soeuer our places how simple soeuer our persons how base soeuer our conditions are we haue as good a title and as great an interest in the death and passion of Christ as they that shine in the world that are clad in Purple and fare deliciously euery day And as these haue redemption by him so God affordeth to them the meanes of saluation as wel as the mightiest Monarkes vpon the earth The poore man hath the word of God offered to him reade vnto him and preached vnto him as well as the rich he hath the Sacraments of God prouided for him as well as for them that are of high place he may pray vnto God as freely as comfortably as chearefully as the great men of the earth and he hath a gracious promise to be heard and respected as well as they Though thou farest hardly and meanly at home k Prou. 9 2. Math. 22 1. yet God hath prepared thee a feast and biddeth thee to his Table richly furnished and plentifully stored with all prouision Though thou do not iet vp and down in Silks and Veluets and hast no gorgeous attire to put on yet God hath l Rom. 13 14 prouided thee a better garment he giueth thee his owne sonne to put on and clotheth thee with his righteousnesse which shall couer all thy shame that thy nakednesse shall neuer appeare in his sight So then seeing God accepteth no mans person seeing Christ vouchsafeth to call vs Bretheren and lastly seeing the faithfull haue redemption by his bloode it followeth necessarilie that our Christian Religion and Faith in Christ doe make all persons after a sort equall as Bretheren and Sisters of one and the same Father and Family and Ioynt-heyres of one and the same Kingdome that is immortall and neuer fadeth Vse 1 The Vses of this Doctrine are many putting vs in minde of sundrie good duties First seeing that in Christ who is the elder brother of the house we are al made Brethren and Sisters together hauing one Father which is God one Mother which is the Church one inheritance which is heauen it is our duty being neerely ioyned by so strong bands and in so fast and firme a society to loue one another to seeke the good one of another and to cut off all occasions of discord and diuision that may arise among vs. For shal such as are members of one body be diuided one against another Or shal such as are the deare Children of the same Father nourish hatred and hart-burning among themselues Or shall such as are parts of the same family foster mallice in their hearts and follow contentions and emulations to the ruine one of another My Brethren we see these things are but these things ought not so to be How shall God be our common Father if wee liue not together as louing Brethren Or how shall he call vs his children if we behaue our selues as strangers or enemies one to another This Brotherly loue is the roote of all good duties to be performed where it is wanting there is nothing but strife and sedition and all manner of euill workes This is the old commandement m Leuit. 19 18 That we loue our Neighbors as our selues This is the new commandement giuen vnto vs n Iohn 13 34 That we loue one another Seeing therefore there is one body and one spirit one Faith and one Father one Church and one Baptisme let vs support one another by loue and endeuour to keep the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace This is it which the Apostle prooueth when he hath shewed o Colos 3 11 12 13. That there is neither Grecian nor Iew neither circumcision nor vncircumcision Barbarian Scythian bond free but Christ is all and in all things he addeth As the elect of God holy and beloued put on the bowelles of mercies kindnesse humblenesse of mind meeknes long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiuing one another if any man haue a quarrell vnto another euen as Christ forgaue euen so do ye and aboue all these thinges put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse When a Controuersie contention arose in the houses of Abraham and Lot among their seruantes though there were a great difference and disparity between them yet Abraham saide p Gen. 13 8. Exodus 2 13. Acts 7 26. Let there bee no strife I pray thee between thee me neither between thy Heardmen my Herdmen for we are Brethren This is that whereof the Prophet putteth vs in mind and offereth to our consideration q Psal 133 1 3 Behold how good and comely a thing it is Brethren to dwell euen together there the Lorde hath appointed the blessing of life for euer To this purpose the Apostle saith r Ro. 12 10 11 Be affectioned to loue one another with Brotherly loue in giuing honour go one before anothee not sloathfull to doe seruice feruent in spirit seruing the Lord. It cannot bee denied but many occasions of iarres and ianglings arise among men and the more they are giuen to the world the more they are wrapped and intangled in them the lesse desire and delight they haue to be loosed from them Hee that is giuen to contention shall alwayes feede himselfe vpon it and neuer want matter to keepe him in it But would we know what is the cause of so much hatred malice that remaineth among vs Heereupon it ariseth euen from hence that we forget that we are Brethren and do all looke for one and the same inheritance Vse 2 Secondly seeing the Gospell of Christ teacheth vs to account our selues as brethren albeit it take not away the degrees of persons the differences of Callings it serueth as a good instruction to all Superiors to vse all mildnesse and moderation patience and meekenesse towards those that are their Inferiours and placed vnder them and to teach them not to contemne and abhorre them not to despise and disdaine them For howsoeuer there be one way a great inequality betweene them in matters of this world and in the things of this life inasmuch as God set superiors aboue vs in an higher place and requireth subiection reuerence and obedience of those that are beneath yet in another respect they are matches and equals hauing a like portion in Christ and a like interrest in the meanes of saluation Wee see in many things of this life the Lord maketh no difference betweene high low betweene Prince and people True it is their foode is daintier but are their bodies stronger Their attyre is costlier and their apparrell finer but are they kept the warmer They may haue greater helpe of the Physitians but can they deliuer them from death They may haue a more costly Coffin a a more sumptuous Tombe and a greater train following them to the graue but can these things helpe the soule No no the Prophet is plaine and experience shoulde make vs able to see it and wise to
subuert the truth their knowledge to ouerthrow the faith their riches to vndoo the poor their credit to crosse iustice their authority to disdain their strength to oppresse the weake their power to contemne others and euery gift to the dishonor of the giuer as the Serpent did his wilinesse to deceiue These are al like mad men armed It were better that a mad man had no armour and weapon then that he should vse or rather abuse them to the death and destruction of others so it were better these men wanted these guiftes then that they should prophane them to the dishonour of God to the hurt of others and to the bringing of a fearfull iudgement vpon their owne soules It were better to do nothing then to do euill as we say it is better to be ydle then to be ill occupied It were better to let the sword rest in the scabbard then to drawe it out to wound the innocent to let our riches corrupt and our garments be moth-eaten and our treasure be cankred then we weare them with pride wast them in drunkennesse whoredome and all wickednesse We must one day giue an account vnto God both what we haue receiued and howe wee haue bestowed that which we haue receiued If the Marchant that hath had his Factor in a strange Country wasting his goods committed to him on harlots and in riotous liuing will call him to an account how hee hath spent his time and mispent his goods shall wee not thinke that the eternall God will summon vs before the barre of his iudgement seate to giue in a reckoning an exact account what we haue done with such guifts as he hath lent vs and how we haue bestowed them The third reproofe Thirdly they are here also reproued which bar and lock vp such guifts of such as might be profitable to the Church and Common-wealth which suffer them not to imploy their guifts that desire to imploy them which doo little good themselues and yet hinder those that would do good The Dogge that lyeth in the manger will not eate the Hay himselfe nor suffer the Oxe that laboureth to eate of it So we haue lamentable experience of such men or rather Beasts as open not their own mouths but haue learned to shut the mouthes of others that would preach the gospell These are like to Amazia that proud Priest of Bethel that falsely informed the King against the true Prophet of God Amos and charged him to hold his peace a Amos 7. 10 12. hee sent to Ieroboam king of Israel saying Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel the Land is not able to beare his words And hee saide to Amos O thou the Seer flee thou away into the Land of Iudah and there eate thy Bread and prophesy there but prophesie no more at Bethel for it is the Kinges Chappell and it is the Kings Court These are like to the cruell Priests and Prophets that suffered not b Ier. 26 8. 38 6. Ieremiah to publish the word of the Lord but stopped his mouth and clapt him vp in prison and if their rage had not bin repressed and their malice restrained they woulde not haue rested till they had put him to death and brought him to destruction He was as a silly Lambe in the iawes and clawes of blood-sucking Wolues and led vnto the slaughter hee sought not anie reuenge against them but onely said c Ier. 26 14. 