or if you will consent But fundamentally it is knowledg Faith is not a bruitish captivity but a voluntary assent which cannot be without some measure of knowledg praeceding It is true the knowledg required in Faith is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the cause such as in Science but only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is so upon Divine Revelation But whilest it bridleth curiosity it also abhorreth igorance In which respect St Hierom saith excellently Quae simplicitas est nescire quae credas What a fally is it not to know what thou pretendest to believe And Fulgentius Fides vera quod credit non nescit etiamsi non potest videre quod sperat credit True Faith though it cannot see yet knoweth what it believeth 2. Partly Because Faith carrieth in it as much certainty as knowledg It is the difference between opinion and knowledg that the one is built only upon probabilities but the other upon certainties the one argueth topically but the other demonstratively Now Faith is not an opinionative but a scientifical assent For doubtless since Faith is founded upon Divine Revelation which is infallible there must needs be as much certainty and clearness in Faith as there can be in any knowledg though founded upon never so strong Demonstration Upon this account it is that Faith is defined by the Authour to the Hebrews to be an evidence And the Evangelists expression is We believe and are sure to intimate that our believing is not a thinking but a knowing According to this notion of Knowledge St Gregory occasionally speaking of these words Expounds them and giveth this as his Reason Notitia quippe Dei ad fidem pertinet because the Knowledg of God is an Appendix of Faith and in this sence if we know him we will keep his Commandements It is observable that in Scripture Obeying is sometimes put for Believing so St Paul quoting that of the Prophet who hath believed reads it who hath obeyed our Report and that Obedience is called sometimes the Obedience of Faith Why this But to teach us that true Faith cannot be severed from yea puts upon Obedience Works without Faith are not good works in which respect Faith is wittily called the nest of good works in which they must be hatched But withall Faith without works is as good as no Faith and therefore is affirmed by St James to be a dead Faith and good Works are not unfitly stiled the Pulse â—f Faith by which the state and temper of it is discovered Believing is sometimes called in Scripture â— receiving of Christ and this receiving is of whole Christ Christ not onely as a Priest to propitiate for our sins but as a King to governe us by his Laws In vain doth he trust for Salvation by who yields not Subjection to Christ and therefore saith St Paul as you have received the Lord Jesus by Faith so walk in him by Obedience 3. To know sometimes is as much as to have a personall Experience who so knoweth the Commandement saith the Wiseman shall know no evill so the Hebrew feel no evill so our Translation appositely Know being the same there with Feel When St Paul saith of Christ he knew no sin he is to be understood in this sence that he did not experience any sin in himself In this acception Beza construeth that of St Paul where he professeth to account all things losse that he might know Christ that is reipsa sentire in very deed to feel a savour and relish of Christ And according to this notion Oecumenius understands this Knowledge of him in my Text to be as it were a Commixion and Communion with him Eliphaz hath a Phrase very proper to this purpose acquaint thy self with him Those with whom we are acquainted are such of whom we have had trial and experience and thus to know Christ is to have a sweet intimacy between Christ and our Souls to know him not onely as revealed to us but in us as Preached to our Ears but as dwelling in our hearts And now whosoever thus knoweth him cannot but keep his Commandements The Reason whereof appeareth in the forementioned Text where the Knowledg of Christ and the Virtue of Christ are joyned together As the Woman that touched Christ received Virtue from him to cure her Disease so whosoever hath an Experimental Knowledge of Christ cannot but Experience the Virtue of Christ to wit of his Death for Mortification of his Rising for Vivification both which make up Sanctification whereby we keep the Commandements And further look as they who are inwardly acquainted each with other are joyned together in a firme League of Amity whereby it is that they Will and Nill the same things So is it with those who are acquainted with Christ they Will what he Wills and Nill what he Nills and indeavour wholly to conform themselves to his Precepts To summe it up then if you would know what this meaneth to know him I answer it is to know God and Christ as revealed in the Gospell and that so as to own him to believe in him and to have an experimentall acquaintance with him and thus knowing him we cannot but keep his Commandements 2. You have beheld the Mother Knowledge be pleased now to take a view of the Daughter Obedience as it is expressed in those words if we keep his Commandements wherein each word is Emphaticall and deserveth our due consideration here are three words Commandement his and keep accordingly here are three Particulars the Object the Subject the Act of each briefly 1. Commandements That is the Object Aretius upon the Romanes critically observeth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 differ as the Genus and the Species Law taking in all sorts of precepts but commands specially respecting those which are Affirmative