touch of any reprehension or correction Ruben went vp to his fathers bed and defiled his concubine Gen. 35 22 49.4 1 Chron. 5 1 and hee is punished with the losse of his birth-right Abshalon went in vnto his fathers concubines which he had left to keep the house 2 Sam. 16 21 and he is punished not long after with a violent death and liued not out halfe his dayes 2 Sam. 18 14. The incestuous Corinthian committed fornication with his fathers wife and hee is censured by the Apostle with excommunication and deliuering him oââr to Satan 1 Cor. 5 1. Lot in his drunkennesse committed incest with his owne daughters and is plagued with the birth of obstinate enemies of Gods Church the first fathers of the Moabites Ammonites Gen. 19 33. Iudah defiled his daughter in law Tamar indeede in ignorance yet duly reproued by himselfe effectually repented so that he neuer lay with her Gen. 38 16. Amnon fell in loue with his sister Tamar and lay with her and immediately after his lust he is punished with lothsomnes in himselfe hatefulnes in Absolon toward him plagued with a sodaine and violent death in the end 2 Sam. 13 14 15. 28 29. Lastly Herod tooke his brothers wife and hee is reproued for it by Iohn Baptist Mat. 14.4 10. Iohn Baptist is taken away from him and the vnthankfull world who was as a shining candle in the darknes of the world which was no small plague And if wee may giue any credit vnto ecclesiasticall histories touching this Herod who was called Antipas hee that defiled his bodye with most filthy Incest and embrued his hands with hârmelesse and innocent blood Centur magd ceât 1. l 1 câââ and abused his tongue to mock Christ our Sauiour with his cursed Courtiers felt not long after the vengeance of God For as he gaped after honour and sought ambitiously to be entituled with the name of a king he and his proud minion with him were in the second yeare of the Emperour Caligula condemned to perpetuall banishment and at Lyons in France they ended their daies in shame contempt reproch and misery A fit death for such a life Ioseph Antiq. lib. 18. cap. 9. Euseb lib. 2. cap. 4. In all these examples wee see that although the Magistrate leaue these sins of incest vnpunished yet good men doe not passe by them without reproofe euen in the greatest personages and God doth not let theÌ alone without a iudgement and the Scripture doth not record them without a due note and censure of the abhomination And may we then in reason thinke that God and good meÌ and the Scripture it selfe would be silent and haue let passe so many mariages of Cousen-germans without any one checke or chastisement if they had bene against the law of God godlinesse Nay rather we may wel think that seeing they go away so cleerely without any the least note of reproofe yea and some of them with no small approbation and commendation at the hands of GOD and good men they are not at al incestuous impious but most lawfull and allowable Vse 1 Now let vs come to the vses First this serues to reproue the Church of Rome which as it is corrupt in the cheefest parts of christian religion so is it in none more corrupt theÌ in the matter of mariage because they restraine that which God hath left free and they leaue that free which God hath restrained an euident profe among other things that the Roman Church is an Antichristian Church And first it is plaine that they maintaine the lawfulnesse of mariages within the degrees expresly forbidden For whereas by the law of God Leuit. 18 touching consanguinity they which are placed in the transuerse vnequall line cannot marry at all because they are to be holden as parents and children yet if they bee distinct foure degrees from the common stocke they may lawfully marry by the Popes lawes and canons which is filthy incestuous and abhominable And as they are loose when they should be strict so they are strict when they should be loose For wheras cousen germans are left free by the law of God as wee haue already shewed proued they do condemne the same for no other cause but to make way for popish dispensations Againe they teach that the Pope hath power to dispense with the degrees directly and expresly prohibited in Leuiticus and that many of them are onely iudiciall positiue constitutions not grounded vpon the law of nature but seruing peculiarly for that commonwealth of the Iewes Hence it is that that Antichrist
build it or when it should be builded or where it should bee builded Hence it is that the Lord sent Nathan vnto him who said vnto him Shalt thou build me an house to dwell in Whereas I haue not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought vp the Children of Israel out of Egypt 2 Sa. 7 5 6 7. euen to this day but haue walked in a Tent and in a Tabernacle In all the places wherein I haue walked with all the Children of Israel spake I a word with any of the Tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feede my people Israel saying Why build ye not me an house of Cedar So then seeing it might be said to him Who required these things at thy hands Who commanded of thee any such worke Who euer spake vnto thee to doe it Howsoeuer his purpose might be commended yet the fact is reprooued And God vseth two reasons to call him backe from his desire and enterprise one taken from his owne person the other from the person of Dauid From the person of God because hitherto hee had liued in a Tabernacle so that there was no cause in respect of him to trouble himselfe with the building of a Temple From the person of Dauid because he was to consider that there were many in Israel besides him many Iudges and Princes beside him and before him yet none of them had any such charge laide vpon them or committed vnto them or required of them so that he ought not to haue enterprised that which was commanded to none of them nor to himselfe True it is GOD saith in the booke of Deuteronomy that there should be one place where he would be worshipped but what or where that place was he did not foreshew therefore his farther pleasure to bee reuealed was to be expected and an expresse commandement to be waited for For wee see in the Scriptures that oftentimes somewhat is commanded which commeth not by and by to be practised and executed as we declared before touching the chusing of a King from among their brethren Deut. 17 14. when they came into the Land which the Lord their God had giuen them So Christ sent out his Apostles into all the world and commanded them to teach all nations but at what time they should go forth they were to expect a new commandement and commission Matth 28.19 Luke 24.49 so that albeit they were bidden to goe yet if they had gone before they had knowne when to goe they had offended The summe and effect of this answer cometh heereunto that Dauids thought and purpose was good and godly if we consider the roote of it inasmuch as it proceeded from a desire of promoting true religion neuerthelesse although God approued his intent yet he suffered him not to goe forward because hee wanted his word to warrant his intent and therefore did not obey God but follow