15 As for me bohold I am in your hands do with me as ye thinke good and right but know ye for certaine that if ye put mee to death ye shall surely bring innocent blood vpon your selues and vpon this Citty and vpon the Inhabitants thereof for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speak all these words in your eares These are like to the d Acts 4 17. and 5 28. chiefe Priest and Pharisies who threatned and charged the Apostles that they should thenceforth speake or teach no man in Christs name but they answeared We ought rather to obey God then men And againe Whether it be right in the sight of God to obey you rather then God iudge ye These are like to that ambitious Diotrephes mentioned by the Apostle Iohn in his third Epistle e 3 Iohn 9 10 who as hee loued to haue the preheminence among them so hee pratled against the true seruants of God with malicious words and not therewith content neither hee himselfe receiueth the Brethren but forbiddeth them that woulde receiue them and thrusteth them out of the Church It is an horrible sinne to take away the preaching of Gods word from men For whatsoeuer men pretend to excuse their sinne and what Figge leaues soeuer they patch together to couer their shame they are guilty of the destruction and damnation of so many soules as by them might haue bin instructed Iudas was guilty of an hainous sinne for betraying and deliuering the body of one innocent to a temporall death but these shall be arraigned of high treason against Iesus Christ who betray many thousand soules into the hands of Satan and throw them into the iawes of death euen of eternall death Such are the bloody Papists which deny the vse of the scriptures to the people and debarre them of the meanes of getting knowledge And such are all carnall Gospellers which thinke the preaching of the Gospel to be a needlesse and superfluous thing and account the people to haue sufficient so that they haue a praying Ministry alone and the seruice read distinctly among them Let vs therefore take heede that we doo not stoppe the course of the Gospell or put out the light that would shine into our hearts but rather further with all our power the trueth that God hath set vp among vs and spread abroad his sauing health that so glory may be gained to his name The fourth reproofe Lastly it reprooueth the neglect of employing the gifts of God bestowed vpon them that is in the people Whether God haue giuen vs spiritual graces or temporall blessings we must take heede how we vse them We are readie to heare and willing to learne the faults of the Ministers yea we can speak of them our selues and talke of them all day long wee can tell that some vse not their guifts to the good of the Church others abuse them to the hurt of the Church but neuer consider how themselues employ their owne guifts or what account they shall giue to God that hath bestowed them The benefite of them is not in hauing of them but in the vsing of them not in the enioying but in the employing not in the possessing but in the practising Not to vse them is all one as if we had them not For as the couetous man wanteth as well the things that he hath as those which he hath not so doo these sluggards receiue the grace of God in vaine which haue the vse
like to the Priestes c Num. 7 9. 2 Sam. 6 3. who beeing commaunded to beare the Arke vppon their owne Shoulders did set it vpon a Cart and draw it with Oxen. So ought the Ministers to feede their Flockes themselues and not put them to bee fed of others Some d Damasus epist 4. compare such foolish and idle Pastours that put ouer their charges to others vnto Harlots which so soone as they haue brought forth their Children by and by commit them to be kept and nourished of others that they may sooner giue themselues to their lusts againe Others resemble them to a e Espenc lib. 3. digress ad 1. Timoth. man that doth marry a Wife and being himselfe vnapt for generation or vnwilling to giue due beneuolence is content she become fruitfull and made the Mother of many Children by another Father so is he accounted and presumed to be as vaine a man who being espoused and married to a Church as a man to his Wife doth vse the help of others in getting spirituall Children vnto God Christ Iesus is the Shepheard f 1 Pet. 5 4. the cheefe and great Shepheard of the Sheepe all other Pastours are but his Seruants and Substitutes and therefore themselues being his Deputies they cannot make a Deputy no more then one Seruant discharge himselfe by another So then we must know that they can no more be saide to preach the Word that preach by others then to be resident that are resident by others or to bee godly that lead a godly life by others and thus they may be saued by others and themselues goe to Hell But as euery man is bound to liue godly himselfe so is euery Pastour bound to preach in his owne person This appeareth vnder the comparisons and similitudes of Builders Captaines Ambassadours Stewards and Shepheards which wee spake of before When a man hath made choyce of a skilfull and cunning Builder to build his house the Worke-man hath not done his duty if he put it out to bee finished by another When a Prince hath made choyce of a Generall to lead his Army against the Enemy he may not send another in his roome and himselfe sit idle at home but his alleageance bindeth him to goe in his owne person The like we might say of the rest Thus we haue seene at large that the loue betweene the Pastour and people ouerthroweth the ordinary absence without iust and conscionable causes the one from the other so that if the Minister would assure his owne heart that he loueth the sheepe which he hath taken vpon him to teach he must shew it by feeding them with the wholesome and heauenly pastures of the word of God Secondly it reprooueth such as outwardly are in sheepes cloathing but inwardly are rauening Wolues vnto the Flocke not carefull Pastours not louing Parents but such as haue no prouision no store no food no Bread of Life to breake vnto them but seeke to starue and famish them through want of Milke and meat to put in their mouthes If they be resident and remaine with them and yet doe not instruct them and preach vnto them it is all one as if they were absent from them If there be meat and drinke in the house and none set vpon the Table or giuen to the Children they may dye and perish for hunger These idle Drones are no better then Murtherers and Man-slayers nay Soule-slayers which is the greatest and most bloody Murther For as the Steward that should feede the bodies of such as are in the Family and pineth them to death is a Murtherer and the Nurse that vndertaketh the nourishing of the Childe and yet eyther through daintinesse or idlenesse or wilfulnesse will not draw out the breast but suffereth the Child to languish and perish is a Murtherer of the Childe so such as are Stewards of Gods house and Nurses of Gods people yet feede not their Soules but starue them to death are Bloud-suckers and Murtherers in the highest degree They are worse then the Canibals that liue vpon bloud for these liue vpon the soules of men and carry them head-long to Hell The Lord complaineth in the Prophet g Hos 4 6. That the people perish through want of knowledge Such as are blindely led doe fall into the Ditch with their blind Leaders The bloud of such as perish in their ignorance through want of teaching h Ezek. 3 18. shall be required at the Watch-mans hand The Prophet Dauid hauing the Water of the well of Bethlehem that he longed and lusted to tast brought vnto him i 2 Sam. 23 17 yet would not drinke thereof when he had it but poured it for an offering vnto the Lord because it was the bloud of the men that went in ieopardy of their liues O that these men would consider of their sinne and had a feeling of their iniquity that they eate and drinke the bloud of Men and maintaine themselues by the destruction of their soules Suppose he lead an vnblameable life giue good example to others keepe hospitality fill their bellies make peace among his Neighbours be able priuately to exhort and comfort them and to performe other common workes of Charity yet he hath not discharged the duty of a Minister vnlesse he preach vnto them diligently and faithfully and diuide the word of truth aright Vse 3. Lastly seeing the Minister and people ought to be as Father and Sonne this sheweth the duty of the people that are vnder their Ministery that they regard their Ministers as their Parents honouring them yeelding them due recompence esteeming them as Fellow-workers with God to beget them to Christ to turne them to Saluation to nourish them vp and continue them in the estate of Christ Nay we should account of them if it be possible more then of naturall Parents Of our Parents wee haue receiued onely to be Of our Ministers we haue receiued to be well Of our Parents we haue taken our first birth of our Ministers we haue obtained our second birth Of our Parents we haue beene brought into the World by Generation of our Ministers we haue bin brought into the Church by Regeneration Our first begetting was to death our second or new birth is to Life and Saluation By the first birth wee are Heires of Wrath by the second we are made the Sonnes of God So then if it be better for vs to be borne againe of Water and the Holy Ghost k Iohn 1 13. which cannot proceede from the will of the flesh nor from the will of Man but of God we ought to esteeme of those that are Instruments of our Regeneration as dearelie and tenderly as if they were our Parents and to say with the Apostle l Rom. 10 15 How beautifull are the Feete of them which bring glad tydings of pcace and bring glad tydings of good thinges Hence it is that he speaketh to the Thessalonians m 1 Thes 5 12 We
