if we consider it as a Petition for the enlargement of the evidence and manifestation of grace so it is good For grace cannot be manifested till it be given there can be no demonstration of the pardon of sin till pardon be wrought and the greatest demonstration of the pardon of sin is this when Gods spirit is powerfull to subdue and crucifie sin Then it is this demonstration they beg in the second place pardon our iniquities and give us evidence that our sins are pardoned that thy spirit affist us continually to crucifie and subdue our sins bestow upon us grace and favour and make us know that we have it For as our happinesse consists in the pardon of our sins so the comfort consists in the enjoying of it It is true that grace and pardon of sin may be had where it is not at all times seene and felt and perceived but yet it cannot be enjoyed unlesse it be seene and felt we may have the thing but want the comfort sometimes He that wants the comfort for the time he wants the thing to himselfe and his apprehension Therefore when God hath pardoned and hath shewed grace the faithfull soul staies not there it is a Heaven upon Earth to have the comfort and assurance and evidence of grace that is the point that After the pardon of sin is had the faithfull soul staies not there but begs for assurance and after that for more assurances and still for more assurance Because there may be enlargement of assurance still as long as we are in these dayes of misery However it please our adversaries of Rome to make a mock of the certeinty of Salvation the assurance of grace they pin many scornes upon it in their writings though they be the Learned of them let them injoy their consolation it is to be feared that they will want the comfort that thus deride it The Saints in Scripture did not so they directed their prayers oft times not onely for the thing but for the comfort and assurance of it and as they rejoyced in the thing so much more in the assurance for the present Looke over those in the Old Testament and in the New Heare the tryumph of Job wherein he wonderously delights and refresheth himselfe I know that my Redeemer liveth and that I shall see him with these eyes There is no word of greater assurance then this I know Let their Thomas Aquinas speake his mind of that word upon those words I know whom I have beleived 2 Tim. 1. sayth he in this word I know there is a certainty and assurance of hope that hope that makes us not confounded there is a certainty in this word I know I know that my redeemer liveth Therefore David Psal 51. he prayes not onely God to cleanse and pardon and purifie his sins but then followes Make me to heare the voice of joy and gladnesse Cleanse me and make me understand that thou hast cleansed me make me have the comfort of it Thou hast told me already that my sins are pardoned I have the assurance of it by the Message sent by Nathan but there wants comfort and joy in the evident demonstration of it O make me to heare the voyce of joy and gladnesse that the bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce that I may have the evidence of thy spirit speaking to my heart Looke to the New Testament it is that perticular in which the Holy Apostle John delights and refresheth himselfe not onely in the thing but in the comfort to demonstrate the certainty 1 John 3. We know there is Pauls and Jobs word againe We know that we are translated from death to life it is God that hath pardoned our sins and wrought this gracious change There is a translation of the Old man to the New we are translated and we know it by the fruit and effect because we love the Brethren And in another place We know his spirit abides in us He not onely comes and goes but dwells he hath taken up his Habitation it continues with us we know it even by the Spirit there is the evidence from the effect because we love the Brethren we know it by that and from the cause we know it because we have the Spirit What is more then we know And what greater assurance then the Spirit Paul makes that the great evidence Rom. 8. We know that he hath given us of his spirit And that Spirit witnesseth what That our sins are pardoned that we are the Children of God that we are in the state of Adoption and Reconciliation The Spirit witnesseth to our Spirits Our spirits have the Testimony and the spirit adds a Testimony to that that by the mouth of two Witnesses every word of God might be established to the soule There is the evidnce of grace and the testimony of our spirit of the spirit of God The Apostle Paul is very freequent in setting words of weight to evince the certeinty I am perswaded that neither life nor death nor Angells nor Principallities nor powers nor any thing shall be able to seperate us from the love of God I am perswaded it is a word of great assurance I am confident it is as much as we know I am assured that neither life nor death that nothing can seperate this bond of union or cut this bond assunder There is no Sword that can cut betweene the beleiving soule and the spirit of God It is so neare a union that the love of God makes that nothing can come between I am confident I am assured that neither principallities nor powers nor any thing shall be able to seperate us from the love of God he had the evidence and he shewes that it might therefore be had Yet another place and that is that that before I named 2 Tim. 1. I know whom I have beleived It is not onely put in 2 Cor. 5. in the Singular but in the Plur all least men should have thought that Paul had it by illumination from God it was revealed to him from Heaven He knew whom he had beleived and that none could seperate him but shall we expect to have that assurance given us Therefore in the Corinths he takes in them We know he names some besides himselfe that is I and you Corinthians all beleivers or at least those that are eminent Beleivers if not at all times yet at some time if not at every time for the particular yet for the generall We know that when this earthly house of this Tabernacle shall be dissolved there is a House made without hands reserved in the Heavens He speakes of the translation from the Houses of Clay these bodies that we carry about us to those Houses that are cloathed on with immortality God hath provided a house and we know it and are assured of it The Apostles and Saints of both Testaments they laid a great deale of their comfort in this assurance therefore they gave Testimony to it And
our selves and all that we have see his goodnesse that whereas we are debtors to him he condiscends to make himselfe by promise and stipulation debtors to us as St. Austin very well Vt sicut c. That as we should praise God as the Donor of all the good we have so we should depend upon him as the holy debtor of all the good we look for to testify this great goodnesse he gives it first â—y promise and that because it is a long time before we come to possession God staies our stomacks by a promise as a bit before the heavenly supper When that Supper comes then we have fruition and because we may have desires hot towards Heaven and our stomacks sharp God staies them and gives us a little of the first fruits and these are in the promises And then there is good reason if we consider our selves The reason that we are so fraile and weak in faith and have so much trouble and conflicts and agonies in our spirits is because we doe not converse with the promises we treasure not up these The promises are a great support of three graces First they are the great support of faith faith would sinck and lag unlesse it were for the promises The promises are to faith as Aaron and Hur were to Moses Moses hands were feeble and then Aaron and Hur bring a stone and set it under When Moses had the stone under and Aaron and Hur supported his hands then Israel prevailed Moses was strengthened The promise is as that stone it brings the Rock Christ it makes us look to the Rock that is higher then our selves It brings the Rock and sets it not onely above us but under us The promise undersets faith and keeps the building from tottering