therefore he had none other remedy but to wander as a Pilgrime and a forlorne creature till hee ended his dayes in extreame miseries so Agrippa suffered intollerable calamities Cap. 17. so Herod the Tetrarch was spoiled of his goods depriued of his Kingdome and banished from his Countrey So Herod that killed Iames Cap. 18. was miserably eaten vp of loathsome wormes and to the Iewes was measured the same measure as they had measured vnto Christ before for as they had sold him for thirty pence so thirty of them were sold for one peny and fiue hundred of them were nayled to Crosses in one day in so much that nec locus sufficeret crucibus nec cruces corporibus there was not place sufficient for the Crosses nor Crosses enough to nayle them on It were too too lamentable to relate more of those dolefull Tragedies which Iosephus Eusebius Euagrius and others haue written of them and what they suffered at the finall ruine and destruction of Ierusalem and what heauy bondage farre worse then that Egyptian slauery they haue endured to this very day In aureo tractatu Rabbi Sam. de miserimo statu Iudaeorum Hence it is that Rabbi Samuel about sixe hundred yeares agone writ a tractate in forme of an Epistle vnto Rabbi Isaac Master of the Synagogue of the Iewes in Subiulmeta a Citie of Morocco wherein he doth excellently discusse the cause of their long captiuity their great blindnesse and extreame misery and after that hee had proued tâ—at this punishment was inflicted vpon them for some great and grieuous sinne he sheweth that sinne to be the same whereof the Prophet Amos speaketh For three transgressions of Israel and for foure Amos 2.6 non transferam eo I will not turne away the punishment thereof because they sold the righteous for siluer And though he saith that their Rabbies doe vnderstand this righteous to be Ioseph that was sold by his brethren vnto Egypt What Rabbi Samuel saith concerning Iesus Christ yet because the Prophet putteth this for the fourth sinne and the greatest sinne of Israel and because he cannot finde any three sinnes of the sonnes of Israel before the selling of Ioseph therefore he maketh the selling of Ioseph to be the first sinne of Israel the worshipping of the Calfe in Horeb to be the second the abusing the killing of Gods Prophets to be the third and the fourth to be the selling of Iesus Christ For the first they serued foure hundred yeares for the second they wandred forty yeares in the Wildernesse vntill they that came out of Egypt were all consumed and brought to nothing excepting onely Caleb and Iosuah for the third they were held Captiues seauenty yeares in Babylon and for the fourth the said Rabbi Samuel confesseth that they were held in most pittifull Captiuity to this very day because hee was most vniustly sold and most shamefully deliuered to death as he sheweth in the seauenth Chapter of the said Tractate Much and many more circumstantiall proofes and demonstrations of his Resurrection to shew him to be the true Messias Why the Author did so prosecute the proofes of Christs Resurrection might be produced but I hope these will serue I say not to make vs to beleeue this truth for to that end I hope we neede not bring any proofe at all because we doe fully and vndoubtedly beleeue the same already but to shew that our fore-fathers haue not or we doe not beleeue these things without more then abundant and vnanswerable proofes thereof and to conuince that malicious obstinacy and infidelity of all those whether professed Iewes or seeming Christians which notwithstanding such an Army of arguments and such a cloud of witnesses will still continue blinded and hardened in vnbeleefe It were strange there should be any Athiests amongst vs yet I thinke it was not without cause that Dr. Fotherby writ his large and learned discourse against Atheisme and questionlesse they that deny God will neuer beleeue in Christ and therefore as that booke shall be a witnesse against all Atheists in the latter day to condemne them so shall this which I haue written be an accuser of all those that will not beleeue in Iesus Christ CHAP. VIII Of the place from whence our Sauiour rose both in respect of his body and soule NOw hauing seene that the Messias when hee should come was to rise againe the third day and that our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ is that true Messias because he did rise againe vpon the third day I must yet intreate you to consider that so you may haue the full knowledge of this point these two especiall things Arsatius in postilla ser de resurrect fol. 122. 