A LIVELES LIFE OR Mans Spirituall death in Sinne. Wherein is both learnedly and profitably handled these foure Doctrines The Spirituall Death in Sinne. The Doctrine of Humiliation Mercy to be found in Christ. Continuance in sinne dangerous Being the substance of severall Sermons upon EPHES. 2. 1 2 3. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins c. Whereunto is annexed a profitable Sermon at LINCOLNES INNE On GEN. XXII XIV Delivered by that late faithful Preacher and worthy Instrument of Gods glory IOHN PRESTON Dr. in Divinity Chaplaine in Ordinary to his Maiesty Master of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge and sometimes Preacher of Lincolns-Inne ROM 7. 9. For I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandement came sinne revived and I dyed LONDON Printed by I. Beale for Andrew Crooke at the Blacke Beare in Pauls Church-yard 1633. AN EXCELLENT TREATISE OF THE SPIRITVALL DEATH IN SINNE EPHES. 2. 1 2 3. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sinnes Wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the ayre the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience Among whom also wee all had our conuersation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the minde and were by nature the children of wrath euen as others THe scope of the Apostle in the former part of this Chapter is to stirre vp the Ephesians to a high estimation of their redemption by Christ and that hee might the better doe this hee sheweth â—hem their estate without Christ That they were children of wrath and dead in sinnes and trespasses and that they were dead in sinne hee proueth Because they walked in sinne That they walked in sinne he proveth Because they had amongst them some false guides which here hee reckons up and declares them to be these three First the World They walked according to the course of the world Secondly the Devill According to the prince of the power of the aire Thirdly the lusts of the flesh Among whom also we all had our conuersation in times past in the lusts of our flesh c. The first point that we will observe as naturally arising out of the words is this That all men by nature are dead in trespasses and sinnes This point is to be considered of all men both those which are alive and quickened out of this Lethargie and those which are yet dead in their trespasses and sinnes That wee are thus dead in sinne it plainly appeares by this reason All mankinde were represented in our first parent Adam of whose fall this death of sinne and of nature was made a part of the punishment now he being the root of us all and that being dead all the branches must needs be dead also It is also plaine by places of Scripture as Ioh 5. 25. The dead shall heare the voice of the Sonne of God and they that heare shall live so againe Ephes. 5. 14. Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and Christ shall give thee light Also in the Gospell our Saviour Christ saith Let the dead goe burie the dead that is let such as are dead in trespasses and sinnes goe burie those that are dead through sinne By all which places it plainly appears that all men by nature are dead in sinne This men consider not You would thinke it a gashly sight to see Churches streets and houses for to lye full of dead corpes but for to see places full of men spiritually dead which is farre the worse is a more gashly sight and yet who amongst us is there almost that doth consider it In this death in trespasses and sinnes for our fuller understanding of it I will shew you these five things 1. What this death is 2. The kinds of this death 3. The signes of this death 4. The degrees of this death 5. The use to be made of it First What this death is To know this we must understand that as a corporall death so a spirituall death hath two things in it First As in the naturall death there is a privation of life when the soule is seperated from the bodie so in the spirituall death there is a privation of the life of the soule namely the extinction of originall righteousnesse by reason of which a man can neither set hand nor foot forward in the waies of goodnesse as Paul confesseth of himselfe for as the seperation of the soule makes the body to dye so the extinction of originall righteousnesse makes the soule to dye Secondly As in the death of the bodie there is a stinking carkasse left when the soule is departed thence so in the death of the soule there is a positive corrupted qualitie left called the flesh whereby a man is prone to doe all evill And therefore they are called dead workes Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ let us goe on unto perfection not laying againe the foundation of repentance from dead workes c. Heb. 6. 1. And so againe in the 9. chapter of the same Epistle and 15. verse where it is said How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God purge your conscience from dead workes to serve the living God Now it seemes a contradiction that they should be workes and yet dead but yet it is so because besides the privation of good there is a positive evill and stirring qualitie which is active and bringeth forth these evill and dead workes Now for the chiefe seat of this death It is chiefly seated in the minde and understanding and not in the will The Understanding is primum vivens moriens primum the first living and first dead for although the will bee corrupted yet whatsoever is in it is carried through the understanding And this death of the understanding is such a darkenesse of judgement as thereby a man esteemes not but dislikes the wayes of God and goodnesse and approves the wayes of sinne and wickednesse And in this facultie of man the understanding is this death of sinne chiefly seated therefore it it is said Ioh. 1. 4 5. In him was light and that light was the life of men So also Ephes. 5. 14. the place before mentioned Awake thou that sleepest and stand vp from the dead and Christ shall give thee light where hee sayes not life but light for if there be light life will certainly follow So againe Acts 26. 18. To open their eyes that they may turne from darknesse to light One would thinke that in these places it should bee life and not light but it is so put to shew that the chiefest seat of this death is in the understanding Therefore also is it said Be renewed in the spirit of your mindes Rom. 12. 2. And to