his owne mind and deuice Thus wee see the cause why God forbad Dauid to builde him a Temple and yet afterward the people in the daies of Haggai are reproued Hag. 1 4. being returned from captiuity because they builded not Heere he forbiddeth that which there he coÌmandeth These things seeme not to agree together but to be contrary one to the other and yet though different in shew they agree very well in deed in truth For in this place Dauid is pulled back from his purpose as running too fast trauelling as it were without his guide and sailing without his compasse because he had not the word of God whereas they were reproued because albeit they were stirred vp by the Prophets and called continually to that duty by the word of God yet they could finde no leasure to fall to worke but followed wholly their owne profites and pleasures Thus we haue answered the obiections let vs now come to the vses see what we are to learne from hence Vse 1 First of all wee are taught that touching things that are to be done or not to be done we are not to iudge by the false rule of our owne carnall and corrupt reason but according to the sure word of the Prophets and Apostles It seemeth a small thing in our owne iudgement to burne Incense with strange fire but it is a most greeuous sinne and deserued a most greeuous punishment if we consider the word of God thereby transgressed or respect his commandement thereby violated For these two sonnes of Aaron died not the common death of all men nor were visited after the ordinary visitation of the rest of the sons of men but God wrought a strange worke he brought fire from heauen and consumed them Numb 16 18. The like we might say of Corah and his company they contented not themselues with the ordinary calling of the Leuites to do the seruice of the Tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the Congregation to minister vnto them but they would also take euery man his censure and put incense in them but they sought the Priesthood also and vsurped the office peculiarly appointed to Aaron and to his sons It might seeme a small thing to set vp others to burne incense and a man might say Why might not Korah do it as wel as Aaron What skilleth it by whom it bee done But hereby the will of God is broken and little regarded yea God himselfe is contemned and little esteemed in our eyes This then bindeth euery soule to humility not to thinke any thing better wiser or more expedient and profitable to the Church then that which is prescribed vnto it neither yet to account any thing idle or superfluous or vnnecessary or that might be amended There be many prophane men that think most basely and contemptibly of the most excellent things of God as of the Word of the Ministery of the Sacraments and of the prayers of the Church It seemeth to many a slight thing not to be washed with the water of Baptism but it is not so with God who hath instituted that Sacrament and therefore woe vnto them that neglect it or despise it The like we might say of the Lords Supper it is accounted among many a small matter whether they come to the Table of the Lord or not But we must measure the necessity of it not by the outward shew of the outward actions but by the Commandement of God because whatsoeuer Christ hath instituted for the perpetuall vse and benefit of the Church we are commanded to yeeld obedience vnto it Whosoeuer neglecteth to doe what hee appointeth sinneth most greeuously against him Wherefore the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 11. 1 Cor. 1â As often as ye eate this bread and drinke this cup yee doe shew the Lords death till he come Such then as come sildome to this Sacrament declare plainely that they regard not the death of Christ They looke to receiue life and saluation from him but they do not esteeme the meanes whereby they may be made
partakers of them The Apostle speaking of the word of God in his Epistle to the Galatians declareth that by the preaching thereof Christ Iesus was so cleerely set foorth Gal. 3 1. that he was as it were crucified among them much more may this bee saide of the Supper of the Lord which is a most liuely remembrance of his death and of the shedding of his most pure and precious blood This vse hath many branches First we must thinke our selues fooles in the matters of God that wee may bee made wise such as thinke themselues wise do thereby professe themselues to be no better then fooles 1 Cor. 3 18. Secondly to account God onely wise yea wisedome it selfe as the wise man saith Prou. 9 1. Wisedome hath built her an house Thirdly adde nothing to the word of the Lord which were to make our selues wiser then God and to shew our selues to bee worse then madde men We must not turne aside to the right hand or to the left Deut. 5 32. Deut. 5 32. and 28 14. nor decline from any of the words which hee hath commanded vs Deut. 28 14. for that were to wrastle against the Lord who is too strong for vs his will must stand vpright when our will shall be ouerthrowne and cast downe to the ground Lastly we must thinke nothing small or little in Gods seruice He tooke order for the least things in the Tabernacle and left them not arbitrary A little thing done amisse bringeth all out of square in the worldly affaires of men and so it is with Gods matters In the businesse that concerneth our selues wherein we take our selues to bee any way interessed we account nothing little if we be iniuried or wronged therein we take it to heart we cannot abide it we storme against theÌ that crosse vs. And shall we thinke God is carelesse what becommeth of his seruice and consequently of his glory Woe vnto vs if we iudge so of honouring him Vse 2 Secondly this serueth seeing all worship of God ought to be guided by his word and directed by his commandement not by the priuate wils of men to reproue the wonderfull pride of men in al ages who haue alwaies presumed to adde somewhat of their owne to the ordinance of God in his worship and accounted it too grosse simplicity to cleaue to the bare and naked word so haue made a mixture of his religion with our owne inuention as it were to sowe our field with diuers seeds The Scribes and Pharisies added the traditions of their fathers as washings of cups of beds and of tables âark 7 3. yea they so abounded in them that they made the Commandements of God of none effect thinking it great reason they should giue place to their deuices The Papists haue added to the word of God apochryphall bookes many vnwritten verites the decrees and decretals the inuentions of their Popes which they hold in as great reuerence as the holy Scriptures They haue added vnto the two Sacraments instituted by Christ fiue other to make the number amount to seuen To baptisme they haue added exorcismes spittle salt creame and other such like trash and trumpery To the Supper they haue added Transubstantiation the reall presence the merit of the worke the Masse propitiatory for the quicke and dead crossings creepings eleuation reseruation preseruation by sea and land in warres and in iournies To the Ministery