1. The place from whence he rose 2. The manner how he rose First We must vnderstand that as Christ in respect of his humane nature consisted both of body and soule so his Resurrection must needs be considered both in respect of his body and soule First The Resurrection of the Body was that whereby hee raised the same from the graue a dead carkasse to be a liuing and a most glorious body neuer to die againe The place from whence Christ raised his soule Secondly The Resurrection of his Soule must be from some infernall place or else it must be a descention and not a Resurrection of his soule and therefore as in our Creede we professe to beleeue that he descended into Hell so we must likewise confesse that he raised himselfe from Hell but here vnawares I am fallen into an Ocean of contention For First Some say this Article of our Creede crept in by negligence and therefore would haue raced it out againe but that would proue a want of Gods prouidence that would suffer his whole Church to erre so grossely in the chiefe summe of her Christian faith and if such things might creepe into our Creede which is but the abstract of our faith then much more might easily creepe into our Scriptures which is so large an expresser both of faith and manners but the Spirit of Christ is alwayes with his Church to guide it into all truth and the Church of Christ is the Pillar of truth and a most faithfull preseruer of all truth and therefore this opinion is most absurde Secondly Others still retayning the words Foure expositions of that article of Christs discention into Hell cannot agree vpon the meaning of the sentence and of these I finde foure seuerall expositions The first is that the soule of Christ suffered the paines of Hell vpon the Crosse But this cannot stand first because we must bring in such a sense as will agree with the words after his buriall for that being dead and buried he descended into Hell and secondly That Christ suffered not the torments of the damned Iohn 9. because as that worthy Bishop of Winchester hath most excellently shewed there bee eight speciall things in Hell paines which the soule of Christ could not
Surely this would euert all the Articles of our Faith that we doe professe touching the humanity of our Sauiour Christ and make Christ indeede to be no Christ at all Secondly The Angell confirmeth his assertion of Christs not being in his graue by a sufficient reason For he is risen for if he had said Luc. 24.6 But he is risen as Saint Luke saith it it had beene a further affirmation of his Resurrection but saying For he is risen it is likewise a confirmation of his former assertion He is not here And the reason is naturall and in nature it is vnanswerable He is risen and gone to another place therefore hee cannot be here in this place he is aliue on Earth and therefore not dead here in the graue And therefore Why seeke ye the liuing among the dead why seeke you Christ where he is not A doctrine surely to be well obserued Not to looke for Christ where he is not either in respect of 1. His spirituall 2. His corporall presence First For his spirituall presence we know where he is Gregor moral l. 18. c. 15. In sinu matris Ecclesiae In the bosome of our Mother the Church For where two or three are gathered together in my name Matth. 18.20 there am I in the middest of them And therefore If thus we would finde Christ Luke 2.44 let vs not with Ioseph and Mary seeke him among our Kinsmen and Acquaintance and worldly Friends Nam quomodo That Christ is no where to be found but in the Church O bone Iesu inter cognatos meos te inueniam qui inter tuos minimè es inuentus For how is it possible O sweete Iesu saith Saint Bernard that I should finde thee among my Kindred when thy Mother could not finde thee among thine owne Kinsmen and I would to God all the Bernards of our time would thinke on this but let vs with the Church in the Canticles Lyra ad loc cant 1.8 follow the foote-steppes of the Flockes vnto the Tents of the Shepheards that is Vestigia fidelium ad sedes doctorum The foote-steps of the faithfull to the seats of the Doctors and Teachers of Iesus Christ There he was found by his Mother and there he is still to be found of his Children And Secondly For his corporall presence we know where he is That Christ is no where corporally but in heauen Act. 3.21 sitting at the right hand of God in Heauen not in Earth for the Heauens must containe him vntill the restitution of all things Indeede Mary Magdalen and the rest of these Women here thought him to be in his graue but as yet he had not ascended into Heauen and they knew not what was become of him And therefore their ignorance may be excused for seeking Christ where he was not but we know where he is and therefore our negligence and preposterousnesse must needes be condemned and our selues shall be