1. Whither is not Neigbour to be taken in the same latitude when it is said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as when it is said Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour and again Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is thy Neighbours If this be denied that will be enough to evince it that the particular commands of the second Table are but severall Explications of the generall command Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and therefore it is the same Neighbour to whom we must express our Love by not bearing false witness against him and the like and if it be granted then certainly Neighbour must include Stranger nay Enemy Since the Jews were not to bear false witness against their Enimies or to covet unjustly what belonged to them To this purpose is the note of a Rabbin upon these words of the Psalmist He that doth no evill to his Neighbour nor taketh up a reproach against his Neighbour understanding it of enemies as well as friends 2. When our blessed Saviour repeateth this Law of Moses whither did not Christ understand it in the same sense with Moses If he did noâ— then he affixed another sense to Moses his words then what he intended which is not to be imagined if he did then either Moses meant them universally or else Christ did not and so Christ hath added nothing in this particular to Moses As for that passage in our Saviours Sermon Thou shalt love thy neighhour and hate thine enemy it is doubtless to be understood as Abulensis hath well noted only as a Tradition of the Scribes and Pharisees Indeed St Austin and St Hilary seem to be of opinion that hatred was allowed in the Old Testament Yea Oecumenius in this place harpeth upon the same string but by the leave of those Reverend Fathers upon what ground it doth not appear since it is no where written in the whole Body of the Law Thou shalt hate thy Enemies and therefore it is well observed that our blessed Saviour doth not say You have heard that it hath been said by Moses or in the Law but You have heard that it hath been said to wit by the Scribes and Pharisees those corrupt Interpreters of the Law To all this for the further Confirmation I may add That Solomon expresly requireth in his Proverbs and St Paul from him enjoyneth in his Epistle If thine Enomy â—e hungry give him Bread to Eat And if he be thirsty give him water to drink so shalt thou heap coals of fire on his head and the Lord will reward thee That God in the Law gave strict charge concerning the beast even of our Enemy If thou meet thine Enemies Oxe or his Ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him Again If thou see the Ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden and wouldest forbear to help him thou shalt surely help him And certainly he that required them to assist their Enemy in rescuing his beast did not allow them hatred and malice to his Person Nay yet once more in the forementioned place where Moses saith Thou shalt love thy Neighbour is prefixed Thou shalt not avenge nor bear grudge which refers to an Enemie that hath done one an injury As for that lex talionis Law of retaliation though as appeareth by our Saviour it was otherwise construed by the Pharisees yet doubtless it was only intended by God as a rule for the publique Magistrate in his Administrations of justice and is no less in this sense allowable now And though they were to exercise acts of Hostility towards the Nations about them in making no peace with the Ammonites casting out the Cananites and cutting off the Amalekites yet this was by a speciall command from God which both then and now may dispence with a generall Precept and withall their being the Instruments of Gods vengance upon the Heathen did not hinder but that they might be free from any private revenge and so fulfill the generall Precept as well as any Headsman who notwithstanding he is the Executor of Justice may yet love that Person whom he doth execute 2. That Love which the Law requireth may very well in some cases be raised up to that heighth of suffering death Briefly to clear which know That laying down our life in reference to our neighbour is only required in one of these two cases the one when the publique the other when the spirtuall good of others necessitateth to it To lay down a mans life for the publique good is so far from being purely Christian that even Heathens have done it and therefore is no doubt included in the Mosaicall Precept which we may the rather believe because we find himself willing to be blotted out of the Book of Life for the preservation of the People and if it be said that this is to love our Neighbour more then our selves I answer It is not if we take Neighbour Distributively and if we take it Collectively for the Generality even nature teacheth us and surely then Moses his Law did require to prefer the puhlique before the private Wellfare a Generall before a Particular good 3. But that dying which is especially an act of Love is when we are willing to lose our own temporall life for the eternall good of others An example of this we have in the Old Testament What else meant Davids wish in regard of his Son Absalom when he said Would God I had died for thee Desiring no doubt to prevent that eternall death into which he had reason to think his Son dying in Rebellion against his King his Father was now plunged by the loss of his temporary life And in truth though this be to love our Neighbours Souls better then our Body yet it is not to love our Neighbour better then our selves and therefore exceeds not the Mosaicall Precept Caeâ—eris paribus let there be an equality every way and a Christian is as much bound now to prefer himself before his Neighbour as a Jew was and in way of inequality a Jew was bound to dammage himself for his Neghbours good as well as a Christian I am not to love my Neighbours Soul more then my own Soul nor his Body more then my Body nor his Estate more then my own Christian charity in this respect as well as Jewish begins at home only when it is my Estate or Body and my Neighbours Soul which come in Competicion this must be valued above those and this is required by Moses as well as Christ In one word That addition as thy self was certainly intended not as a Limitation or Restriction but rather as an Amplification and Inlargment of this duty of love that look how dear and entire and cordiall that love is which men bear to themselves the same they ought to have towards their Neighbours And therefore I shut up this
