preuaile against vs and to this end let vs know as our Sauiour Christ saith to his Disciples Yee haue neede of patience so wee haue neede of knowledge of faith of hope of loue and other graces of the spirit of God for Sathan will not onely assault vs but perhaps continue his siege battery a day a weeke a moneth and giue vs no respight and though he will sound the retreate and depart sometime for a season as Saint Luke Luk. 4. saith yet he will returne againe perhapes another way and set vpon vs by some other meanes therefore arme your selues saith the Apostle and resist him and if this battell seeme hard and tedious vnto vs remember in what cause we fight and for what crowne our Sauiour Christ saith in the Reuelation He that ouercometh shall inherite great and glorious things and Paul saith The Saintes shall iudge the Angelles that is the deuilles Paul saieth to 1. Cor. 6. Timothy I haue fought a good fight and then he addeth I looke for the Crowne the Saints in heauen that are now crowned haue come vnto it thorow many temptations and tribulations therefore let vs harken to the Apostles exhortation be strong in the Lorde put on the whole armour of God and resist in the euil day and the God of peace shall treade Rom. 16. downe sathan vnder ouâ— feete shortly ⧠The Houre-glasse of Mans life PSALME 90. 12. Teach vs so to number our dayes that we may apply our hartes to wisedome THIS whole booke is called the booke of Psalmes because it contayneth in it for the most part matter of praise and thankesgiuing though there be many other doctrines mingled therewithall They are called the Psalmes of Dauid because he compiled most of them not because he made them all for this was made by Moses as yee may see by the title of it We call this the 90. Psalme because it is bound with the Psalmes and standes in the place of that number but it is intituled and that more fitly agreeing with the matter of it A prayer of Moses In which Moses setteth forth the estate of mans life generally and perticulerly of the people of Israell in the wildernesse where he saw many thousands of them that came out of Egypt dye some by one meanes and some by another as it is more largely recorded in the booke of Numbers Now Moses considered that many of their forefathers liued almost a thousand yeares whereto hee hath respect in the 4. verse where he saith One thousand yeâ—res in thy sight is but as yesterday and the life of man was growne shorter and shorter and in his time ordinarily it was not one hundred yeares as appeares in the 10. verse The dayes of a man are threescore yeares and tenne or perhaps fourescore which was nothing to their fathers how much lesse when they were cut off by strange punishmentes in the middest of their course and dyed thicke and three-fould without warning Now after the mention of those things he breakes out into this speech Teach vs to know our dayes that we may apply our harts to wisedome In which words are two things to be considered first a petition secondly a reason of the petition The petition is in these first wordes Teach vs to number our dayes The reason is in these other wordes in the end of the verse that we may apply our hartes to wisedome Wherby we are taught first of al that there is a number of euery mans dayes for this difference to be considered betweene this life and the next life this life hath an end therefore it is called temporall the next life endes not therefore it is called eternall the certaine number of our daies is knowne Iob. 14. 5 to God and not to vs. But he doth not desire to know the certaine number of his dayes but rather the vncertaine number of them that is that God would teach them to know the breuity and shortnes of mans life Therefore he sets it downe by dayes not by yeares and this he desires not for himselfe only but for the people and therefore he saith not teach me but teach vs to number our dayes Now according to Moses prayer God hath taught vs this point in the Scripture that all men are mortall and must dye as the Lord saide to Adam In the day that thou eatest of the tree in the middest of the garden thou shalt die although the diuell who for that cause our Sauiour Christ saith Iohn 8. Was a lyer from the beginning spake contrary and said to Eue Thou shalt not die at all yet indeed Adam died for although he dyed not by by yet he was a dead man because sentence was passed vpon him and all his life afterward was but a dying life euerything then sauoring of death and euery day beeing a step vnto death If any will inquire what death is to speake generally it is a seperation from the condition of this mortall and temporall life but to speake more properlye it is a seperation of the soule and body as the ioyning togeather of the soule and body at the first was the cause of life as it is said God breathed into Adam the breath of life and Gen. 1. man was made a liuing soule so the seperation of the soule from the bodye is the cause of death as Christ saieth to the ritch man This night they shall fetch away thy soule thou shalt dye This Adam by his sinne brought not onelye vpon himselfe but vpon all his posteritye as Paul saieth Rom. 5. By man sinne entred into the worlde and death by sinne and death went ouer all men forasmuch as all men haue sinned therefore it is saide not onely of Adam himselfe but of dyuers of the fathers that were his posterity to shew the trueth of Gods threatning to Adam In the daye Gen. 5. thou doest eate of such a tree thou shalt dye And to shewe the falcehoode of the diuelles promise to Eue that though sâ—e did eate it she should not dye at all such and such a one liued thus many hundred yeares but he dyed for though the day be neuer so long at length comes euensong Heb. 9. the Apostle saith It is appointed to al men once to dye after that comes the iudgement when all men are dead then comes the general iudgemeÌ„t but when euery one dyes then comes his perticuler iudgement as appeares in the example of the ritch man and Lazarus for as the day of death leaues vs so the day of doome shall finde vs therfore Dauid when he laye sicke said I goe the waye of all the worlde for death is as an vnpartiall iudge that is indifferent to all poore and rich Iob speakes of some men that would seeke death either for the auoyding of present sorrow or procuring of future ioy but whether a man seekes it or no he shall be sure it will seeke him We read of a HeatheÌ„