a Mat. 25 41 42 43 44 45. Set the Goates on the left hand and say vnto them Depart yee curssed into euerlasting fire prepaered for the Deuill and his Angels for I was hungred and ye gaue me no meate I thirsted and ye gaue me no drinke I was a Stranger and ye tooke me not in vnto you I was naked and ye clothed me not sicke and in Prison and ye visited me not Then shall they answere him Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst or a stranger or naked or sicke or in Prison and did not minister vnto thee Hee shall say vnto them Verily I say vnto you inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these yee did it not to me And as the wronges wrought against the righteous doe reach vp to Heauen and touch the person of Christ so on the other side whatsoeuer benefite whatsoeuer comfort whatsoeuer good is shewed to the faithful because they are faithfull shall be rewarded euen to a Cup of cold Water and Christ will esteeme it as do one and offered vnto himselfe This likewise appeareth in the last iudgement of Christ when hee shall say to his Sheepe standing on the right hand b Mat. 25 35 36 40. I was an hungred and ye gaue me meate I thirsted and ye gaue me Drinke I was a Stranger and ye tooke me in vnto you I was naked and yee cloathed me I was sicke and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came vnto mee for verily I say vnto you inasmuch as ye haue done it vnto one of the least of these my Brethren ye haue done it vnto mee Hee doth not say ye haue refreshed ye haue visited ye haue cloathed ye haue comforted my Seruants but yee haue done all these thinges to me I haue beene filled I haue beene refreshed it is I it is I that haue beene cloathed by you and comforted of you If any were asked what hee would doe if Christ Iesus were in necessitie among vs if he saw him naked whether he would cloath him If he saw him an hungred whether he would feede him Or thirstie whether he would giue him Drinke Or in Prison whether hee would visite him Hee would bee ashamed to denie him any thing that hath giuen him all thinges he would thinke himselfe vnworthy to liue in the World if hee should see him want and not supply it But euery Christian man to another is as Christ himselfe when we feede cloath and visit him we feede cloath and visite Christ which made the beleeuers set their Landes and possessions and lay the price downe at the feete of the Apostles to be distributed as euery one had neede Among all encouragements to wel doing there cannot be a greater then this that Christ accepteth it as done vnto himselfe Vse 2. Secondly seeing the afflictions of the Children of God are the afflictions of Christ we learne what to esteeme of all their afflictions they are not shameful and ignominious but glorious and honourable as the Crowne of a Prince or as the Banners and Ensignes of victory This is it which the Apostle teacheth Phil. 1 29. To you it is giuen for Christ that not onely ye should beleeue in him but also suffer for his sake Where we see he maketh it a speciall prerogatiue and preheminence to endure affliction for Christes sake and maketh it as great an honour to suffer as to beleeue and therefore he ioyneth them both together The prison into which the godly are cast is better then the Pallace of a Prince The Chaines that are borne and worne for keeping faith and a good conscience are greater ornaments then all the Chaines of Gold about the Neckes of the Men of this World The Fetters wherewith the faithfull are laden are of greater price and estimation then all the Bracelets and Abilements then all the Siluer and Gold that the Sonnes and Daughters of Men delight to carrie about them Hence it is that the blessed Martyrs that gaue their liues for the truth when they came to suffer death kissed the stake to which they were tied the Chaine with which they were compassed and the Wood by which they were burned and consumed Wee see it is the manner of the men of this World to set out themselues with pomp and brauery to win credit and to get themselues honour and estimation whereof we haue an example in Herod recorded in the Actes c Acts 12 21. Who arrayed himselfe in roall apparrell cunningly wrought that it glistred as the Sunne as d Antiquit. Iudaie lib. 29 cap. 7. Iosephus noteth and made an Oration and the people gaue a shout saying The voyce of God and not of Man This outward pompe and ostentation are not the notes and markes whereby true Christians should be knowne and discerned Seruants are knowne whom they serue and to what Maister they belong by the Badge on their sleeue The persecutions and afflictions of the faithfull are the Badges and Cognizances of Christ whereby they are knowne to be his This is it e Gal. 6 17. which the Apostle putteth vs in mind of Gal. 6. From henceforth let no man put me to businesse for I beare in my body the markes of the Lord Iesus Where wee see how the Apostle calleth his sufferings for the Gospell the markes of Christ What these markes are he sheweth in other places when he reporteth the stripes whippings scarres and blemishes which hee bare about in his body I thinke that God hath set forth vs the last Apostles f 1 Cor. 4 9 11 12 13. 2 Cor. 6 4 5. 11 23 as men appointed to death for we are made a gazing-stocke vnto the World and to the Angels and to men we hunger wee thirst we are naked we are buffeted we are reuiled we are persecuted we are euill spoken of we are imprisoned we are whipped we are stoned we are made as the filth of the World and the off-scouring of all things These are the markes which the Apostle gloryeth in and whereof he is no more ashamed then the Souldier is of his wounds and scarres We see how Souldiers that fight in a good cause in their Princes quarrell and for the defence of their Countrey if they loose an Eye or an Arme or a Legge are ready to shew the place they account it no blemish they are not ashamed of it If these can vaunt of the markes and maimes which they haue sustained how much more honour and glory should we account it to beare the markes of Christ and to suffer reproach with the people of God Howsoeuer therefore the World iudgeth of the scourgings whippings and imprisonments of the faithfull they are truely and rightly honourable with God and good men And if we will iudge rightly wee must esteeme no otherwise of these their sufferings Vse 3. Thirdly we see that it is not the bare punishment but the cause that maketh a Martyr and Witnesse of
the truth It is the cause that maketh the crosses of Christians to be the Crosse of Christ The Apostle testifieth he was a Prisoner for Christ and the Gospell not for his owne sinnes and offences It is not our suffering barely and nakedly considered can honour vs with the reward of glory and the Crowne of Martyrdome g The cause maketh a Martyr not the punishment but the cause in which we dye and the quarrell in which we suffer True it is afflictions are common to the godly and vngodly they suffer alike they are imprisoned alike arraigned condemned and executed oftentimes alike but albeit the afflictions bee one and the same yet the cause is not one and the same for which they are afflicted The vngodly ate punished for their sinnes the godly are afflicted for a good conscience Abell is murthered of his Brother Caine is curssed and condemned to be a fugitiue vpon the earth both of them are afflicted but the cause is diuerse Abell is killed for his godlinesse Caine is punished for his wickednesse Ioseph is sold to Strangers and cast into prison so likewise are Pharaohs two Eunuches his Butler and his Baker they lye all in one prison but they had not one cause for he is committed through the slaunders and false accusations of his Mistresse they for their demerites and offences against their Maister Christ had his feete and his handes nayled on the Crosse so had the two Theeues they suffered al one punishment but how contrary were the causes of him and them seeing he suffered without cause but they iustly and worthily had the sentence of death executed vpon them Let vs not therefore onely fasten our eies and looke vpon the bare punnishment but consider what the cause is and according to the cause esteeme both of the person and of the punishment Some are prisoners h Math. 5 25. of men i 2 Tim. 2 26. others are Prisoners of the Deuill of whom they are holden captiue and both of them for their wickednesse but if we will be Martirs of Christ we must be the prisoners of Christ This serueth to reprooue the Church of Rome who glory in their Martyrs as sometimes the Donatists did and fill vp their Kalender with such as they haue canonized for Saints in Heauen which were no better then Traytors when they liued vpon the earth The Church of Rome which vaunteth her selfe to be the onely true Church of God and condemneth other honoureth diuers Saintes which neuer were in the World some that were Pagans others that were Iewes in Religion and refused Christ and others that were Heretiques and Traytors that neyther had Faith on Earth nor haue saluation in Heauen beeing Rebels to their Princes and enemies to their Countrey and disturbers of the State And therefore also it condemneth those who albeit they liue vnder the Gospell and shroud themselues vnder the branches of it as vnder a comfortable shaddow whereby they haue refreshed and enriched themselues yet they magnifie the Church of Rome and set vp the Faith professed therein they ballance it equall with the true Church of God among our selues and thereby seeke to shake in sunder the Faith of many These men cry out not onely that there are and haue been learned men on both