the most part end in a shamefull sadness those in a gladsome success God many times is pleased to blast the hopes cross the desires and evacuate the hopes and endeavours of wicked men in their sinfull waies according to that threat in the Psalmes The desire of the wicked shall perish Hence it is that their desires create a great deale of sorrow and perplexity to them and who would give way to such lusts which prove so often suecessless and being disappointed end in grief and impatiency 2. They pass away that is being fulfilled they are soon glutted in this sense worldly men like Children are soon weary when they have what they desire It is an excellent saying of St Austine Laetitia seculi cum magnâ expectatione speratur ut veniat praeterit cum venerit men are big with hopes of a great deale of content and joy in the accomplishment of their desires and alas delight is no sooner come but it is gone and to the same purpose Seneca saith of worldly pleasures Fluit transit paenè antequam veniat aufertur it is of a Fluid transient nature and is taken away almost as soon as enjoyed The truth is many times whilst the things themselves stay with us our lust to love of and delight in them ceaseth in which respect the world may fitly be compared to the grass and our lust to the flower of the grass for as the flower fadeth away before the grass so our lust passeth away whilst yet the worldly Object continueth yea ofttimes our longing is turned into loathing and our love into hatred witness the story of Amnon and Thamar That observation of St Gregory is very apt to this purpose concerning the difference between corporall and spirituall delights these Cum non habentur in fastidio cum habentur in desiderio whilst we want them they are loathed when we have them they are loved but those Cum non habentur in desiderio cum habentur in fastidio whilst we want them are desired when we have them they are loathed Hence it is that as weake stomachs must have choice of diet so worldly desires call for change of Objects Why did Solomon study such variety of pleasures but because they soon satiate and the wanton appetite is still calling for a new Object Nothing more easie then to surfeit of earthly enjoyments and for those things which being absent were our earnest desire by their continued presence to become an heavy burden Oh let us learn to abhorre these lusts which will of themselves at last end in abhorring 2. Once more Whatever enjoyment we may have of or contentments in these lusts whilst we live they shall all cease when we dye When death cometh the covetous man shall graspe no more wealth the ambitious shall gape no more after honour nor the luxurious neigh after his Dalilah As there is no wisedome nor counsell so there is no desire or delight in the Grave whither we are going These lusts will leave thee when thou dyest how much better is it for thee to leave them whilst thou livest 3. There remaineth yet one branch more of the position and that is though not exprest yet implyed concerning the worldly lover himself For in the other clause the person who doth Gods will is said to abide for ever and so by way of analogie this passing away must be understood not only of the things and the lust but the person who lusts after these things Indeed we are all in this world as in a ship not only the ship it selfe moves but the passengers are carried away in it yea which is the Riddle The Passengers go faster then the ship since even whilst the world continues the inhabitants pass away Paulinus desired St Austin to write somewhat de statu humanae vitae of the state of humane life he presently corrects him telling him he should have said de cursu humanae â—itae of the course of humane life our life being a swift race to the Goale of death And well were it if we would still joyne in our meditations our own and the worlds passing away together If these things do not leave us yet we must leave them and as Esau said I dye and what good will my birthright do me so let us often thinke I must be gone and what good will my honours riches pleasures do me It is the Question and Answer of St James What is your life it is even a vapour which appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away some Expositors observe an emphasis in the your you that are so much in love with this life and the things of it how brittle fraile and transitory are they and it Nor yet is this all that is here implyed since not only that which is common to worldlings with other men is here asserted to wit the passing away by death but such a passing away as is peculiar to him in opposition to the happy estate of them that love God and then the meaning is this he passeth away not only by a first but a second death he loseth this life so as never to enjoy another he so passeth away as to perish not by annihilation but by condemnation he passeth from the worlds joyes to Hells torments Oh the dismall change which a worldling maketh when he dyeth all his good things are taken from him and horrour anxiety despaire and everlasting misery seize upon him So true is that of an Ancient Amor mundi non solum peritorius sed peremptorius Worldly love is not only vain but deadly killing not only the body but soul of the sinner to all eternity To bring this home in a brief Applecation 1. Oh that every one of us would be convinced of the worlds instability Indeed in this as well as in many others the world is a juggler that though it be so inconstant yet it promiseth continuance Fully to this purpose St Gregory The vaine joyes of this present life Quasi manendo blandiuntur sed amatores suos citò transeundo decipiunt flatter us as if they would stay with us and on a sodain by passing away they cheat us Looke as the Sun Moon and Stars to borrow that similitude of Philo the Jew though they move with a most swift and rapid motion seem to the vulgar eye to stand still at least move slowly so do these sublunary things in a worldlings eye That rich man in the Gospell who said to himself Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eate drinke and be merry is called a fool for so saying a foole he was in many respects in that he thought his soul could take any concent in his barnes in that he expected to finde ease in the things of this world which are as thornes in that he supposed those things were only given him to eate drinke and be merry with but the worst foole of all in that
to both so must the Christian only with this difference whereas Jacob was first married to Leah and then to Rachell the Christian must first be married to knowledg and then to obedience In one word doing cannot be without knowing and knowing must not be without doing 2. But further It is not every kinde of doing Gods will which is the qualification required our Saviour hath taught us to Pray that Gods will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven the most genuine sense whereof no doubt is that men may do Gods will as it is done by the Angels and he that partaketh with them in the felicity must imitate them in the duty More particularly there are two properties of doing Gods will to wit Integrity and Alacrity 1. The will of God must be done fully not in respect of exact performance that is only for Angels not for Saints till they are glorified but of sincere endeavour To fulfill every Tota of divine precept is impossible to have respect to every precept is needfull for every man who will be happy The truth is he that doth Gods will with exception doth not Gods will but his own hence it is that when Gods will crosseth his he crosseth Gods will and who can esteem him a good Servant who will do his Masters injunctions no further then it agreeth with his inclination To do Gods will aright is to do it as his will and à quatenus ad omne valet consequentia saith the Logician he that performeth any duty under this notion that it is the will of God will for the same reason account himself obliged to the performance of every thing vvhich he knoweth to be Gods will 2. Gods will must be done chearfully to bring Gods will to ours is abominable to bring our will to Gods praise worthy and thus vve do vvhen our will freely