obscure so great a mistery Now that we might the better see the greatnesse of this mistery that God is manifested in the flesh as it were with a paire of spectacles let vs briefely consider on the one side what God is and on the other side what man is And yet I meane not to enter into any large discription of God least we should thinke he may be fully conceiued for one saith truely and wittily If all the world were full of bookes if all the creatures in the world were writers and all the water in the sea were inke the writers would be wearied the bookes would be filled and the sea would be emptied and exhausted before his perfection could be manifested Therefore Simonides being asked what God was desired a dayes respit to make answere and being asked the next day he deferred two dayes respit and againe being asked the third time saide the more I search it the further I am from it When I seeke for God saith one of the ancient fathers I doe not seeke for the glistering beauties of Dyamondes and precious stones for the eye I doe not seeke for the pleasant melodie of birdes and tunable instruments for the eare I do not seeke for the sauour of flowers spices and oyntments for the smell I doe not seeke for hony and delectable things for the taste which brute beastes may be capable of but I seeke for a glory aboue all beauty for a voyce aboue all melodie and for a sauour and sweetnesse aboue all delicacie which neither beastes nor men with their outward censes can attaine vnto God is the most absolute supreame excelent thing a substance deuine inuisible eternall infinite vnchangeable glorious almightie onely wise true iust mercifull gracious and bountifull before whom the Esa 6. Cherubins do couer their faces of whom thorow whom for whom are all things Rom. 11. saith the Apostle to him be glory for euer Now as God is thus and much more excellent then can be spoken so on the other side man especially considered as Adam hath left him is most base insomuch that Dauid comparing man but with some of the creatures said What is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that Psal 8. thou doest consider him how much more compared with the Creator Yea man is not onely base but miserable and so miserable that if Christ had not come to redeeme vs it had beene better for vs we had beene stones yea beares and toades therefore seeing all that can be saide is too little to set forth Gods maiesty and nothing can be said enough to set forth mans misery this that the Apostle saith That God is manyfest in the flesh must needes be a great mistery By God the Apostle meanes not the first person in the diety which is the father nor the third person which is the holye Ghost but the second person which is the Sonne for though there bee but one God yet in the Godhead there Mat. 28. are three persons the father the sonne and the holy Ghost Now it was the sonne the second person that was more manifested in the flesh as Iohn saith The word was made Iohn 1. flesh and dwelt among vs we saw the glorye thereof as the glory of the onely begotten soâ—ne of the father full of grace and truth Therefore Paule saith In him dwels the fulnesse of Col. 2. 9. the Godhead bodily And yet we are not to thinke he was thrust out of heauen as the euill Angels were but he tooke flesh of his owne accorde as the Apostle saith in the second to the Phillipians he being equal with God tooke on him the forme of a seruant for as Adam sinned and ouerthrew mankinde voluntarily so it was necessarie that Christ should take our nature and redeeme vs voluntarily Manifested in the flesh By flesh he meanes not the body of man onely but our whole humane nature consisting of soule and body As when Peter saith He suffred in the 1. Pet. 4. flesh it is not meant he suffered in his body onely but in his soule also as he saith of Mat. 2. himselfe my soule is heauy euen to the death so when it is said here he was manifested in the flesh he meanes in our humane nature for he was in all things like to vs sinne excepted Heb. The manner of his taking flesh was of a woman as it is said God sent his sonne made of a woman Mathew tels vs Gal. 4. Mat. 1. what woman namely the virgin Mary therefore he is in the Scripture called the Sonne of man not that any man was his father but because on a woman he tooke on him mans nature this is that the Prophet Esay spake of him They shall call his name Esa 7. Emanuell that is God with vs therefore are there such misticall speeches in the scripture Iohn Baptist saith of him he that comes Ioh. 1. after me is before me that is he comes after me in his manhood but was before me in his Godhead He is likened to Melchisadeck who is said to be without father and Heb. â— without mother for as he was man he was without father and as he was God he was without mother and he himselfe saith in Iohn 5. Ioh. 5. Before Abraham was I am This is that which some diuines haue spoken of in a wondring maner That he which is eternall should be borne in time that hee Esa 7. Dan. 7. which is called the ancient of daies should be a child of an houre old that he which is the worde should become a babe that Iohn 1. cannot speake that he which is infinite should be compassed in the wombe of a Luke 2. Virgin that hee should not onely make vs like himselfe at the first but make himselfe like vs that the flesh of Adam and the sinne of Adam being ioyned in all other men should be separated in that man that was the sonne of God because he was not borne after the ordinarie manner of men but was conceiued by the holy ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary this is wonderfull Who would haue thought that these two natures the Godhead and the manhood that were so farre deuided a sunder should haue beene so neerelie ioyned together not in one Paradice as at the first but in one person that more meerely then the soule and the body for they may be deuided but the godhead and manhoode of Christ cannot therefore this is a great mistery that God is manifested in the flesh Yet we must not imagine two Christes one that was God and another that was man but one Christ who is both God and man the diuell hath stirred vp some heritickes to deny his Godhead and some to deny his manhood and some also to confound them together thinking to corrupt this mistery and so to ouerthrow religion those that haue denied his Godhead alleadge for colour