of Pastours Teachers they haue added an idle rabble of Pope Cardinals Abbots Monkes Fryers Iesuites Votaries Nunnes Acolytes Exorcistes a multitude of drones as croking frogs arising out of the bottomlesse pit To praier and pure inuocation of the Name of GOD they haue added praiers to Saints praiers in a strange tongue praiers before Images and in their Idol Temples praiers said by tale and numbred or rather mumbled vpon their beades their canonicall houres and such like superstitions partly idolatrous and partly heathenish and partly blasphemous Thus they haue corrupted Gods worship and defiled whatsoeuer they touch and turned his truth into a lye It is reported of Gregory Bishop of Rome the best of all those that followed but the worst of theÌ that went before him that in a most greeuous and contagious plague he inuented and appointed sundry superstitions and supplications directed to Saints set downe in the Letany Babing on Leuit 10. not 1. hauing neither commandement nor example nor any warrant in the word but God so reuenged this boldnesse and presumption that in one houre fourescore of those that so praied and rehearsed those suffrages suddenly fell to the earth and breathed out their last breath Thus God disliketh and disclaimeth the deuices of men in his seruice God disliketh the deuises of men in his seruice Col. 2 23. Of all which practises which are no better then meere dotages the Apostle saith They haue a shew of wisedome in will-worship but they bring a bondage to the rudiments of the world froÌ which Christ hath freed vs and therefore ought not to be entangled by them being after the commandements and doctrines of men The heathen knew by the light of nature that euery God must needs bee serued according to his owne will and not according to the will of them that are their worshippers All voluntary worship is vtterly condemned Vatabl. annot in Deut. 4. and GOD tieth vs strictly to his word without adding or diminishing Our good intents cannot preuaile with him when the thing we doe is not warranted vnto vs. Hence it is that the Lord saith not You shall not do euill in your owne eyes but Thou shalt not do that which seemeth good in your owne eyes they must keepe them precisely to his commandements There is a way saith Salomon which seemeth right vnto a man Prou. 14 12. but the issues thereof are the waies of death Wherefore let our conceite be neuer so good yet it profiteth nothing beeing not grounded vpon the word but vpon mans wit Our Sauiour foretelling the troubles that shall come vpon the people of God that professe his Name saith They shall excommunicate you yea the time commeth Iohn 16 2. That whosoeuer killeth you will thinke that he doth God seruice They imagine they do good in such persecutions as no doubt it fell out in Paul before his conuersion What then Shall their good intent excuse their euil actions and go for current paiment with God No in no wise because hee measureth not our dooings by our purposes but by his owne precepts When Peter bad Christ his Maister to pitty and spare himselfe Mat. 16 22. and the Disciples forbad little children to come vnto Christ Mark 10 13. Lu. 9 54 55. and at another time would haue commanded fire to come downe from heauen to consume the Samaritans did they not offend or can any defend them because they had no euill intent Why then is Peter called Satan and bidden to come behind And why are the Disciples reproued
separated froÌ it that were neuer of it or in it And touching the elect they can neuer fall from the grace of election the foundation of God remaineth sure 2 Tim. â â hath this seale the Lord knoweth who are his so that it is vnchangeable Besides such are also engrafted into Christ and cannot be separated from his communion according the saying of Christ Iohn 6 ver 37. All that the Father giueth mee shall come to me and him that commeth to me I will in no wise cast out And the Apostle Iohn 1 Iohn â â saieth They went out from vs but they were not of vs for if they had beene of vs they would no doubt haue continued with vs but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of vs. If then the reprobate were neuer of this communion and the elect can neuer fall from this communion it may seeme that none can be said to be truely excommunicated that is to be separated from that spirituall communion which wee haue with Christ and with all the Saints by faith â hope and loue I answer that which is affirmed of the elect and reprobate is most true neuerthelesse that which is concluded from thence is most false as the learned haue well obserued For first of all touching the reprobate that being hypocrites were once in the Church though they were neuer of the Church neither truely partakers of this spirituall communion of the Saints yet then they are saide to bee separated from it when they are manifested declared to haue beene alwaies strangers vnto it and separated from it as when Dauid praieth in the Psalms that they might be blotted out of the booke of life Psal 69 28. as if he had said declare it shew it plainely that they were neuer written in the booke of eternall election Secondly touching the elect the question is more difficult and yet the knot is not so intricate or intangled but it may be loosed For albeit they cannot be cut off from the grace of election because his gifts and calling are without repentance Rom. 11 29. neither can be wholly and altogether excluded from that communion which they haue by faith with Christ and by loue with the Church both by reason of the stablenesse of Gods promises and by reason of the efficacy force of Christs praier heard of the Father ãâã â7 21 â Luke 22 32. Yet in some sort in some respect they separate themselues as much as lyeth in them when they fall into greeuous sinnes as Dauid when he committed adultery and Peter when he denyed his Master The guifts of the holy Ghost are as a flame of fire kindled in vs such sinnes are as water powred vpon them to quench it and except GOD did grant his Spirit to dwell in them and preserue it as fire hidden vnder the ashes they would lose it wholly be quite and cleane excluded from this spirituall communion Notwithstanding our saluation is sure for his promise sake who hath promised to put his feare in our hearts that we should not depart from him and for Christs praier who praied for Peter all the elect that their faith should not faile Hence it is that he keepeth a remnant of grace in them and cherisheth the fire of his Spirit that it should not goe out so that the flame is slaked and the heat is diminished But in his good time he kindleth the fire and stirreth vp the heat somtimes by his word and sometimes by his corrections and therefore the Apostle willeth Timothy to stirre vp as coales ãâã 1 6. the gift of God that was in him Dauid hauing experience hereof praieth vnto him to create a new heart in him and not to take away his Spirit from him Ps 51 10 11. Thus we see how the faithful are not wholly but yet in some part separated froÌ the communion of Christ because they are depriued of the sweet