consents to nay maketh choice of Gods will for its rule Thus did David vvho saith of himself Lo I come to do thy will and again I delight to do thy will oh God Thus our blessed Saviour saith It was his meat and drink to do his Fathers will never vvent the hungry or thirsty man with a better will to his Meate and Drinke then Christ did to do his Fathers pleasure And truly when all is done it is the will God looked at in doing his will when the will is present the deed will follow if there be opportunity and ability else it is a wishing not a willing and if the deed be performed without the free and full consent of the will it will nothing availe yea whereas sometimes and in some cases the will is accepted and rewarded without the deed the deed is never without the will so that not only to avoide but abhorre whatsoever God forbids not only to act but effect whatever God enjoyneth is to do the will of God And now before I go further here is a double consideration offereth it selfe to enduce the doing Gods will namely cujus and qualis whose and what will it is the former is expressed the latter is easily inferd from the former 1. It is the will of God to whom we owe whatever we are or can do and shall we not do his will He is our Master our Father our King Solomon saith Where the word of a King is there is power much more where the Word of a God is He is the Supreame Majesty having absolute soveraignty and therefore his will is most justly a Law shall we refuse to do it God himselfe reasoneth If I be a Father where â—â— my honour If I be a Master where is my fear Nature teacheth Children to do their Fathers will Pater est etsi paterna esset said he in the Comedy it is my Father otherwise I would not yield and the very notion of a Servant is to be at the will and command of his Lord in which respect service is defined by Cicero to be Obedienciae animi arbitria carentis suo the obedience of a minde destitute as it were of its own free will if therefore we will approve our selves faithfull Servants obedient Children loyall Subjects let us do his will So much the rather considering that 2. Being it is his will it cannot but be most just and equall It is impossible God should will us to do any thing which is not most agreeable to right reason since he doth not will any thing because it is right but it is right because he wills it St Paul's Epithets of the will of God are good perfect acceptable indeed since whatever God wills us to do is not only good but perfect well may it be acceptable The Prophet Micah puts these two together He hath shewed thee oh Man what is good and what the Lord thy God requireth of thee thereby intimating that God requireth nothing of us but what is good and therefore most fitting to be obeyed By what you have already heard it plainly appeareth that the doing Gods will is very reasonable but if this will not prevaile behold here is a further inducement in the Text. The doing Gods will is not only reasonable but profitable And I trust if the beauty of this Virgin Obedience cannot attract you yet her dowry will invite you which is no less then eternall happiness And so I am fallen on the 2. Remuneration as it is set forth in these words Abideth forever An Assertion which at first view seemeth false at least defective 1. It seemeth false since obedient Saints dye as well as disobedient sinners Indeed the good Angels doing Gods will endure for ever but good Men notwithstanding their obedience are liable to a dissolution It is Gods decree that his servants as well as his enemies should walke through the shadow of death and their doing his will of command cannot exempt them from fullfilling his will of decree It was the Prophet Isaiah's complaint in his time the Righteous perisheth nay whilst the wicked continue the Righteous are taken away your Fathers where are they the Prophets do they live for ever is the Prophet Zachariahs Question intending a Negation The Prophets though such as both did and declared Gods will yet lived not for ever Abraham was a pattern of obedience and conformity to Gods will and yet he escaped not the Axe of death But to all this the Answer is easily returned and that two waies 1. He abideth forever not in this but the other world This world passeth away as he saith just before and good as well as bad are only Passengers through this vvorld but in the other vvorld they shall have a durable habitation In which respect death is no impediment but rather an help to put them in possession of that eternity and therefore saith the Apostle If this earthly house of our Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building made without hands eternall in the Heavens Consonant hereunto it is that Christ saith of the
those evills we have done but the next is to do the good we have left undone and so keep his Commandements 2. His Jesus Christ the righteous hath not only published promises but given Precepts and as he proposeth comforts to stablish our confidence so he imposeth duties which require our performance in which regard it is that we read elsewhere of the Law of Christ and here of his Commandements If it be further enquired what these Commandements are I answer they are no other for substance then those which are contained in those Ten words which are usually called the Morall Law And therefore we find our blessed Saviour in that Sermon of his upon the Mount Expounding the Precepts and pressing the Practice of the Law upon his Disciples and the People Thus as the Law in respect of our inability of exact observance and the rigidity of its curse upon non-observance driveth us to Christ for comfort in the Promises so Christ sendeth us back to the Law as a rule still to guide us in the course of our Conversations by a sincere indeavour to observe its Precepts and these are here called his Commandements 3. Keep The Act which every Christian is to performe and which this Knowldeg whereof my Text speaketh inableth to is Keeping It is a word of a large extent and may have a double reference the one to the heart the other to the life when Solomon giveth it in charge to his Son let thine heart keep my Commandements he meaneth no doubt a due pondering and a stedfast remembring of those precepts he gave him thus David kept when he saith he hid Gods Word in his heart and the Metaphors both of keeping and hiding referre to a treasure it being our duty as carefully to keep in mind the Commandements of God and Christ as a covetuous Mammonist is to keep his Gold and Silver in his Chest But that which we are here to understand is the keeping of Christ Commandements in our life Apposite to this purpose is that Note of St Austin upon those words of our Saviour He that hath my Commandements and keepeth them Qui habet in memoria servat in vitâ qui habet in Sermonibu◠servat in moribus qui habet audiendo servat faciendo He that hath them in mind and keepeth them in life he that hath them at his tongues end and keepeth them at his fingers end he that hath them by hearing and keepeth them by doing So that in this construction this Metaphor of keeping referrs to a way which he is said to keep who constantly walketh in it And so keeping is the same with obeying and the import of these words We know him if we keep his Commandements is where there is a true Faith in Christ there will be a sincere Obedience to his