maruelous consideratition that subiects had sinned and the Lord must be beaten that seruantes had offended and the maister must die that the guilty should be spared the innocent punished and yet Gods iustice not impeached On the other side if he had not beene God almighty how could he haue encountred and conquered the deuill hell sinne death and all the great enemies of our saluation that were too strong for mā to battell with all if he had not beene euerlasting God how could he by temporall suffering haue discharged vs of eternall torment and how should the merite of his suffering haue reached to those that liued long before long after his death if he had not beene infinite God how should the father haue accepted so many sinners in him and him for so many sinners which he was angry withall and how should he be present with his people throughout the world therefore it was necessary he shuld be both God and man that being man he might be sufficient to suffer whatsoeuer was due from God do whatsoeuer was being God he might be all sufficient to make that acceptable and effectuall which was suffered and done for vs. Therfore this is a great mistery that God was manifested in the flesh 1 Hereof comes that neere coniunction that is betweene Christ and his Church set forth in the Scripture by many similitudes he is called the head and we the body not Col. 1. his naturall body but his misticall body as all true Christians are the body of Christ so euery one is a member of his body not hipocrites for they are no more true members 1. Cor. 12 of Christes body then a brasen noase or a woden leg is a member of a mans body but true christians that are by faith and the spirit of regeneration vnited to Christ for though Christ be in heauen and we in earth yet as the foote which is a great way distant from the head is by certaine sinues and vaines springing from the head ioyned to the head so Christians are by certaine spiritual vaines as faith hope loue c. ioyned vnto Christ he is also called the husband the Church is called his wife therfore as the wife looses her owne name and beares the name of her husband so we loose our owne name and beare the name of Christ and are called christians and as a Acts. 14. wife is indowed with the goods of her husband so are we with the riches of Christ He is called the vine we the branches Iohn 15. from whom we receiue spiritual iuce and vertue to bring forth fruite acceptable to God profitable to men for as Adam did not only make vs guilty but also corrupt vs so Christ doth not onely make vs innocent but also sanctifieth vs. 2 Hereof comes that misticall and spirituall aliance and kindred that is betweene Christ and his people therefore he calles those that doe his fathers will his mother Mat. 12. his brother and sister how poore or base soeuer they be in the world yet if they be of the right streine of christianity they be of the most royall blood and more honorable then they which come of the houses of Valoys of Austria or any earthly discent because they haue God for their father the Church for their mother Christ for their elder brother and are made kings and Queenes of heauen as one saith Those that be noble by their first birth in the worlde doe become vnnoble by vices so those that be vnnoble by their first birth may become noble by a new birth and by vertues therefore Peter calles the faithfull a chosen generation a royall Priesthood a holy nation a peculiar people 1. Pet. 2. 3 Hereof comes that mutuall exchange that is betweene Christ and vs hee was made with vs the sonne of man that wee might be made with him the sonnes of God he by imputation and communication tooke on him our sinnes and miseries that they might be imputed to vs his vertues and merites as the Apostle saith he 2. Cor. 5. was made sinne for vs that we might be made the righteousnesse of God by him This is a great mistery that his pouerty should be our fitches that his bondage 2. Cor. 8. 9. should be our liberty that his condemnation before Pilate should be our iustificatibefore God that his stripes should be the Rom. 8. 2. cure of our woundes that he should bee Esa 53. 5. ioyned with theeues and robbers that we might be ioyned with Saints and Angels Luk. 23 Gal. 3. 13 that his curse should be our blessing that he should ouercome death by dying and that his death should be our life that hee He. 2. 14. should discend into hell that is into hellish tormentes that he might lift vs vp to Mat. 26. heauen and happinesse Therefore we are saide to be crucified with him to be buried Gal. 2. 19 Rom. 6. 4 Col. 3. 1. Ephe. 2. 6 with him to be quickned with him Eph. 2. 5. to be raysed vp with him Col. 3. 1. to be ascended into heauen with him for at the first Adam was not a priuate but a publike person in whome all mankinde was included so Christ the second Adam was not a priuate but a publike person in whom the whole Church is to bee considered therefore in Christes death and satisfaction in Christes resurrection and iustification in Christes ascention and glorification we must see the death resurrection and ascention of the whole Church for as he hath done and suffered all these things for the Church so the Church hath done and suffered all those things in him and shal at the last receiue the fruite of those things by with him this is a great mistery that God is manyfested in the flesh therefore he is called our Sauiour which is set foorth in his Mat. 1. 21 1. Tim. 2. 5. name Iesus he is called our mediatour to make intercession for vs where by the way noate that the Popish booke called the Ladies Psalter made by Bonauenter is blasphemous because it appoints other mediators besides him he is called our Lord to 1. Cor. 8. 6. Ioh. 10. 9 defend gouerne vs he is called our dore and way to bring vs to the father he is called our Phisition to cure our spirituall diseases Mat. 9. 12 and to restore vs to health he is called Iohn 10. 11. Iohn 6. our shepheard to gather vs into the Church he is called the bread of life to norish vs to life euerlasting he is called our Ephe. 2. peace to pacific our conscience he is called Tim. our hope because he is all in all vnto vs. Therefore it is said we are complet in him Col. 2. 16 and therefore Paule saith I desire to know Cor. nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified Phil. 3. 8. I count all things dung that I may winne