and it is that which we may not unfitly here take notice of so much the rather considering what is said at the first Verse of this Chapter there it is that you sin not avoid what is forbidden here it is keep his Commandements do what is required It is not enough to avoid sin but we must do our duty as we cease to do evill so we must learn to do well as we die to sin so we must live to Righteousness Finally as we abhorre that which is evill so we must cleave to that which is good Pharisaicall Religion lieth chiefly in Negatives God I thank thee I am no Extortioner but Christian Religion obligeth to Affirmatives as well as Negatives As well the idle and unprofitable Servant as the wastefull Prodigall Steward is condemned and the barren vine is in danger of being plucked up as well as the wilde Indeed he that abstaineth from sinfull actions is not far from the Kingdome but it is he that doth well shall obtain the Kingdome the first step is not to sin to leave off
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
ergo vult audita intelligere festinet ea quae jam audire potuit opere implere Whosoever therefore will understand let him first make hast to do what he heareth 2. Again Would we keep his Commandements let us know him These two Knowledg and Practice are necessary attendants the one upon the other Those two Sisters Leah and Rachell are fit Emblems of Contemplation and Action Contemplation like Rachell is Beautifull Action like Leah is Fruitfull And as those two sisters were Marryed to Jacob so are these two Graces concomitant in every Christian Those Cherubims which the Prophet Ezekiel speaketh of are described to have hands under their Wings The Wings saith St Gregory are an Embleme of Knowledg whereby we flye in our thoughts to Heaven the hands of Practice whereby we do good on Earth and all true Christians like these Cherubims have hands under their Wings That is Operation attending Meditation This that Father looketh upon as resembled by those two sisters of whom we read in the Gospell Martha and Mary whereof Vna intenta operâ— altera contemplatioâ—â— the one was intent upon doing the other upon hearing Indeed these two are not only as two sisters but as the Mother and the Daughter Divine Knowledg both engaging and inabling to Obedience so as it doth not only follow upon but flowe from it The true Knowledg of Divine things is not otiosa but officiosa a loyterer but a labourer As her principall Object Christ is Incarnate so is Shee having Eyes of Charity Bowels of Mercy Hands of Bounty and Feet of Obedience Indeed you may as well sever the Beams from the Sun heat from the fire motion from life as practice from a right Knowledg to which purpose is that note of Calvin upon the Text. He admonisheth us that Christian Knowledg is not idle but active by its efficacious vertue producing Obedience So that they who know him really will nay cannot but keep his Commandements To illustrate this Truth the more clearly I shall briefly resolve these two Queries what it is to know him and what it is to keep his Commandements whereby we shall learn both why a right Knowledg of Christ enableth to keep the Commandements and what keeping the Commandements floweth from this Knowledg 1. The full Explication of this Knowledg and its Influence upon keeping the Commandements will best appear by considering both the Object whereabout it is conversant and the Acts which it puts forth 1. The Object of this Knowledg is insinuated in that Pronoune Him and if you ask whom the answer is to be given from the first Verse where we read of the Father and Jesus Christ the Advocate According to this it is that our blessed Saviour maketh the Object of saving Knowledg to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent It is not then that Knowledg we have of God by his Works by his Law but by his Gospell whereof St John here speaketh So Beza upon the Text. Agitur hic de cognitione Dei in Evangelio The Apostle here speaketh of Evangelicall Knowledg which must needs engage to Obedience Inasmuch as it is a Knowledg of the Love of God and Christ towards us and those choise benefits he hath wrought for us and certainly he that knoweth how much Christ hath done for his Salvation cannot but be ready to do whatever Christ requireth for his Service Indeed that naturall knowledge we have of him as a Creator carrieth in it an Argument of Obedience It is the acknowledgment of the Elders Worthy art thou O Lord to receive glory and honour for thou hast created all things It being most equall that to him we should return service from whom we receive our being Yet further that legall knowledg we have of him as our Law-giver and Judge is an enducement to obedience Inasmuch as the breach of his Law cannot but provoke him to inflict the curs but still the knowledg we have of God as a Father of Christ as an Advocate and propitiation is both the sweetest and the strongest Obligation nothing being more rational then that our Father our Redeemer should be our Lord and that we should be wholly devoted to him who is so dearly affected to us Especially considering this is the very end of his delivering us out of the hands of our enemies that we should serve before him without fear in righteousness and holiness all the daies of our lives 2. The Acts of this knowledg will the better appear by observing that various acceptation of this word know which may fitly be accomodated to our present purpose Among others there are three constructions of this word 1. To know is sometimes as much as to acknowledg When we read of a Pharaoh risen in Aegypt which knew not Joseph