bear false witnesse against ones self and consequently to break the ninth Commandement Luther judged it no small error in Melancthon that to the intent that all might bee ascribed unto God hee imagined Christ to bee further off from his heart than indeed hee was Solt Deo omnia deberi tam obstinatè asserit ut mihi planè videatur saltem in hoc errare quod Christum ipse fingat longius abesse cordt suo quà m sit reverâ But saith hee Certè nimis nullus in hoc est Philippus Certainly Philip is too-much-nothing in this kinde of Self-denyal It is not humility but pride and foul ingratitude not to acknowledge what good soever God hath wrought in us which is not so well taken notice of as it should by some otherwise very good men and women who now and then will needs thus severely passe sentence upon themselves as having not one jot of goodnesse in them It is commonly observed by such as have to do with men of troubled consciences that notwithstanding they will acknowledge such things to bee in themselves as according to the judgement of the word are the very fruits and real effects of Gods sanctifying Spirit yet by no means will they yeeld that there is a work of grace in their hearts They cannot deny but that there is a change in some measure wrought from what they were before the wayes of God which once they counted too strict and precise and hated under that very notion they now love and account them the happiest souls that walk in them and those sinful wayes which they took pleasure in formerly they now loath and detest and are even ashamed of them and as for the people of God whom in times past they hated and persecuted they now love them dearly and esteem them the only excellent ones upon the earth They cannot deny but they have an hungring and thirsting after the Lord Jesus not only to bee made partakers of his Righteousnesse but his Holinesse also and that nothing without this will content and satisfie them and yet notwithstanding all this they will most unreasonably conclude against themselves that they have no grace and for what reason why because they have not such a measure of grace as they apprehend to bee in others they have not such stirring and strong affections such a measure of grief for sin such a measure of love to and delight in the wayes of godlinesse as others have and hence they conclude they have nothing in themselves more than what may bee found in reprobates and that all is but in Hypocrisy Now could they but see it there is much of Self in this that because they have not so much as they would they will not take notice of so much as they have A little grace must bee owned though in the midst of many corruptions As with one eye we should look upon the evil that is in our selves to bee humbled so with the other we should look upon the good that is in our selves to bee thankful I am black but comely saith the Spouse Cant. 1.5 And I sleep but my heart waketh chap. 5.2 2. It is not to deny the power of it when it should bee exercised Power is most properly proper unto grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is alwayes necessarily in it and it can no more bee conceived without it than a body without quantity or fire without heat To say therefore that grace is not a powerful inabling thing is a very contradiction for it is all one as to say that grace is not grace as to say that fire is not hot is all one as to say that fire is not fire Therefore it is but an idle plea for any one that is godly to say hee can do nothing and that upon this account hee must not attempt the performance of any good duty till the Spirit move him Verily there is much of Self in this Non posse praetenditur non velle in causâ est Want of power is pretended but want of will is the cause why those that are godly do no more than they do I doubt not to affirm that ordinarily it is so Austin wondring at himself as hee tells us L. 8. Confess c 9. why the minde when it commands the body should presently bee obeyed but when it commands it self should bee refisted thus at length resolves the case Non ex toto vult non ergo ex to-to imperat it doth not fully will and therefore doth not fully command Nam in tantum imperat in quantum vult in tantum non fit quod imperat in quantum non vult for in so much it doth command in as much as it doth will and in so much that is not done that it doth command in as much as it doth not will Paul exhorts Timothy to stir up the gift of God which was in him 2 Tim. 1.6 and hee gives this reason vers 7 for God hath given us the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound minde And the Prophet complaines Isa 64.7 There is no man that stirreth up himself to take hold of God Vulg. Nonest qui surgat there is none that riseth up and so Augustine in the fore-mentioned place speaking of the mind as partly willing and partly unwilling to that which is good Non totus assurgit saith hee it doth not fully rise up Therefore though Natural men who are dead in sin bee without strength and so cannot stir up themselves to a further doing and receiving of that which is spiritually good yet spiritual men who are quickened have a power and ought to stir up that power for the doing of that good which God requires and for the receiving of that good which hee hath promised 3. It is not to deny the use of it as an evidence for the clearing of the goodnesse of our spiritual estate Wee know saith the Apostle that wee have passed from death to life because wee love the Brethren 1 John 3.14 And by this wee know that wee love the Children of God when wee love God cap. 5.2 