the same purpose also saith Iames Iam. 1. 18. The word of Truth begat you now Truth hath a reference to the understanding And thus briefly have I given you a taste what this death is and the place wherein it is seated 2. Now it followes that we speake of the kinds of this death which for the better handling and benefit of your memories I will range into these three sorts 1 The death of guilt by which we are bound o-over to eternal damnation and so in the same manner usually wee say a man condemned is a dead man 2 The death which is opposed to the life of grace which is the seperation of grace from our soule 3. The death which is opposed to the lif of joy and comfort which is a thousand times more terrible than all deaths if it were truly and as it is indeed apprehended Which latter death that you may the better conceive of I will open it a little to you God joynes with every mans soule and gives to the most wicked man some seeming life of grace and some colourable life of comfort for else they would indure an hell here upon earth For the first although the wicked have no true grace yet they have a shadow of it as is manifest in their morall vertues So for the second for comfort they have some although no true comfort for God is the author of comfort as the Sunne is of light which all both good and bad doe more or lesse participate of or else they could not subsist As may appeare by the contrary for when he doth but once with-draw his comfort from us it is the terriblest thing in the world An example of this we may see in Christ when this comfort was with-drawne from him but in sense and feeling onely it made him cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth. 27. 46. Where Gods presence is taken away there is nothing but horror and trembling and I have knowne such that in his absence when his presence hath beene taken away have had their soules so pressed with horror that they have said That if at a thousan◠yeeres end they might enjoy the comfortable presence of God they would thinke themselves th◠happiest men in the world The absence of this made Luther to say That if all the creatures in heaven and hell should set to torment him they could not doe it so much as the with-drawing of Gods comfort did Alas poore creatures now in this world God is not seperated from you you feele not the torment of this death but now you enjoy the crepusculum and day-light of this comfort and therefore although it bee now slightly esteemed and little regarded yet when that day shall come that the Lord shall totally seperate them from his presence they shall by lamentable experience learne how terrible a thing it is Thus much for the second point the kinds of this death 3. For the signes of this death The signes of it may be taken from them of the bodily death the signes of that are these foure 1. The understanding faileth 2. There is want of sense 3. Want of motion 4. There is a deadnesse in the face These foure things you shall finde in a spirituall death First As those that are corporally dead want reason and understanding so doe those that are spiritually dead they cannot understand the things of God no more then men can judge of colours in the darke I but some man will object and say The carnall man knowes many things he hath a generall notion of the God-head and can talke of the creation of man and his redemption by Christ he can discourse of faith repentance c. There is a great difference betweene knowing Spirituall things and knowing them after a right manner a carnall man knoweth them but not in a right manner not in a spirituall manner And hence is that of the Apostle Tit. 1. 16. They professe that they know God but in workes they deny him being abominable and disobedient and unto every good worke reprobate The word which there is translated reprobate is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying unable to judge Indeed in the generall they may understand and like the things that are of God but come to particular circumstances that crosseth them they as a Divine sayes of them love veritatem lucentem non redarguentem they wholly dislike particulars because they bring them to hic et nunc to particulars In the abstract they loue holinesse but not as it is applied to particulars as it convinces them of their particular sinnes Hence it is that godly men are most hated of them that come neerest to them in shew because they bring light home to them and discover their acerrima proximorumodiv their inward and bosome hatred of their neighbours It is as much as if one should bring a Torch to one that is a doing some unlawfull thing some deed of darknesse he would wish him further off their lives shine as lights and therefore giving good examples by a shining and godly conversation which is contrary to the life of the ungodly and hypocriticall ones they cannot chuse but hate them and as all wicked men hate them so especially those that are