found void of all excuse Si quaeramus in tumulo Aug de tempore Serm. 133. quem adorare debemus in coelo If we seeke him not where he is and not still looke for him where he is not Our Sauiour tells vs and I cannot here omit it That there should arise false Prophets and they should say vnto you Loe here is Christ or loe there is Christ but he aduiseth vs to beleeue it not And surely wee haue many such false and deceitfull Prophets euen all the patrones of transubstantiation that teach vs to seeke for Christ where he is not Looke Doctor Sheldon in a Sermon preached before the King intituled Christ sitting on his throne and not in popish secrets where this is largely handled Aug. l. de vnit eccl cap. 3. Aquinas in cat sup Matth c. 24. for I doe assure my selfe as Master Doctor Sheldon hath most learnedly and largely proued that the prediction of Christ concerning the practise of those pseudochristians whereof he speaketh Matth. 24.26 saying that they should say vnto vs behold he is in the secrets is principally to be vnderstood of these men For Although diuers of the ancient interpreters as Origen Saint Augustine Aquinas and others doe expound those words of Christ mystically of the priuate conuenticles of hereticks that doe challenge vnto themselues only the spirituall presence of Christ and I confesse this to be true yet I say that this is not all the truth nor yet the chiefest intention of our Sauiour Christ and it is no maruell that the Fathers attained not vnto the full meaning of our Sauiours words because euery prophesie is as a riddle or a booke sealed vp hard to be interpreted as Ireneus saith contra heres lib. 4. cap. 43. but I say that Christ forewarneth vs to take heed of such as would pretend to teach him the true Christ to be personally present in most hidden and secret places wherein I beseech you to obserue these three particulars That Christ warneth vs to beware of thē that would seeme to teach the true Christ First that I say Christ forewarneth vs to take heed of such as pretend to teach the true Christ for he saith that these false prophets shall preuaile so farre in their perswasions as that the very elect shall be in danger to be seduced by their subtilties and therefore this doth plainly proue to me that they shall not denie the true Christ nor pretend to preach any other Christ for if they did so the elect might be said to be more in danger of persecution then seduction but that they should with lying arguments out of Christs owne words and in Christ his owne name as they will professe in the latter day teach and seeke to proue him the true Christ to be in secrets that is in those places That Christ warneth vs to beware of thē that teach his bodily presence any where but in heauen where he is not Secondly that I say Christ forewarneth vs to beware of such as teach him the true Christ to be personally and corporally present in those secret places wherein they auouch him to be for Christ bidding vs not to beleeue that hee is in such secrets setteth downe these two reasons to shew why we should not beleeue it First That Christ vseth two speciall reasons to proue that hee wil neuer come bodily to any secrets till the day of iudgement because that as the lightening commeth from the East and shineth vnto the West so shall the comming of the sonne of man be which is all one as if he had said when they shall tell you that I am personally present in any place beleeue it not because I shall neuer come personally spiritually I doe euery day vntill I come as a lightening i. e. suddenly gloriously manifestly which shall be his comming to iudgement Secondly because that wheresoeuer the body is thither will the Eagles be gathered together for though Origen senseth the body Origen tract 30 in Matth. to be
possibly suffer As First An outward and inward darkenesse for Christ was Light and in him was no darkenesse at all saith the Euangelist Secondly Destruction of body and soule Thirdly The Lake burning with fire and brimstone Matth. 10. Apoc. 20. Aug de ciuit l. 13. c. 2. which is the second death Et qua sicut nullorum est bonorum ita nulli bona est And which as it is the place of none that is good so it is good to none and therefore either Christ was not good or hee tasted not of this second death or if he did then not vpon the Crosse because the first death must precede the second Fourthly The Worme of conscience continually afflicting them for their sinnes but in Christ there was no sinne and therefore in him there could not be any touch of conscience accusing him for sinne Fiftly Reiection from the presence of God Sixtly Malediction Seauenthly Vengeance of fire Eightly Continuance for euer All set downe in this one sentence Depart from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire Matth. 