t Quicquid de aliquo universali dicitur universaliter id etiam d◠omnibus dicitur quesub isto uriversali continentur and by every other grace wee may know it as well as by this The least grace if true and sincere is sufficient to salvation and therefore the sense of the least grace is u Culverwell's White Stone sufficient to assurance Grace is the fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 and the tree is known by its fruit Mat. 12.33 Some cry up an immediate revelation of the Spirit as the only evidence in opposition to the testimony of a good conscience arguing from inherent Grace but such do not consider that the testimony of Gods Spirit is alwayes accompanied with the testimony of our own spirit as Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witnesse with our spirit that wee are the sons of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 w
be poured out upon them hereafter What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power knowne endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction Rom. 9.22 Therefore thinkest thou O man that thou shalt escape the Judgement of God Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up wrath against the day of Wrath and revelation of the righteous Judgement of God who will render to every man according to his deeds to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternal life but to them that are contentious and doe not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soule of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Rom. 2 3-9 You thinke that he that made you will not damne you But what saith Isaiah It is a people of no understanding therefore hee that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour Isa 27.11 You thinke God cannot be so cruel but if yee walke according to the course of this World in the lusts of your flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and dye so I tell you he will not only damne you but damne you with delight Ah saith he I will ease me of mine adversaries and avenge me of mine enemies Isa 1.24 Because I have called and yee refused I have stretched forth mine hand and no man regarded but yee have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh when your feare cometh as a desolation and your destruction cometh as a Whirlewind when distress and anguish cometh upon you Prov. 1 24-27 Your flying unto the Promises while in this condition will doe you no good for there is no promise in all the Book of God belongs unto any upon any other termes but the renouncing and abandoning of every knowne sin Why doe you look to the Promises and doe not mind the conditions of them If God promise to be merciful to such as beleeve and repent what is that to you so long as you doe neither If God promise absolutely to work the condition in some what is that to you so long as there is no evidence that hee hath wrought it in you God hath no where promised to save men in their sins he hath appointed holiness as a necessary antecedent to eternal happiness for without holiness no man shall see God Hebrews 12.14 If the Promises be yours whose then are the Threatnings who are they against whom the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven in the threatnings of his Word but such as you who hold the truth in unrighteousness For the Law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners for unholy and prophane for murderers of Fathers and murderers of Mothers for Man slayers for Whoremongers for them that defile themselves with man-kind for men-stealers for lyars for perjured persons and if there bee any other thing that is contrary to sound Doctrine according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God 1 Tim. 1.9 10 11. When the threatnings speake so plaine naming the very sins whereof you know your selves guilty as allowing your selves in them why doe you not make application and say we are the men Oh! what shall we doe to escape the Judgements threatned Doe you not thinke that God is as true in his threatnings as in his promises Remember how he dealt with the old World how with the Israelites in the Wilderness For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape saith the Apostle if we neglect so great salvation Heb. 2.2 Let us therefore feare least a Promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seeme to come short of it for unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them but the Word preached did not profit them being not mixed with faith in them that heard it Heb. 4.1 2. Some doe not so much as beleeve the Promises to bee true it may be you doe and yet this is not enough to prove you to be as you think you bee beleevers this is not the beleeving to which Salvation is promised for the Devils beleeve both Promises and Threatnings to bee true and doe somewhat more it may bee than you doe they beleeve and tremble James 2.19 and yet shall never be saved God having reserved them in everlasting Chaines under darkness unto the Judgement of the great day Jude vers 6. You beleeve the promises of the Gospel to be true but you doe not so beleeve as to obey the Gospel you doe not so beleeve as to close with the Lord Jesus as he is therein tendred to you to bee your Prophet to teach and instruct you and your King to rule and governe you as well as your Priest to make satisfaction for you You walk on still after the imaginations of your owne hearts and doe your owne wills and therefore doe not beleeve therefore you have no ground to hope that you shall bee saved for you are yet in your sinnes which notwithstanding