nighest unto them in shew because that their life doth not onely shine unto them and lay open their vildnesse but scorch them also and therefore they being occupied about the workes of darkenesse wish them as farre off as they can So that hence we see with an approving judgement not any save those which are quickned can understand spirituall things 2. The second thing wherein a naturall death consisteth was in a privation of sense so also is it in the Spirituall death for their hearts are strong and cannot bee moved although I deny not but sometime they may have a little griping of conscience and sense of Gods judgement which naturally ariseth from conscience but they never have any reall and true feeling of it 3. In a naturall death they are without motion so likewise it is in a Spirituall death for the wicked can no more move themselves unto any good worke than a dead man can move himselfe out of his grave 4. In a naturall death there is a want of vigorousnesse and beauty as well in the face as in all other parts of the body so also there is in the Spiritual death the losse of that vigorous beauty which followes the life of grace they may bee seene to have death in the face if a living man beholds them he knowes how to discerne it although I deny not but that they may have hypocriticall painted vertues which may to weake eyes for a great while seeme true ones as men may have painted faces that have been taken for living ones but they are not true graces such as proceed from the life of grace indeed I but some may here object and say have not
some men many excellent morall vertues such as even the godly themselves have not Indeed it 's true that they have and these are Gods gifts also but yet they are but as chaines of gold about a dead maÌ„s neck oras pearls in a swines snout There may be many good things in them but they make them not good men for as the evill actions of good men redound not to their persons to make them evill so these good actions in evill men redound not to their persons to make them good they may have good in them but are not good And thus much for this third point the signes of this death 4. To come to the degrees of this death First for the death of guilt that hath degrees some men are more bound over than others as the Heathen men that were guided onely by the light of nature they indeed were guilty but the Jewes which had a more perfect knowledge they were more guilty then they and now we that live under the tropicke of the Gospell and have Sermon upon Sermon line upon line and every day are instructed are more guilty then the Jewes and amongst us they that have most meanes and profit least are most guilty of all and therefore are most bound over unto this death Secondly for the death that is opposite to the life of grace and sanctification that also admits degrees 1. For the first part the privation of life indeed there is no degree but all that are dead in regard of the privation and absence of originall righteousnesse are all dead alike 2. But for the second to wit the positive corrupt quality which is called the flesh that admits degrees for one may be mad and drunke both alike but the one may have some sparkes of reason more then the other The degrees therefore of this death are these three that follow 1. When men doe oppose and set themselves against a holy life although it bee closely and coverâ—ly under other names for against them directly the Divell will not speake because the knoweth it will not be regarded but he speakes against them under names of reproach which he himselfe hath invented These men are one of the bottome staires of the chamber of death and therefore it is almost impossible they should ever rise but must needs remaine in a pittifull case although it may be they thinke farre otherwise 2. When men are given up to voluptuousnesse and sensuality as Paul speaketh of the wanton widow 1. Tim. 5. 6. that because shee lived in voluptuousnesse shee was dead while she lived Even so the more a man is sunke into voluptuous courses the more hee is dead and as it were buried in his corruptions so that hee is altogether unable to stirre out of them it is a very difficult thing to leave them as in the sinnes of uncleannesse 3. When we are indifferent and care not how things goe and this is when a man is addicted unto the death of civill men which is a degree nearer to life yet is truly and indeed no better than a death such as have much restraining grace these are nearer the gate of heaven then others yet they are as truly shut out as they that are furthest off it is no matter how neere they are to heaven since they are all out of heaven alike they shall be sure if never any more quickened to goe to hell as well as others Thirdly The death that is opposed to the life of joy and comfort that hath also degrees God sometimes with-drawes his comfort from some more than others and so suffers some to have lesse horror then others Thus I have briefly explained this death in which all men naturally are I will now answer an objection of Bellarmine against that which hath beene said and so come to the fifth thing Some there be that say If all men are dead in sinne as you say they are then to what end is all our Preaching and your hearing for the dead are without life and cannot be moved with any of these things and therefore they are all in vaine To this I answer first that although every man by nature be dead unto grace yet he hath the lifâ— of reason in sinne whereby hee is able to perceive two things 1. To see that they are dead and without this life of grace their conscience telling them so 2. By the sight and feeling of