Christ who doth communicate to vs not onely his name his nature and his graces but also his priuiledges that we should be Kinges and Priestes that we should be Kinges and Priestes that we should haue interrest in the creatures and be wayted on of Angels therefore this is a great mistery that God is manifested in the flesh 4 From hence comes the mutual feeling and affection that is betweene Christ vs that he takes the injuries done to vs as done to himselfe as he saith to Saule why persecutest thou me when he went to Damascus to Acts. 9. persecute the Church he takes the benefites bestowed vpon his members to be bestowed on himselfe as he shal say at the last day when I was hungry ye gaue me meate Mat. 25. when I was thirsty ye gaue me drinke and he expoundes his meaning in saying that which ye did to one of these little ones that beleeues in me yee did to me as that which is done to the hand or foote by reason of a naturall coniunction reaches to the head so that which is done to Christians by reason of a spiritual coniunction reaches to Christ the head of the Church and on the other parte from hence comes the feeling griefes of Christians when Christ is blasphemed or dishonoured as Dauid sayeth Tâ—â— rebukes of those that rebuked they are fallen on me and the feeling comfort and reioysing that Christians haue when Christ is honoured his kingdome furthered and his will obeyed And from hence comes not onely the simpathie and â—eeling that Christians haue with Christ their head but that they haue one with another as members of the same body as the Apostle requireth Be like affected Rom. 12 one towards another mourne with those that mourne and reioyce with those that reioyce as in a naturall body there is not that feeling with the members of another bodie as of the same so in Christes misticall body there is not that feeling among the members of a strange body as among those that be the true Church and body of Christ therefore the scripture maketh thâ—â— a marke of a true Christian and disciple Iohn 13 1. Iohn 3. to loue thy brethren This is the great misterie that the sonne of God is manifested in the flesh whoâ— he is God is our father as he is man heâ— our brother and as he is God and man â—â— is our attonement maker therefore let â— not so looke to his humanity as we forgâ— his diuinitie least we be offended at â— basenesse as the Iewes were who callâ— him the Carpenters sonne and let vs nâ— so looke to his diuinity as we forget his humanity least we be dismaide at his brightnesse as the man was that said depart from me for I am a sinnefull man But let vs so consider the vniting of these two natures in his person that in him we may see our happye condition and know assuredly that as there is no saluation to them that are without him soe there is no condemnation to them that Rom. â— are in him hee knowes not religyon that knowes not this saith Maister Caluin Iustified in the spirit All that which followes in this verse serues but for the amplification of this mistery therefore hauing beene somewhat large in the former wordes I will bee briefe in the rest Iustification sometime in the Scripture dooth signifie to account a thing or a person iust and pure that is not so of himselfe and so it is taken commonly when it respectes vs who are by God esteemed iust by grace that are not so by nature but so it cannot be taken here for in this sence Christ cannot be said to be iustified except it bee from our sinnes that he had taken vppon him as our surety as Paule saith he Rom. 4. dyed for our sinnes and rose agayne for our iustification that is to say hauing by his Rom. 4. death payde the price of our sinnes hee was by his resurrection iustified and freed from them and in him wee are iustyfied from our sinnes and the punishmentes of them because the penaltye of our sinnes beeing payde by him can no more bee exacted of vs therefore Paule saith as by one mans disobediene manye were made sinners so by the obedyence Rom. 5. of one many were made righteous therefore contrarye to the opinion of the Papistes wee must fetch our iustification by the faith of the Gospell from him that is iust and hath kept the lawe and not from our selues that are vniust and cannot keepe the law therefore saith the Rom. 3. Apostle wee are iustified by the faith of Christ and not by the workes of the law and yet faith dooth not iustyfie vs as it is a quality in vs no more then to see patience or any other grace but as it is grace that layes hould of Christ neyther is it the quantitye or strength of faith that dooth iustifie vs but true faith how little soeuer that layes holde of the strength of Christ but I will stand no longer vpon this point though it be a speciall part of this misterye of godlynesse because the Apostle dooth not speake of this kinde of iustyfication heere as appeares when hee sayeth hee was iustyfied in the spirite Therefore iustification is heere to be taken in another sence that is to alow or acknowledge a thing or a person to bee that which hee is in himselfe when it seemed to some to be otherwise as where Mat. 11. it is saide wisedome is iustified of her children that is acknowledged to bee excellent wisedome Though other doe deny it and account it foolishnesse in this sence the Apostle speaketh heere when hee saith Christ was iustified in the spirite as if he should saye though hee were manifested in the flesh and seemed to bee a base person yet hee was found and acknowledged to bee the euerlasting and glorious God to the like effect the Apostle 1. Pet. 3. Peter speaketh of him saying Hee suffered in the flesh and was quickned in the spirite which is the same that Saint Iohn speaketh after hee had saide the worde Iohn 1. was made flesh hee addeth wee saw the glorye thereof as the glory of the onely begotten sonne of the father full of grace and trueth for though the sonne of God tooke on him our humane nature frailety he did not lay aside his deuine nature and maiestye but onelye couered vnder the vayle of the flesh as the sunne though it bee couered with cloudes yet the bright beames thereof doe sometime breake out and shew foorth it selfe to those that haue eyes so the beames of Christes Godhead did sometimes breake out and appeare to those that were not spirituallye blinde and not onelye in his excellent words and Doctrine speaking as it is sayde of him so as neuer man spake but in his gloryous transfiguration Mat. 17. vppon the mountaine which Peter calles the holy Mount where saith 2. Pet.