you account them but infirmities are reigning sinnes for as much as you yeeld your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sinne but doe not yeeld your selves unto God Romans 6.13 Know you not that to whom you yeeld your selves servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey whether of sinne unto death or of obedience unto life vers 16. and doe you not obey sin when you willingly and readily fulfill its commands When you goe at its bidding and come at its beckning Will you call this an infirmity Will you call this a failing It is but an infirmity and yet you sinne willingly Willingly nay you sinne wilfully like a company of mad-men running on headlong in the wayes of sinne against all checks of Conscience and gainsaying of your understandings Your rebellion witnesseth against you your stubbornness testifieth to your face you are as the swift Dromedaries traversing their wayes as the wild Asses used to the Wilderness that snuffe up the Wind at their pleasure You have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds The Lord hath stricken you but you have not grieved hee hath consumed you but you have refused to receive correction you have made your face harder than a rock you have refused to returne How then can you say you cannot help it Behold you speake and doe evil as you can you doe evil with both hands earnestly adding sinne unto sin as if you could never sinne enough waxing worse and worse and still encreasing unto
But the testimony or application is false for in spending in that manner hee is prodigal Now when we have found out wherein the fallacy lies whether in the principle or testimony we must have a care 2 To give a peremptory denial And though we should not be able to unriddle all the mysterious fallacies of Carnal reason yet we must by no means yeeld our assent to any thing that is brought against the Truth though I cannot dispute for the Truth yet I can burn for the Truth said that worthy Martyr in Queen Maries days But we shall be the better enabled with more confidence and resolution to give a denial to all those Objections that Self shall at any time make against the Truth the more careful wee bee in acquainting our selves with the Principles of the Gospel and the more serious we be in charging them home upon our own Consciences This indeed would be an effectual way of reasoning down Self when a man can set himself in the presence of God seriously seeking after his minde and will revealed in his Word and then bring all these Carnal principles of Self unto the Test and upon the discovery of their disagreement with the Principles of the Gospel discard them and charge it upon his Conscience to beleeve the other and walk by the other 'T is not the knowledge of Gospel-Principles that is sufficient to beat down Self but there must bee a charging them upon my Conscience I must make them my principles such and such principles I walked by formerly I but now I have found out better and these henceforth shall bee my principles I will walk by these So that when self urgeth Carnal Principles and Carnal Rules upon me I must answer Self those are not my principles I have now another rule to walk by those are destructive principles destructive to the purity and peace of my Conscience I will not walk by them Thus of this first kind of Self-denial by way of argumentation and reasoning Secondly there is another kinde of Self-denyal and that is a judicial denyal such a denyal as that of a Judge upon the bench when hee refuseth to shew mercy to the convicted malefactor Self must not only bee arraigned and convicted but also sentenced and condemned Sentence of death must bee pronounced upon Self Before Self was an Advocate and pleaded its own cause now it becomes a Solicitour and petitions for its life And thus it will do when it cannot prevail with all its subtilties and carnal reasonings but is foiled at its own weapon it will become an humble suitor it will come with tears in its eyes Now it dares not enter the lists of disputation as before there is so much convincing light in the Conscience but it goes another way to work it presents it self as an object of pitty it speaks the soul fair and flatters with it lest it should bee condemned Self in this case will bee content to lose much it will bee content to lose the name of Reason and Wisdome so that it may live And here many carnal hearts are at a stand they have so much light as stops the mouth of Self itdares not argue and reason the case they know it is guilty but yet they will not passe the fatal sentence upon it They are afraid to condemn it for if they should do that it would bee very difficult to recal the sentence and far more difficult to comply with Self afterwards it would breed far more guilt and horror in the Conscience it being a great aggravation of sin to do that for which a man is already self-condemned But it is not enough to reason down Self wee must bring the matter in debate to a Judgement after wee have debated throughly and heard what Self can say for it self wee must come to some resolution what to do with Self wee must debate it to destruction In Acts 3.13 14. it is said that the Jewes denyed Christ now turn to the 19th of Joh. v. 15. and wee shall see how they did it They cryed out away with him away with him crucifie him Even so must wee deny Self when it begs for its life saying away with it away with it crucifie it Many know that God hath decreed the destruction of Self and yet are afraid lest the decree should bring forth too soon yea they will pray for the