Of God complaining concerning Israel that she did not know he gave her Corn and Wine and Oyl And again of Christs answer to many at the last day I know you not It is plainly manifest that to know is as much as to own acknowledg And in this sense that Latin word is used by the Poet Cognoscere for Agnoscere Dominum cognoscite vestrum This acceptation is here made use of by Tirinus and not unfitly If we know him that is acknowledg him as our Lord and Jesus and own him as our Prince and Saviour And thus knowing him we cannot but account our selves obliged to keep his Commandements It is very observeable to this purpose what Christ saith in St Johns Gospel concerning his Sheep They know my voice and they follow me True Believers acknowledging Christ to be their Shepherd and owning it to be his voice which they hear in the Scriptures follow him by an active conformity to his Precepts It is Gods own reasoning in the Prophecie of Malachy If I be a Father where is my honour If I be a Master where is my fear And therefore Christians acknowledging him to be their Father their Master cannot but give up themselves to the honour fear and service of him 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to know the same with to believe It were easie to multiply Instances of this kind but one may suffice instead of all where God saith concerning Christ By his knowledg shall my righteous servant justifie many Which is no doubt to be construed by Faith in him he shall justifie according to that of St Paul being justified by Faith And believing is called knowing upon a double account 1. Partly Because Knowledg is a necessary ingredient of Faith It is the Apostles assertion concerning himself I know whom I have believed and his question concerning the Heathen How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard thereby asserting it impossible and the reason is because they cannot believe on him whom they have not known Indeed Faith formally considered is an assent
I have kept the Faith he meaneth no doubt his constancy in the profession of the Faith and where Christ saith Because thou hast kept the Word of my patience he intends a perseverance in their Obedience to Christs Word notwithstanding persecution And thus to keep Christs Commandements as well by suffering as doing to lose any thing rather then not keep them and patiently to continue in well doing though we may suffer ill is that Obedience which a right Knowledg of Christ produceth I cannot leave this without annexing one Caution that this Universall Obedience is not to be understood in respect of an exact execution but a cordiall endeavour Indeed the punctuall observation of the Commandements is in this life impossible not absolutely and in it self for God doth not command such things as are in themselves impossible to be done but respectively and accidentally because we are by the fall disinabled and that ability we once had is not for the present perfectly restored The truth is in the best there is both defectus privans affectus obstans a defect of that measure of grace which should strengthen to full Obedience and besides a continuall lusting of the flesh against the spirit conflict between sin and grace whereby it is that grace cannot perfectly produce its acts Hence it is that as we cannot keep them collectively so neither distributively we cannot observe all no nor any so perfectly in every title as that there should be no deviation But still there may be a sincere purpose of heart inclining us to observe all whereby it is that as Hypocrites may be said to break the Commandements when they keep them because with the observance of the outward act there is no concurrence of the minds delight so that the good they do they would not do So true Christians may in a qualified sence be said to keep the Commandements when they break them because when they fail in the outward act they have an habituall purpose in their regenerate part to performe and so the evill they do they would not Nor is this kind of Obedience unfitly called universall because it hath respect to every Command nor doth it suffer a man willingly to allow himself in the breach of any of the Precepts To summe it up there is a knowledg of God and Christ which is true and perfect and there is a knowledg which is true but imperfect the perfect knowledge is that which we shall have in that other life which is said to be perfect not in respect of Comprehension since it is impossible that our finite understandings should fully comprehend an infinite Object but in regard of apprehension because it shall be the fullest degree of apprehensive knowledge which humane nature is capable of But the knowledg which we have in this life is imperfect according to that of the Apostle we know in part and according to this different knowledg so is our keeping the Commandements since the effect cannot exceed the energy of the cause when therefore our knowledg shall be perfect our obedience shall be compleat But in the meane time as our knowing Christ so our keeping his Commandements is defective though withall it is sincere and as to the intention illimited the soul that rightly knoweth Christ being ready to observe and resolved to do whatsoever Christ revealeth as his Will and imposeth as a command What now remaineth but that every one of us indeavour to expresse the truth of our knowledg of Christ by our Obedience We have all of us my brethren heard much and often of Christ but have we yet learned to know him We many of us are able to speak much of but have we any spirituall acquaintance with Christ If so where is our Obedience