their death they are able to bring themselves to the meanes of life as to the Word and Sacraments Secondly I answer that though all men be dead yet there is an end and effect of our speaking and their hearing for the Word that we speake may put life into them as the word that Christ spake unto Lazarus was able to raise him from the dead Thirdly Wee must know that there is a great difference betweene this spirituall death and the corporall death for this death consisteth in the understanding and will and is a free willing death in it they freely slye good and embrace evill they freely choose the wayes of death and therefore are said to be already dead as suppose a man is resolved to commit murder or treason and a friend come to him and perswade him from it and cannot prevaile that man may bee said to bee dead because he will doe that that will cost him his life Even so we may affirme that that man is dead already because hee will doe that that will bring death after the doing of it 5. Now for the fift thing the uses of this point That all men by nature are dead in sinne The first Use then that wee may make of this point is If all men are dead in sinne then let us be exhorted not to deferre our repentance saying we will repent afterward This is a fault usuall amongst young men and such as presume of their strength and ability of nature to live a great while they find nature strong in them and therefore put off repentance till they be sick and age bring them to thinke of death but let such consider that they are dead already and repentance is a putting of a new life into them Dost thou thinke it is in thy power to create a new life in thee when thou art dead Surely no more is it in thy power to repent when thou wouldest Hereby the devil entrappeth many in putting this conceit into them that they may repent when they will and this hee bringeth them unto by making them to mistake repentance in conceiving of it to be nothing else but a sorrow for sinne past and a purpose to live well afterward and leave all sinne he neuer tels them nor they neuer thinke that it is the creation of a new life in them for then they would say more but they are decejued this is not to repent for thou mayest doe all this and yet when thou hast done be damned
Seeing that by nature all of us are children of wrath and dead in trespasses and sinnes This should stirre up those that are quickened to be thankefull to God therefore Above all wee ever labour to bee most thankefull to him that hath saved our lives and this God hath done for us let us therefore stirre up ourselves to thankfulnesse Paul as we may read Rom. 7. 24 25. joynes these two together his deliverance and his thankfulnesse O wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me from this body of death I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lord. I confesse the world esteemes not this but if they have riches therein they rejoyce and so like the dunghill Cocke or unskilfull Lapidaries preferre vaine things before this precious Jewell but they that have once found the sweetnesse of it will not lose it for a world for if wee have but this what though wee lose wife children goods credit and good name they are all too light being layd in the ballance with this Doe yee every one therefore consider who it was that gave thee this and to him yeeld all thankfulnesse Let us love much because as much is forgiven so much is given to us Paul was much stirred up with this consideration thinking that he could never doe enough for Christ who had done so much for him as appears in many places of his Epistles The fourth Use we will make of this point is If we are all dead in trespasses and sinnes then this teacheth us how we should esteeme of the means of grace if wee are dead then it must bee an Omnipotent power which must quicken us All the meanes as the Word preached the receiving the Sacraments c. are but dead letters they are but as pennes without inke God must put inke into them if ever they be effectuall and therefore as wee must not give too little to the meanes so wee must not give too much nor rest in them When wee come to heare the Word preached it is not the hearing of the Minister but Christ in the Word preached which makes us live It is good to heare the Minister but except wee heare another voyce speaking to the heart as his doth to the eare we shall never be the better it is Christs voyce in the Word which doth quicken and put life in our soules But here let mee warne you to take heed of breaking the Conduit-pipe from the Fountaine if thou hearest and profitest not know that it is because Christ speaketh not to the eares of the heart as well as the Minister to our outward eares The fifth and last Use wee will make of this point shall be If that naturally all men are dead in sinne this should teach us to try our selves and see whether wee are dead or alive Consider the shortnesse and uncertainty of thy life here Mans life is like an houre-glasse if it runnes his course it is but an houre and it may be broken before it is run out ye have but a short while to live here according to the course of Nature and yet perhaps that course may not runne out too it may bee broken off before wee are aware and then for ever either in heaven or hell wee must abide hereafter Oh then never be quiet vntill you see wihther you shall goe to eternall blisse or everlasting woe Here the Diuels triicke is to put it into mens heads that a civill life will serue the turne but he dealeth with them as those that take gold from infants and give them counters and rattles and thus he would keepe them from this consideration perswading