Nothing can support it more then the promise For in that the promise supports it God supports it and all in all his attributes There is somwhat of all the attributes of God in the promise of his wisdome of his truth of the power and justice of God all these support saith A man hath enough if he have but one Attribute to support him in any exigent How strong is he that hath all these in the promise Because God is faiâ—hfull and just and true the promise it is the support of faith As it is the support of faith so it is of hope and of patience There is no grace that hath so great correspondency with the promise as hope and patience The promise teacheth hope to live by Providence whereas every man can live by the present the promise supports hope and makes it live by the future by reversion it instructs hope to live by providence not onely in temporalls but spiritualls And as it instructs hope so it doth patience it is a great cherisher of patience Patience is the grace that waits and so doth hope hope is patience Sister or if you will Patience is the Daughter of hope and the promise is the supporter of both The promise will teach hope and patience to depend upon God not onely for the thing he gives but for the time there is a great deale of comfort in the time it will make it submit to Gods order and method What is Gods method This before he gives possession he gives reversion the promise is the reversion the promise is the support of hope and patience there is a great deale of comfort comes to a Christian this way A worldly man is all for the present he cares not for the future if he can be happy for the present that is the pitch he goes to A worldly man desires to take if it be possible his wages before hand he cares not for taking any thing at the last day He is nothing for reversion he would take all as much as he could before That is the reason he is left voyd of comfort at the howre of death because he took up all he knowes not where to take up more as Christ saith He hath his reward he hath his portion in this life he hath no more to take unlesse it be that Son remember thou in thy life-time receivedst pleasure and likewise Lazarus paine now he is comforted and thou art tormented he cannot take it and expect it A godly man contrary he desires not to work for present payment but he works to a day he knowes that God is a good Pay-master he would not have all for the present he knowes the lesse he hath now the more he shall have after because he lives by the promise he lives by hope and hope makes him patient and the promise supports them both It is the grace of hope that sets a man in Heaven when he is on Earth and the promise sets hope in Heaven Hope cannot goe to Heaven but by the promise A Christian could not goe to Heaven on Earth and take a spirituall flight but for hope The promise brings downe Heaven to the heart it inverts that Speech of St. Paul he sayth While we are present in the body we are absent from the Lord. But hope turnes it and makes it while we are in the body it teacheth us how to be present in Heaven Here is the benefit of hope and because of hope therefore of the promise Therefore if we would looke for comfort let us look to the treasuring up of the promises the promises support There is no condition that befalls a Christian in this life but there is a promise for it there is some promise for it whither it be of prosperity or adversity of life or of death of falling of want there are promises for all and the promise will still keep the head above water what ever the affliction be it will still keep life and soul together If there be no bâ—ame of comfort appeare yet the promise will support in the middest of all distresse If a man grasp but a promise he is well enough If the soul be in perplexity and doubting it will settle it if it be in affliction the promise will comfort it if it be in any distresse the promise will afford consolation therfore make much of the promises If salvation be promised to believers it is hope that presently grasps and layes hold of it it doth it by the promise If forgivenesse be promised to the penitent hope looks after it and layes hold of it and it doth that by the promise If it be the Crowne to â—erseverance hope looks after that too and layes hold of it it doth it still by the promise Hope is the Watch-man or the Sentinell among the graces as a Watch-man upon a Tower will discover before all others that are below when day breaks if there be but the breaking of any day light any beame of comfort to be seene hope will discover it and pick it up Though every grace be as an eye and hereupon the Apostle sayth that the Saints in the Revelations are full of eyes before and behind It is not
THE VALLEY OF VISION OR A clear sight of sundry sacred Truths Delivered in Twenty-one Sermons by that Learned and Reverend Divine RICHARD HOLSVVORTH Dr. in Divinity sometimes Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge Master of Emanuel Colledge and late Preacher at Peters Poore in LONDON The particular Titles and Texts are set downe in the next lease 1 Sam. 3.1 And the word of the Lord was precious in those dayes there was no open Vision Habakkuk 2.2 Write the Vision and make it plaine upon Tables that he may run that readeth it LONDON Printed by M. S. and are to be sold by R. Tomlins at the Sun and Bible in Pye-Corner and Rob. Littlebury at the Vnicorne in Little-Britaine 1651. The particular Titles and Texts in the ensuing worke The Peoples happinesse One Sermon on Psal 144.15 Happie is that people that is in such a Case yea happie is that people whose God is the Lord. The Penitents Patterne Six Sermons on Hosea 14.2 Take with you words and turne to the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips The Sufferers Crowne Foure Sermons on Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him The Saints Heritage One Sermon on Psal 119.111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever for they are the rejoycing of my heart Davids Devotion One Sermon on Psal 119.48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy Commandements which I have loved and will meditate on thy Statutes The Vigilant Servant Two Sermons on Psal 123.2 Behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her Mistresse so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God untill that he have mercy upon us The Saints Progresse Two Sermons on Psal 84.7 They goe from strength to strength every one of them in Zion appeareth before God The Guest-Chamber Two Sermons on Luk. 23.11.12 And ye shall say unto the good man of the house the Master saith unto thee Where is the Guest-Chamber where I shall eat the Passeover with my Disciples And he shall shew you a large upper roome furnished there make ready Angels Inspection Two Sermons on 1 Pet. 1.1 2. Which things the Angels desire to looke into TO THE READER HOw eminent an instrument the Author of this Treatise was of Gods glory and the Churches good is unknown to none who in the least degree were acquainted with his person and profitable paines They knew him to be composed of a learned Head a gracious heart a bountifull hand and what must not be omitted a patient back comfortably and cheerfully to endure such heavy afflictions as were laid upon him The more pitty therefore it was that so worthy a man should dye issulesse without leaving any Books behind him for the benefit of Learning and Religion Considering what might be the cause thereof it cannot be imputed to any envy in him as grudging us the profit of his paines one so open handed of his Almes could not be close fisted of his labours for a generall good Rather it proceeded partly from his modesty having the highest parts in himselfe and the lowest opinion of himself Partly from his judicious observation that the world now a dayes surfets with Printed Sermons 1 Kin. 10.21 which like Silver in the reigne of Solomon are not respected by some they are so plentifull whilst they are abused by others who lazily imp their wings with other â—ens plumâ— wherewith they soar high in common esteeme yet have not the