comforts that they felt before of the large measure of grace which they finde greatly diminished by the committing of sinne and continuing in it This is the spirituall communion The externall communion standeth in a common partaking together in the word in praiers in the receiuing of the Sacraments and in familiarity and friendship one with another as Luke speaketh of the Church of Christ after his ascension Acts 2 42. They continued stedfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in praiers Excommunication separateth from all these But some will say Obiect doth excommunication take away all commercing and conuersing one with another May not one in any sort liue with such Or doth it dissolue all bands of nature and pollicy I answer Answer no. There are some bands so firmely and closely knit tied together that nothing can loose them and abrogate them Some duties are naturall some domesticall and some ciuill which no excommunication can diminish or dissolue or dispense withall The Apostle giueth this as a generall precept If thine enemy hunger Rom. 12 20. giue him meate and if he thirst giue him drinke If an excommunicate person be in want and in any distresse we must helpe him and minister vnto him such things as are necessary for his preseruation wee must not cast away all care of him and all loue vnto him forasmuch as God hath made vs keepers one of another Againe it is lawfull to buy of him to sell vnto him and to bargaine with him albeit we should not conuerse and commerce with him as with a friend Moreouer if we owe personall duties to such a one as is in the family with vs we caÌnot shake them off vnder any colour or pretence of excommunication The wife must performe due beneuolence to the husband the children must obey their parents the seruants must count their masters worthy of all honour and contrariwise prouided alwayes that they do not ceasse to pray for theÌ to admonish them and to hate their sins and that they looke to themselues that they do not defend them in their wicked courses and ioyne with them in opinion for then we make our selues partakers of their sins Lastly let vs set before vs the ends of excommunication which also haue bin considered in part already One end of it is the good of the person excommunicated that if it bee possible he may be won Tit. 2 11. Rom 1 6. Christ deliuereth the doctrine of saluation the Gospel is the power of God to saluation to euery one that beleeueth For wheras Christ Iesus saith of himself Math. 10 34. that he came to send fire and sword into the world and that hee is appointed for the fall of many in Israel Lu. 12 46 2 34. that the Gospel is the sauor of death vnto death 2 Corinth 2 15. Yet this is not the proper end of Christ or the Gospel but as it were beside their purpose
through the malice and wickednesse of men The Apostle speaking of the Law saith Rom. 7. It is holy and the commandement holy and iust and good The like we may say of the discipline of the church it was ordained not to destruction but to saluation and if it attaine not to this end the fault is in the person impenitent not in the ordinance of God as when a good approued medicine well applied recouereth not the patient the fault is not in the Physition but in the desperatenesse of the disease This ought to teach all persons excommunicate for their sinnes to submit themselues to the stroke of Gods owne hand that thereby they may bee healed Impenitent persons are as those that are diseased sins are as sicknesses or wounds or soares excommunication is as physicke for the soule and a souereigne medicine to recouer them and the Gouernors of the Church are as good Physitions or tender Chirurgions who when all other remedies of admonition and exhortation faile are compelled to seare and cut and launce and apply as it were desperate cures not that they delight to be sawing and searing but because the cutting off of one member serueth to preserue the rest of the body Let vs be content to suffer for the benefit of the soule as we are for the health of the body Remember the counsell of the best Physition that euer was Christ Iesus who came to seeke and to saue that which was lost If thy right eye offend thee plucke it out and cast it from thee Mat 5 29 30. and 18.8 for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell The end of excommunication is the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saued in the day of the Lord. It is a bitter medicine and vnpleasant to the taste howbeit it is wholesome and healthfull It is as a sawe that cutteth off a dead member or as an hot iron that seareth an vlcer howbeit the effect is pleasant and profitable It maketh sad howbeit it is godly sorrow that causeth repentance neuer to be repented off It is like the seed the which except it be cast into the earth and die it can bring forth no fruite But it may be obiected Obiection how can excommunication make to the good and saluation of him that is excommunicated forasmuch as it cutteth him off from the body of Christ and from the communion of Saints that hee may be no longer a member A member that is once cut off from the body receiueth no more life from it neither can be ioyned to it againe as a branch that is cut froÌ the vine withereth Ioh. 15. How then can excommunication bee any way profitable I answer Answer as before that al they who are in the body of the church enrolled in the number of the faithfull are not after one manner members of the church neither are al cut off alike by the two edged sword of excommunication Some are in the church as euill humors in the body but are not of the Church as all hypocrites who haue giueÌ their names to Christ but are not Christs Zâch ãâã redeâââ because they haue not the Spirit of Christ They haue a shew of faith godlines but they are as Idols that seeme to be that which they are not They seeme to haue a communioÌ with Christ but they haue not like to one that hath a woodeÌ leg so artificially ioyned to his body Beza ãâã that ther is none which taketh it not to be a true leg indeed whereas notwithstanding it is not so When the Church proceedeth to excommunication against these it cutteth them off and casteth them away altogether so that such a separation cannot tend to their saluation but is a fore-runner of their destruction Others are true members of the church haue a true communion with Christ his Church These are of two sorts some are so kept by the power of the Spirit in obedience that albeit they sinne for who is it âhat sinneth not yet they giue no offence to the Church are not obstinate in their sins but being admonished or without admonition they repent and amend Now where there is repentance from sin and amendment of life there is no need of excommunication There are another sort that want this remedy and cannot otherwise be cured the fiery darts wherwith Satan hath wounded them are so deadly These the word cannot restore and the admonitions of a few and of many they contemne to these excommunication is profitable when all other meanes faile This foundation being laid the answer to