them of the latitude of religion and telling them that they are well enough seeing they are troubled for some sinnes and doe some duties perhaps in private but this you may doe and yet be dead still If he cannot prevaile this way then he will labour to hinder them by drawing them on in a voluptuous course of life or with worldly cares and so draweth them from themselves and so makes them never to consider what they are doing nor whitâ—er they are going and therefore is it that in the Gospell of Saint Luke chap. 16. the prodigall Son is sayd to come home to himselfe when he once beganne to consider his estate Although their conscience tell them all is wrong yet the tabrets of lusts and pleasures make such a deane where they are that they heare it not and so never consider nay if that Christ himselfe againe or the sonnes of Thunder should speake yet except Gods Spirit should inwardly worke it would not make men seriously to consider their estates It is the hardest thing in the world to make men sensible of life and death Let us therefore bee moved in particular to consider whether we are dead or alive If thou art quickened thou shalt finde one time or other these two things in thee First Thou once hadst a deepe and sensible consideration of thine estate by nature thou wert deeply affected with it so that thou sawest what need thou hadst of Christ till thou hast had this consideration thou art a dead man I know God can save thee without this hee could come without the terrible voyce as Christ could have come without Iohn Baptist before him but hee will not neither ever doth because it is impossible for a man highly to esteeme of Christ till hee is thus humbled for hee never will preferre him in particular actions and take him with all crosses and losses till hee fully see what need hee hath of him which he cannot untill he is thus humbled Secondly Consider if thou werâ— ever changed from what thou formerly wert neither is it a slight change that will serve but it must bee both constant and generall it must not be for a month or a yeare but daily and continually It must bee such a change that all where thou livest may see it thou must become a new soule in another body Thy change must be so great that thou mayst say Ego non sum ego I am not my selfe I am quite another man There must be as great a change in thee as there is in a white cloth when it is died blacke Such a change was in Paul he was converted from a persecutor to a Preacher So thou must of a Lion be made a Lambe there must as much difference be in us as is between winter summer And now seeing the time of the Sacrament is at hand let us all examine our selves we must not make excuses to keepe from the Sacrament but as all Nehem. 9. were to come to the Passeover else they were to be cut off from their people except they could shew some good cause so I know no reason why it should not be so still for the Sacrament But againe on the other side if wee doe come and are dead men wee come unworthily and eat and drinke our owne damnation in not discerning the body
of Christ 1. Cor. 11. 29. which we doe when wee doe not sufficiently esteeme it and conceive not what right we have to which was the Corinthians sinne for they knew well enough that that did represent his body Let us therefore take heed we come preparedly for as God strooke Vzzah for touching the Arke with polluted hands and Nadab and Abihu for offering of strange fire so if thou come unpreparedly to the Sacrament he will strike thee But to returne to the poynt which was even now handled That all men are dead in trespasses and sinnes because it is point which concernes all sorts of men wee will a little further consider it and in the next place speake of the nature of dead men Dead men are either 1. Such as are starke dead in sinne and doe make no shew at all of life as are all open prophane and notoriously wicked men 2. Such as are dead indeed and in truth but yet make a shew of life outwardly seeme to have it like the Angels that have appeared many times in assumed bodies but yet have none of their owne that is true and substantiall and these are chiefly dissembling hypocrites or men meerely civill First This starke deadnesse without any shew at all of life of which sort wee have every where too too many consists chiefly 1. In the privation of life 2. In an active positive principle Now there are certaine signes arising from both these and they are 1. Positive 2. Privative 1 The Positive signes of a dead man are these three First All those which live any life whatsoever it be seeke such things as are agreeable to preserve that life and hate the contrary as a man that liveth a naturall life looketh for food rayment c. so in the life of grace there is an aptnesse to cleave unto goodnesse and unto Christ as iron doth to the Loadstone So a man that lives the life of grace his delight is in praying hearing reading c. but his lusts they are aegritudines animae the soules sicknesses they are as thornes to his sides and smoke to his eyes and he is never well or at quiet untill they are removed and gone but a wicked man one that is dead in sinne he is sicke of goodnesse as the other is of wickednesse and weary of it he is too strait-laced in it and therefore cannot brooke it A godly man hath an inward aptnesse and inclination to serve God as fire naturally inclines to goe upward indeed hee may sometimes contract impurity and have some corruptions yet they are but as mud in a cleere and living fountaine they are soone washed away but wicked men are like ditches which are full of mudde at their best and there it lyes and continues Secondly another positive