Precepts And that you may see wherein the sincerity of this Obedience consists which is the fruit of this Knowledg be pleased to observe it briefly and yet fully in these two Particulars 1. The sincere keeping his Commandements is a keeping them because they are his It is one thing to do what Christ commands and another to do it because he commands it Pagans that have no knowledg of do many things which are required by Christ but they cannot do them because he requireth them Hyppocrites that have no saving Knowledg of Christ performe many things which he prescribeth but it is only out of self-respects and if a man do that which Christ Commands and yet know not that he commands it or if he knows it to be his Command and do it not because it is Commanded by him it is not such an Obedience as ariseth from a right knowledg of him It is very observable concerning David that when he prayeth so earnestly Oh that my wayes were so directed that I might keep thy Statutes he premiseth this as the Reason Thou hast commanded us to keep thy Precepts diligently thereby intimating that the ground of his Obedience to Gods Precepts was the Stampe of divine authority in joyning him to this purpose it is that he saith in that same Psalm I have sought thy Precepts thereby implying that that which he sought in his Obedience was the fulfilling of Gods Will indeed that only and properly is Obedience which is done intuitu voluntatis divinae with a respect to and eye upon divine Will. As that is onely a divine Faith which believeth a truth not because of humane Reason but divine Revelation so that onely is a true Obedience which conformeth to the command not because it may consist with any self-ends but because it carrieth in it an impression of Christs authority 2. And further This sincere keeping of the Commandement is a keeping not some but many nay all So as whatsoever appeareth to be required by him is conformed to by us Indeed this necessarily followeth upon the former For Quicquid propter Deum fit aequaliter fit he that doth any thing at anothers prescript upon this account that it is prescribed by him will not neglect to do whatsoever he prescribeth there being the same reason of obeying him in all as in any hence it is that as our Faith eying divine Revelation believeth whatsoever is revealed how cross soever it may be to our Reason So Obedience eying divine Prescription fulfilleth whatsoever is required though never so contrary to our affections And thus this keeping the Commandements is an Universall Obedience 1. In respect of the extent which is ad totum preceptum to every command 1. As well duties of the first as of the second and the second as of the first Table Piety without equity is but hypocrisie and equity without piety is but morality both together is Christianity A Pharisee may be zealous for devotion and yet a devourer of Widowes Houses An Heathen may be exact in his dealings towards Man whilst yet he is no worshipper of God but a true Christian keepeth a good conscience both towards God and Man 2. As well the spirituall as the externall part of commands In our keeping the Commandements it is not enough to approve our selves to men who only observe our actions but to God and Christ who searcheth the hearts and vieweth our dispositions hence it is that true Obedience is a keeping of all the Commandements not onely as to the matter but the manner and the end a performing those duties which are required with sutable affections and a single intention 2. In respect of the Duration which is per totam vitam to the end of our dayes It is said of Christ that he was Obedient to the death and one interpretation of that is to his dying day So must they who know Christ be Obedient to him throughout the whole course of their lives St Austin explaineth the phrase of keeping not onely by doing but persevering and indeed that is sometimes the notion of the phrase so when St Paul saith
forgiven for his names sake Indeed it is that which this argument presseth in three severall waies 1. In a way of imitation the Brethren are Gods Darlings he loveth all men so far as to forbear them but he loveth them so as to forgive them and surely fit it iâ— that where God forgiveth we should and whom he loveth we should Besides God loveth us so as to forgive us and forgiving to give all blessings to us and shall not we be mercifull and kind and loving to one another after his pattern 2. In a way of Gratulation Thus Naâ—gorgeus urgeth it So great a benefit as forgiveness Facilè persuadet ut eâ— benefaciamus strongly perswadeth that we should returne somewhat to him who and for whose sake we are forgiven Non Christo quidem sed membris this we cannot to him in himself but in his Members Quibus ille jussit To whom he hath commanded us to shew our affections Indeed the good Christian cannot but thus reason with himself If God hath at my request forgiven me pounds and given me Talents shall not I at his command forgive my Brother pence and give him Mites That love he hath shewed to me is infinitely surpassing that love which he expected I should shew to my Brother So that it is impossible for him who is truly affected with his Fathers goodness not to be inflamed with Brotherly kindness as therefore the cold stone or iron being warmed by the â—ire casts forth and reflects that heat which it hath received upon that which is adjacent to it So doth the sincere Christian reflect the heat of Gods Love which is shed abroad in his heart and sheds it abroad in Love to his Brethren 3. In a way of Impetration The comfort of this benefit of forgiveness lieth in the knowledg of it Indeed whosoever hath his sins forgiven is Really but he only who is assured that they are forgiven is sensibly blessed A well grounded assurance cannot be obtained but by finding those graces wrought in us which accompany Remission amongst which this of Brotherly Love is not the least If I can justly say That I Love my Brother for his names sake then and not till then I can comfortably say My sins are forgiven for his names sake When therefore we finde these passions of hatred envy â—â—lice and uncharitableness to boyle in our hearts against others for thoâ—e injuries which either they have or at least we conceiâ—e they have offered to us What better Antidote can we use then a serious meditation of Gods free and full underserved and unmeasutable Love towards us notwithstanding our manifold sins against him Which that we may duly imitate for which that we may be truly thankfull and of which that we may be comfortably assured it concerneth us and accordingly St John writeth to us to Love the Brethren THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St JOHN CHAP. 2. 