the former obiection is easie to wit that it cannot be profitable to be separated from the body from whence it had life no more then for the branch to be cut away from the vine forasmuch as we must consider that there is a twofold separation in whole or else in part and therefore the similitude is not to be presfed farther then the purpose of it That separation which doth altogether separate any member from the body cannot be profitable vnto it But excommunication maketh not such a separation neither diuideth the elect of whom we speake wholly and finally from the body of the Church but onely in part in respect of the flesh not according to the Spirit in regard of the corruption of the old maÌ not in regard of the renuing of the inner man The second end of excommunication is the saluation of the whole Church for the Corinthians are willed to put away the euill one froÌ among them and to purge out the olde leauen 1 Cor. 5. that they might be a new lumpe Where the Apostle sheweth that the casting out of a wicked man from the company of the faithfull is to this purpose that if he will not repent yet at least others should be prouided for thât they be not infected with his impiety as it were with a leprosie The third ende is that the rest may feare and bee kept within the bounds of their duty That which the Apostle speaketh of publike rebuking Them that sinne rebuke before all that others also may feare 1 Tim. â may also be applyed to excommunication namely that the stiffenecked should not be spared no more then wolues be suffered among the sheepe to the end that others by their example may take heed This is to pull out of the fire and to saue with feare It is better for vs to learne by the punishments of others then to be censured our selues for our owne sinnes Daniel setting before Belshazzar the king his manifest offences who was weighed in the ballance and found wanting doth aggrauate and encrease his sinnes ãâã 21. that he had seene his father deposed from his kingly throne and driuen from the sons of men and fedde with grasse like oxen yet he had not humbled his heart though he knew all these things but
they oppressed him with iniuries and banished him their country and yet behold they are constrained immediately to seeke peace of him and to make a couenant with him so that albeit they hated him and put him away from them yet the King his Captaine are glad to come vnto him Gen. 26 24 25 26. For they feared him and saw certainly that the Lord was with him The like submission we see in Pharaoh albeit he hardened his hart and often had contemned and reuiled Moses yet in the greeuousnesse of the iudgement he sendeth for Moses and Aaron and saith I haue now sinned the Lord is righteous but I and my people are wicked pray ye vnto the Lord for mee that there be no more mighty thunders amd haile Exod. 9 27 and 11 8. Such an example is recorded 1 Kings 13 4 6 touching Ieroboam who albeit he regarded not the word of the Prophet but raged against him and stretched out his hand from the Altar saying Lay hold on him yet when his hand was dryed vp so as he could not pull it in againe vnto him he humbled himselfe greatly in the present feeling of this punishment and besought that Prophet to pray to the Lord his God and make intercession for him that his hand might be restored Thus Saul seeketh to Dauid 1 Sam. 24 21 22. Belteshazzar to Daniel Dan. 5 12 13. Zedekiah to Ieremy Ier. 37 3. The foolish virgins to the wise Mat. 25 8. Haman had conspired the destruction of the Church and thirsted after the bloudy massacre of the Saints of God whose death is precious in his sight yet in the end he saw mischiefe prepared for him he stood vp to make request for his life vnto Queene Ester chap. 3 9 and 7 7. Thus the saying and sentence of the wise man is verified Prou. 14 19. The euill shall bow before the good and the wicked at the gates of the righteous Neither let vs doubt of this truth or greatly maruaile at it For God hath planted imprinted Reason 1 such a maiesty in the person of those that are vnfainedly godly truely religious that the most desperate and despightfull wicked men feare their faces and reuerence their presence If then the vngodly feare them it is no great maruaile though they fal downe before them many times in submissiue manner But the vngodly do often feare them therefore it cannot seeme strange vnto vs if they do some reuerence vnto them This we see in Herod Mark 6.20 He feared Iohn Acts 4 21 and 5 26. knowing that he was a iust man and an holy and reuerenced him and when he heard him he did many things and heard him gladly So when the people saw how God heard the prayer of Samuel they feared Samuel exceedingly 1 Sam. 12 18. Such is the force of innocency that it conuinceth the enemies in their owne consciences and driueth them to do homage and vaile their bonnet to the seruants of God Againe it is the will of God that all such Reason 2 as humble themselues should be exalted and the lowly in heart should be aduanced so also such as exalt themselues should be brought low and therefore it is no maruaile if GOD euen in this life doe many times for the manifestation of his mercy and iustice lift vp the heads of his owne children Luke 14 11. cast downe the wicked vnder their feet Hence it is that Christ Iesus was so much delighted with this senteÌce so often repeated by him in the Gospel Whosoeuer exalteth himselfe shall be brought low but he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted Math. 23 12. Luke 18 14. Vse 1 Now let vs make vse of this doctrine First seeing the vnfaithfull be oftentimes constrained to sue to the faithfull for their helpe as the rich glutton did to Abraham let vs all learne to plant true godlinesse in our hearts and to turne to the Lord with all our soules that we may haue our part and portion in this preheminence and let vs walke worthy of our places and of this priuiledge honour and dignity Seeing almighty God maketh vs spirituall Kings to rule and reigne Reuel 1 6. and often subiecteth the wicked vnder vs let vs not be slaues to our owne lusts and corruptions but rule with authority and dominion ouer them and labor to subdue sinne vnto vs. We see the Princes of this world will not dishonour and debase theÌselues with base Offices We are Kings and Princes to God in this life let vs then walke worthy of this dignity as the Apostle vrgeth this duty from vs 2 Thess 1 10 11. The Lord shall come to bee glorified in his Saints and to bee made maruailous in all them that beleeue in that day wherefore we also pray for you alwaies that our God may make you worthy for this Calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodnesse and the worke of faith with power Where we see that after he had set downe the great glory that belongeth to Gods children at the comming of Christ he exhorteth them to walke worthy of their calling seeing it shall be glorious with Christ and the vngodly shall be brought to vtter shame contempt dishonour reproch confusion There is no way to bring any to true honour but to purchase to our selues true godlinesse Therefore the Lord said 1 Sam. 2 30. Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be despised Old age is rightly honourable but it must bee found in the way of righteousnesse Prou. 16 31. This we see to haue beene in Iob chap. 29 7 8. When I went out to the gate euen to the iudgement seate and when I caused them to prepare my seate in the streete the young men saw me and hid themselues and the aged arose and stood vp the Princes staied their talk laid hand on their mouth Loe thus shall they be honoured that feare the Lord and therfore blessed is the estate condition of the godly Vse 2 Secondly seeing the wicked euen in this life are vrged to seeke mercy at the hands of godly men so that God here vpon earth bringeth downe their heads that before were lifted vp in great pride how much more shall this be verified in the life to come when the redemption of Gods children draweth neere their happinesse shall be perfected then they are appointed to triumph and to haue the victory ouer all their enemies tread the wicked vnder their feet For the true children of of God shall rule and ouer-rule the world and shall trample vpon the kingdome of darknes ouer hell death damnation the diuell the reprobate whatsoeuer setteth it selfe against their peace This the Lord from the beginning taught the Church Gen. 3 15. He shall breake thine head and thou shalt bruise his heele The diuell shall tempt Christ assault his members but not ouercome them whereas Christ shall conquer the power of death and make his
children partakers of his victory And the Apostle Paul confirmeth the same Rom. 16 20. The God of peace shall tread Sathan vnder your feet shortly Wherefore albeit there bee in this life and wicked world many beastly minded men that spread their armes far and neare seeme euen to dazle the eies of others through their riches honors power friends aliance might credite possessions dominion ouer others so that none dare mutter a word against them yet the time is appointed cometh quickly that the godly shall sit in thrones of glory iudge these wicked wretches that haue beene enemies to the Church they shall stand at the bar like poore caitiffes and receiue froÌ Christ and his Saints the sentence of condemnation as 1 Corinth 6.2 3. Paul calleth the Saints of God to consideration of this prerogatiue and checketh them that they would submit themselues to the vngodly Doe ye not know that the Saints shall iudge the world If the world then shall bee iudged by you are yee vnworthy to iudge the smallest matters Know ye not that we shall iudge the Angels How much more things that pertaine to this life If then the Lord bring the wicked downe and make them stoope to his seruants in these dayes of their pilgrimage wherein iniquity is often aduanced how much more shal we see our desire vppon our enemies when Christ which is our life shall appeare Col. 3 4. 1 Iohn 3 â for then we shall appeare with him in glory and bee made like vnto him and see him as he is This the Prophet assureth the Church Mal. 4 2 3. Albeit therefore we be persecuted pursued in this life and finde no rest or refreshing any where yet there shall be a sudden change of our condition when we shall triumph with Christ ouer all principalities and powers that lift themselues vp against God who shal ââue shame and contempt powred vpon them The coming of Christ shall lighten things hidden in darknesse and make a manifest difference betweene the godly and the vngodly Let vs waite for his glorious appearance let vs hold fast till he come that which we haue that no man may take away our crowne This Christ our Sauiour who hath ouercome the world assureth Reuel chapter 2. verses 26 27. Hee that ouercommeth and keepeth my worke vnto the end to him will I giue power ouer Nations and hee shall rule them with a rod of iron and as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken And the Apostle Peter assureth vs that the Lord is not slack of his coming as some men count slacknesse but is patient toward vs that we should not perish but come to repentance But the day of the Lord will come as a theefe in the night â 3 8 9 10 in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse and the Elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt vp Then woe shall be to the wicked then they shall be cast down and neuer be able to rise againe then they shall howle and weepe and lament and neuer bee comforted againe whereas the godly shall lift vp their heads because their redemption draweth neere When it shall be a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation vnto them that trouble you but to you which are troubled rest with vs when the Lord Iesus shall shew himselfe from heauen with his mighty Angels 2 Th. 1 6. This therefore is a great comfort vnto vs giueth peace to our soules that he will deale with all the vngodly as Ioshua did with the Kings which he had conquered and subdued in battell For he commanded them to be brought out of the Caue where they were hidden and called for all the men of Israel and saide vnto the chiefe of the men of war which went out with him Come neere set your feet vpon the necks of these Kings and they came neere and set their feete vpon their necks and Ioshua said vnto them Feare not nor be faint-hearted but be strong and of a good courage for thus will the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight Iosh 10 24 25. So wil Christ Iesus deale with al our enemies who is the Captaine of the Lords host he will poure shame and contempt vpon them and therefore let vs not stand in feare of them to turne out of the right way and to forsake our profession but be stedfast and vnmoueable abounding alway in the work of the Lord forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vaine in the Lord. Thus if we be faithfull to the death we shall receiue an incorruptible crowne of glory Vse 3 Lastly obserue and marke how God magnifieth the Ministry and is able to enforce the wicked to the acknowledgement of himselfe and the true Ministers of his word and let this comfort vs in the midst of all contempts and disgraces of our God of our religion of our faith and of our persons Ah we Ministers despised by prophane men let vs marke and consider this and lay it vnto our hearts let vs beare their contempts contumelies thrown vpon vs. In their extremities they shall acknowledge vs they shall reuerence our Calling they shall magnifie our Office our Ministery and Doctrine they shall iustifie vs desire our prayers they shall stoope they shall stoope when it pleaseth God And let this suffice all true Teachers Preachers of the Gospel of Christ that the power of the truth is such as that it maketh the enemy bow the knee vnto it which before seemed to haue no ioynt to bend This is the time which the Lord hath made let vs reioyce and be glad in it when he giueth vs a comfortable experience of this doctrine that the enemies of God and our enemies are driuen to resort and repaire vnto vs and such as made iestes and songs of the word and of the Ministers of the word cry out O Ezek. 33 31. how beautifull are the feete of them which bring glad tydings of good things Rom. 10 15. There is none of vs all poore contemned men that labour in sincerity in the vineyard of God beare the burden of the worke and the heate of the day but sometimes God lifteth vp our heads and honoureth vs in the world that we should not sinke downe vnder the burden and maketh our mortall and greatest enemies beseech vs to be good vnto them and to helpe them in their extremities The people of Israel despised the ministery of Samuel would not hearken vnto him but when they saw the lightning and heard the thunder and felt the raine at that vnseasonable time They feared the Lord and Samuel exceedingly and they saide vnto him Pray for thy seruants vnto the Lord thy God that we die not 1 Sam. 8 7 and 12 18 19. Let this profitable meditation of Gods mercy toward vs deuoure and swallow vp all disgracing and defacing of