sides but Saintes and holy men on both sides and true Martyrs on both sides and therefore would haue the people carryed about with vncertainety of Doctrine as with a waue of the Sea But we deny that any haue suffered among vs for the Roman Faith or haue beene led to execution for their Religion The truth is they haue but too much fauour shewed them and too great liberty giuen them Indeede such as haue beene found factious and forward to aduance forraigne power to adhere to forraigne enemies to stirre the people to rebell and take armes against the Prince to compasse the death and destruction of the Prince such as haue beene Authors of treacheries and conspiracies and beene conuinced to be trumpets of sedition by the deposition of witnesses by the forme of their tryall and by their owne confessions haue beene iustly executed among vs as by all men must needes be acknowledged In the Cittie of Rome all that will not take the Popes part or shall take him to be no Pope or refuse to ioyne with him if an Army should bee sent against him are adiudged to be no lawfull Subiects but disloyall Traytors No forraine Prince will repute them for his people and Subiects that shall deny to take his part against any forraine Vsurper or Inuador whatsoeuer So the Lawes of our Land haue seized vpon some who haue busied themselues in matters of State bringing ouer Buls declaring that the Prince was to bee deposed and the Subiects discharged of their alleagiance As for pointes of Faith they were neuer mentioned in the proceedings against them they were not called into question for their opinion concerning the Masse for transubstantiation for worshipping of Images or for any other point of the Romish Religion or rather superstition Therefore it is false that any haue dyed among vs as Martyrs or any otherwise then as Traytors The true k Who are true Martyrs and who not Church of God euer held them for Martyrs that dyed for the profession of the Faith and the testimony of Christ but such of the Popish faith and faction as haue beene executed among vs dyed for maintenance of the Popes pleasure and tyranny taking vpon him to depose Princes and seeking by open armes and secret Treasons to murther them True Martyrs suffered for the truth wrongfully and therefore deserued commendation according to the rule of the Apostle l 1 Pet. 2 19. It is thanke-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endure greefe suffering wrongfully but these suffer not in matter of wrong nor for a good conscience vnlesse the will of the Pope be the rule of their conscience True Martyrs must be endued with Charity m 1 Cor. 13 3. for as the Apostle teacheth If I giue my body to be burned and haue not loue it profiteth nothing but these haue not any shaddow of charity who plot the death of their Prince and seeke the destruction of their Countrey To conclude this point vnlesse Treason be Religion and falshood truth and vnlesse Antichrist be to bee receiued for Christ these men cannot be esteemed and honoured as Martyrs among vs who dyed not for Christ but for practising against the Doctrine of Christ which teacheth to be gentle patient humble and not any way to seeke reuenge Vse 4. Lastly from this Doctrine ariseth great comfort to the Seruants of God and as great terror to all their Enemies It is a great consolation for them that are afflicted for Christs sake to asswage their sorrow and a great meanes to worke in them patience to consider that Christ putteth all their teares in his Bottle and accounteth their afflictions to be his afflictions If we
Hatches he sitteth quiet and holdeth the Sterne he doth not indeede as they doe but he doth farre greater and better things The Church and Common-wealth are not vnfitly compared to a mans body which consist of many partes all needefull and necessary yet all haue not the same vses and functions If the members of a mans r Halicar Roman antiquit lib. 6. Plutar. in vita Coriolani Liui. decad 1. lib. 2. body should rise and rebell against the belly if the feet should plead that they onely beare vp the waight of the whole body if the handes should affirme that they labour painefully earne their liuing and bring many other commodities if the shoulders should say that they beare all burthens or the head that it seeth and heareth the mouth that it speaketh and then if all ioyntly should turne themselues to the belly and accuse it to be without profit to remaine in the midst of the body without doing anything and sustaine no labour to the maintenance of the rest of the partes were not this a foolish conceit of reasoning and would not this tend to the ruine of the whole body In the body politicke if the people that dig and delue should complaine and conspire against the Prince and Nobles who labour by care rule by authority foresee by wisedome and manage by gouernment because they worke not with their hands would not this draw with it the destruction of the Common-wealth So is it in the Church and in the offices of the Church As the people labour by working so doe the Ministers in studying and preaching All haue not one office all haue not one vse Therefore the Apostle saith Å¿ 1 Cor. 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21. The body is not one member but many if the foote should say Because I am not the hand I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body And if the eare should say because I am not the eye I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body If the whole body were an eye where were the hearing And if the whole were hearing where were the smelling But now hath God disposed the members euery one of them in the body at his owne pleasure for if they were all one member where were the body But now are there many members yet but one body and the eye cannot say vnto the hand I haue no need of thee nor the head againe to the feete I haue no neede of you Whereby we see that the body consisteth of many members all haue their necessary vse for the preseruation of the whole and yet all haue not one and the same function So then they despise the Ministers of the Gospell and so account the Ministery of the word needlesse and vnprofitable because they work not with their hands and not labour with bodily labour are as madde and monstrous as they that would haue all the body to be an hand no mouth no head no foot For albeit the Teachers of the Church be not the hands of the body to handle the Carpenters Axe or the Shepheards Crooke or the Husbandmans Plough or the saw of the Sawyer yet he is as the eye of the body to giue light to them that sit in darkenesse and in the shaddow of death as the mouth of the bodie to speake to God and to poure out supplications before him for the people yea he is also as the belly for as the belly which receiueth all meats that nourish mans body doth send them backe againe with aduantage to the nourishment of the whole body so the Minister receiuing maintenance from the Church doth feed them againe and nourisheth them with the bread of life to the saluation of their soules He receiueth temporall things but he soweth vnto them spirituall things The Apostle saith t 1 Cor. 9 7. Who goeth a warfare any time at his owne cost Who planteth a Vineyard and eateth not the fruite thereof Or who feedeth a Flocke and eateth not of the Milke of the flocke The Souldier liueth by the receiuing of his wages the Husbandman by the fruits of his labours the Shepheard by the encrease of his flock and therefore it must not seem strange vnto vs that the Lords Souldiers should enioy their pay and that his Workemen should haue their hire Vse 3. Lastly seeing the celling of the Pastour set ouer the people is painefull it offereth good considerations and profitable Meditations both to the Pastors and to the people Touching the Ministers it serueth as a good admonition to such as purpose and intend to enter into this great calling of the Ministerie that they doe it wisely and warily that they runne not before they bee sent that they enter at the Doore and climbe not in at the Windowe that they considet what prouision and store of new and old they haue to goe through the worke Such as meane to builde u Luk. 14 28 31. doe first make great prouision and preparation The Kings of the Nations and Princes of the Earth with great aduise and consultation doe proclaime warres The Ministery is a going to Warfare it is a building of Gods House and therefore it is to bee enterprized not rashly but aduisedly not meanely stored but plentifully furnished with all manner of prouision fit for the Lordes worke Againe beeing the Souldiers of Christ and the leaders of his people they must seeke to please a Gal. 1 10. not men but their Captaine that hath chosen and called them they must take heede they doe not intangle and snare themselues in worldly matters and so hinder their worke in hand whereby they are made vnfit to serue God and his Church The order and discipline of the Warres is such that so soone as the Souldier hath enrolled and giuen his name to his Captaine he leaueth his house and other affaires which might with-draw his minde and mindeth nothing but the battell So ought we to bee wholie loosed and throughlie freed from the impediments and incumbrances of this Worlde that Christ may haue our seruice in this warfare This is that vse which the Apostle maketh of this Doctrine 2. Tim. 2. Thou therefore suffer affliction as a good Souldier of Iesus Christ b 2 Tim. 2 3 4. No Man that warreth entangleth himselfe with the affaires of this life because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a Souldier Touching the people they must know that when God sendeth such Labourers among them they must bee esteemed and accounted as the greatest defence and preseruation of a Citty and Kingdome This is confessed by Ioash the King of Israell when Elisha fell sicke of his sicknesse whereof he died c 2 Kin. 13 14. O my Father my Father the Charet of Israell and the Horsemen of the same The prayer of Moses d Exod. 17. preuailed more then the Sword of Ioshua and all the furniture of war against the Amalekites The Apostle writing