25. And neither of these can be laid vpon Christ without great blasphemie and therefore he cannot be said to suffer the paines of Hell vpon the Crosse without great Heresie That Hell in this article signifieth not the graue The second exposition is that he descended into Hell signifies Christ his buriall because Sheol commonly signifieth the graue but this cannot stand first because it were an absurd thing in a briefe rehersall of the summe of faith to haue one Article twice repeated and to haue the plainest one hee was buried expounded by a darke and enigmaticall exposition he descended into Hell secondly because it is not said that hee was laid in Sheol but he descended into Hell which signifieth a voluntary motion and therefore cannot signifie his buriall That this article signifieth not the state of the dead The third exposition is that it signifieth the state of the dead but this likewise cannot stand first because this exposition cannot auoide Lymbus Patrum for if Hell signifie the state of the dead the place of the dead can neither be Heauen nor Paradise Iob 11. secondly because wheresoeuer Hell is named as an opposition to Heauen Psal 139. 8.9 it signifieth the place of the damned euen in the Old Testament and in the New Testament but descending is a plaine opposition to ascending Matth. 11.23 as it is said that Lazarus was caried vp to Abrahams bosome and therefore if Sheol should signifie the state of the dead it should haue beene said that hee ascended vp into Sheol which is most ridiculous That the soule of Christ after the seperation from the body descended into the place of the damned The fourth exposition is that hee descended into the place of the damned for the words of the Creede He descended into hell must neither be allegorized nor confounded with the former words but they must be vnderstood as they are spoken Hee descended into hell And that for three speciall reasons 1. Necessity requireth it 2. The Scripture prooueth it 3. All antiquity confirmeth it First Necessity required that he should descend into Hell for man being inuironed with three dreadfull enemies viz. Three dreadfull enemies of man 1. Sinne during life 2. Death shortning life 3. Hell tormenting after death And the Resurrection of Christ being the full conquest of all our enemies he must ouerthrow Sinne Death and Hell or else we doe but vainely boast of releasing vs from sinne or despising death if the right and power of Hell doe still remaine ouer vs and therefore Christ must ouercome Satan and destroy his Pallace before we can be freed from his prison And this Christ hath done three wayes 1. By subduing Satan Christ destroyed Hell three wayes Matth. 12. 2. By tying Satan 3. By spoyling Satan For our Sauiour testifieth saying When a strong man armed keepeth his pallace the things that he possesseth are in peace Luc. â—2 29 but when a stronger then he commeth he taketh his armour from him he bindeth him and then he spoyleth his house And therefore Christ entred into Hâ—ll the pallace of Satan as a conqueror he tyed him as the stronger The conquest of Christ was not only by suffering but also by trampling Satan vnder feet and he spoyled him as the right owner of that which hee vniustly detained from him and this is shewed by the Apostle where he saith that Christ spoyled powers and principallities and made a shew of them openly triumphing ouer them in his owne person for this triumphing cannot be vpon the Crosse though there it was obtained because the conquest ouer Satan was not to bee by resisting much lesse by suffering the paines of Hell but by treading his aduersaries vnder his feete that so he might be truely called a conqueror And therefore we must not thinke that all his conquest was at length to repell them and with mighty feare and strong cries to escape them when the Apostle saith He spoyled them and made an open shew of them but it was a binding of them and a trampling of them vnder feet and the same was manifested to be thus fully accomplished at his Resurrection And this necessity not onely of suffering vpon the Crosse Irenaeus l 3. c. 20 but also of conquering Satan in his owne house Irenaeus sheweth saying Si homo non vicisset inimicum hominis non iuste victus esset inimicus If man had not ouercome the enemy of man That the Scripture proueth the soule of Christ to haue descended into the place of the damned the enemy of man had not beene iustly conquered Secondly The Scripture proueth the same thing for the Prophet Dauid speaking in the person of Christ saith My flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not forsake my soule in