to iudge the quick and dead 1 Peter 44 5. It is noted concerning Christ by the Euangelist that before hee entred vpon the worke of his high calling to preach the Gospel and shewed himselfe a Redeemer to Israel hee increased in wisdome and stature and grew in fauour with God and man Luke 2 52 but when once hee left his priuate life in the priuate houfe of Ioseph where hee was brought vp and set vpon the office whereunto he was appointed albeit hee continued in the fauour of God as his onely begotten Sonne in whom he is well pleased Matthew 3 17 yet he grew out of fauour with men who were not contented with him Paul before his conuersion was in great estimation with the Pharisees and obtayned letters of them to put in prison all them that called vpon the Name of Christ but when hee beganne to preach faith in Christ which before hee persecuted and sought to destroy hee lost theyr fauour and friendship as appeareth in that they plotted his death and sought his life to take it away more vehemently and violently then hee had practised against the disciples Let vs not therefore thinke it strange that we meete with many enemies cunning subtill cruell and malicious but seeke to be at peace with God and reconciled vnto him and then if God be with vs who shall be against vs Rom. 8 31. Vse 5 Fiftly the enemies of Israel albeit they were ouerthrowne and defeated yet were not all discomfited and consumed at once but by little and little sometimes one and then afterward another as they did not arise and appeare all together so it is euermore with his Church to the end of the world We shall neuer be without some enemies God will euer try the faith and patience of his children When Dauid sate at home and went not to warre against his enemies he was surprized by a subtill enemy whom he neuer suspected and fell into two grieuous sinnes adultery and murther 2 Sam. 11 1 4 1 Chron. 20 1. The water by standing still gathereth filth mud and corruption The iron by lying still gathereth râst The Church free from enemies oftentimes groweth secure and the godly are ready to say in their prosperity they shall neuer be remoued Psal 30 6. Let all the wicked therefore know that their peace and prosperity cannot giue them assurance though they endure long of the fauour and loue of God but hee will bring downe his iudgements vpon them when they haue filled vp the measure of their sins And albeit for a time they escape yet they are appointed to wrath and destruction forasmuch as the Lord is iealous and the Lord auengeth hee will take vengeance on his aduersaries and he reserueth wrath for his enemies Nah. 1 2. Yea thus it shall be with the spirituall enemies of our soules and of our saluation albeit they haue receiued their deathes wound and are crushed in the head that they can neuer fully recouer their streÌgth but shall finally be subdued yet they are alwayes hissing and stinging they are trying tempting the members of Christ So long as we are Christs wee must looke for the diuell and his Angels to set themselues against vs. They will take no denyall or repulse but being beaten and vanquished will gather their forces and vnite their power together to build vp the kingdome of darknes When he tempted Christ in the wildernesse and receiued a notable foyle and glorious ouerthrow in all those seuerall combats and had ended his tentations that he had prepared hee departed from him but a little season Luke 4 13. As he dealt with the head in the wildernesse so he dealeth with the members in this world wee must neuer looke to bee wholly ridde of this importunate enemy Whensoeuer he leaueth vs it is not as a confession that hee is vtterly conuicted and confounded for it fareth with him as with one that wrastled Plutarch in vit who how soeuer hee spedde would alwayes perswade the standers by that he gaue him the fall and foile that buckled and clasped with him and so it is when we wrastle with these principalities and powers and spirituall wickednesses in high places they will neuer yeeld the victory but rather gather their broken and disbanded companies leuy new forces prouide and procure stronger weapons and make better prouision and preparation against vs. If then he depart from vs and breake vp his siege it is not to free vs from danger and to take a truce with vs but to muster a fresh army and to take vs at an aduantage if hee see vs to grow secure and therefore let vs neuer promise rest vnto our selues from his assaults so long as we continue heere and carry about vs this earthly Tabernacle but alwayes stand vpon our gard and in our watch-tower to be ready for his comming and returning that so resisting him being strong in faith he may flye from vs Iam. 4 7. 1 Pet. 5 8 9. Yea let this serue as a great comfort and consolation to those that haue experience of his manifold assaults and inuasions that they neuer distrust or despaire though their troubles be many though their tentations be great continuall seeing this was the lot and portion of Iesus Christ the Sonne of GOD Who shall treade downe Satan vnder their feete shortly Rom. 16 20. Lastly the people of Israel after the enduring Vse 6 of all their troubles and afflictions after the experience of many sorrowes and miseries that came vpon them had rest giuen vnto them and victory ouer all their enemies round about them so that they were safely brought into the land of promise where they inherited and possessed cities that they builded not Deut. 6 10 11 houses full of all maner goods which they filled not welles which they digged not vineyards and oliues which they planted not and saw all the good things performed which the Lord had promised vnto them This serueth to comfort the children of God though for a time they sustaine many iniuries beare many disgraces receiue many losses feele many pinches instraightments yea many fierce and fiery tryals it is but while they wander in the wildernesse they are not yet come into Canaan the place of rest howbeit the blessednes of the issue and end of all will fully recompence the hardnesse of the way and make amends and satisfaction for all their sorrowes being fully assured that the afflictions of this present world are not worthy of the glory which shall be shewed vnto vs hereafter for then God shall wipe away all teares from our eyes Rom. 8 19. Reuel 7 16 17. Thus God giueth comfort to his seruants after they haue beene humbled in this vale of misery They shall hunger no more they shall thirst no more they shall want no more Then this corruptible shall put on incorruption this mortall shall put on immortality and death shall be swallowed vp in victory 1 Cor. 15 53 54. This made