ingenuity with that son of the Prophet to confesse 2 Kin. 6.5 Alasse it was borrowed As for the private notes which he left behind him as Aristotle told Alexander of his physicks that he had written them as if he had not written them meaning that the language was so darke and obscure that few could understand it so his hand was onely legible to himselfe and almost uselesse for aâ— her Yet that the world might not totally be deprived of his worthy endeavours I trust his pains will meet with commendations in most with just censure in none who being exquisite in the Art of Short-Writing the onely way to retreâ—ve winged words and fix them to stay amongst us hath with all possible accuratenesse first taken and now set them forth by the permission as I am credibly informed of the Authors best friends to publike view I say possible accuratenesse seeing a candid Reader knowes how to make his charitable allowances in things of this nature It is said of Demosthenes that the best part of his Orations were wanting when they were read because the Orator when uttering them enlivened each sentence word and syllable with a true tone and proper accent in his pronunciation Two best parts then may be said to be wanting in Dr. Holsworths Sermons One because read and not spoken by him the other because not transcribed from his owne copy but taken from his mouth when he preached them as well as Art and industry can performe Indeed when the Mother looked upon the Babe which was laid by her 1 Kin. 3.21 Behold it was not the Son which she did beare But should this glorious Saint take a review of these Sermons as now set forth as he would probably wonder at the alteration of the clothes and dressing thereof not so fine and fashionable yea perchance mâ—â—â—t wonder at the complexion and colour thereof not so lively sprightfull and vigorous as he left it yet notwithstanding he would acknowledge an identity of feature and favour and his naturall sympathy would challenge a true relation in the same and owne it for a true off-spring of his owne a weake child but no changling How ever it is a happinesse when sâ—rviving Authors see their owne workes set forth to their 〈◊〉 contentment Various were the proceedings in Divine providence to two honorable Families the one in Ireland the other in Wales The Family of St. Laurence of Hoath by Dublin Camdens Brit. in the County of Dublin hath for some hundreds of yeares been observed never to have an Orphan or Minor the Son alwayes being of full age before the Fathers death Whereas amongst the ancient Earles of Pembrook for five descents together the Son never saw the Father The felicity of the former Idem in Pembrook-Shire is applyable to those who behold their owne Books perfected and finished in their life times Whilst I read the sad successe of the latter in such whose posthume bookes appeare in this world after their Authors are gone into a better To such books that want Fathers I wish good guardians as I hope this hath not light on the worst of them What remaines but that we wish the Reader all profit by the ensuing Treatise of so worthy an Author equalled by few exceeded by none in our age It
cannot be done but by the bath that is taken from Christ and the mercie of God The Jewes that were ignorant and knew nothing in the time of Christ they knew that who can forgive sinnes but God Though they misapplyed it yet it is was true in the thesis and in the generall who can forgine sinnes out God And Christ unlesse he had been God could not have forgiven sins who can forgive sinnes but God Cyrâ—l well upon the place gives the reason it must needs be so because God is the Law-giver and the Judg saith he to whom can it possibly belong to pardon and passe by and wipe away the transgressions of the law but to him that is the giver of the law Therefore none of the Prophets or Apostles durst ever arrogate this priviledge Nathan when he was sent to David though he had a commission from God durst not speak in his own name but the Lord hath pardoned And if there were no Prophet or Apostle durst assume so much shall we that are men far inferiour in place and piety and those speciall intercourses of the love and knowledge of God It is true there is a power given to Ministers declaratorie to publish and pronounce pardon to the truly repentant but the power of absolution properly so called and the power of taking away and pardoning that onely God keeps in his own custodie Saith Ambrose well the Minister of God doth that that belongs to his duty when he declares and publisheth pardon to the repentant but he exerciseth not any power and authority it is but Ministeriall Therefore Saint Austin observes well that when Christ gave this power to his Apostles and Disciples whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted he first premiseth he breathed on them and said receive yee the holy Ghost Saith he first they received the holy Ghost and then whose sinnes yeremit they are remitted For it is the holy Ghost that puts away sinne and not you It is Austin's observation And we may further observe that Christ when hee healed any commonly hee pronounced forgivenesse of sinnes but the Apostles though they healed many yet we never read that they used this word To note that Christ gave the power of healing to them but he kept the power of pardoning to himselfe Further then it is ministeriall hee kept the power of putting away of sinne to himselfe for it is an act of Majestie it cannot be so to others God may make Angels to declare it or men but the power is proper to him Christ gave the power of healing to the Apostles but hee kept the power of pardoning to himselfe Saint Austin presseth it against the Donatists sweetly who would faine have got the power to themselves Austin askes the question tell me the vertue of whose name takes away sinne He speaks of himselfe is it the name of Austin is it the name of Donatus it is neither the name of Paul nor Peter who is Austin who is Donatus And the Apostle presseth it who is Paul and who is Apollo but the Ministers of CHRIST But who is it that takes away sinnes GOD Himselfe This is the second thing the Prophet would bring them to know and acknowledge in this word O Lord to thee belongs mercie and forgivenesse thou art the Father of mercie we can feel the smart of sinne but cannot remove it thou must either take it away or else it will not be taken away therefore shew mercie and come among us either take it from us or else it will take us from thee remove it from us and remove it from thee Take away sinne and receive us graciously I have done with the first part the precatory part which concernes Malum tollendum the evill to be removed the evill of sin The second is bonum largiendum in these words â—â—ke away all iniquity and receive us graciously It is in the Originall and shew us good Yet in the Originall a little further Take away iniquity and receive good Like that phrase in the Psalm He received gifts for men that is he gave gifts to men Receive good that is shew good shew thy grace that is as it is well interpreted in English receive us graciously Two things are to be considered in it One that I propounded in the forenoon though I came not to it that is the connexion of this part to the other The other is the order of this part with the other why it is joyned or added to the other clause and why it followes it I shall hardly speak of all But let us looke upon the connexion why is this clause added to the other Is not this enough take away all iniquitie It seemes this is superfluous for where-ever sinne is pardoned grace is conveyed where GOD takes away sinne he discovers grace and where hee crucifies the old man he stamps the image of the new where hee frees from death he gives interest to life where sinne is pardoned salvation is stated upon the soule what need this follow this one word take away all iniquitie is all the expression that need to be used But the Prophet would bring them to a greater enlargement and it is added for speciall reasons I will bring them to these three First it is added as a clause of