killing of their lusts even while they are loath that God should hear their prayers As Augustine confesseth of himself r Confess l. 8. c. 7. Sect. 2. etiam petieram à te castitatem dixeram Da mihi castitatem continentiam sed noli modo Timebam enim ne me cito exaudires cito sanares à morbo concupiscentiae quem malebam expleri quam extingui I desired saith hee in the beginning of my youth that thou wouldst give mee chastity and I said give mee O Lord chastity and continency but not yet for I was afraid lest thou shouldest have heard mee too soon and healed my disease too soon which I had rather have had satisfied than extinguished What do they speak but that the work of conversion is yet very doubtful to say no more There is an hostile Self-denyal This is the actual execution of Self Self must not only bee convicted and condemned but actually crucified and throughly mortified Self is not to live in the soul it hath lain under the curse ever since its departure from God and this curse will eat out its very life in all that belong to God This wee must submit unto if ever wee mean to bee Christians indeed wee must bee content to let Christ do whatsoever hee pleaseth within us hee must have his will of us hee must bee suffered to say where and what hee will If wee will bee Saints wee must have fellowship with him in his death as well as in his resurrection wee must bee crucified as hee was crucified that the body of sin may bee destroyed and herein wee are not to bee passive only but active too wee must by the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh Rom. 8.13 This implies a twofold act of Self-denyal 1. An act of retention or with-holding from Self those things that keep it alive Two things have I required of thee saith Agur Prov. 30.7 deny mee them not or with-hold them not from mee befor I dye So 1 King 20.27 Hee sent unto mee for my silver and my gold and I denyed him not Heb. I kept not back from him This then is to deny Self to with-hold and keep back from it those things it would have Wee must not fulfill the lusts of Self So the Apostle Rom. 13. ult make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof And truly wee may very well bee sparing unto Self it hath usurped much but nothing is its due Self is an hellish vorage that still cryes give give a bottomelesse gulf that sucks in all before it Where it lives
every wicked servant will bee found to have been a slothful servant at the Day of Judgement Matth. 25.26 But 2 If this were true that some such persons act adultimum virium to the uttermost of their power yet it follows not that therefore it is fit that God should give them grace nor doth God give any one grace upon that account for when they have done all that they can in this unregenerate state what is it that they have done why nothing well-pleasing and acceptable unto God because as the Apostle says f Rom. 8.7 8 The carnal minde is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be whence hee concludes that they that are in the flesh cannot please God Now is it fit that God should give them grace for doing that which doth displease him Again as faith without works is dead so works without faith are dead also and if they be dead works and not the service of the living God as the Apostle saith they are Heb. 9.14 how can a man by such works deserve to have grace What a monstrous thing is it that vice should merit vertue that a man by sinning against God should deserve to bee partaker of his holiness That Natural men may doe some things that are materially good there is none will deny but that they can doe any thing formally good smells too much of the Pelagian Forge and is manifestly contradictory to the Word of God which tells us that whatsoever such men doe is sin Prov. 21.4 Titus 1.15 And therefore most certain it is they can doe nothing to prepare themselves for conversion nothing to move God either to vouchsafe them the means of grace or to make them effectual as these men vainly teach t Dr. Twisse against Hoard Lib. 2. This is the peculiar glory of Gods grace to make us perfect in every good work and to work in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ and this he doth according to his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 Hebrews 13.21 for Grace is not conferred according to works that was condemned as a pestilent Doctrine long agoe in the Synod of Palestine and all along in divers Councels against the Pelagians That the Gospel prevails upon some and not upon others to whom it is preached whom it still leaves in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity our Saviour ascribes it wholly to the good pleasure of God as the only reason of it I thank thee Father Lord of heaven and earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Matth. 