the Apostle say Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes doe follow them Reuel 14 13. This must make vs to make light ittle account of this transitory life and of the vaine profites pleasures honours and friendship thereof all which are as dung in comparison of the profit pleasure and honour that shall be enioyed in the next life Let vs lay a good foundation in this life and beginne our heauen while wee are here vpon the earth Let vs make the first entrance into it in this mortall body which wee carry about vs that so this work may be finished and fully accomplished in the life to come 50 And the Lord spake vnto Moses in the plaines of Moab by Iordan neare Iericho saying 51 Speake vnto the thildren of Israel and say vnto them When ye are passed ouer Iordan into the land of Canaan 52 Then shall ye driue out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their pictures and destroy all their molten images and quite plucke downe all their high places 53 And ye shall dispossesse c. 54 And yee shall diuide the land by lot c. 55 But if yee will not driue out the inhabitants of the land from before you then it shall come to passe that these which yee let remaine of them shall be prickes in your eyes and thornes in your sides and shall vexe you in the land wherein yee dwell 56 Moreouer it shall come to passe that I shall doe vnto you as I though to doe vnto them The second part of the Chapter followeth in these words which is the Commandement of GOD touching the Israelites when they should come into the Land The Law hath two parts the charge to cast out the Canaanites and to destroy Idolatry To theyr obedience he promiseth possession and dwelling in the Land but if they suffer any to remaine they should be dangerous troublesome and hurtfull vnto them and God wil punish them for theyr coldnesse and carelesnesse in the execution of his will In this place we see that God is very patient and of much long-sufferance he had suffered the Canaanites foure hundred yeares but when in the meane season they repented not they are appointed to destruction We see also the horrible iudgement of God against the sin of Idolatry for which kingdomes and cities are destroyed Obiect The question may be asked whether Idolaters be now to be killed and Idols to be pulled downe and destroyed as God in this place commandeth the Israelites I answere Answer this commandement is not generall neyther belongeth to al without limitation and exception nay as it was giuen to the Israelites it did strictly pertaine onely to the Canaanites whose land was giuen them to possesse And now it belongeth to Christian Magistrates to pull downe all idols and to abolish superstition and the occasions of both and to purge their dominions from all such abominations 2 Kings 18 4 and to cause the word of God to be truly preached to roote the same out of their hearts and to offer meanes of conference to turne the seduced from their blind deuotion As for priuate men they haue no warrant to pull downe images which is the next way to moue sedition and rebellion it is sufficient for them to withhold worship from them and they must tollerate those things which are not in their power to reforme Againe it may be demanded Obiect whether all pictures are to be defaced and destroyed and all molten images to be quite pulled downe I answere pictures and images are not all of one sort neither are set vp for one end Answ Some haue a ciuill vse and some a religious Such as are for ciuill vse onely may be retained but such as are set vp for Religions sake are to bee defaced and this is the meaning of the commandement Thou shalt not make to thee any grauen image Now in that the Lord forbiddeth his people to spare the idolatrous Canaanites and commandeth them to root them out vtterly we learne that no familiarity is to be vsed with Idolaters Doctrine We are caâfullie to auâ the companâ of idolaters but we are carefully to auoyde their company Hos 4 15. Deuteron 7 5. Psalme 16.4 and 106 35.36 Iudges 2 2 1 Corinth 8 9 and 10 21 2 Cor. 6 17 Esay 52 11. The grounds follow First because whosoeuer Reason 1 will auoid any sinne must also auoid the meanes whereby they may be induced and insnared to fall into it Now among all inducements to draw vs to a communion of wickednesse the society and familiarity with wicked men is one of the greatest most dangerous This Dauid acknowledgeth and therefore being resolued to yeeld obedience to God first he banisheth vngodly persons from his company and then goeth cheerefully forward in his course Psal 119 115 Depart from me yee wicked doers for I will keepe the Commandements of my God Secondly our nature is prone and inclinable to idolatry and therefore by their company by their example by their practice by their perswasions and by theyr doctrine we may easily be corrupted as the Lord himselfe threatneth that their gods should be a snare vnto them Iudg. 2 3. Hence it is that the Prophet perswadeth the people of Iudah not to go to Gilgal and Beth-auen lest ioyning with the superstitious Israelites they should bee infected with theyr idolatry Hosea 4 15. This serueth to reprooue such as delight in the company of idolatrous Papists to be their Vse 1 inward and nearest frends which are guilty of most palpable idolatry no lesse then the Iewes that set vp the golden calfe and danced before it Exod. 32. Secondly such as trauell for pleasure and delight into popish and idolatrous places where they expose themselues oftentimes to ineuitable dangers by coÌsorting and conuersing with such as are ready to allure them to commit idolatry to go into their idolatrous temples to see and heare and afterward to fall downe before their images These are led by curiosity or by commodity to do that which is not conuenient Thirdly this meeteth with their corruption who for wealth or friendes or other worldly I may say wicked respects linke themselues in the nearest society of mariage with Popish idolaters taking and nourishing in their bosomes a serpent which is euer at hand day and night to tempt and entise them to forsake their couenant with God to renounce his pure worship and to embrace idolatry and superstition 2 Cor. 6 14. This was the sinne of the sonnes of God before the flood when they saw the daughters of men and ioyned themselues with them Genes 6 1 2 this matching with them brought a flood of wickednesse and the flood of wickednes brought vpon the whole world a flood of waters wherein all flesh perished This was Salomons sinne notwithstanding all his wisedome whereby he was drawne into idolatry 1 Kings 11 4. Nehem. 13 26