illustration Take away all iniquitie so shew thy self gracious favourable Noting this that there is nothing doth more magnifie the goodness glory of God then the pardon of sin nothing doth more shew his grace then that As if he had said thou art the Father of mercie we have need of mercy thou hast mercy for thousands and we are thousands that beg it we pray thee to pardon our sins and manifest thy mercie in pardoning by receiving us graciously shew us grace in the pardoning our sins It is the greatest evidence of the mercie of God in the pardoning of sinnes it is that that glorifies God most It is well said by the Psalmist that his mercie is over all his works and we may say of the grace of pardoning that it is over all his other mercies There are other mercies that God shewes us that concerne our temporall estate O these come not within compare Nay spirituall mercies if he preserve any it is the grace of custodie If he deliver any from danger it is the grace of liberty If he accept our prayers and receive them at our hands that is a testimonie of mercie the grace of acceptation but if he pardon sinne that hath all in it that is Gods tender mercie in that he shewes bowels of mercie He opens his casket of mercy in all favours but hee opens his owne bowels when he pardons sinne that includes all mercies that David calls his tender mercies Over all our works it is even over the worst workes of ours which is sinne Over all Gods works it is euen over all the best of Gods works besides in creating preserving and keeping It is that that shines and breakes
in this World but more for the hope of life in another world Many thanks are due for Creation but more for redemption for in Creating us he made us once but in redeeming us he made us againe and in giving us the hope of life everlasting he makes us for ever There is great thanks due for removing temporall Plagues but more for the removing of his wrath and our sins Therefore the Prophet would have them understand that as they prayed first Take away iniquity so they should give thanks in that order when their iniquities were taken away then they should thanke God for the pardon of their sins first for spirituall then for temporalls Reason shews this order for in our Prayers we Pray for temporall things with conditions but for spiritualls without conditions as we pray for them more fervently so we should be thankfull for them with more enlarged hearts So in taking away temporall things we give thanks as Job did but in spirituall things we give thanks when God gives them but none gives thanks for the taking them away It is true when God with-holds grace he can make grace grow out of that separation from himselfe but that is by accident that the want of grace should be a meanes of the propagating of grace but properly and directly none can rejoyce in the taking away of grace We give thanks for temporalls when we want them but for spiritualls onely when we have them That is the second thing Thirdly another thing he would instruct them in by adding this clause is this that thankfullnesse must be joyned with Prayer first he teacheth them to pray Take away iniquity but he closeth the Prayer with thankfullnesse These must goe together they are Sister-duties and in a large sence speaking thankfullnesse is a part of Prayer therefore as Prayer inlargeth it selfe in expressing of wants so thankfullnesse in expressing it selfe in Gods goodnesse It is a defect we find in the Missalls of the Romish Church where we find many Prayers made to Saints but not one forme of thankfullnesse If it be lawfull to pray to them it is lawfull to thanke them for favours received by them What a grosse error is it in them to make Prayers and not to thanke them Those are more rare they set them at the end of their Books Glory and praise be to the Virgin Mary but for the particular since they make so many Prayers to the Saints why doe they not thanke them As in the one they are injurious to God in praying to Saints so in the other they are injurious to the Saints in not thanking them for so many mercies they receive for the rule is firme whom we pray to we must give thanks to for the mercies we may pray we may give thanks As Elisha spread himselfe upon the Child hand upon hand and face upon face so in these two duties the hands must be spread to God and hands and eyes must be fixed and fastened on God in giving thanks when we receive mercies as they are fixed in begging and the hands must be spread as wide in blessing God as ever they were in praying to him and the Knees must bow as low and the voyce of the lips must be lifted as loud in giving thanks for mercies as ever they were extended in praying for mercies It is a signe of an ungratefull heart to be fervent in begging mercies and to be unmindfull of thankfullnesse Therefore the Prophet bids them joyne thankfullnesse to Prayer That is the third thing he minds them of that thankfullnesse is due for all mercies and for spirituall mercies and that thankfullnesse must goe along with prayer The Fourth is this that thankfullnesse is to be the close of Prayer here the Prayer ends So will we give thee the Calves of our lips Prayer is one of those duties that I said had a Language there are two Letters that make up the Language Confession of sin that is the Alpha and thankfullnesse to God that is the Omega of it All Prayer opens with confession of sin all Prayer shuts with thanksgiving that is the end of Prayer Prayer it selfe is the Key that opens to all duty and thankfullnesse is the Key that locks up prayer O! How sweet will the order be observed when Prayer makes the Way and Thankfullnesse closeth it Where these two are joyned when a man is conversant in that worke be it Morning or Evening Sacrifice both Sacrifices meet in this in Confession of sin there is the Dawning of the DAY and in giving Thanks there is the Evening Sacrifice the Latter end and Close of Prayer Christ taught us this in the Lords prayer after he had set downe six Petitions For thine is the Kingdome the Poweâ— and the glory to shew that Prayer must be shut up with thanksgiving The Apostle Paul shewes it in 1. Tim. 2. Texhort that Prayers and Supplications be made for all with thanksgiving In Phillipians 4. Therefore let your Suites and Requests in all things be made knowne to God by Prayer and Supplication and giving of thanks In both places giving of thanks comes in the last place With Prayer and Supplication and giving of Thanks Why doth he set it in the last place To shew that thanksgiving must close up Prayer So will we give the Calves of our lips That is the fourth thing And how well doe all these if they be put together concurr in the preparation we are to make this day for the Sacrament Looke back to the first point delivered and see if there be not a concurrence of all these Remember the three enlargements of the order of them remember these six things in joyning these to them So will we render the Calves of our lips When we come here we pray to God for his grace and for the continuance and enlargement of his grace therefore it is that he instituted the Sacrament that it might be an instrument for the confirming and conveying of grace it is the instrument that God useth Thereupon it is that diverse of the Fathers are bold to call it the preservative against everlasting death the conservative to everlasting life the salve of imortallity We come here to beg grace and the continuance of it we come to beg grace and the evidence of grace too by the confirming and assuring of it For that purpose the Sacrament was instituted to confirme our faith that we might not want a memoriall of all those great things that Christ wrought for us In this respect the Fathers call the Lords Supper the pledge of eternity the defence of faith the hope of the Resurrection because here grace is enlarged it pleaseth God to enlarge and confirme it this way For those that want certainty here they may get assurance those that have it may get an addition Thirdly here we beg pardon of sin and we give thanks for it and we come to have that sure to us and make acknowledgement of it by thankfullnesse Lastly