the spirit but is in his naturall estate What must such a man as findes not these things do conclude he is a reprobate no but feare it know that â—ames speakes Iam. 4. 6. that the Scripture offers more grace therefore heare the word which is the immortall seede of our new birthe while it is called to daye and among other things heere that Saint Iames saith cleanse your hands yee sinners and purge you hartes yee wauering minded let your laughter beâ— turned into mourning and your ioy into heauynesse neuer bee merry neuer eate your meate pleasantly neuer sleepe quietly but tremble and quake continually heare reade aske questions and praye diligentlye till God hath begunne a true worke of grace in you for that which is borne of the fleshe is fleshe and cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen but that which is borne of the spirite is spirit and shall enter Maruell not that I said vnto thee yee must Verse 7. be borne againe Our Sauiour Christ forbiddes him not simplye to maruell at this for if Dauid Psalm 8. wondred to beholde the naturall creatures of God how much more wonderfull are those things that bee supernaturall Dauid speaking of his creation saith I am fearefully and wonderfully made much more wonderfull is it to be created and made a new it is a greater matter to regenerate a man then it was to create the worlde for at the first God created all things with a worde but to recreate a man there must be wordes and deedes to Christ must be borne for vs that wee might bee borne againe in him Christ must dye for vs that our olde man might bee slaine and must be quickned and rise againe for vs that a new creature might bee reuiued and restored in vs therefore regeneration is a thing to bee maruelled at as manye other of the great and excellent workes of God bee but when Christ biddes Nichodemus not maruell hee meanes such a marueling as fighteth against faith and causes a man to reiect a thing as fabulous because hee cannot conceiue it but to wonder at Gods grace and power in the regenerate and to submit our selues and our sences to the word and worke of God there in is a commendable thing But marke wee that Nichodemus not being regenerate himselfe regeneration was a riddle to him as the Papistes and those that haue not true faith themselues thinke that none can bee assured of their saluation whereby wee may see how true that saying of the Apostle 1. Tim. 3. is That Godlynesse is a Misterye Furthermore note that our Sauiour Christ saith not we must be borne againe but yee because hee would exclude himselfe for his first birth was vncorrupt hee was conceiued by the holye Ghost and borne of a Virgin without sinne and therefore neede not be borne againe but all other men beeing corrupt by their first birthe must be borne againe yea euen the Pharises who thought themselues excellent in comparison of others therefore hee saith to Nichodemus that was a Pharisie yee must bee borne againe as hee saith in Mathew Except your righteousnesse exceede the righteousnesse of the Mat. 5. 20 Scribes and Pharises yee cannot enter into the kingdome of God The winde bloweth where it listeth c. Verse 8 By this similitude he would reprooue the follye of Nichodemus that did followe onely his reasonable iudgement and naturall conceite in this worke of regeneration this is supernaturall as Paule by a similitude taken from the Corne reprooued the foly of the Corinthians that followed reason in the article of the resurrection 1. Cor. 15 36. It is as if our Sauiour Christ should saye wee would knowe there is winde that God hath created for many purposes we heare it wee feele it and see the effectes of it but we cannot tell where it riseth nor where it setteth so wee may perceiue the working of the spirite in others and feele it in our selues changing our iudgements our affection and conuersations as how euidently was the power of the spirite to be perceiued in Paule who of a persecuter became a Preacher in Zacheus who of an oppresser became a distributer in Abraham who of an Idolater became a true worshipper and in Marie Magdalen who of an adulterer became a chaste liuer and least any should say these were choice persons our Sauiour Christ saith heere So is euery one that is borne of the spirite The sound of the winde is heard of manye and the force of it is seene in carrying the Cloudes in moouing the Waters in dryuing the shippes in shaking the trees but in how few is the force of Gods spirite seene to mooue and carrye men to spirituall duties to zeale loue liberality iustice mercye c. The blasts and force of the flesh are heard and seene in Towne and country in swearing rayling lying adultery drunkenesse c. But the blasts of the spirit not so common if I should also follow the other similitude so is euery one that is borne of the spirite there is good instruction in it what sorrow hath a woman in bearing of children what faintings what gripings and throwes as if she should be torne in pecces and all to bring forth a childe yea some are content to be ript that by their owne death they may procure the childes life but how little paines doe men take to bee borne againe to cast away the workes of the flesh and to bring forth the fruites of the spirit which will not be done with â—ase but with wrastling with Sathan resisting of sinne and denying our selues Nichodemus answered and saide how can Verse 9 these things be A man would thinke that by this time we should haue hard a new borne babe cry but he still reasons carnally where is the goodnesse of nature to goodnesse that the Papistes boast of when this man that had nature helped by learning and manye meanes yet was altogeather vnapâ— so much as to conceiue of spirytuall good thinges Those that thinke themselues wise enoughe to conceiue any thing yea any point of religion are controuled by this mans example where wee may see how hard a thing it is to worke regeneration in a man when it is so hard to make men conceaue it Reason with many men about the points of religion as faith repentance and the like you shall finde such vnsauorie carnall and caueling speeches as it would make a spirituall man to wonder they shoulde bee so ignorant and sencelesse But by this man wee see though doctrine bee deliuered plainely though it bee deliuered diuersely though it be laide foorth generallye and perticulerlye though it bee shewed by similitudes and borrowed speeches yet men cannot perceiue and vnderstand it except God giue them grace therefore Dauid prayeth to the Lorde thus Open mine eyes that Psal 119 I may see the wonders of thy lawe but Nichodemus his eyes were still shutte vp and therefore saith How can these things