11.25 26. And Judas not Iscariot hearing him say that If any man loved him he would manifest himself unto him replies with wonder Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the world as if hee had said There was nothing in us more than in them that could move thee to it we were by nature the Children of wrath as well as others It is not only true of Election but of Vocation also It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy The grace of God is preventing grace it meets us in the way of sin even while wee are running away from God we doe not seek it first but it seeks us and findes us out in our lost condition that wee might seek it afterwards and having found it may be careful to keep it as Isa 65.1 I am sought of them that asked not for me w Non ergo putandum est cum Pelagianis gratiam dari ex merito iis communicari qui eam antea quaesiverunt Non enim quaeritur gratia sine gratia quae prima homisem perditum in se quaerit invenis ut postea eam quaerat censervet inventam R. vet in loc Exercitor in Gen 52. I am found of them that sought me not I said behold me be hold me unto a Nation that was not called by my name Therefore if wee have any evidence of a real work of grace in our hearts in any measure wrought by the Spirit of God let us cry Grace Grace unto it let us say unto the Lord as Mephibosheth unto David 2 Sam. 9.8 What are thy Servants that thou shouldest look upon such dead Doggs as we are And thus much for this first particular of Self-denial in respect of inherent grace the not ascribing it to our selves as the cause neither the efficient nor meritorious cause of it In the next place to deny Self in respect of inherent grace is 2 Not to rest upon it as the righteousness whereby wee are justified in the sight of God It is not a righteousness inherent but imputed whereby we are justified Righteousness inherent is a necessary antocedent of glorification 2 Thes 2.13 the subject of reconciliation is an enemy Rom. 5.10 of Justification a Sinner Rom. 4.5 but of Glorification a Saint Acts 26 18 it is also a necessary concomitant of Justification I Corinth 1.30 Rom. 8.29 30. where God doth alter and change the state there hee doth mend the condition by the operation of his holy Spirit but it is not the formal cause of it as Bellarmine and other Papists teach Iustification is a gracious sentence of God whereby for Christs sake apprehended by faith he doth absolve the Beleever from Sin and Death and accounts him righteous unto life x Non est Physica transmutatio qualitatum in haerentium sed moralis vel relativa transmutatia status qualis est mutatio hominis qui per condonationem creditoris ex debitore fit non debitor Ames Bellarmin Enervar Tom. 4.132 It doth not denote any Physical or real change of disposition but a judicial or relative change of state such a change as consists in pronouncing of a sentence and in reputation But to him that worketh not but beleeveth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness Rom. 4.5 where this phrase Faith is counted for righteousness is all one with that in the sixth verse God imputeth righteousness without works What this righteousness is that is there said to bee imputed the Apostle afterwards tells us Cap. 5.19 where he saith that as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners even so by the obedience of one shall many bee made righteous by which hee shews that the righteousness whereby we are justified is the obedience of Christ his active and passive obedience and therefore not a righteousness inherent in our selves but imputed to us for 1. It is the obedience of Christ and 2. The text saith that we are made righteous by that obedience in the same manner as we are made Sinners by the disobedience of Adam which is by y Non potest intelligi quomode in obedientia Adami constitueret posteros
there is Self will tell us they are the greatest evil in the World whereas they are nothing to spiritual and eternal evils but light afflictions in comparison of the evil of Sin and that farre more exceeding eternal weight of misery that it works for all such as live and dye in it when Self therefore speaks in this manner to us wee must give it a peremptory denial It is storied in the Book of Martyrs of George Tankerfield that immediately before his going to the Stake to bee burned being then at an Inne in Saint Albanes hee prayed his Host to let him have a good Fire in his Chamber which accordingly hee had and then sitting on a forme before the Fire hee stretched out his legge to the flame and when it had touched his foot hee quickly with-drew his legge shewing how the Flesh did perswade him one way and the Spirit another y Acts and Mon. l. 10. 1535. The Flesh said O thou Fool wilt thou burne and needest not The Spirit said bee not afraid for this is nothing in respect of fire eternal z Acts and Mon l. 10. 1371. The like is storied of the good Bishop and blessed Martyr Mr. John Hooper Sir Anthony Kingston his Friend coming to him a little before his death thus expressed himself to him I am sorry to see you in this case for as I understand you bee come hither to dye But alas consider that life is sweet and death is bitter therefore seeing life may bee had desire to live for life hereafter may doe good To this the Bishop replied True it is Master Kingston I am come hither to end this Life and to suffer Death here because I will not gain-say the former Truth that I have heretofore taught amongst you and I thank you for your friendly counsel although it bee not so friendly as I could have wished it True it is Mr. Kingston that Death is bitter and Life is sweet but alas confider that the Death to come is more bitter and the Life to come is more sweet therefore for the desire and love I have to the one and the terrour and fear of the other I doe not so much regard this death nor esteem this life 2 Not to be so averse from them a Some of the Christians in the primitive times would not cast one grain of Frankinsence into the fire up on the Heathen Altars to save their lives as to endeavour by any sinful means to avoyd them Self will bid us sin rather than suffer but we must not adventure upon the a least evil of sin to avoyd the greatest evil of suffering b Condaeus tribus ipsi a Carolo nono Galliarum Rege propositis missa morte perpetuo carcere respondit se Deo favente primum nunquam