Hell nor suffer thine holy one to see corruption but here to take the soule for the body or hell for the graue as some doe I see no reason Quia cum Scriptura diuidit species Tertul. de carne Christi c. 13. carnem animam duo ostendit For when the Scripture speaketh of soule and body it must needs signifie both saith Tertullian and therefore Dauid in his prediction and S in t Peter in his exposition speaking both of the soule and body two names and two natures and naming a distinct place for either of them they must needes signifie two distinct and diuers things and most cleerely shew vnto vs that when his body was laid in his graue his soule descended into Hell That all antiquity teacheth the same truth Luc. 10. Euseb l. 1. c. 23. Ignatius ad Trall Thirdly The whole classie of antiquitie confirmes the same for Thaddaeus one of the seauenty Disciples taught the Citizens of Edessa how Christ was crucified and descended downe into Hell and broke downe that wall that was neuer battered down before Ignatius confessed how he suffered 〈◊〉
meaner Schollers cannot doe so profoundly as the grauer Diuines can doe and the older men cannot doe it so often as the yonger sort can doe and yet neither must be contemned for if the young men had had the time of the aged no doubt but they would doe as well as the aged Aristotle Et si senex haberet oculum inuenis videret vt iuuenis And if the ancient men had the strength bodies of yong men it is not vnlikely but that they would still take paines as young men Neither doe I say this to vphold sloath or negligence in any Age for to our vttermost ability as I said before we must all continue constant vnto death but to reproue our partiall Age that adoreth the Sunne rising in the East and applaudeth the quicke wits and many Sermons of youth but make none account of aged Paul and the best labours of declining age Philemon v. 9. vnlesse with the Israelites they can make vp the same tale of Brickes as they did in youth though they haue neither Straw nor Stubble neither sight of eyes nor strength of bodies to performe it and to shew how euery man should doe his best Iuxta mensuram Donationis Christi according to that measure of grace which he hath receiued from Christ And so much for the filling of the Apostles with the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost CHAP. V. Of the effects and fruits of their filling with the Holy Ghost and how this Spirit sealeth them and sheweth them to be the true seruants of Iesus Chist THirdly For the effects of their filling it is said The fruits and effects of the holy Ghost that they began to speake with other tongues as the Spirit gaue them vtterance First They began to speake because the Spirit of God is neuer idle but where it sees cause will speake though it should cost the speakers life Secondly They spake with other tongues i. e. not as carnall men talking of fleshly or worldly matters nor as wicked prophane wretches belching forth Blasphemia in deum Blasphemies against God but as regenerate and sanctified men they shew forth magnalia dei the wonderfull workes of God And hereby all men might know whether they were the seruants of Christ by this Spirit of Christ for as our Sauiour saith of the false Apostles the same is true of all Apostles Matth. 7.16 by their fruits you shall know them for as in whomsoeuer the spirit of Satan is you shall see that he will reueale them by their lewd words and by their wicked works which are the workes of darkenesse so in whomsoeuer the Spirit of God is hee will seale them and marke them with a foure-fold marke saith Bonauenture that is signo 1. Veritatis credendorum 2. Honestatatis morum 3. Contemptus mundanorum 4. Charitatis Dei et proximorū 1. With true Religion The holy Ghost sealeth vs with a four-fold seale 2. With an vpright conuersation 3. With contempt of vanity 4. With perfect charity First It worketh Faith in their hearts for this is the fundamentall root of all other graces and therfore the Apostle well obserueth out of the Prophet that a man first beleeueth Faith is the root of all graces and then speaketh for we haue beleeued saith he and therefore haue wee spoken whereas if they had not beleeued they would neuer haue spoken of the wonderfull workes of God and therefore the holy Ghost did first worke faith in their hearts and then it caused the same to speake and to expresse it selfe by this preaching of the works of God And Secondly of good workes which are Secondly because the verity of our faith is euer knowne by the sinceritie of our life therefore these signes shall follow them that beleeue Gregor de 7. pec Magdal First to suppresse sinne First They shall cast out Deuils i. e. vitia voluptatis