chalenge the name of Saints Reason 2. Secondly the seruants of God must be Saintes to the end there may be a conformity and likenesse vnto him that hath had mercy vpon vs. It is requisite that there should be a resemblance betweene God and his people God is holy it is one of his names he is called the holy one Christ is holy and he is called the holy one of God Seeing therefore God is holy that hath called vs it followeth that holinesse belongeth vnto vs. The sonne beareth the Image of his father and thereby is easily knowne whose sonne he is If we be the sonnes of God we must expresse his Image in holines and true righteousnes This is it which Moses declareth and repeateth Leuit. 11. i Leuit 11. 44. I am the Lord your God be sanctified therefore and be holy for I am holy and defile not your selues with any creeping thing that creepeth vpon the earth Heereunto accordeth the saying of the Apostle Peter k 1 Pet 1. 14. 15. As obedient Children fashion not your selues vnto the former lustes of your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conuersation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy If then he that is the God of all the Saintes be holy if it be one of his essentiall attributes so that he can no more cease to be holy then he can cease to be God the Saintes themselues must be Saintes not onely in name but in deed they must be transformd into a likenes of him they must shew the fruites of holines and be partakers of the diuine nature in that they flee the corruption which is in the world through lust Reason 3. Thirdly the faithfull are called by the name of Saintes that there might be a difference betweene that which we haue of our selues and that which wee receiue from God betweene the old man and the new man betweene our first birth and our second birth betweene nature and grace No man is a Saint by nature we haue not holines from our selues but we are strangers to it and that is a stranger to vs nay we are enemies to holines who loue nothing else but prophanenesse and desire to be any thing else then to be Saintes and holy The Apostle putting vs in mind of our first birth that we might so much the more magnify the grace of God which is marueilous and glorious in his Saintes saith l Ephe 2. 12. 13. Remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh and called vncircumcision of them which were called Circumcision in the flesh made with handes that ye were at that time without Christ and were Alians from the common wealth of Israell and were strangers from the Couenants of peomise and had no hope and were without God in the world but now in Christ Iesus ye which once were farre off are made neere by the bloud of Christ And to the same purpose he speaketh in the Epistle to the Colossians m Col 1. 21. 22. You which were in times past strangers and enemies hath he now reconciled in that body of his flesh through death to make you holy and vnblameable and without fault in his sight Seeing then that we are called to holines seeing we must as Children resemble our father and seeing God will haue a difference betweene our naturall condition and the estate wherein we stand by grace we may conclude that all such as are in the number of true beleeuers are also Registred in the number of true Saintes sanctified inwardly by the spirit of God Vse 1. Let vs now make vse and application of this Doctrine vnto our selues First wee see plainely heereby that there are Saintes vpon the earth that is men and woemen regenerate and sanctified The prophet Dauid saith n Psal 16. 3. All my delight is in the Saintes that are vpon the earth whereby it appeareth that there are two sorts of Saintes one in heauen the other on the earth one sort is the spirits of iust and perfect men the other such as are clothed with flesh who haue a righteousnes begun in them but are yet farre from perfection some that haue already receiued their Crownes that are already glorified not hauing spot or wrinkle or any such thing others that are yet in warfare against sinne the world and the deuill and carry about with them the remnants of naturall corruption Therefore we professe to beleeue in the Articles of our Faith the Cōmunion of Saints So the Apostle saith o 1 Cor. 6 1 2 11. Dare any of you hauing businesse against another be iudged vnder the vniust and not vnder the Saints Do ye not know that the Saints shall iudge the world And afterward Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are iustified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the Spirit of our God This serueth to reprooue all those which in scorne and derision mock the seruants of God and vpbraide them with their profession saying O you are a Saint you are of the little flocke you are an holy man A yong Saint an old deuil Thus is Religion made a Prouerbe and common by-word and thus are men come to sit downe in the seate of Scorners but heare this O ye contemners of God! and know that whosoeuer is not holye is prophane he that is not pure is impure he that is not a Saint of God is a bond-slaue of the Deuill there is no meane betweene the one and the other He that is not of the little flocke of Sheepe is of the great Heard of Goats and of the multitude of vnbeleeuers that shall be condemned He that entreth not in at the straite gate that leadeth to life walketh in the broad way and entereth at the wide gate that leadeth to destruction He that is not a Saint before hee dieth is a Deuill incarnate before his death This is that which our Sauiour speaketh concerning Iudas p Iohn 6 70. Haue I not chosen twelue and one of you is a Deuill Now he spake of Iudas Iscariot the sonne of Simon for he it was that should betray him This Iudas was not a Saint and he is pronounced to be a Deuill Now choose whether thou wilt be a Saint or be accounted a Iudas a Deuill a member of the deuill For he that is not in some sort changed renewed regenerated and sanctified in the inner man shall neuer see life If we begin not the way to saluation in this world we shall neuer be receiued into glory in the world to come This is the Doctrine which Christ preacheth to Nichodemus q Iohn 3 5. Verily verily I say vnto thee except that a man be borne of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God So the Apostle saith r Ro. 8 13 14 If ye liue after the flesh ye shall
of God wee send our selues we are not sent of him We are our owne Messengers to doe our owne Message not the Embassadours of the eternall God But when hee hath put his worde in our mouths wee must goe to those that he hath sent vs d Ier. 1 7 8. and whatsoeuer hee commaundeth vs that wee must speake So when God had stretched out his hand and touched the mouth of the Prophet Ieremy hee sayde Bee not affraide of their faces for I am with thee to deliuer thee sayth the Lord. Thus hee speaketh to Ezekiell e Exek 3 8 9. I haue made thy Face strong against their Faces and thy Fore-head harde against their Fore-heades I haue made thy Fore-head as the Adamant and harder then the Flint Feare them not therefore neither bee affrayde at their lookes for they are a Rebellious house Secondly it teacheth them not to loose their Authoritie and so to shame their Calling and their Mayster that hath put them in that Calling bringing them-selues and their Ministry vnder the subiection and slauerie of others The Apostle by all meanes seeketh to magnifye his Ministery and to beautifie his Calling Hence he saith f 1 Cor. 9 1. Am not I an Apostle am not I free This reprooueth those that serue the lustes and pleasure of others and dare doe nothing to displease such as are in high place Thus Aaron in the absence of Moses offended who was at the commaundement of the people g Exo. 32 1 4. when they saide vnto him Make vs Gods to go before vs he receiued their golden earings and fashioned it with the grauing toole and made of it a Molten Calfe The like we see in Vriah the Priest h 2 Kings 16 2 10. when Ahaz who did not vprightly in the sight of the Lorde but walked in the way of the Kings of Israell saw the Altar that was at Damascus he sent vnto him the paterne of the Altar and the fashion of it and all the Workemanship thereof and hee made an Altar in all points like to that which the King had sent from Damascus This departing from the Commaundement of God to please the humour or honour of mightie men must be farre from vs. We haue a plaine way set before vs wee ought to walke in it wee must not decline eyther to the right hand or to the left hand We must not make marchandise of the word of God but deale faithfully with God and his people The Prophet Micah complaineth of such Prophets in his time as flattered the people in their sinnes i Mich. 2 11. And Prophesied vnto them of Wine and of strong drink and in such Prophets the people delighted The Lord chargeth Ieremy k Ier. 1 17. to trusse vp his loynes to arise and to speake to the Children of Israell all that he commaunded him not to bee affraide of their faces least he destroy him before them Let vs beware of such smooth tongues that flatter with their lippes and bring vs in danger of destruction Salomon teacheth vs l Prou. 29 5. That a man which flattereth his Neighhour spreadeth a Net for his steppes declaring thereby that as a Birde which is taken in the Net is in daunger of death so they which