suffer patiently and for righteousnesse sake Put these together and you have the meaning of the words To shut up all what is the use we may make briefly thus much To lead us to the right understanding of the nature of Temptations and Tribulations that you may see there is a great deale of comfort and a great deale of honour and contentment in the right enduring of them and that it is a grace to be laboured for that we may attain And that we may attaine the right enduring of tentation One grace above all is to be learned Labour for patience under the Crosse for patience in affliction and Tribulation labour for that grace it is that excellent grace that hath a mixture in every grace It is Custos the keeper of all other vertues of faith hope and Charity and every other grace they all come to their end by the preservation of patience they would faint all were it not for patience Patience lends support to every grace as Gregory speakes well It is the roote of all those flowers in the wreath of Christian vertues the roote of all those graces Patience who can tell the usefullnesse of it it is usefull to a man in all conditions if his liâ—e be prosperous he hath need to stir up patience against the day of distresse If his life be afflicted he needs a treasure of patience because he hath present use of it Besides it is the grace that God honours in many places with his approbation he promiseth a reward to no grace more frequently then to this Nay it is the grace that God honours with the name he takes to himselfe and set us an example even from himselfe he condiscends to set us an Example of longanimity Mercy it selfe doth not more extoll Gods goodnesse then his patience doth for patience is more then mercy for patience is multiplied renewed mercy he could shew no mercy but for patience Therefore he takes the name as the God of judgement so of patience he sets us the example of himselfe that we might learne to get this grace Besides patience is the proper mark of a Christian if the Crosse of Christ be the badge the bearing of the the Crosse the cognizance of a Christian a Christian is not knowne by any thing more then by suffering and therefore is to be defined by no grace more then patience the grace of suffering In one of the first words Christ spake in the Gospell he calls to the Crosse Whosoever will come after me let him take up his Crosse by the same word he called us to patience therefore it is one of the first graces that Christ forceth it is the very mark of a Christian And it is that grace that carries a man through all encounters that sweetens all afflictions whatsoever admit a man endure poverty if he have contentation he doth not feele it it is all one not to have the world and not to want it he that wants not hath abundance contentation is abundance in the middest of want And so for afflictions it is all one not to have affliction and to bear it if there be patience patience never feeles it no affliction can be weighty if Patience bee there it beares all Impatience turnes every thing contrary If a man have fulnesse yet if a man have an impatient spirit he is in affliction in happinesse and aboundance as covetousnesse makes a man alwayes want so impatience make a man alwayes afflicted Take it by a familiar instance if a bird taken in a lime-twig sit still if she have a little patience there may be hopes of recovery but while she flutters her wings she is more fast taken by stirring she brings her selfe into greater afflictions So a man if he be wounded if hee be of a fiery nature and fret within if he be of a fretting spirit it makes the wound worse and not better So if a man be in bonds and in fetters and he begin to be impatient and to stirre much and to strive with the bonds the bonds will make him lame but if he would endure them with quietnesse the bonds are no bonds he feeles them not after they are once setled So in a feaver if a man keepe himselfe in a calme temper and do not stirre and tosse up and downe by toleration the fervor of the feaver diminisheth if he be unquiet it encreaseth the feaver So it is with all afflictions that God layes upon us if we have impatient spirits the more we stirre and fret and vexe our selves the more we encrease our owne tribulation patience is only that that sweetens and seasons all Therefore if wee will rightly come to suffer and endure tribulation get the grace of Patience it is worth our labour by prayer and meditation and by whatsoever good meanes wee may have a happy supply of it Yet that is not all for there must be the other graces joyned to patience Constancy for patience will not come to victory except constancy carry it to the end of the race therefore the blessing is not joyned to patience but it is joyned to constancy Be thou faithfull to death and I will give thee the crowne of life And henceforth is laid up a caowne of righteousnesse but I must finish my couâ—se A man may expect the crowne when he hath runne his race not before there is immortall glory but to those that continue in well-doing so that it is not to those that are patient but that continue to endure as long as God continues to try he that is carryed to the end with constancy hath a title to the blessing otherwise as St. Ambrose saith of faith it is not faith that is received but faith that is kept that preserves a man to Gods Kingdome so it is not patience that is not gotten but patience that is preserved and kept by constancy it is not patience that is fading but that is lasting A man may goe on farre by the help of patience but if constancy be wanting that he goe not out to the very end if hee leave before hee come to the very last step he may chance come neere heaven but constancy brings a man to it So it was that grace that carryed all the Martyrs and Saints through their pilgrimage and suffering they had no other scaling-ladder to climâ— to heaven by but constancy every step till they came to the top of that ladder It is the ladder that caryed our Saviour through his course pilgrimag As he was man upon earth he was to us both an example as S. Bernard saith he was obedient to death he left not off the obedience to death he walk'd along to the last to the end We must follow our blessed Lord if we wil shew our selves his true Disciples Saith St. Bernard thou whosoever thou art O Christian set not up thy staffe any where else but where Christ hath set up his Christ sets not up his staffe his rest untill hee come
unto the end of his race he obeyed to the death even to the death of the Crosse so we must not set up our staffe till we be at the end of all that God will bring us to and then when a man is tryed he is blessed and shall have the crowne of life These things put together let us see what it is to endure Tribulation So much for the first point the description of the Person to whom the promise is made the man that endureth temptation so much for this time SERMON II. James 1.12 13. Blessed is the man that indureth temptation for when 〈…〉 shall receive the Crowâ—â— of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him THESE words I divided into foure particulars One of the person to whom the promise is made The man that endureth temptation The other of the reward that is assured to him Blessednesse and the Crowne of life The third it is the assurance of this reward the crown that is promised to them that love God And the last is the manner and the time of retribution he shall receive it when he is tryed And of the first of these I spake in the fore-noon and that is the description of the person to whom the promise is made And now I am to proceed unto the second branch that is of the reward or retribution it selfe it is in these words Blessed shall he be and he shall receive the crown of life They are the words that hover over the other the description of the person as the opening of the heavens did over Stephen when he was stoned Here is Stephens agonie the man that endures tribulation and then comes in his blessednesse the crowne of life as the opening of