come it is wofull to thinke how many we shall see then of this kinde of ground Some doe continue till the gowte layes holde of them as King Asa some till the worlde layes holde of them as Demas and some doe continue till persecution layes holde of them as Francis Spera some men are like the Snaile that put out a long paire of hornes but if yee doe but touch them in they goe others will stand out some small matters but the threatning of death is the death of their religion but our Sauiour Christ saith to the Church of Smirna continue faithfull to the death and I will giue thee a crowne of life our Sauiour Christ hauing tould his Disciples of warres of enemies and dangers saith he that continues to the end shal be saued and bids them not feare him that killes the body Mat. 24. for the feare of a thing is many times worse then the thing it selfe for though persecutioÌ„ be threatned we know not what the intent of it is We reade of Domicianus the Emperor of Rome who made a proclamation that all those that would not worship an image should be banished wherevpon many of his subiects because they would keepe good consciences fled the rest yeelded became idolaters Then the Emperor called againe those that fled and placed them next vnto him and those that worshipped the image he banished from him saying they that wil not be faithfull to God will not be faithfull to me But if there should be a ful purpose of the maiestrate to shed the bloud of the Saints they cannot doe it except vntil God will suffer them for Christ saith A haire of your head shall not perish without your fathers prouidence he can change the kings hart it may bee we shall suffer but a few lewd words as they caled the christians in queene Maries daies holy knaues holy whores but remember the seruant is not better then his maister it may be a little imprisonment yet he can giue vs fauour in the eyes of the keeper of the prison as he did Ioseph he can open the prison dores and loose our fetters as he did Peter and if God giue liberty to the persecuters Acts. 10. yet they can but kill the body and if Gods will be we should die why should wee haue a will to liue if Philemon did owe to Paul not onelye that which hee had but himselfe how much more doe wee owe our selues to God as one saith If God had but giuen mee my life Iowe it him againe but seeing he hath giuen for mee the life of his sonne what am I to that gift in the 11. to the Heb. we reade of many Martirs that were diuersely persecuted and would not bee deliuered it is reported of a French Martir who beeing offered this fauour to bee spared of his chaines and fetters as hee went to execution aunswered no but the more contemptible his death was the more honourable Remember whatsoeuer we suffer for Christ he suffered more for vs shall a fire of stickes that lastes but an houre daunt a Christian man that so many women yea so many children haue indured cannot he that caused the fire that it should not touch the three children make it burne thee quicklve cannot hee that caused the Lions that they should not touch Daniel cause them to crush thee softely let vs remember that the honour of Martyrs hath alwayes bin great in the Church and their reward is great in heauen therefore saith wise Salomon buy the trueth but sell it not no Mat. 5. not for thy life and on contrarywise let vs consider what an vnwise thing it is to deny the trueth for the company of friendes to loose the familiarity of God and his Angels for hope of preferment to loose the inheritance of heauen for feare of paine to throw our selues into the torments of hell for regarde of the body to cast awaye the soule besides that it may be a man that so saues his life shall loose it within a weeke after by some disease or mischance yet if he should liue twenty yeares he shall finde his life worse then death for better is a happy death then an vnhappy life for the torment of conscience that will follow the denying of the trueth is worse then persecution as yee may see in Dauid who found the torment of his sinne of adultery from which there was no escape a heauier thing to beare then all the persecutions of Saule how much more heauy thinke we will be the occasion of the sinne of Apostacie as yee may see in Francis Spera who beeing a professor of religion for feare of persecution fell to imbrace Popery then he cryed out of himselfe that he was a reprobate and wished that he might be ten thousand yeares in hell fire so that at length hee might be deliuered Seeing it is so let vs pray to God to soften our hartes that the worde may take deepe roote in vs that as we know professe it so we may beleeue and bring forth fruite of it for those that doe not beleeue and practise it will not dye for it those that will doe nothing for it will suffer nothing for it and let vs pray to God that we may cleaue vnto it not for a time but alwayes for our reward shall not be a reward of dayes and yeares but for euer Also they that receiue the seede among thornes Verse 18. There is a third sort of ground that were fitter to beare fruit then the two former but that there are thornes bryers and weedes in it vnpulled vp that springes higher branches further and spreds wider then the Corne and choake the seede that it cannot beare fruite to this kinde of ground our Sauiour Christ compares those men that haue wit reason and capacity enough and might become good men and doe good duties but other things which hee callâ—â— thornes takes vp the roome in their harts that they cannot Our Sauiour Christ shews also what these thornes be that chaoke the word that is to say the cares of the world deceitfulnesse of ritches Luke addeth voluptuousnesse in a word hee meanes by thornes the corrupt lustes of mens nature that doe carry them so egerly after the profits pleasures of the world that they neglect the duties of godlines that are prescribed in the word By cares of the world oâ—â— Sauiour Christ doth not meane moderate care for that the word doth command and may stand well with religion Salomon reprooues carelesnesse and telles vs that the Pro. 6. little Emit that wantes reason dooth prouide in Summer for winter much more should a man that hath reason and most of all a man that hath religion as Paul saith He that prouides not for his house and familye 1. Tim. 5. hath denied the faith and is worse then an infidell But by cares of the worlde heere our Sauiour Christ meaneth immoderate and excessiue cares that the worlde