13 14. VERS I write unto you Fathers because ye have known him that is from the beginning I write unto you young Men because ye have overcome the wicked one I write unto you little Children because ye have known the Father I have written unto you Fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning I have written unto you young Men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have over come the wicked one PHilosophy not unfitly distinguisheth of a threefold naturall Life Vegetative Sensitive Rationall The first discovereth it self by growth and Augmentation The second by Motion and Sensation The third by Discourse and Ratiocination The first is only in Plants the first and second in Beasts all three in Man nor would it be passed by how Man doth as it were gradually put forth these severall Lives living in the Wombe the life of growth so soon as he cometh into the World the life of sense and after the expiration of some years beginning to live the life of reason And as thus there are three Lives so there are three Ages of Mans life which are to be reckoned from that time he begins to act as a man and make use of his reason Namely Childehood Youth old Age Our life is a day whereof Childehood is the Morning Youth the Noon and old Age the Evening After which succeedeth the night of death our life is a journey which consisteth of three Stages Childehood wherein we go up hill Youth in which we run forward and old Age in which we run down hill to the Grave Finally Our Childehood is as a budding Spring our Youth as a flourishing Summer our old Age as a withering Autumn after which followeth the Winter of death With all these our Apostle hath here to do and as every one of them is capable of instruction he directeth his writing to them not only joyntly buâ— severally in the words now read I write to you Fathers because ye have known c. The particular Reasons why our Apostle wrote to every one of these Ages do yet remain to be discussed and before I enter upon them in particular there are two things I will briefly premise 1. That two of them are repeated namely that which respects Fathers and young Men whereas that to little Children is only once mentioned and if we well view it we shall finde there might be good cause for the Iteration of them and so no need to blame the Scribe as if the fourteenth Verse were beedlesly added Besides that one namely that which concerneth young Men is not a naked Repetition but withall an Amplification there is a double reason maybe assigned why he writeth to Fathers and young Men twice and but once to Children 1. Because his discourse was principally intended for Fathers young Men look as in our Preachings though sometimes occasionally we instruct little Children yet we must frequently direct our discourse to those who are drawn up to years of discretion so no doubt our Apostle designed this Epistle for and therefore directeth his writing to the young and old Christians 2. Because the things about which our Apostle writeth are such which young Men and Fathers have more need to be minded of then little Children There is not so great danger of little Childrens being infected with the world because they know not what belongs to it whereas young Men having so much imployments in are apt to be entangled with the world and old Men having been so long acquainted with cannot easily weane their affections from it Little Children are not so sensible of injuries and therefore not so apt to be enraged with hatred as young Men and Fathers are No marvell if he write again and again inculcating the argument by which he would perswade them to Love their Brother and disswade them from the Love of the World 2. That all of them are laudatory Characters commending that good which he observed in them the Fathers for their knowledg of Christ the young Men for their victory and spirituall
strength and the little Children for their knowledg of the Father A fit pattern for all Ministers for all Superiours yea for all to follow Indeed to flatter bad men in their sins is abominable God pronounceth a curse against such Prophets who daube with untempered Morter and by their smooth language strengthen the hands of evill doers but to commend good men for their graces is commendable and hath not only the pattern of the Apostle but of Christ and God himself to warrant it The truth is Praise is a due debt to Virtue and therefore it is an act of Justice it is not unfitly observed that our Apostle joyneth these two together If there be any virtue If there be any praise to intimate that praise ought to attend on virtue Nor is it only a debt but a spurre and therefore an act of prudence When a good man is commended others are incouraged and si non amore virtutis at dilectione laudis accenduntur many have been allured with the Love of praise whom the Love of virtue could not perswade however the person himself being commended is thereby animated nor is it unlawfull for men to be Moved in a subordinate way with a desire of praise and much respect St Bernard upon those words in the Proverbs Hast thou found honey Eate so much as is sufficient for thee saith Potest in hoc loâ—o non incongrue mellis nomine favor humanae laudis intelligi in this place by honey may be understood not unfitly the favour of humane praise Meritoque non ab omni sed ab immoderato edâ—lio prohibemur nor are we prohibited all but only an immoderate desire of glory No wonder then if the Ministers of Christ whom he hath appointed Fishers of men among others make use of this bait of praise that commendation may make way for their commands and a well done may encourage their Auditours to do better This no doubt was the designe of St John that by this Artifice of praise his instructions might have the stronger influence upon them to whom he writeth Come we now to the severall Reasons by which he bespeaketh the severall Ages 1. The first respects the Aged Fathers to whom he wrote because they knew him who was from the beginning as it is expressed in the thirteenth and fourteenth Verses In handling of this Character I shall consider the goodness and the fitness of it the goodness of it in it self by inquiring what it meaneth and the fitness of it both to the Subjects to whom and the Objects about which our Apostle wrote 1. Consider we this Character in it self and we shall finde it not only good but excellent Indeed in this one there are two Characters to wit of Christ and the Christian which offer themselves to our view of Christ that he is from the begining of the Christian that he knoweth him who is from the begining of each in order 1. Our Apostle here affirmeth concerning Christ that he is from the begining Indeed Illyricus refers this to God who is said to be from everlasting to everlasting and to inhabit eternity and is called by Clemens Alexandrinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most ancient of all things because before all things yea the Creator And sutably Plato putting the question What is the most ancient thing answereth God But I conceive it is most sutable to the Apostles scope to understand it with Calvin Aretius and the most nay best Interpreters of Christ And thus as Zanchy well observeth this may be asserted of him in a double respect quo ad virtutem salviâ—â—cam and quo ad personam in respect of virtuall efficacy and personall subsistence 1. Christ is from the begining to wit ordained and purposed to be the Mediatour of his Church in which sense he is called the Lambe slain from the foundation of the world Whence it is that though he dyed in the fulness of time yet the virtue of his death as it extendeth forward to the end so backward to the begining of the world 2. But principally Christ is said to be from the beginning inasmuch as his subsistence is from eternity to wit in respect not of his humane but divine nature Thus St Austin appositely novus Christus in carne sed antiquus in divinitate Christ as to his manhood is new but as to his Godhead