the heavens to encourage every Christian the better for the enduring the conflict It followes upon the first in a very good order for there is nothing that will stirre us up more to endure tribulation with patience and submission of spirit then the thought of the reward It is the resolution that every man propounds to himselfe in any undertaking whether it be of action or passion quid habebo what shall I have if I do or suffer These are the voyces of all men both good and bad worldly men and others Even Judas himselfe when he went about that evill work of betraying Christ he encouraged himself by this word what will you give mee and I will betray him to you Nay and the Disciples themselves in a matter of greater moment a thing that concerned heaven as the discourse doth that we are now about they propound it to our blessed Saviour S. Peter moves him with this Lord we have left all and followed thee what shall we receive And it was the custome of Princes when they they set about any great achievement or undertaking to encourage the undertakers to come to the worke they propounded wages and prizes and rewards that they might draw them to it Generalls when they goe to fight to encourage their Souldiers to fight they use to make promises of Donatives to make them more resolute and valiant The same course here the blessed Apostle Saint James takes in the description of the great work he was about As a heavenly cryer he was to make publication here of a great undertaking the enduring of tribulation and because hee would not misse of his ayme but encourage many to come to the cheerfull undertaking here propounded he propounds to them the greatnesse of the reward that he may allay the sharpnesse of the suffering He lends the poore man that is in tribulation here a staffe to rest on it is not only one staffe but two Blessednesse is the one and the Crowne of life is the other These are good props a thorne was in the first word the enduring of tribulation but here is that that recompenceth it here is a Crowne and Blessednesse in these other words that I am now to speak of It is not blessednesse deferred the Apostle in a great deale of wisdome begins with blessednesse he doth not name tribulation without blessednesse When blessednesse is named a man may safely name tribulation It takes in all what God will give blessednesse and what the man that endures temptation is to receive from Gods hand that we cannot apprehend the glory of the crown of life These are the two things The one of them is the generall description of the reward The other the particular The generall description of the reward in this word Blessed is the man It is blessednesse that is the sum of all comfort and the retribution that is promised to the enduring of Tribulation And what shall I now say to you of that It is the thing that is in all your hearts and in the hopes and aimes of every man more or lesse even by the light of nature Though it be in all our hearts it is not in our understandings Paul can resolve us for that whereas other things that are good are subject to the eye we must not looke to have it in this respect Eye hath not seene Of other things the comforts of Gods spirit we may tell how they are described in Scripture and you receive them by the eare but of blessednesse Celestiall no tongue of Angells can speake sufficiently Eare hath not heard it Yet the things that eare hath not heard it is possible for the heart to imagine we may indeed in representation but we cannot in the fullnesse It hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive How great that good is that is comprised in this small compendium Blessednesse take it thus There are two things acknowledged by all even by those that have little insight into it The first that Beatitude it is the highest and the greatest of all good things that can be expected that nothing can be imagined above this It is the fruition of God it is whatsoever is set forth to us in Scripture to make us understand that glory It is not onely summam but the most spacious it comprehends in it all good things whatsoever Beatitude is so great a good that as St. Austin observes every man would be partaker of Beatitude not onely the good but even bad men that will not conforme to the rules of piety that lead to blessednesse they would faine have blessednesse though they care not for piety And there is no man that heares me now that is never so much affrighted with the name of Tribulation but would be glad to imbrace blessednesse they love the end but not the way It must needs be a great good that all out of that small glimpse of light that they have yet with so much earnestnesse desire It is so great a good that it comprehends in it all good things whatsoever It is as St. Austin saith the accumulation of all good it must needs be the accumulation of all good because it is the reward of every good action if it be the
sence The Crowne of life The Apostle might have spared these words for indeed as I said before there is nothing to be added to blessedness he that names blessedness names all But for our further satisfaction he adds these two words and puts them with a For FOR he shall receive the Crowne of life Either as a proofe of the former part or as an explication Take them argumentatively or exegetically If you take them argumentatively so it is good least any should think St. James making the former proposition that it was a Parodox as worldly men are prone to doe when he said Blessed are they that endure tribulation he strengthens it with an undeniable reason onely by this FOR he shall receive the Crowne of life It stands thus where ever there is immortality there is blessedness and where ever there is the Crowne of life there is immortallity it is therefore called the Crowne of life because it is the Crowne of eternall life that is of immortallity that blessedness he proves by this medium they are blessed FOR they shall receive the Crowne of life Secondly if you take it exegetically too it is upon good reason why this word is added it is an explication of the former Lest any should mistake the Apostle when he pronounced blessedness to tribulation and have thought that blessednesse might be attained in this World he puts it off with this explication it is blessednesse but you must not think to have that portion here it is blessednesse that is to be had where the Crowne of life is It is the blessednesse of life but not of this but of eternall life You cannot have the Crownes here those are the blessings that all Christians cannot look for Empires and Crownes here but this is eternall there they expect blessedness where there is the Crowne They are blessed in the beginnings now and shall be fully after but it is there where the Crowne of life shall be put upon them In the World sayth Christ ye shall have tribulation the Crowne of life is in the other World sayth St. Gregory this life is the life of conflict that of Crownes and Wreaths It is true a godly man hath his Crowne here Paul had one but that was an Apostolicall Crowne when he spake to the Phillippians my joy and my Crowne that is not every mans but every godly man hath a Crowne here I will tell you one Crowne every good conscience hath the same that is a continuall feast the same is a Crowne Nay further every Believer his faith and profession is his Crowne It is not my interpretation Rev. 3. To the Church of Philadelphia Hold fast that thou hast that none take away thy Crowne It is our glory and our Crowne our faith and profession Such a Crowne we have in this World but that is not the Crowne Nay besides there is another Crowne that every man hath that endureth tribulation his very suffering is the Crowne As he said of the Martyrs as many sufferings as they have they are Crownes that God sets on us What Crowne sayth Peluciota A most glorious Crowne a Crowne of Thornes a Crowne of Thornes is more glorious then a Crowne of Gold because it makes Christ have fellowship in our death Crownes they have here but speaking of that Crowne of immortall life that is not to be had here here it is