electurum ex duobus reliquis vero alterum voluntati Regis liberum relinquere The three Children in Daniel told the King when he threatned to cast them into a burning fiery Furnace for not worshiping his Golden Image If it bee so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us but if not be it known unto thee that wee will not serve thy gods nor worship thy golden Image which thou hast set up Dan. 3.17 18. Such a resolution must be taken up by every one that means to come after Christ which although in the opinion of worldly Polititians and Time-servers it be folly and madness will bee found to bee wisdome in the end when after by their sinful complyance they have escaped the hands of them that kill the body they fall into the hands of him that kills both Body and Soule in Hell God is not wont to let such men goe unpunished nay he will be sure to meet with them either in this life by terrifying their Consciences or by bringing upon them those evils they thought to escape or in the life to come if they repent not before by appointing them their portion with unbeleevers and hypocrites in the Lake that burnes with Fire and Brimstone where shall bee weeping and wayling and gnashing of teeth for ever 1 By terrifying their Consciences c Acts and Mon. l. 8.914 Mr. Bilney in the dayes of King Hen. 8. by the perswasion of some friends abjured but oh what an Hell did hee feel in his Conscience afterwards Serm. 7. Master Latimer in a Sermon before King Edward thus expresseth it I knew a man my self Bilney little Bilney that blessed Martyr of God who what time he had borne his Faggot and was come againe to Cambridge had such Conflicts within himself that his friends were afraid to let him be alone they were faine to be with him day and night and comfort him as they could but no comforts would serve and as for comfortable places of Scripture to bring them unto him it was as though a man should cut him thorow the heart with a sword And in another Sermon preached in Lincolnshire he hath these words concerning it That same Mr. Bilney who was burnt here in England for Gods Words sake was induced and perswaded by his Friends to bear a Faggot at the time when the Cardinal was aloft and bare the swinge now when the same Bilney came to Cambridge againe a whole year after hee was in such an anguish and agony that nothing did him good neither eating nor drinking nor any other communication of Gods Word for hee thought that all the whole Scriptures were against him and sounded to his Condemnation so that I many a time communed with him for I was familiarly acquainted with him but all things whatsoever any man could alledge to his comfort seemed unto him to make against him d Acts and Mon. l. 8.938 Mr. â—ainbam the year following having in like manner abjured was released and dismissed home where hee had scarce a month continued but he bewailed his Fact and Abjuration and was never quiet in his minde and Conscience untill the time hee had uttered his fall to all his acquaintance and asked God forgivenesse before the Congregation in those dayes in a Ware-house in Bow-lane and immediately the next Sabbath after hee came to Saint Austines and stood up there before the people in his Pew there declaring openly with weeping tears That hee had denied God and prayed all the people to forgive him and to beware of his weaknesse and not to doe as he did for said hee If I should not againe returne unto the truth having the New Testament in his hand this Word of God would damne mee both Body and Soule at the Day of Judgement And there he prayed every body rather to dye by and by than to doe as hee did for hee would not feele such an hell againe as he did feele for all the worlds good Thus severely did God chastise these two good men for a time shewing them what Hell meant by some few scalding drops of his immediate Wrath let fall upon their Consciences thereby making them
Nephews the young man charged him with hypocrisie and dissimulation to whom hee replied I am a cast away a Vessel of Wrath yet dare you call it dissembling and phrensie and can mock at the formidable example of the heavie Wrath of God that should teach you fear and terrour But it is natural to the flesh either out of malice or ignorance to speak perversly of the works of God The Natural man discerneth not the things of God because they are spiritually discerned One of his familiar friends chanced to say that certainly he was overcome with Melancholly which hee over-hearing answered Well be it so seeing you will needs have it so for thus also is Gods wrath manifested against mee you see Brethren what a dangerous thing it is to stop or stay in things that concern Gods glory especially to dissemble upon any termes what a fearful thing is it to bee near and almost a Christian Never was the like example to this of mine and therefore if you bee wise you will seriously consider thereof O that God would let loose his hand from me that it were with me now as in times past I would scorne the threats of the most cruel Tyrants bear Torments with invincible resolution and glory in the outward profession of Christ till I were choaked in the flame and my body consumed to ashes Now seemed to bee verified upon him that whereof in the beginning hee had been so seasonably fore-warned that if hee proceeded to fulfill his wicked promise of Abjuring in his owne Country hee might haply repent too late Now if God would with-draw his hand from him if it might be with him as in former dayes hee would doe and suffer any thing for-Christ but upon no termes might his wish