ancient and Oecumenius expressely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is it that is from the beginning but God the Word In this respect justly is the Messiah called by the Prophet Isay the everlasting Father and the Prophet Micah saith of him who was to be born in Bethlehem that his goings forth have been of old from everlasting Upon this account the Authour to the Hebrewes asserts him to be yesterday to day and the same for ever where saith Anselm by yesterday is denoted the time past and the vast space of eternity preceding by to day the time present and by for ever that which is to come Finally unto this that metaphoricall Character which our Apostle giveth of Christ is plainly to be referred where he saith his head that is his Divinity so Pererius and his hairs were white like wooll as white as snow to which in regard of its antiquity for so Daniel calling God the ancient of dayes presently addeth the hair of his head was like pure wooll namely for whiteness which is the badge of old age Not to enlarge upon this point because it is only collateral in the Text I shall in a few words discuss these two propositions which are plainly intimated in this clause and clearly expressed in Scripture 1. That Jesus Christ had a being before he was born of the Virgin Mary indeed he then began to be man but he did not then begin to be when his Mother conceived and brought him forth into the world It was our blessed Saviours positive assertion concerning himself Before Abraham waâ— I am and if he had a being before Abraham certainly he did not begin to be when he was made man That this was the meaning of our Saviour is clear in that it is returned by him as an Answer to the Jewes Objection which is manifestly drawn from the short date of his personall existence Thou art not yet fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham to which Christs words cannot be a full Answer if they intend not that he had a personal being before Abraham and so no wonder if Abraham were known to him and that the Jewes so understood him is evident in that they took up stones to cast at him as conceiveing him a blasphemer in so saying upon which accounâ— the Father saith excellently Ecce Judaei intellexerunt quod non intelligunt Arriani Behold the Jewes understood that which the Arrians will not but fondly and impiously endeavour to obscure Very conâ—â—derable upon this account is that of St
of God than that which wee are here put in minde of And This is the Promise which he hath promised us Even eternal life In which words wee have four particulars worthy our observation An excellent benefit eternal life A sure conveyance hath promised An Eminent Author Hee The peculiar persons us All which when I have severally unfolded I shall joyntly apply and that especially with reference to that which our Apostle here intends the duty of perseverance 1 The excellency of the benefit though it bee last in the verse would first be considered as it is delineated in those words eternal life If wee here examine the Grammer of the Greek Text wee shall finde it incongruous the accusative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 put for the Nominative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but that which is called in Rhetorick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the putting of one case for another is not unusual and withall it is very frequent to put the Antecedent in the case of the Relative as appeareth by those two Instances among many others the one Virgils Urbem quam statuo vestra est and the other Terences Populo ut placeâ—ent quas fecissent fabulas so here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Emphasis of the Article prefixed before both the Substantive and the Adjective 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would not bee passed by since as one well magnum pondus addit orationi it addeth a great deal of weight to the expression intimating that it is not an ordinary kinde of life but that which is most transcendent whereof the Apostle speaketh and withall that the eternity is that which addeth much to its excellency That which is especially to bee inquired into is what is the benefit which is represented under these Characters and why it is so represented 1 That happy and glorious estate which shall hereafter be enjoyed is without all doubt that which is here and else where intended by this phrase eternal life It may perhaps bee here objected that eternal life in a strict and proper notion may bee affirmed of the miserable condition of the wicked as well as the blisseful state of the godly for the Resurrection shall bee general and the term of that Resurrection shall bee an union of soul and body and that union shall bee inseparable which denominateth it eternal in which respect St. Austin saith expresly of the damned In eternum cruciari non poterint nisi vixerint in eternum they could not be for ever tormented if they did not live eternally But to this it is well answered that this word life is not alwaies taken pronudâ existentiâ a bare existing in but foelici conditione an happy condition of life non magnum est din vivere aut semper vivere sed magnum est beaté vivere saith St. Austin It is no great matter to live long or alwaies but to live happily That Loyal prayer Let the King live in every Language imports a prosperous estate when the Psalmist saith Who is the man that would see life hee explaineth himself presently after by good daies vivere among the Latines is sometime as much as valere to live is as much as to be well and upon this account it is that as on the one hand the Scripture calls the state of the damned an eternal death because their life is onely a continuance in misery so on the other the state of the blessed an eternal life because it is a perpetual abode in felicity 2 Having found out what is the benefit intended I shall now go on to inlarge in the description of it Indeed eternal life is a subject so sweet and pleasant that you cannot want patience to hear of it though withall it is so sublime and transcendent that I want a tongue to speak of it acquiri potest exprimi non potest it is our comfort wee may attain it but our defect that wee cannot conceive much lesse expresse it when wee come to the fruition of this life wee shall not say with those in the Psalm as wee have heard so wee have seen but with the Queen of Sheba the one half was not told us all that can bee said of that joyful eternity being but as Stilla Mari a drop to the Ocean or scintilla igni a spark to the flame But though a perfect discovery of this blisse bee impossible at such a distance as earth is from heaven yet in the Scripture lineaments we may behold it and that so much of it if wee seriously view it as that wee cannot choose but bee enamoured with it nor shall I go further than my Text wherein wee finde a description consisting of two words A word of quality and praelation life A word of quantity and duration eternal Because men love to live promissa est illis vita saith St. Austin life is promised to them and because they most fear death promissa est illis aterna eternal life is promised What doest thou love To live this thou shalt have what doest thou fear to dye this thou shalt not suffer it is life eternal of each a word 1 That future state is described by life and if