a Crowne laid up From henceforth is laid up a Crowne but there it is a Crowne set on That was the Motto of the Emperour when he had one Crowne upon the Sword and the other Crowne was on his head Tertiam in Caelis The Saints may have the Crowne of Tribulation here but the other Crowne the Crowne of life that is for another World As one that had three Crownes my hope saith he shall be in the everlasting Crowne So the Saints have they have one or more here but their hope is in the Crowne of life It is called the Crowne of life because it is given not in this life but that Crowne is set on in the life to come which is the true life Therefore it is so called So you see the reason of the word And it is not the onely name that is given to blessednesse in Scripture there are other names the White lillie the Robe of righteousnesse the hidden Manna the Supper of the Lamb the Feast and Banquet of Christ it is called the Kingdome of God the Crowne of immortallity as well as the Crowne of life Even under the notion of a Crowne it hath many names The Crowne of righteousnesse in one place A Crowne of STARRS in another the Crowne of immortallity in a third The Crowne of glory in the Revelations And in this place St. James anticipates the first from whom this word fell was from St. James The Crowne of life A word that a man would never have thought of there may be a Crowne given in life but what is the Crowne when life is the Crowne the place the bliss and all comforts It dropt first from St. James his blessed Pen guided by the spirit he adds this name There are variety of names and it must needs be so that there must be variety of names One reason is this because the glory of Heaven is so great that no one similitude nor two nor ten nor a thousand can expresse it to the full Another reason is because men are of various desires all desire not one thing God will satisfie every mans desire after a spirituall manner Some desire pleasures and delicacies God will answer that you shall have delicacies Heaven is the River of life the hidden Manna the Tree of life are not these delicacies Others desire gorgeous Apparrell others quiet and ease others Authority God will fit all Heaven is every thing You shall find rest to your soules there is ease Enter into thy Masters joy he is comforted and thou art tormented It is joyâ— and comfort the white Lillie the righteousnesse of the Saints gorgeous Apparrell it is the Kingdome of God the Kingdome of glory the Kingdome of our Father It is honour and Crownes and glory it is every thing Heaven looke what you want you may get there Pursue but things celestiall with the same zeale as you doe things temporall if it be honours or profits or pleasures or glory you may have them there What honour above this the Kingdome of God the Crowne of life Here are the names the Spirit gives to blisse to set an edge upon our affections he would whet our desires to the pursuite of it To sum up the point there is an Emphasis in both words The crowne of life Take them together it is thus much First the crowne of life that is there is true honour in Heaven There is a shaddow of honour and fading glory in Earth there is none but that which is solid and substantiall there here it is but as the cracking of thorns as holy Job saith of the joy of
Crowne and that Crowne hath the best appendix set unto it it is the Crowne of life the Crowne immortall of these I spake Now these other two parts that follow in this verse they are added as an appendix or supplement The one a supply De gratia dispensationis of the courâ—e and dispensation the course that God takes in dispensing this reward under both these notions When he is tryed then he shall receive The other is of the fellowship of participation and communion that all Saints have in the Crowne The man that endures temptation first enlarged after to all that love him These are the parts I am to speake of these two supplements of the two former And the first in order is that that concerns the course and dispensation of God in those words when he is tryed he shall receive In that there are two things Modus Tempus The manner of the exhibition he shall receive Then there is the time of reception when hee is tryed when he is fully tryed then he shall receive The manner of the exhibition is very well expressed here by a receiving He shall receive Now recipere is a relative word and being a relative it must have a correlative that belongs to it and what the correlative is of receiving we all know Giving that hath reference to receiving there can be no receiving where there is no giving The Philosopher saith well dari accipere It is true speaking of passages betweene man and man receiving doth not alwayes necessary imply freenesse of gift there may be receiving where there is not freenesse of donation Wages when they are payed debts when they are discharged pledges when they are restored commodities when they are bought they are truly received yet there is no gift goes before But yet when we speak of passages between God and man there is never receiving on manâ— part but it is the free gift of God because man cannot deserve of his Creator and Maker Therefore it comes to passe that whatsoever thing it is that we receive the very foundation and principles of Christianity doth suppose it to be of the freeness of God that is the Scriptures reception St. Paul shews it very well 1 Cor. 4. What bast thou that thou hast not received That question it is equivalent to an universall negative there is nothing that we enjoy or have in the world but we receive and receive how we receive it as Gods free bounty as a gift or donative If it be so in lesser things much more in greater if it be so in temporals much more in spirituals much more yet in eternals the eternall of all eternall life cannot come to us but by Gods gift So these three things this word affords First it is a word of benignity of free donation he shal receive from the hands of God The receiving here is without addition but the addition is to be made up Beatitude immortality the joy and blisse of heaven with all things that belong to it of all other is Gods most free and bountifull gift So it is still in Scripture under what similitude soever you find it There are diverse similitudes and all glorious still there is gift added You have it set forth under the similitude of hidden manna but of gift To him that overcomes will I give of the hidden manna I wil give it You have it set out under the similitude of the tree of life but giving is added To him that overcommeth will I give to eate of the tree of life which is in the middest of the Paradise of God It is set out under the similitude of a Kingdome but still of gift Feare not little flocke it is your Fathers will to give you a Kingdome It is set out under the similitude of a Crowne the Crown of life but of gift still Be faithfull to the death and I will give thee the crowne of life It must needs be so that the grand great blessing is of gift for all inferiour blessings that have reference to it they are all of gift both the root and the boughs and the branches and the leaves and the fruit of the tree of life they are all of gift Glory and what ever belongs to glory The Gospel of the Kingdome which points out to us this Crowne that is given to uâ— and of grace To you it is given to know the misteries of the Kingdome of God Christ that is the substance of the Gospel hee is the great gift that God gave freely to the world God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Sonne Faith that lays hold of Christ and applyes his merits that is the gift of God To you it is given to believe and to suffer The holy Ghost that begets faith in the heart even he is a gift it is one of his names Donum dei he is the gift of God it is one of the names that he takes he wil give to us his holy spirit Take all in a word both grace and glory are equally of gift St. Paul coucheth them both in many severall places The grace that is given to us saith he in one place The gift of God is eternoll life saith Saint Paul in another all is gift