bee granted all hope of mercy was quite cut off from him so that afterwards his purpose of mischieving himself by a Knife that hee had hastily snatched up being by his Friends prevented with indignation hee cryed out I would I were above God for I know hee will have no mercy on me And thus being in continual torment by little and little hee wasted away until at length hee appeared a perfect Anatomy expressing to the view nothing but sinews and bones and at last without any shew of hope or comfort yeelded up the ghost Let none wonder that I have been so large in telling this mans Story some it may be have forgotten it others not so much as heard of it and amongst all the examples of this kind there was none more fit that I could pitch upon whereby to make it known in what a dreadful manner God sometimes punisheth Apostate professors in this life by terrifying of their Consciences Hee punisheth them sometimes also 2 By bringing upon them those evils they thought by means of their sinfull complyance to escape u Acts and Mon l. 10.1710 Cranmer signed a Recantation as hee confessed himself afterwards contrary to the truth hee thought in his heart for fear of Death and to save his Life if it might have been but hee was forced to suffer notwithstanding his recantation as soon as ever hee had signed his Recantation the Queen signes the Writ for his Burning and then was he in a farre worse condition than before having neither inwardly any quietness in his own Conscience nor outwardly any help in his adversaries In the Story of William Wolsey a godly Martyr that was burned at Ely w Acts and Mon. l. 10.1558 this amongst other things is recorded that while hee was in Prison hee delivered some money to bee distributed amongst his friends and to one Richard Denton above all the rest besides the money that he sent him hee desired this Message might also be delivered that he marvelled he tarried so long behind him seeing hee was the first that did deliver him the Book of Scripture into his hand and told him that it was the Truth desiring him to make hast after as fast as he could This Message being delivered Denton returnes this answer I confesse it is true but I cannot burne But hee that could not burne in the Cause of Christ was afterwards burned against his will when Christ had given peace to his Church for some years after his House was set on fire and hee going in to save his goods was burnt in it Thus God sometimes punisheth Apostates here howsoever if they repent not hee will bee sure to punish them hereafter 3 By appointing them their portion with unbeleevers and hypocrites in the Lake that burnes with Fire and Brimstone where shall be weeping and wayling and gnashing of teeth for ever So it is fore-told Revel 21.8 The fearful and unbeleeving shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And it cannot be otherwise for Christ hath said Whosoever shall deny mee before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven Matth. 10.33 and if so there is no remedy but hee must to hell How much better were it for us then by hearkning unto Christ and doing our duty to expose our selves to the greatest of those evills which men can only bring upon our Bodies and are but for a time than by hearkning unto Self and committing of Sin to make our selves obnoxious to the least of those evills which God can bring both upon our Bodies and Soules and also are for eternity Without doubt did wee but beleeve it wee should not bee so averse from them as to endeavour by any sinful means to decline them which is the Second particular required by way of Self-denial in respect of worldly sufferings The next is 3 Not to be so sensible of them as either to bee impatient under them or by any sinful means to endeavour to come out of them It is our duty to bee sensible of our sufferings but wee must take heed wee be not over-sensible Self will bee murmuring and repining against God and quarrelling with Instruments but wee must by no means give way unto it but labour with quietnesse and calmness of spirit whatever our crosse be to bear the burden of it So Paul exhorteth the Romanes Rom. 12.12.14 Be patient in tribulation bless them that persecute you blesse and curse not So hee himself practised 1 Cor. 4.12 13. Being reviled we blesse being persecuted we suffer it being defamed wee entreat So Peter exhorteth servants 1 Pet. 2 18 19 20. Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward for this is thank-worthy if a man for conscience towards God endure grief suffering wrongfully for what glory is it if when yee are buffered for your faults ye shal take it patiently but if when yee doe well and suffer for it yee take it patiently this is acceptable with God What an hard lesson is this to flesh and bloud and how few professing Servants are there to say nothing of others that make