you please to examine it you shall finde two things shadowed forth by it namely Wherein that blisse consists and how far it surpasseth all other injoyments 1 Inasmuch as it is called Life it intimateth wherein that happinesse consists to wit in the Beatifical vision To clear which you must know that 1 Natâ—ral life is the union of the soul with the body and accordingly supernatural life is the union of the soul with God and look as the body being united to the soul liveth because the soul is the principle of life so the soul â—nited to God must needs live much more because God is the living God the fountain and Original of life 2 This union of the soul with God is double and accordingly with St. Austin wee distinguish of a double supernatural life â—na fide altera specie una in tempore peregrinationis altera in eternitate mansionis there is a mediate union wee have with God in this Pilgrimage by faith and there is an immediate union wee have with him in that mansion by sight that is the life of grace this the life of glory when S. Paul saith wee Walk by faith and not by sight hee expresseth the former and withall intimateth the latter life when wee shall walk by Sight and not by faith Thus whereas God himself told Moses No man can see mee and live it may in this respect bee inverted no man can live without seeing God since by seeing it is the Saints have an union with and fruition of God and so live to which those words of the Psalmist are fitly applicable Thou wilt shew mee the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy 2 In that it is called life it inferreth its surpassing worth and value To illustrate
Kingdome an eternal glory and everlasting joy an eternal inheritance and everlasting salvation and very frequently eternal and everlasting life nor is it without good reason that this Epithete is made so much use of and that especially on a double account 1 Propter eminentiam to advance the excellency of this Life St. Austin enlarging in the praises of this life heapeth up a multitude of excellencies The Life saith hee which God hath prepared for them that love him is vita vitalis beata secura tranquilla pulchra munda casta sancta a lively happy secure peaceable amiable pure chaste and holy life but stil that which crowneth all is its eternity and therefore the Father goeth on ignaramortis nescia tristitiae it is a joy which cannot be interrupted with any sorrow and a life which is altogether ignorant of death it is sine labe sine dolore sine anxietate sine perturbatione corruptione et mutatione without spot or wrinkle without sorrow or vexation without change or corruption Look as in respect of Divine attributes eternity is that which runs through and puts a lustre upon them all so that it were little to say of God hee is holy wise just good nay that hee is omnipotent omniscient omnipresent unlesse wee could say hee is eternally all these so is it in respect of the excellencies of that other life they could afford little comfort were they not eternal 2 Propter differentiam to difference it from and set it in opposition against this present life This life how sweet soever is but short that life is not onely sweet but lasting yea everlasting This life as to many acts of it is suspended by sleep and at last wholly taken away by death that life knoweth no cessation nor interruption but shall bee one continued act Here Orimur morimur wee no sooner begin to live but wee hasten to death our life is like an hour-glass which is no sooner turned up but it begins to run out or like a Lease which is no sooner taken but it begins to expire the longer our time past hath been on earth that to come is so much the shorter and the more wee grow in Life the nearer wee are to Death But there the Sun riseth and never setteth continually shining in its full spendor that estate is not a Lease for years but an inheritance for ever This Life is a fading flower a flitting shadow a vanishing vapour but that is a flourishing laurel an induring substance a fixed Star Finally This Life is so short that it may bee measured by months by daies by hours but that is so long as it cannot bee measured by Years nor Jubiles nor Ages since when those happy Saints have lived so many millions of ages as there are piles of grasse on the earth drops of water in the Ocean sands upon the Sea-shore or stars in the firmament their life shall bee as new to begin and as long to continue as at the first moment when they entered into the possession of it and thus I have given you an account of the excellency of the benefit pass we on to the Certainty of the Conveyance in those words This is the Promise promised The Explication of this branch will be dispatched in two Queries What this meaneth that eternal life is said to be promised Why it is so emphatically called The Promise 1 Inquire wee a little into the import of this word promised and this will the better appear by considering it in a fourfold opposition to wit twofold in reference to him by whom and twofold in respect of us to whom it is promised 1 In regard of him by whom it is promised wee may very well consider it as opposed to a bare intention and a meer declaration 1 Eternal Life is promised not onely purposed I confesse in one Scripture promised is no more than purposed to wit where St. Paul to Titus saith of eternal Life it was promised before the World began but according to the common notion and usual acception promised is more than purposed A Purpose is onely the thought of the heart a Promise is the fruit of the lips A purpose is secret and hidden a promise is open and manifest Finally A Purpose is onely an intention of the minde but a Promise is the revelation of the intention This Eternal Life was from all eternity purposed and being purposed could not but bee accomplished for the Decrees of God must stand but had it not been promised as well as purposed wee might at last have injoyed it but in the mean time could not have known it it would have been as a treasure hid a fountain sealed a spring shut up Gods purpose then is the emanation and his promise is the signification of his will whereby it becomes manifest unto us Nor yet is this all but 2 Promised is more than declared it is one thing to reveal and another to promise that onely mâ—keth known but this maketh sure that giveth notice of but this an interest in when therefore eternal Life is said to bee promised it doth not onely mean that it is intended but that it is manifested yea not only that it is manifested but that it is assured God hath not onely set before the Sons of men this eternal life as a thing in it self real and excellent no nor yet onely as that which may possibly yea probably bee attained but hee hath promised that is he hath in his word given an undoubted assurance that hee will bestow it and this is the meaning of hath promised Nor yet is it a simple naked promise but such as is attended with an oath so the Author to the Hebrews expresly God willing more abundantly to show unto us the heirs of Promise the immutability of his counsel confirms it by an Oath that we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to the hope set before us which hope is no other than the thing hoped for eternal life yea more than this both the word and oath are upon record in Holy Writ and all this hath a seale annexed to it both the privie seal of the Spirit and the broad seal of the holy Sacraments for our further confirmation If then you will have the import of these words be hath promised in reference to God it is that hee hath not only resolved but spoken it not only spoken of such a life but said hee will give it us yea not only spoken but sworn and this not only with his lips but it is as is were under hand and seal 2 In respect of us to whom it is promised wee may look upon it in a double opposition to actual possession and due desert Eternal life is promised yet not possessed the promise is past it is the preterperfect tense hath the possession to come St. Paul useth the future tense shall give It is not unfitly observed that it is the wisdome of Divine dispensation