signe of this deadnesse is When a man lies in any living lust or knowne sinne for as a mortall disease and life cannot stand together no more can a living lust and the life of grace That is a living lust when although sometimes hee may have fits of resisting yet he alwayes gives over and still yeelds to that lust saying It is their nature and they cannot choose but commit it they know not how to resist it when as if there was some present Judgement threatned thee upon the commission of it then thou couldest forbeare This I call a living lust and although it be but one yet if other lusts tempted thee as much as that thou wouldest commit them also if thou forsakest other sinnes because they are sinnes why forsakest thou not this also Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts There is in every man a body of lust if any member of that body be unmortified he is yet a dead man 1 Tim. 5. 6. Shee which liveth in pleasure is dead while shee is alive Some may keepe themselves cleane from some sinnes but that will not serve for if they live in any knowne sinne they are dead Thirdly a third positive signe is When a man hath a secret antipathy against God and godlinesse Some beasts naturally hate some colours so some men out of a naturall inclination cannot endure goodnesse it selfe though they pretend some cause I call it an antipathy when a mans stomacke riseth against a thing and hee knoweth not wherefore so they hate goodnesse meerely out of a naturall abhorring of the thing it selfe although they pretend some cause for which they hate it They distant holinesse of life and for no just cause if it be you distast such men as professe an holy and pure conversation onely because they doe not conforme as some pretend why doe you distant those also that doe conforme If you dislike the professors of an holy life because of the hypocrisie they have found in them as some have not stood to say why doe you also dislike those that you are sure are no hypocrites They cannot define the holy man they hate but have a secret naturall hatred to them they cannot tell why but we know the reason well enough it is because they live a contrary life to them and therefore cannot agree no more than fire and water indeed fire and water may agree in remisse degrees but not in intense so these men can suffer those which are indifferently holy but if they come to any perfection and height of holinesse then they cannot endure them Now the Apostle sayes expresly 1 Ioh. 3. 14. By this we know wee are translated from death to life because we love the brethren hee that loveth not his brother abideth in death So that it is an infallible signe of deadnesse not to love the brethren if thou hatest the Saints nay if thou lovest them not nay if thou lovest them not according to the measure of grace that is in them and if thou art not grieved for any of their sinnes by which they may cause scandall or bee disgraced thou art yet a dead man And so much for the positive signes 2 The Privative signes of deadnesse follow which are these five The first privitive signe of deadnesse is want of speech He that is dead is speechlesse and breathlesse so he that is dead in sinne in all holy things is speechlesse Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh saith Christ in the Gospell Matth. 12. 14. When the mouth is speechlesse the heart is empty Some that are dead in trespasses and sinnes may speake well sometimes but there is no living man but doth speake well Esa. 19. 18. Those that belong to Canaan will speake in the language of Canaan Their language will shew whether they are Galileans or not every man delights in operations agreeable to their habits Here you may learne to judge of your selves by your words not by some words that are spoken by fits but by thy usuall and customary speech that is a signe of that that is in you The
to the tumbling in the mire Some againe good exhortations and counsell will make them live well and they will continue so while they are in that good mood Others will bee good while a storme of ficknesse indures but when the sunne-shine of prosperitie shall beginne to appeare they returne to their old courses they are like a Bullrush which hangs downe his head till the storme is over it but as soone as the Sunne shines it lifts it up againe Some may hold out longer than others yet at the last all will give over because they are not moved from some inward principle The third is this As the Angels assumed those bodies but for certaine times and places and occasions and afterwards laid them aside againe so will your hypocrites doe in some places and companies at some times they will take on them the bodies of living men and so have a name to live but indeed are dead But come they in other places or companies they will lay aside their bodies and then will be as profane as any I confesse a godly man may bee the worse for being in an ill companie they may be myrie and dirtie but yet they still remaine sheepe as a pibble and a pearle foyled with the same mire can scarce be distinguished till they be washed so the godly doe but wash them and then you shall discerne them to be pearles but these Wolves the wicked which onely takes sheepes cloathing on them comming amongst Wolves cast off that cloathing and become as much Wolves as any The fourth signe is this As Angels or devils which assume bodies cannot speake heartily as living men but have an artificiall framed voice which is from the teeth outward not heart so where there is no true grace but seeming it may be discerned from the speeches not in the matter but in the manner an hypocrite may often babble more than