brethren c. Let all the Merchants in the world say here whether there bee any gain like to this you count ten in the hundred a great matter but here is an hundred for one What a rich return is here for one pound here is an hundred And this is according to the tenour of the Scripture all along In the keeping of thy Commandements there is great reward saith the Psalmist Psal 19.11 Behold the righteous shall bee recompenced in the earth saith Solomon Prov. 11.31 As for those that seek themselves in a sinful way it is said of them too That they have their reward Matth. 6.2 I but that is far differing from this 1 That is rather of their own choosing than Gods giving 2 It is an effect of common providence it comes not to them by promise 3 It is given in wrath not in love 4 It is such as godly men are afraid of Psal 17.14 5 It is onely in this life but this in the life to come also so that it is but an earnest-penny of a full payment hereafter Quest But what have they Answ Why consider 1 They have many times a great increase of the same things in specie in which respect the latter end of Job was better than his beginning 2 Though they have not the same things yet they have all that comfort and contentment which those things would afford if they had them 3 They have all this an hundred fold more than before so that if they had an hundred houses for one that they lost c. they could not have more comfort and contentment than nowthey have 2 There is a recompence of reward for them in the world to come Luke 14.14 Things present are yours saith the Apostle to the Corinthians and things to come also and who can tell what those things are Wee know what wee are saith St. John but not what we shall bee Eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what things God hath prepared for them that love him Say what you will of them you cannot say too much they are beyond our apprehensions and therefore may well exceed our expressions Our Saviour comprizeth all in these two words Life Everlasting in which note 1 The greatness of the reward it is Life 2 The continuance of it it is Everlasting 1 The greatness of it it is life and what greater reward can bee given to a guilty prisoner than his life of all things in the world there is none to be compared to this Skin for skin and all that a man hath will hee give for his bodily life but what is that to spiritual life This is comprehensive As by death in the first Covenant all the evils written and not written are meant So by Life here all good things whatsoever that are needful to make the soulfully and compleatly happy 1 It shall bee a life of Perfection There shall bee the presence of all good and an absence of all evil Grace shall bee then in its triumph and so shall comfort too Sorrow and sighing shall flye away 2 A life of Glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 4.17 Massie glory The very body shall bee made like unto Christs glorious body Phil. 3.21 When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Col. 3.4 2 The continuance of it it is Everlasting Life without end Therd is no death death dyes at the beginning of this life I am hee that liveth and was dead saith Christ and behold I am alive for evermore Rev. 1.18 And because I live yee shall live also Joh. 14.19 Wee shall bee for ever with the Lord. For ever Oh comfortable word Were it not for this it would bee but a small recompence of reward but this makes it infinite and oh an infinite reward for a finite service How is this Lord Can wee speak of this and hear it without wonder By the consideration of this those that are in heaven can setch in all the comfort that they shall to all eternity injoy every moment Thus you see the Object Now consider 2 The Act which is eying or having respect to this recompence of reward Moses had the recompence of reward in o A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his eye The Object affects not but as it is apprehended it will have no influence upon our wills and affections to prevail to Self-denial unless wee have it in our eye unless wee behold it Two things then are herer equired 1 To think upon it To eye a thing is to have it in our thoughts The expression is figurative and this is one thing meant by it that wee have it much in our thoughts I shall branch out this head into two particulars 1 Think upon it solemnly and seriously It is not a transient thought or two now and then occasionally that will do the deed it must bee a serious thinking wee must think on it over and over again and again wee must have it continually running in our mindes Finally brethren saith Paul whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just c. If there bee any vertue any praise thinke on these things Phil. 4.8 As wee are to think on our duty so on our reward also If there bee any vertue any praise Wee yeeld unto Self oftimes out of forgetfulness not onely out of forgetfulness of the Precept which tells us what wee should do by way of obedience but also out of forgetfulness of the promise which tells us what wee should expect by way of recompence and reward Not thinking of the end makes us go out of the way The reason why men seek the things of this world so much is because they miude earthly things to this the Apostle opposeth the having our conversation in heaven Phil. 3.21 2 Think seriously upon it in time of temptation This is a special season Now if ever wee should have heaven in our eye Moses refused having respect unto the recompence of reward whereby is intimated that hee had it in his eye at that instant when hee was tempted to yeeld When any business of concernment is proposed before wee determine any thing wee say Wee will thinke upon it Now there are two things that wise men use to think on in such cases 1 What they shall get on the one hand And secondly What they may lose on the other and accordingly they resolve Let us do so in this case when wee are tempted to seek our selves in any base sinful way let us consider if wee do this wee may haply get a little pleasure that will last for a season and yet that is a question I but if wee deny our selves and do it not wee shall have pleasure that indures to all eternity if wee do it not wee may likely lose the favour of men some preferment c. I but if wee do it wee shall surely lose the favour