beleeue flatterers fall into great perilles of Soule of Bodie of Goods of good name of life Thirdly it teacheth the Ministers to take heede they abuse not their Authority and turne it into tiranny but employ it vnto edification not to the destruction of the Church or any member thereof This the Apostle plainly teacheth concerning himselfe m 2 Cor. 10 8 Though I should boast somwhat more of our authority which the Lord hath giuen vs for edification and not for your destruction I should haue no shame And in another place n 2 Cor. 1 24 Wee haue not Dominion ouer your faith but we are helpers of your ioy for by Faith ye stand We must remember and consider that we are vnder Christ we are his Substitutes and Lieutenants He is the cheefe Shepheard of the Sheepe We must not beare our selues o 1 Pet. 5 3. as Lords ouer his heritage but as ensamples to the flocke Christ himselfe testifieth that he was among them as one that p Luke 22 27 Math. 20 28. serued For the sonne of man came not to bee serued but to serue and to giue his life for the ransome of many Let vs haue the same mind in vs that was in christ Iesus let vs behaue our selues as Stewards not as Lords as Officers not as Princes as Ministers not as Vsurpers as Stewards not as Maisters of the house Vse 3. Lastly it serueth for instruction of the people that they despise not the Ministry of the word but alway readie to heare it with reuerence For wheresoeuer there is authority in the speaker there should bee feare and reuerence in the hearer They are Embassadors sent not from Man but from God they speake not in their owne names but in the name of God they publish not their owne Dreames or deuises but the Doctrine of God and therefore ought reuerently and obediently to be regarded Thus the Prophet teacheth vs to reason q Mal. 2 7. The people must heare the Lawe at his Mouth for hee is the Messenger of the Lerd of Hoastes True it is they are men that bring it but they are Messengers sent of GOD they are subiect to the same passions that wee are but God hath put his word in their hearts and in their mouthes and therefore both they and it must bee receyued with all reuerence and entertayned with the inwarde obedience of the soule Hence it is that our Sauiour Christ sayth r Luke 10 16 Hee that heareth you heareth me and he that heareth you heareth him that sent mee The Prophet teacheth that their feete are beautifull that bring gladde tydings of peace and bring glad tydinges of good things They are saide to be worthy of double honor and to teach the way of saluation If a man had lost a precious Iewell and Rich Pearle which was all the riches and substance of his house and beeing in this case should meete with a man that can tell him who robbed him of it where it is and how hee may come to haue it againe how would hee respect him and reward him A godly Minister is such a one vnto thee Å¿ Perk. of the Ministr who when Adam had lost himselfe and all his posteritie and that peerlesse Iewell of righteousnesse the whole wealth of our soules can truely tell vs who did steale it away from vs and how it is to bee recouered againe The Deuill is the Theefe Christ doth restore it Faith applyeth Christ the Word of God worketh Faith the Minister preacheth the word whereby we beleeue How well doost thou account of that Physitian and how highly doest thou esteeme of him who when thy health is lost and sicknesse falne vpon thee
For if they ought to be vnto euery one of vs as the Mother brethren yea as the flesh members of Christ they ought not to be neglected or contemned but to be cherished Heereby g 1 Iohn 3 14. we shall know that we are translated from death to life if we loue the bretheren On the other side we ought to mourne and lament for such as remaine in ignorance of God lie vnder the dominion of sinne and continue in the prophanenesse and abominations of their youth It is noted by the Prophet h Psal 1â—9 136 Luk â—9 41. Phil 3 18. that his eyes gushed out with riuers of waters because they kept not the law of God Christ Iesus mourned for the hardnesse of heart that appeared in his hearnrs he wept for Ierusalem when he came neere vnto it Righteous Lot was vexed day by day when he beheld the vncleane conuersation of the sinfull Sodomites The Apostle told the Phillippians of vaine walkers and that with teares that they are the enemies of the Crosse of Christ We see by common and daily experience when any of our friendes and familiars are dead or lye at the point of death a naturall affection toward them causeth vs to weepe and lament for them and draweth oftentimes from vs abundance of teares how much more ought it to go neere vs and make vs sob and sigh from the very depth and bottom of our hearts to see our bretheren lie dead in sinne and as it were rotting in the Graue of their corruptions or else to walke in the paths of death that bring with it certaine destruction and eternall damnation If a man should come into a field where he should behold thousands slaine with the sword wallowing in their bloud and others hauing receiued their deaths wound to languish in paine and to striue and struggle for life who would not account it a lamentable shew and most pitifull sight But thus is it with vs and this is the condition of many thousands that glory that they abide in health and yet are most dangerously sicke and diseased that thinke they are aliue and yet behold they are a company of dead carcasses that boast they are farre from the Gates of death and yet alasse they lie gaping and gasping for breath which is ready to be gone If there be in vs any life of Gods spirit or any loue of Godlinesse it cannot but greeue our soules to behold the desolations that are in the earth i Reuel 3 2. 1 Tim 5 6. Mat 8 22. and the languishing of many ready to die nay which are already dead in sinne and stinke in the nostrils of God and man For as a man hauing escaped shipwracke and gotten into an Hauen and Harbour reioyseth in his owne safety and comforteth himselfe in his deliuerance but when he behouldeth the misery of his brother suffering shipwracke and cast away by the violence of the stormes and Tempestes that beat vpon his barke which drowne both it and him in the Seas he cannot but greatly be greeued and exceedingly perplexed So ought it to be with vs howsoeuer the escaping from the filthinesse of the world and the vniting of vs with Christ our head doth breed in vs matter of great ioy and may worthily cause vs to reioyce yet when we see the bondage of our bretheren vnder k 1 Pet 2 19. sinne and the ruines into which they are come it cannot but worke in vs great anguish of spirit If we perceiue them to wander out of the way and to go astray from the simplicity of the Gospell and from the fold of Christ and fellowship of the faithfull it is our part to turne them backe and to gather them home For how l Math 18 12. thinke yee If a man haue an hundred sheepe and one of them be gone astray doth he not leaue ninety and nine and goe into the Mountains and seeke that which is gone astray and if so be that he finde it verily I say vnto you he reioyseth more of that sheep then of the ninety and nine which went not astray so is it not the will of your father which is in Heauen that one of these little ones should perish This loue toward the lowest that are conuerted to the faith and coupled to Christ reproueth two sorts of men First such as are ashamed of the poore Saintes who being without the comfort of friendes but not without contempt of the world are not regarded or esteemed He that despiseth his poore brother redeemed with the bloud of Christ would also despise and despight Christ himselfe if he walked vpon the earth He that honoureth not a faithfull man of low degree doth dishonour the faith it selfe and reprocheth the Gospell that he professeth yea he despiseth the Church and shameth such as are members of it This the Apostle Iames teacheth m Iam 2 2. If there come into your company a man with a Gold Ring and in goodly apparell and there come in also apoore man in vile raiment and ye haue a respect to him that weareth the gay clothing and say vnto him Sit thou heere in a goodly place and say vnto the poore Stand thou there or sit heere vnder my Footstoole Are ye not partiall in your selues and become Iudges of euill thoughts The needy seruants of God and poore afflicted Saintes are ashamed and blamed of the world they are scorned and scoffed at by the vngodly shall we then that are of the same Religion profession and communion ioyne hand in hand with them and contemne the faithfull that deserue to be honoured thereby adding more sorrow to their affliction and doubling the misery that is vpon them For it must needes lie heauy vpon them and euen oppresse them with anguish to finde this measure at our handes of whom they looked for comfort and counsell This appeareth in the saying of the Prophet n Psal 55 12. Surely mine enemy did not defame me for I could haue borne it neither did mine aduersary exalt himselfe against me for I would haue hid me from him but it was thou O man euen my companion my guide and my familiar It is made a note and marke whereby we may try our selues whether we belong to the Church of God and shall be receiued into the Kingdome of glory o Psal 15 4. that a vile person is contemned in their eyes but they honour them that feare the Lord. But the practise of many men is directly contrary who as they are of this world they magnifie and make much of the vngodly but tread and trample vnder their feet the Children of God as if they were a thing of no value The Apostle blameth the Corinthians and noteth it as a blot and blemish in them p 1 Cor 11 22 that they put the poore to shame separating themselues from them and refusing to partake the supper of the Lord with them Secondly it reproueth such as contemne those