armour of God we are not able to resist the deuill for what power is therein a subiect to resist a Prince what strength is in weake flesh to withstand a mighty spirite what wisedome is there in a foolish man to counteruaile the subtill Serpent but if we bee armed with the armour of God and furnished with his deuine grace then and there by we are made able to c. Therefore saide our Sauiour Christ to this Apostle when 2. Cor. 12. he was in this battell and prayed for aide My grace is sufficient for thee and hee hauing experience that it was so saith I am able to doe all things by the heple of him that strengthens me and if it should be obiected Paul was an olde man therefore we cannot doe as he did Saint Iohn writes to the church and speaking of common Christians saith Hee that is borne of God ouercomes 1. Ioh. 5. 4 the world If we reade the Scripture wee shall see what great temptations the seruants of God haue ouercome by grace as Moses Ioseph Iob Daniel and others we must be like the people of Ciuiensis who when the ambassadors of Brutus would haue them deliuer their Citty vnto him returned his answer tel your captaine Brutus our ancestors haue left vs weapons to defend our selues and our Citty so when the diuell tempteth vs to yeelde our selues to him let vs answere our God hath left vs weapons to defend our selues from him Therefore if we would be able to stand vpright against the temptations of the diuell let vs heare reade praye and euery waye labour to furnish our selues with knowledge faith hope trueth iustice mercye loue humilytie patience meekenesse and all the graces of Gods spirite And let vs knowe this is none of the least of Sathans temptations to perswade men they may doe well enough without them or with some though they seeke not for all of them and to thinke that those that haue them doe no great matters with them How great a temptation of the diuell in the person of a woman did Ioseph Gen. 39 ouercome by grace when numbers with farre lesse inticementes are carryed to adulterye how great a temptation did the three children ouercome by grace Dan. 3. when thousandes were for want of grace carryed to idolatrye as one saith this prooues not a man an innocent because hee is not accused but beeing accused he is able also to cleare himselfe so it prooues not a man a Christian that hee is not tempted but beeing tempted he is able to ouercome therefore saieth the Apostle Put on the whole armour of God that yee may bee able to resist As the graces of God doe inable vs to withstand the diuell in his temptations so wee must put foorth our strength and resist him When Peter had sayde 1. Pet. â— your aduersary the diuell goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whome he maye deuoure hee addeth whom resist stedfastly in the faith Iames sayeth Resist Iam. 4. the diuell and hee will flye from you some to excuse their falles saye the temptation was so strong that it was vnpossible to withstand it It may bee it was vnpossible for an vnarmed man but not vnpossible for a man furnished with Gods grace Therefore let such a man knowe it was not so much the strength of temptation as his owne weakenesse and cowardise that ouerthrewe him hee wanted grace or did not resist if hee had hee might haue ouercome for there haue beene men yea women that haue ouercome as great temptations as those and let him tell mee did hee not vse his owne handes his owne eyes his owne feete his owne tounge whereof the diuell hath noe power except by speciall license or authoritye in the case of possession which is not ordinary but his power and practise is to intice mens hartes and hauing wonne their Iudgement and wonne their affection they giue their toung to speak euil or their hands or other members of the body to commit euill why doe men these things and not resist but suffer themselues to be ouercome of their spirituall enemy By this time we see cause seeing it stands vs vpon life and death to resist the diuell but some man may aske how we should doe it I answere our resistance must be spirituall as our enemy is spirituall it is not enough to say I defie the diuell as some thinke but if we would resist the diuell we must resist sinne what sinne soeuer it bee that wee are tempted to whether against the first table or the second table of the law whether it be against God directlye as idolitry blasphemy periury or the worship of God as the neclect of the worde sacraments or sabothes or whether it be against men or women in the abridgement of their authority of their liues of their chastity of their goodes of their name for we neuer are mooued to any sinne but we haue to doe with the diuell directly or indirectly If it be asked how we should resist sinne I answere I resist the motions vnto it within and the perswasions and occasions vnto it without resist it in iudgement and saye with our selues the diuell stirres vp my corrupt nature in my hart or stirres vp such a man or such a woman to perswade me to such or such an euill thing I may not doe it resist it in affection such a thing that the diuell or his instrument would drawe me vnto is euill I wisl not doe it resist it in conuersation such a thing that the diuell perswades mee to is euill I will haue no hand I will haue no finger in it I will stop my eares from hearing of it I will shut my mouth from defending it I will turne away my feete from following it Some may aske how a man should know the temptations of the diuell from the corrupt motions of our owne nature I answer there is such an affinity likenes betweene them as it is hard to distinguish them therefore the safest way is to thinke that we haue to deale with both these enemies at once and so to be the more strengthened against them but for a difference let vs know when all euill motion to any sinne is raysed if spirituall force be added to draw vs or spiritual subtilty to perswade vs which be two properties of the diuelles nature let vs thinke besides our owne corruption which is the broker the diuell himselfe is present is the prouoker let vs resist the first corrupt motions of our nature which the Apostle seemeth to call the 2. Cor. 12 messengers of Sathan as hee saith to the Collossians mortifie your earthly members Col. 3. if wee make such faire warres with these spirituall enemies and kill them not as many doe we shall haue foule handes with them and let vs resist the diuell who will double and inforce those suggestions by what reasons or perswasions soeuer he doth it that all the power of hell may not