Judge now appeareth in Heaven as an Advocate for all beleevers Finally Hee that shall bee the Judge is a Friend a Brother an Husband they that abide in him are the children of God and so hee and they brethren are beloved of him and so hee is their friend married to him and so he is their Husband well may they with confidence appear before him Being thus married to and abiding in Christ their sins are washed away in his bloud their persons are invested with his merits And thus through him it is that abiding in him they have confidence before him 2 On the other hand they who doe not abide in him shall be ashamed before him at his coming I find among Expositors a three-fold glosse upon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ashamed before him 1 Erasmus conceiveth the sense may bee Ut illum non pudeat nostri that he may not be ashamed of us This is that which himself threatneth by way of retaliation to all them who are ashamed of him and his words and consequently doe not abide in him that when he shall come in the glory of his Father hee will bee ashamed of them They who now will not own Christ at that time would gladly bee owned by him but hee shall dismisse them to their place with a Nâ—scio vos I know you not But though this be true in it self yet the phrase of the text will not well bear it 2 The Syriac and vulgar Latine read it as if the preposition were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so the sense is Ne nos aeternae infamiae damnet that we may not bee doomed to eternal infamy with that Ite maledicti goe yee cursed All impenitent sinners and especially Apostates shall in that day by Christ bee put to and cloathed with shame Thus what they seek to avoyd falls upon them and that in a worse kind Apostates deny Christ to prevent shame and because of their Apostacy they suffer perpetual shame 3 The most genuine notion of the phrase is rendred by Grotius Ne pudeat noâ— ab illo conspici that wee may not be ashamed to be seen by him The wicked especially Apostates shall bee ashamed at that day before the godly whom here they despised so the Author of the Book of Wisdome brings them in saying within themselves This was hee whom wee had sometimes in derision and a Proverb of reproach we fools accounted his life madnesse and his end to be without honour how is he numbred among the children of God and his lot is among the Saints But which is farre worse they shall be ashamed before Christ whom here they deserted and not bee able to look him in the face Thus shall all that for sake Christ bee ashamed before him in respect of their 1 Odiouâ— nakednesse Time was when bodily nakedness was our honour but now it is so shameful that wee need garments to cover us and surely if the nakednesse of the body be shameful that of the soul is farre worse How can the Apostate choose then but bee ashamed before Christ whilst by câ—sting him off hee hath thrown away that whiteraiment which should cover him and his shameful nakednesse must needs appear 2 Grosse Hypocrisie The cheating Impostor when discovered and brought before the Judge is ashamed the Apostate proclaimeth to all the world that his profession was but a Cheat his devotion a Lye and must hee not needs be ashamed when he shall appear before Christ 3 Vile unfaithfulnesse Hee that hath broke his word is ashamed to look him in the face to whom hee made the promise the Servant that hath not discharged his trust is ashamed to come before his Master with what face can that woman look upon her Husband which hath been unfaithful to his bed Apostates are Spiritual Adulterers forsaking Christ for other Lovers false Servants not keeping that good thing which is committed to them yea perfidious in their promises renouncing their baptismal vow Sure they cannot but be ashamed before Christ 4 Great unthankfulnesse Hee that having received kindnesse returneth injury may well blush to look his Benefactor in the face Non referre gratias de beneficio turpe est saith Seneca It is a filthy and consequently shameful thing not to render thanks for benefits conferred much more to repay them with injuries No wonder then if the Apostate be ashamed before Christ whom hee hath most ungratefully forsaken renouncing allegiance to this King of glory not only notwithstanding his own oath but many and great favours conferred by this King upon him 5 Manifest folly All acts of inconsiderate folly are grounds of shame that language of the fool Non putaram I did not think may well be uttered with blushing what blushing shall then sit upon the faces of Apostates at that day when they shall too late see how they were cheated by the Sophistries of the Devil enchantments of the world and fallacies of their own corrupt hearts so as to forsake the fountain of living waters for a broken cistern and to chuse death rather than life Oh that all back-sliding Apostates would think they heard this Judge upbraiding them at that day with this or the like language What didst thou mean oh thou naked hypocritical perfidious ingrateful foolish sinner to goe from me Did not I offer my self my merits my righteousnesse to cloath thee but thou hast cast away my righteousnesse wouldest have none of mee and now thou art shamefully naked Didst thou not for a time make a large profession of my name and truth but without any just reason thou hast relinquished it whereby it appeareth thou wert no other than a whited Sepulchre Didst thou not by thy Sureties promise at thy Baptism and afterwards at my table engage thy self to my service but none of those oathes have been cords strong enough to hold thee Could I doe more for thee than that I did in laying down my life for thee and is this thy requital to deny me and by that denial to crucifie me afresh Doest thou not see what thou hast done by leaving me to embrace this present world made a cursed exchange of gold for drosse pearls for pebbles thy pleasures are vanished thy hopes disappointed and thy self shamefully deceived And now oh that we would all lay to heart Quae tunc erit fidei gloria quae poena perfidiae cum Judicii dies venerit to use St. Cyprians language what shall bee the glory of the faithful and the ignominy of the perfidious the honour of constancy and the reproach of Apostacy in that day What a dark gloomy dreadful day it shall bee to them that forsake Christ what a bright splendid joyful day it shall be to them that abide in him and which is better Judge you It is before Christ himself and that as sitting on his Throne of glory we must then appear and what a sad thing will it be to have shame and confusion