hath beene his Maister This will be the behauiour of all such as haue felt the burthen of their sinnes and beene humbled vnder the heauy stroke of Gods hand and felt the vnsearchable depth of the sore festering and fretting within them They are the onely men that know what necessary vse there is of the Ministers to search their wounds to raise vp with comfort to binde vppe the broken-hearted and strengthen them that are weake and ready to fall As for those that neuer knew what the Nature of sinne is nor felt the intollerable burthen of it but thinke themselues sound and not sicke heart-whole and not diseased Liuing men by Nature and not dead in sinnes and trespasses they take themselues to bee in good case according to the saying of Christ our Sauiour h Math. 9 12. The whole neede not the Phisitian but they that are sicke Thus then we see how we may proue our selues whether we be in the Faith or not euen by the good estimation that we haue of such as are the bringers of it Secondly we may gather from hence that the greatest part of the world lyeth deepely and dangerously in condemnation because such hath been the vnthankefulnesse thereof toward the Ministers and Messengers of Saluation that bring glad tydings of peace vnto vs that it neuer respected them or gaue them any reuerence We see this by the examples of the Prophets of the Apostles and of Christ himselfe So long as men resolue to entertaine their sinnes so long they will neuer bee willing to entertaine the Preachers of the Gospell whose Office is to beat downe the Kingdome of sinne and Sathan and to set vp the Kingdome of Christ Iesus in the harts of Men. When Herod was determined to keepe his Brothers Wife i Math. 14 4 5 he could not abide to heare Iohn preach vnto him but committed him to prison It is an euident signe of a corrupt conscience and of a prophane hart to account vilely of those whom God hath highly aduanced The Ministers of the Gospell were neuer so much hated scorned and abhorred they are made a common reproach and by-word for euery base Fellow they are set forth as vppon a Stage or Scaffold to be derided of euery Man k 1. Cor. 4 13. They are made as the filth of the world and the off-scowring of all things vnto this time If this be the estate of the Ministers wee may giue a true iudgement in what estate the cause of Religion standeth among vs and what harbour it findeth with the men of this age Such as esteeme of the Ministers as the filth and off-scowring of the earth doe also account the knowledge of the word as the Dregges and drauery of all other thinges Such as respect not those that are the meanes of faith will also reiect faith it selfe The Ministers of the word and true Religion grow vp as two Plants together so long as the one is countenanced and vpholden so long the other will flourish and spread abroad and prosper But if the Ministers that are as the Lordes Gardiners or the dressers of his Vine be euilly intreated maliciously slandered despightfully handled and scornefullie reproached Religion it selfe beginneth to faint and to languish and cannot long goe free Let vs know therefore by this signe the sicknesse of this age and the dangerous declining of all good things There cannot be a more certaine token of the ruine of the Church then when we see the maine posts and cheefe pillers thereof set at naught It is an easie matter to giue iudgement what will be the issue of this disease it is no hard thing to feele the pulses of this Generation and to tell them that the very pangs of death are vpon them so long as the spirituall Phisitions of their Soules are base in their eyes that desire nothing more then to recouer them out of that desperate consumption into which they are fallen There is no man hath his vitall Spirits so farre spent and the naturall heat so much wasted but is willing to heare of a Physition that is able and willing to set him on foote againe and to restore his strength vnto him that hee had before But we are become so senselesse or shamelesse and so dead in our sinnes that we haue no desire of health nor seeke after any spirituall Surgeons or Phisitions to looke vnto vs in time of sicknes There is no disease without cure if men of knowledge be enquired after who haue the tongue of the learned to minister a word in due season Vse 2. Secondly as this Doctrine serueth to teach so it is profitable to reprooue diuers sorts of men but I will onely touch these three The first reproofe First it maketh against fuch as make a bad and base account of the Ministers of God and think they owe no dutie to their Pastours but reckon them as their Vassals and Seruants suppose that they are bound to please them and follow their humours and account their Teachers beholden vnto them for vouchsafing to heare them as crediting their Ministery by their presence It must not therefore seeme a strange thing vnto vs when we see the Ambassadours of God contemned when we heare them reuiled and all manner of euill done to their persons We know our calling to be of GOD acceptable in his sight and precious with all faithfull men Wee are the sweete l 2 Cor. 2 15. sauour of God as well in them that perrish as in them that are saued we know that m 1 Cor. 1 24. howsoeuer the preaching of the Word be a stumbling blocke to the Iewes and foolishnesse to the Graecians and both a stumbling blocke and foolishnesse to the filthy Libertines and carnall Gospellers yet to them that are effectuallie called it is the power of God and the wisedome of God We know what Christ hath pronounced of our Ministery so long as we deliuer the truth of God Luke 10 16. n Luke 10 16 He that heareth you heareth me and hee that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me If a Man abuse an Ambassadour of a Prince and set him at naught it is reputed and reuenged as a disgrace and dishonour done to the Prince himselfe so if we shall abase and disgrace the Ministers of the Gospell which are the Messengers of God we shall neuer escape without punishment but bring vpon our selues swift damnation Is not he a godlesse and vngracious Childe that mocketh and despiseth his Father after the example of curssed Cham o Gen. 9 22. who tasted of Gods wrath for this contempt The Lord pronounceth a fearefull threatning against this fearefull sinne The eye p Prou. 30 17. that mocketh his Father and despiseth the instruction of his Mother let the Rauens of the valley picke it out and the young Eagles eate it In like manner he is an vngodly and vnregenerate hearer that controlleth and
the little light of Grace and spark of Faith that was in them did so shine and breake out into such a flame that they were not ashamed to professe themselues to be his Disciples when the rest forsooke him they begged his body of Pilate they wrapped it in linnen cloaths with Myrrhe and Alloes and sweet Odours and bestowed the honour of buriall vpon him Thus it falleth out oftentimes that they which are first are last and the last are first We know not what stormes and Tempestes hang ouer our owne heades and what perillous times may come vppon vs we know not what weaknesse wee shall shew in them howe great the Rebellion of the Flesh will be and what comfort wee shall want our selues The Prophet pronounceth him l Psal 41 1. Blessed that iudgeth Wisely of the poore and promiseth that the Lord shall deliuer him in the time of trouble If wee haue any feeling of this happinesse or haue anie Faith in our hearts touching this promise let vs make it manifest by seeking the good of our weake Bretheren It is an hiddeous and horrible cruelty and out-rage by our want of mercy and of feeling their infirmities to hinder the saluation of any one for whom Christ died Hence it is that the Apostle saith Rom. 15 2 3. Let euerie man please his Neighbour in that which is good to edification for Christ also would not please himselfe but as it is Written The rebukes of them that rebuked thee fell on me It cost a great price to Redeeme a soule and to bring it from Death to Life from Hell to Heauen and therefore we must vse all meanes wherewith the Lorde shall enable vs to comfort such as are Comfortlesse by the Comfort where-with wee our selues are comforted of God There is no Man but desireth to finde Peace and Comfort in him-selfe What is this life of ours without it If a man should liue many thousand yeares vpon the face of the earth and haue experience of nothing but sorrow anguish misery and vexation of Spirit so that hee could feele no quietnesse no rest no consolation no tranquility in these daies of his Pilgrimage would he not desire to be out of such a life and preferre death before it Do we then wish for peace And would we finde comfort The greatest comfort in the World that can come vnto vs and refresh and cheere vppe our Soules is to winne and saue Soules Blessed are we if we haue beene Instruments to gaine but one Soule vnto God It is the greatest gaine it is the best Traffique it is the sweetest Marchandize It shall be said vnto vs in the last day Thou good and faithfull Seruant well done thou hast beene faithfull ouer little I will make thee Ruler ouer much enter into thy Maisters ioy Let vs set this before our eyes and consider before hand the price of the reward when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Vse 3. Lastly seeing God hath such a care of them that are weake that he would not haue them cut off but cared for of all men this ought to serue as a notable encouragement vnto them to labor to grow in Grace and to encrease more and more that they may proceede from strength to strength and so come to a