they shall suppresse all sinnes as Saint Gregory expounds it because euery sinne is as bad as the Deuill Secondly They shall speake with new tongues i. e. vtter forth verba vtilitatis Secondly to praise God holy and heauenly words and because our naturall tongues were like the poison of Aspes these may well be called new tongues when they doe sing a new song Thirdly to bridle their lusts Thirdly They shall take vp serpents i. e. concupiscentias sensualitatis the biting and poisonous concupiscences of our sensuall flesh shall be though not quite taken away from them yet they shall bee taken vp in their hands as Hercules is said to haue held the two serpents which Iuno sent to deuoure him in both his hands while hee was but a childe in his cradle and they shall be so restrayned and held fast that they shall not be able to doe them violence Fourthly to beare all iniuries Fourthly If they drinke any deadly poison it shall not hurt them i. e. iniurias aduersitatis if they must swallow downe lies and slanders yet for all the malice and the mischiefe of the wicked non inflammantur per superbiam non suffocantur per maliciam non disrumpuntur per inuidiam they shall neither swell with enuy nor burst with malice nor any wayes perish through their indignity Luke 21.19 but in their patience they shall possesse their soules And Fiftly to doe good vnto all men Fiftly They shall lay hands on the sicke and they shall recouer them i. e. adiutoria charitatis remedia iniquitatis they shall exercise such deeds of charity that by their good counsels and admonitions they shall recouer many a languishing dying soule Thirdly of contempt of vanities and bring them backe againe to sauing health And Thirdly because these things cannot be practised vnlesse the pompe and pride of worldly vanities be quite contemned and troden vnder feet therefore the Spirit of God worketh in them a minde to forsake all worldly things And Fourthly Fourthly of charity Rom. 5.5 because no worke is good vnlesse it proceedeth from the root of charity therefore the Spirit of God diffuseth this loue into the hearts of his seruants that they wish no euill to any man but are ready to doe good euen to them that hate them And these foure seales and signes of Gods Spirit are expressed in the twelfth chapter of the Reuelation where Saint Iohn saw a woman clothed with the Sunne Apoc. 12.1 and the Moone vnder her feet and vpon her head a crowne of twelue Starres and she being with childe cryed trauelling in birth and paine to be deliuered For this woman signifieth the Church of Christ or euery faithfull Christian soule And first her Sun-like shining is the brightnesse of her good workes and heauenly conuersation which doth so shine before men Matth. 5.16 that they glorifie God which is in heauen Secondly the Moone vnder her feet signifieth her contemning and trampling vnder feet all the vaine and variable things of this sublunary world Thirdly her crowne
of twelue Starres is the Symbole of her faith containing twelue articles of her beleife And fourthly her paine to be deliuered is that earnest desire and loue which euery Christian soule hath to increase and multiply the number of Gods children And so the holy Ghost hauing descended vpon the Apostles and remaining in their hearts it caused them first to beleeue and to compose that crowne of twelue Starres which is the glory of euery Christian soule i. e. the twelue Articles of our faith as the Church receiueth it Secondly to forsake all the world and to follow Christ as S. Peter sheweth Thirdly Matth. 19.27 to lead a most vpright and a godly life as Saint Paul auoucheth Heb. 13.18 And fourthly to labour incessantly night and day to send out their voyces into all lands and their words vnto the ends of the world as now the whole world testifieth And so you see how in the first beginning of the Church the gifts of the holy Ghost were visibly and abundantly giuen vnto these seruants of Iesus Christ according as it was prophecied long before Ioel 2.28 that he would powre out his Spirit vpon all flesh and so their sonnes and their daughters should prophesie But CHAP. VI. How the gifts and graces of Gods Spirit are now giuen vnto vs and how wee may know whether wee haue the same or not SEcondly Christ doth now giue his Spirit otherwise vnto the Pastors of his Church How God bestoweth his graces vpon vs sufficiently for the edifying of the same but through great paines and diligent searching after knowledge for now we must not looke for Exthusiasmes nor thinke to attaine vnto learning and knowledge by reuelations but orando quaerendo bene viuendo by earnest praiers by continuall watching and tumbling and tossing of many bookes and by wearing