It is true there is another name by which it is stiled sometimes that seemes a little to derogate from the liberty and freenesse of gift It is called wages received it is called the reward that is given But this word of gift regulates all it lets us understand that however we consider it whether we consider it as it is mercis laborantium the wages of them that labour and work in the vineyard Or premium vincentium the reward of them that overcome and fight in the lists Or repromissio credentium the promise made to them that believe and so being a promise is a kind of debt and stipulation yet in all considerations of reward and wages and promise in all it is to be taken so to be taken as a gift That we may learn all hence that that Moses said to the people of temporall Canaan it is true much more of the â—â—â—est allâ— God hath brought you â—o that good land not for your righteousnesse so God hath translated us allâ— he wil if we walk in his Commandements in time he will translate us â— to that good way to that better way that best of all not for our righteousness not for any merits of ours but for his goodnesse out of his bounty because he would be pleased to give it it is meer mercy and gift That we may learn I say with the Elders in the Revelation we may well learn of the Saints in heaven and learn humiliation and acknowledgment of them that are in possession They had Crownes on their heads Rev. 4. and what then They cast downe their Crownes they take off their Crownes and cast them downe before the Throne of God and the Lamb for what purpose St. Gregory
countenancer of his owne institution he was pleased himselfe to eat of it As he was the Son of God so he was not at all nor could not be subject and as he was the Son of man because he was a righteous man therefore he was free He could have freed himselfe from those afflictions the deliverance whereof the Passover signified and he could have made himselfe free from all that injury that was offered him by the Jews yet he was pleased to condiscend so far sayth St. Ambrose well it was thus far appointed he that instituted the Passover taking the similitude of flesh yet true flesh being incarnate that he himselfe should observe that rite that himselfe instituted St. Austin presseth it well that is the part of a good Pastor or Shepheard to goe before his Sheep in his owne example and himselfe to doe that that he would have them to doe That he might make us zealous in all those performances that he requires at our hands he himselfe was pleased to performe and to condiscend to the performance of that that concerned him not to eat the Passover That is the first reason Secondly another reason was the preparative of his owne Passion he saw that his owne sufferings drew nigh the Passover it selfe was a Type of that to shew that he was the true Passover he brings into the same Room the Passover that was the Type and the Passover that was the Truth As St. Chrysostome observes well at the same Table there was both the one Passover that was the figure and the other that was the substance and celebrates both The keeping of the Passover was nothing else to the Children of Israel but a remembrance of that grace that was past and a sealing of some other grace that was promised The grace that was past was the goodnesse of God in making the Angell to passe-over them when he smote the Aegyptians here then was the conformity Diem transitus c. Christ when he was to passe from death to life he keeps that Feast that was the solemnity of that great transcision that God wrought for them and being to tast of the bitternesse of death he would goe in the eating of the soure Herbs to the drinking of that sourer Cup of his Passion To shew thereby that he was the end of all the Ceremoniall Law the end of all the Types in the Old Testament that very Lamb which was the most eminent of the Types was now fulfilled in the appearance and presence of Christ as St. Chrysostome sayth Sanguis ille c. that Lamb signified Christ the Lamb of God and the blood of that Lamb that was then sprinkled upon the Posts of the Door signified that far more precious blood of Christ that was shed for the washing away of sin That is the second reason that he might Preach to them by this Action and shew who was the Messias the true Lamb the true Passover as the Apostle calls him Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for us Therefore Christ did eat the Passover Thirdly it was also for the abrogation of it to put an end to it He put an end to Circumcision virtually by taking it as he gave strength to Baptisme by assuming it by joyning these two Sacraments legall and Evangelicall the Passover and the Supper he put an end to the one and gave strength of beginning to the other Therefore it is that Euthimius observes that in the celebration of the Passover he keeps it not exactly as it was prescribed to the Jews It was set them the 14. day and he kept it the 13. day They were to eat it standing he eat the Passover lying and leaning One reason why he kept it the 13. day was because he would not be prevented in his Passion He knew the 14. day that it should be kept was the day of his deliverance and betraying therefore to make an end of that work that was one reason he kept it sooner and dispensed with his owne Law Another reason was to shew in the different keeping of it that the Passover was abolished all judaicall shaddowes began to vanish now they were dead though their death did not appeare till afterward The Passover it was an obscure Type as Nazianzen speaks well of a clearer Type the representation of the Lords Supper and therefore was to give way to the better and more honourable Sacrament that then Christ instituted by joyning it to the former sayth Theophilact there was blood that was taken away by blood ceremoniall blood by the blood of Christ There was a Sacrifice that was taken away by a Sacrifice the legall Sacrifice by the spirituall and the Passover it selfe even while it was fullfilled it was changed that was another reason The third reason therefore Christ eat the Passover that he might put an end to it and make it the last eating of it Last of all the reason why he eat iâ— and kept it was to shew his subjection to the Law to set us a patterne and example of obedience he was obedient in every point not onely to the Law morall but even the Law ceremoniall For two reasons One was he became obedient because we were disobedient that his obedience might satisfie for our neglect We were transgressors of the law Christ would be a keeper of it Sayth St. Chrysostome because thou wert a Transgressor of the Law therefore Christ was pleased to keep it he was made a curse to free us from the curse he was made sin to wash away our sins He was made under the Law Gal. 4. that he might free us that his perfection might satisfie for our infirmities And that here now the Christians soule might find true refuge for however I be assured that my sins and transgressions be washed away by the blood of Christ yet when it comes to my particular God requires perfect satisfaction to the whole Law that I can never doe in my owne person here is our refuge there is one in our nature that hath satisfied the Law and all that God could require the very extreamity and utmost letter and period that is Christ and in that he is my Mediator and Redeemer I have done that that he did I have done it in him though I could not in my selfe That he might perfectly satisfie and obey for us he was obedient to the Law Secondly to stop the mouths of all cavilling Pharisees they were ready to object to him that he was a raiser of new Sects that he was an Enemy to the Law of Moses and that therefore he came not from God No he shews in all the passages of his life that he was one that honoured the Law because he was conformable to it the Law of Circumcision he subscribed to it the Law of Dedication and Offering in the Temple he subscribed to that the Law of keeping the Passover he subscribed to that Let now prophane Wretches goe and think themselves eased of the yoak of the Law of God