the true Christian as a blazing Starre shines as bright if not brighter than the true Star but there is abroad difference betwixt them the one speakes but from the head and the other from the heart for a true living man doth speake heartily and feelingly That the manner of speaking doth much affect others it is plaine Hence is that that Iunius reports of himselfe that hee lighting into a Countrie mans house which was wholly illiterate and unlearned hee confesseth that his heartie speaking of faith and repentance c. did so move him that he thought that there was somthing more in it than meere knowledge and so wrought on him that by Gods grace it converted him so that the manner of speaking doth often affect where the matter doth not which an hypocrite cannot have And thus much for the signes of seeming living but indeed dead men Now having shewed that all are dead it followes that we should shew the meanes of getting life which are also comprehended in my text and they are these two 1. To labour to see that ye are dead You that were dead in trespasses and sinnes c. as all men are by nature 2. To goe to Christ for life hee it is onely that can give it so saith my Text hee hath quickened you It is the propertie of God alone to give life Now wee cannot goe to him but by Christ and we must goe to Christ by faith therefore is faith called a living faith because it unites Christ and the soule together Now the difficultie is in this that men will not come to Christ and take him some come not for him at all others take him but not in good earnest as grafts put into a stock but not so ingrafted as to grow thereby but when a man is once soundly humbled then will he come to Christ and not before for till then hee doth not hunger and thirst after him but the extreame hungrie will bee satisfied with nought but meat as Sampson said Give me drinke or else I dye Now life consists in the union betwixt Christ and thy soule This union is by Luther compared to fire and iron united which causes the iron to have all the properties of fire as burne scorch c. so an humble Saint united to Christ hath all his proprieties though not in the same measure and degree The Doctrine of Humiliation Now these must bee handled distinctly and therfore the first meanes of life is to see our selves children of wrath and that wee are dead in trespasses and sinnes The point that hence ariseth is That whosoever would be translated from death to life must first apprehend himselfe to bee a child of wrath that is he must see the face of God as of an angry Iudge so farre forth as it may drive him to Christ. So that a man cannot be saved untill hee hath not onely a touch or two but a true sense of sinne a deepe apprehension of his sinnes of death and of damnation for onely to such are all the promises made Christ is onely sent to binde up the broken hearted Christ came to call all that were heavie laden and those onely those he will ease Peace must be preached to none but those that moume in Sion Therefore the Apostle saith Gal. 4. 21. Tell me ye that are under the Law doe ye not desire to heare the Law Yea the Law is said to be a Schoolmaster to drive men to Christ that is first there must bee the Law before Christ can bee had for else although wee should Preach the Gospell it would be contemned therefore Christ in his time gained onely the poore The poore receive the Gospell that is the poore in spirit God will have his jewels of life and salvation to be esteemed which we will never doe untill we see our miserie how that we are in the estate of death As the deliverance out of Egypt would never have beene so sweet had they not beene in extreame slavery and bondage first God deales with us as Princes doe with their malefactors first they bring their neckes to the blocke and then give them a pardon for then they apprehending death the pardon is the sweeter and more welcome and acceptable to them Indeed if the question were made what God could doe in his absolute power I know that God might convert us and not humble us if hee would he might say as hee did in the Creation Let it be and it must be hee might come in a still voyce onely without sending before a voyce rending the rockes hee might use lightning and no thunder but wee speake of his ordinary course wherein hee will not for none are saved but such as have not onely a sight but also a deepe apprehension of their sinnes For the better understanding of this point wee must consider these things 1 That there are three things which keepe a man from Christ. First Vnbeleefe when men will not beleeve that he which was borne of the Virgin Mary was Christ and God therefore about the
concerning the estate and condition of the Church at this time and needfull it is wee should so doe for doe you not see the dangers that they and we are in and the confusion that is almost throughout all Europe yet God hath not forgotten us neither will he leave us if wee can but rest upon him what though there should be a sudden change so that all things were with us as it was in Hesters time yet could the Lord bring forth some good thing out of it that should tend much to his glory and our good Put the case all were turned upside downe as it was in the confused Chaos wherein heaven and earth was mingled together and the waters overcomming all the rest yet as then when the spirit of the Lord did but move upon the waters many beautifull creatures were brought forth and the Sea divided from the rest that those waters that seemed then to spoyle all serves now to water all and without it we cannot bee Even so were the Church in never so confused a condition yet the Lord shall so