and wearying out our selues in reading musing and writing of many lines we must seeke to attaine to a little learning and when wee haue done all we can wee can get nothing but what this blessed Spirit please to giue vs for except the Lord build the house the builder laboureth but in vaine so except he doth blesse our studies Psal 127.1 all our paines and industry will proue no better then Aethiopum lauare to wash a blacke Moore a breaking of our braines but an attaining to no true knowledge But we may be certaine that if we do our duties in all humility to seeke and search for grace our God will most surely giue vs grace yea and the same graces though not in the same manner or according to the same measure which hee did giue vnto his Apostles And as here it was apparantly seene that these Apostles had the gifts of this Spirit by these signes and effects of this Spirit so wee may most certainely know if we will diligently search whether we haue these gifts and graces of Gods Spirit or not by the works that we doe and by the things that we finde in our selues for Si iniurias dimittimus The signes whereby we may know whether we haue the Spirit of God or not quod denotat columba si paenitentiae lachrymis irrigamur quod nubes si desiderium habemus rerum aeternarum quod ignis si magnalia Dei annuntiamus quod lingua tum habemus signum praesentiae Spiritus sancti If we water our couch with our teares and bee truly sorry for our sinnes which is signified by the cloud if we be purged from all the drosse of sinne and be eleuated to desire and loue heauenly things which is noted in the fire if wee bee carried against the naturall streame and current of our owne corruptions which is shewed by the winde if we remit and forgiue all wrongs done vnto vs and bee meeke and gentle vnto all men harsh and sullen vnto none which are the properties of the Doue and if we zealously preach and pray and talke of God and of his will his grace and goodnesse towards vs and render thankes and praise vnto him for the same which is the office of a fiery tongue then we doe with the Apostles shew the effects of Gods Spirit and we may to our endlesse comforts assure our selues that the Spirit of God is in vs. 1 Cor. 3.85 But if we finde none of these things no hatred of sinne no loue of vertue no loathing of the vanities of this world no lifting vp of our hearts to heauen no meekenesse with men no praising of God but rather finde our selues cleane contrary defiled with sinne deboist in our liues iniuring men offending God blaspheming his name with wicked oathes and breaking his Sabboths with great contempt then wee should not onely wonder to see the gifts and graces of Gods Spirit in others as the people did when they saw what had happened vnto the Apostles vpon the day of Pentecost but we should rather bewaile and lament the want of the same in our selues for it is vnpossible that they should haue any part or portion of Gods Spirit that doe shew no signe nor fruit of Gods grace And therefore euery man should try and examine himselfe whether he finde in himselfe the fruits and effects of Gods Spirit or not For First the holy Ghost being like water if he be in you That we should diligently examine whether we haue Gods Spirit or not Psalme 1.3 then you are washed and cleansed from all filthinesse and you are like the trees that are planted by the waters side and doe bring forth their fruits in due season but if you bee like a barren and drie ground where no water is or like fruitlesse trees that beare nothing but leaues then certainely the Spirit of God is not in you and you are fit for nothing but to be hewne downe Matth. 3.10 and to be cast into the fire Secondly the holy Ghost being like fire if he be in vs hee illuminateth the eyes of our vnderstanding and hee giueth light to them that sit in darkenesse and in the shadow of death that they may walke without stumbling in the way of peace but if our vnderstanding bee so darkened that wee neither know God nor the will of God then certainely the Spirit of God is not in vs 2 Cor. 4.3 for if our Gospell be hid saith the Apostle it is hid to them that are lost that being depriued and void of Gods Spirit are filled with the spirit of darknesse A most fearefull saying against them that vnderstand not the great mystery of godlinesse that they haue the marke of lost ones and if hee be in vs then we must needes be feruent and zealous to doe all good seruice vnto God as Apollo was who is said to be hot in spirit or as the twelue tribes were who serued God night and day instantly Act. 18.28 c. 26.7 saith the Apostle but if we be cold and carelesse to serue the Lord then surely we are destitute of this Spirit of God for