perfect man in Christ Iesus True it is there are degrees of Faith all haue not one measure of Grace and yet the least measure if it be but as a graine of Mustard-seede is of power to saue our Soules If there be wrought in vs by the sanctifying Spirit of God the beginnings and seeds of Faith to wit an humbling of our selues vnder the burthen of our sinnes an acknowledgement and feeling that we stand in neede of Christ an hungring and longing desire to be made partaker of Christ and all his merrits and a flying to the Throne of Grace from the sentence of the Law troubling the conscience trembling vnder the same if these preparations as it it were ploughings vp of the furrowes of our hearts be found in vs God will not cast vs away but make this weake measure of Grace to be effectuall to saluation This is a sweete comfort to all saint hearts that are euery foot like to sinke downe and as it were to giue vp the Ghost This ought to be a forcible meanes to work thankfulnesse in them when in the examination of their hearts they shall finde the least measure of Grace setled in them and know their mercifull Father willing to acknowledge it to accept it and to reward it Not that we should flatter our selues in our wantes or content our selues in our weakenesse to stand alwaies at one stay but heereby to be brought forward in well-doing and to runne the race with all cheerefulnesse that is set before vs. This a notable signe of a true and sincere hart when we feele our strength to come euery day vnto vs and an accesse to be added to our former course For if we desire to be better and better and deale as men that runne in a race who stand not still in the mid-way but presse with might and maine to the marke this is an infallible note of a sincere heart This is it which the Apostle testifieth Phil. 3 14 15. Bretheren I count not my selfe that I haue attained to it but one thing I doe I forget that which is behinde and endeuour my selfe vnto that which is before And follow hard toward the marke for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus It is the goodnesse of God to accept the small measure of Faith that we bring vnto him This graunteth not liberty vnto vs to doe nothing to stirre neither hand nor foote or to content our selues that we go not backward For we must all know and vnderstand that the beginnings of grace are deceitfull and counterfeit vnlesse there be a growth and encrease The kingdome of Heauen is like to q Math. 13 31 33. a graine of Mustard seed which at the first is so small and little that it is scarse discerned but after that it is cast into the ground of a prepared and purified heart it rooteth deeply it groweth speedily it spreadeth exceedingly It is like vnto Leauen which a woman taketh and hideth in three peckes of Meale till all be Leauened The Maister deliuering his Talents vnto his seruants that he had called saith vnto them Occupy vntill I come he doth not bid them hide them in the earth Luke 19 13. Hereunto commeth the exhortation that Paule giueth vnto Timothy who had greatly profited in godlinesse and was brought vp in the vnderstanding of the holy Scriptures from a childe Chapter 1. r 2 Tim. 2 6. I put thee in remembrance that thou stirre vp the gift of God which is thee by the putting on of mine handes The word is a borrowed speach from the fire which must bee euermore kindled and kept with a new supply from going out
Paule mentioning sundry iudgements that fell vpon the Israelites for their sinnes and offences gathereth this Exhortation wherefore c 1 Cor. 10 12 Let him that thinketh he standeth take heede least he fall They had the vse of the Sacraments and other pledges of Gods fauour yet they could not priuiledge them or defend them from the punishments that God brought vpon them Let no man therefore trust too much to the zeale of one or two yeaers but perseuer to the end and know he must be faithfull vnto the last gasp God hath not hired vs for a season to labour in his seruice for a day or a month or a yeare neither giueth vs leaue to depart at a time appointed nor maketh vs a Certificat vnder his hand that wee are at libertie to serue another but wee must all know that there is one condition of worshipping him to wit that wee dedicate both our Soule and Body both our life and death both our beginning and ending vnto him What did it profit d Gene. 19 25. Lots Wife to go out of Sodome commaunded by the Angell and accompanied by her Husband in as much as she looked backe and was turned into a piller of Salt What profit was it e Iude 5. to the Israelites to depart out of Aegipt and to passe ouer the Red Sea seeing afterward they fell to murmuring in the Wildernesse and were destroyed of the Destroyer What gaine or what good was f 2 Kin. 9. 10 it to Iehu to slay the Priests of Baall with the sword and to be zealous for the execution of the iudgements of the Lord to deface the Image and to throw downe the house of Baal and to make a Iakes of it for euer seeing he departed not from the sinnes of Ieroboam and regarded not to walke in the Law of the Lord God of Israel but worshipped the Golden Calues that were in Dan and Bethel It were as good neuer to begin as not to continue vnto the end When we haue once giuen our Names to Christ and tasted of the good worde of God and see many men come farre behinde vs we flatter our selues in an opinion of our sure standing we are ready to say If all the world should turne to be back-sliders and Apostataes yet we would neuer slide away But let vs take heed we be not deceiued for God will not be mocked It is a woorthy saying of the Prophet Ezechiell Chap. 18 24. If a Righteous Man turne away from his righteousnesse commit iniquity and do according to all the abhominations that the wicked man doth shall he liue All his righteousnesse that he hath done shall not be mentioned but in his transgression that he hath committed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die It is not enough to purpose well it is not enough to beginne well it is not enough to proceede well it is required of vs to perseuer well and to continue in a constant and setled course vnto the end If a man continue vnto his latter dayes and then giue ouer all is gone al is lost all is in vaine If a Childe that is set to Schoole do go lustily forward in his Learning a long time and afterward prooue an ydle boy and one that will take no paines he will neuer proue Learned nor is euer like to come to any preferment If a man beginne to builde an house and haue laide a good foundation it is neuer the better vnlesse the worke bee brought to an end and perfection He that runneth in a race though he set out neuer so swiftly and haue passed a great part of the way neuer so resolutely yet if hee stay in his course and hold not on to the end h 1 Cor. 9 24. hee receiueth not the prize hee obtaineth not the reward Hee that is Valiant and Couragious in the beginning of the fight neuer winneth the fielde nor getteth the Victory vnlesse he continue to the end of the battell We are taught and trained vp in Gods Schoole wee are partes of the building of his house and as liuely stones fitted to make an holie Temple vnto him we all runne in a Race and prooue Maisteries We are the Lords Soldiers to fight hand to hand against Sinne the World and the Deuill let vs therefore hold out till wee come to the marke and receiue the ende of our Faith euen the Saluation of our soules Saule beganne well but he declined and in the end became an open persecuter Ioash i 2 Chr. 24 17. behaued himselfe vprightly all the dayes of Iehoiadah and repaired the house of the Lord but after his death he fell to Idolatry he left the house of the Lord God of his Fathers and he serued Groues and Idols so that wrath came vpon Iudah and Ierusalem because of this trespasse The Israelites that would haue returned into Egypt dyed in the Wildernesse It shall not be needful to heape vp mo examples we haue too many such stumbling blockes lying in our way and set before our eyes let vs take heede by their falles and learne Wisedome by their foolishnesse and constancy by their inconstancy Vse 6. Lastly seeing many slide backe that haue seemed forward men and of great and eminent note aboue others it is our duty in regarde of the small strength and the little power of our owne Nature to pray heartily and earnestly vnto God not to lead vs into tentation nor to take away his holy spirit from vs but that he would stay vs vp by his grace We must entreat at the hands of God for our continuance as well as for our first conuersion For as the opening of the hart and the beginning of our regeneration and new birth is of Grace so we proceede in the midde way and perseuer vnto the end not by our selues or any thing in vs but by the same grace and goodnesse of God who worketh in vs both the will and the deede Hence it is that the k Psal 51 12. Prophet prayeth vnto God To restore vnto him the ioy of his saluation and to establish him with his free Spirit And in another place he praieth to the Lord who had kept him in his youth that he also would be his keeper in his old age when his head was hoare and haires gray l Psal 71 9 17 18. Cast me not off in the time of age forsake me not when my strength faileth ô God thou hast taught me from my youth euen vntill now therefore will I tell of thy wondrous workes yea euen vnto mine old age and gray head ô God forsake me not vntill I haue declared thine Arme vnto this Generation c. The Prophet knew well enough his pronenesse and inclination to goe backe and that it is at easie to fall through dotage as noneage and by the weakenesse and coldnesse of old age as by the lustes and frailty of youth Yea we see many that haue held a