the Prince appoints that men should lay apart some thing for the vse of the poore as God hath blessed them in the iudgement of their neigbours and the same should bee distributed by the hands of ouer-seers and if any Towne bee surcharged with poore the lawe appointes that other Townes and persons lesse charged shall bee assistant vnto them at the discretion of the Iustices I would to God this Godlye order were so well obserued that wee might saye with Dauid In our time I haue not seene the righteous and their sâ—ede bâ—gge their bread But in some places this is not brought yet into order and in some other places it is againe quickly growne out of order for some Townesmen doe not rate themselues and their neighbours conscionably and proportionably as they may prouide for the poore but as they may satisfie their owne humors and content one another and ouerseers that should bee as it were fathers for the poore are neglygent to call for the amendment of this fault and where it cannot bee helped at home because of the multytude of poore They are neglygent to call to the iustices of peace to procure helpe from other places and I wish Iustices of peace beeing complained vnto would not bee negligent to drawe other persons and parishes to contribute to their neighbour Townes as the law appoints for then it will come to passe that not the poore but the ritch shal be releeued by this good statute who doe spare a great matter of that they did giue at their dores and as they trauelled by the wayes especially Gentlemen and yeomen that dwell in little villages and hamlets as it were alone who were in time past most cloyed are now either nothing or verye little charged if they be not drawne into a proportionable contribution by the order of the good law that is prescribed What a furtherance iustices of peace may be to the reliefe of the poore not only by their purses being of great ability but by their authority hauing the ability of other men as it were at commaundement we may easily conceiue now those that will not doe the good they may shall not haue the reward they would It was no great almes that Lazarus desired yet hee could not get it the dogges were more mercifull then their maister they gaue Lazarus their tongues but hee would not giue them his crums the Prophet Amos speakes of such men in his time Amos. 6. that did drinke wine in bowles but did not remember the affliction of Ioseph I might here take iust occasion to enter into a common place of liberality and that not vnprofitably in respect of the great necessity and vse of it especiallye at this time when the loue of many waxes colde and in respect of that which followed to this man for want of it but because it is an argument often spoken of by many and plentifully written of by some I will passe it ouer onely let vs marke some necessary circumstances that are pertinent to this example 1 Whereas the noblenesse of all creatures consist in giuing and the more bounty that is in any the more praise what a base thing was it in this man that he would not practise it 2 Although many are bound to this duty yet ritch men are most bound to it therefore consider what a couetous part it was in him not to doe it 3 The Apostle saith Ritch men should be ritch in good workes according to that proportion that our Sauiour Christ speakes of He that hath much let him giue plentifully therefore what a miserly thing was it in him that he would giue nothing no not the crummes 4 Although there must bee care had of dyuers other poore yet the sicke and sore should not bee neglected therefore how great vnmercyfulnesse was it in this man that had no pittye on such a one 5 Paule saith we are bound specially to respect the housholde of faith therefore what impiety was it in this man not to releeue Lazarus who was a godly man 6 Lastly although many ciuil men that haue no religion in them who wil not giue almes religiously according to the rules of the Scripture yet for vaine glory and ostentation they will giue to those that come to their dores therefore what inhumanitye was in this man that would not giue at his gate nor any way He was one of them the Apostle speakes of that is a reprobate to euery good worke and that our Sauiour Christ spake of to Titus 1. whom it shall be saide at the day of iudgement Goe yee cursed into euerlasting fire Mat. 25. for when I was hungry yee fed mee not therefore let vs bee content to feede Christ in his members with our meate who was content to feede vs with his owne flesh Lazarus dyed It is like hee dyed for want of reliefe and then the ritch man was gilty of his bloud and he was punished there after in the law it is said if a man be slaine the Elders of the Cittye shall wash their handes and say they are free from the bloud of that man How can ritch men in some Townes now wash their hands say they are free when many of the poore do perish thorow their default both in not releeuing them procuring them reliefe But marke Lazarus dyed When Adam sinned hee killed himselfe and all his posteritye for although hee died not by and by yet his life after was but a dying life euerye daye hee set forward a step vnto death And this example dooth witnesse that which Salomon speakes Wisemen dye aswell as fooles but yet to a dyuers ende good men dye that they maye rest from their labours laye aside the miseries of this life and receiue the rewarde of their vertues bad men dye that they maye laye aside the pleasures of this mortall lyfe and receaue the rewarde of their vices Therefore Iames speaking to wicked ritch men saith Houle for the miseries that shall come vpon you for your meriment shall not last alwayes and speaking to the godly poore he saith Be patient therefore brethren and settle your hartes till the comming of the Lord for your oppression and misery shall not last alwayes It is said Lazarus was carryed by the Angelles c. The Angelles as the author to the Hebrewes Heb. 1. saieth Are ministering spirites for their sakes who are appointed to saluation they doe minister vnto them dyuers wayes in this life sometime reuealing the counsell of God vnto them as Gabriell did Luk. 1. to the virgin Mary touching the birth of Christ sometime ministering to them corporall food as the Manna that the children of Israel did eaâ—e in the wildernesse is called Psalm Angelles foode because it was ministred by Angelles sometimes by preseruing them from danger as the two Angelles did Lot from the insurrection of the Sodomites somtime in deliuering them out Gen. 19. of danger as when Peter was in prison the Angell