order the things that seeme to undoe us that they shall bring forth something of speciall use that is something to water and make fruitfull the house and people of God and therefore be not out of hope whatsoever befalls thee onely bee humbled for there is great cause so to be and the Lord calls thee to it by his Ministers and wee are his messengers to declare his will unto you and as we must bee humbled and take to heart the cause of the Church so wee must consider the time that wee may bee throughly affected thereby for it was Ephraims fault not to doe it and thou must see this distresse so as it may bring thee into the Mount for it is not an extremity simply that will cause the Lord to helpe thee but when thy soule is plowed up therewith and then the Lord will cast in the seed and water it so as thy soule shall spring againe and therefore let us still maintaine our hope in all conditions whatsoever And for this end did I fall upon this Text at this time That in the Mount will the Lord be seene FINIS The scope of the Chapter Three false guides among the Ephesians Doct. The Doctrine proved first by Reason Secondly by Scriptures 1 What this death is Two things a naturall and a spiritual death Dead workes why so called The seat of this death Ephes. 5. 1â— 2. The kinds of this death How terrible the taking away of Gods presence is 3. The signes of this death Foure signs of bodily death 1. Privation of reason Obiect Answ. A difference betweene knowing spirituall things and knowing them in a right manner 2. Privation of sense 3. Want of motion 4. Want of beauty and vigour Obiect Answ. How wicked men may have moral vertues 4. The degrees of this death The death of guilt The death opposite to the life of grace Three degrees of this death The first The second The third The death opposite to the life of ioy Obiect Ans. 1 Ans. 2. Ans. 3. A difference betweene the spirituall and corporall death 5. The Vses of this point Vses 1. Not to defer repentance How the devil deceives men in perswading them to put off their repentance Saving repentance what it is Simile An example of Spira Vse 2. How to esteem civill men Simile Simile Vse 3. To stirre up to thankfulnesse for being quickned Vse 4. How to esteeme of the meanes of grace Vse 5. To examine ourselves whether we have life in us or no. Simile How the divell deceives civill men Two signes of our quickning 1. An application to examine our selves before we receive the Sacrament The nature of dead men Two kinds of spiritually dead men First starke deadnesse Three positive signes of dead men A careless neglect of goodnesse A lying still in any lust A living lust what it is An antipathy to God and godlinesse Five Privitive signes of dead men Privation of speech Privation of heat Obiect Answ. Stiffenesse Simile Privation of sense Obiect Answ. Matth 13. 13. opened No sympathizing in the miseries of others Two things to move us to consider the Churches misery Quest. Answ. What we must doe for the Church Pray for it Our Prayers must be fervent Spirituall Of Faith With Constancy Of righteousnesse With humility Be more â—ealous Stir up others Performe duties in due time With Continuance The Divels cunning to deferre men from doing good Duties Signes of civil men that seem to have life but have none indeed They doe not Grow They are moved by an outward Principle They doe it but in some places and company They speake from the teeth not froÌ„ the heart Iunius converted by a country-mans harty speaking Two meanes to get life Doct. No translation to life without apprehension of Gods wrath due to sinne Things considerable Three things keepe a man from Christ 1. Vnbeleefe 2. Neglect of him 3. Vnwillingnesse to part with other things for him Three things to be set against these to bring us to Christ. The necessity of a deepe humiliation Without sound humiliation we will not come to Christ. We will not stay with him Humiliation compared to the sout sorts of ground Matth. 13. We will not suffer or doe any thing for him Reas. 1. Reas. 2. Reas. 3. Reas. 4. The Doctrine of Humiliation must goe before Sanctification Vse Simile Three questions Quest. 1. Answ. True humiliation consists In seeing our lives abound in sinne In considering that there is nothing good in thee In smiting thâ— heart with aâ— apprehension of Gods cursâ— Quest. 2. Answ. What sorrow is required to true humiliation Quest. 3. Answ. How to know true sorrow How true Humiliation differs from other sorrow In the rise In the continuance Bousion Cons. 299. Simile By the signes and effects Contrition of heart 1. Heales our Sinnes Simile 2. It causeth love to Christ Signs to know whether we love Christ or no. 1. Obedience 2. Affection towards him 3. The light prizing of spirituall things 4. Contentednesse with the meanest condition 5. Feare of offending God 6. The finding of sweetnesse in the word of God 7. Meekenesse of spirit Obiect Answ. Humiliation changeth our nature Quest. 4. Answ. The differenâ— of humiliation in one well educated and a grosse sinner Quest. 5. Answ. The least degree of humiliation will make us count sin the greatest cuill Christ the greatest good A mans conversion consists in three things Quest. 6. Answ. The Law the onely meanes of humiliation Obiect Answ. The spirit of bondage what and why required to humiliation Obiect Answ. How afflictions and the Law concurre to humiliation Five meanes to humiliatioÌ„ 1. Meanes to consider our estates 1. Meanes to suffer sorrow to abide on us 3. Meanes see sinne in 〈◊〉 effects 4. Meanes to make these evilspresent by faith Two things ought to be present before vs. 5. Meanes To take heed of shifts Eight shifts whereby