to his Commands True knowledg is such as may not only be heard but seen Sheep saith the morall Philosopher do not bring their fodder to their shepheards and shew them how much they have eaten but they inwardly digest and outwardly shew it by the goodnesse and quantity of the fleece upon their backs if we will shew the reality of knowledg in our hearts it must be by the fleece of holiness in our lives Indeed how can it be otherwise but that he who knoweth Christ the authority he hath over him the mercy he hath wrought for him and accordingly experienceth any Communion with him and dependeth for salvation on him should account himself infinitely obleiged to the observance of whatsoever is injoyned by him Lord what wilt thou have me to do is the voyce of Saul when Christ is pleased to discover himselfe to him They that know thy Name saith the Psalmist of God will put their trust in thee They that know thy Nature oh blessed Jesus will yield obedience to thee Indeed we many of us so know Christ as that we are willing to trust in him but yet not to serve him believe his promises of mercy we do observe his Commands of Duty we will not but in vain is that confidence which is not attended with obedience and therefore let our consciencious keeping the Precepts give evidence of our Faith in our knowledg of Christ so shall we be found reall Christians and if our knowledg of Christ here inable us to keep his Commandements our keeping the Commandements shall bring us to the knowledg of Christ hereafter when we shall behold him face to face in glory for ever Amen THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St JOHN CHAP. 2. VERS 4 and part of the 5. 4. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandements is a lier and the truth is not in him 5. But who so keepeth his Word in him verily is the love of God perfected KNowledg is very amiable in the eyes of all rationall Men since as the Understanding is that faculty which ennobleth Man so Knowledg is that excellency which ennobleth the Vnderstanding Of all Knowledg none more precious then that of God and of Christ Other Knowledge may ennoble but this spiritualizeth the mind Other knowledg is needfull for us as Men but this concerneth us as Christians Indeed to use Lactantius his expression this is that Knowledg without which he that seeth is blind heareth is deafe speaketh is dumb and I adde liveth is dead So much our blessed Saviour implyeth when he saith This is life eternall to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent But as all shining glasse is not Crystall nor all lightsome apparitions Stars so neither is all Knowledg of God and Christ that which intituleth to life eternall And therefore our Apostle is here pleased to prevent deceit by giving us its most genuine Character drawn from its inseperable attendent yea necessary effect to wit Obedience to the Commandements the willfull neglect whereof argueth the absence of this Knowledg for he that saith I know him and keepeth not c. The first principall Proposition as it is asserted hath been already
flesh and spirit a body and a soul in a tree cortex succus the rind or barke and the sap or juyce so is there in Christian knowledg He whose knowledg is onely litterall hath but the flesh the body the barke the rinde of knowledge only he whose knowledg is spirituall hath the spirit the soul the sap the juyce of knowledg These two knowledges though they agree in the Object whereabout they are conversant yet are they very much different 1. In their efficient For whereas a speculative knowledg of Christ may be in a great measure acquired by industry in reading and is at most but a fruit of common illumination the active knowledg is only obtained by Prayer and is a fruit of speciall Sanctification 2. In their Subject For whereas that is only seated in the understanding this hath an impression upon the will and is sapida scientia a knowledg with a savour and relish of the sweetness of Christ that only floateth in the brain but this sinketh down into the heart that spins fine Cobwebs in the head this maketh the heart beat with a true pulse towards Heaven Finally in their effect that puffeth up with self-conceit this abaseth a man in his own apprehension that only sits upon the lip but this is to be felt at the fingers end that indeed may be nay many times is alone but this is ever attended with obedience Now of this Knowledg it is that St John here speaketh and he that saith he thus knoweth Christ not keeping his commandements is a liar The truth is whereas this knowledg is licet vera tamen imperfecta though true yet defective that is nec vera nec perfecta not perfect nor yet true according to a Theologicall notion it is only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostles expression is a forme of knowledg not the power a shadow not the substance and is not the true because not the good knowledg of God since as the Psalmist saith A good understanding have they that do his Commandements Indeed as works without knowledg are no good works so knowledg without works is no good knowledg He that saith he believeth in Christ and liveth not accordingly believe him not he sheweth his Hypocrisie not his Faith who maketh shew of Faith without Obedience And as it is vain glory to boast of our keeping the Commandements so it is in vain to boast of knowledg without keeping the Commandements In which respect that of St Gregory is very apposite when there is time and place and ability of doing good Tantum quis operatur quantum Deum noverit tantum se nosse Deum indicat quantum pro Deo bona operatur Look how much knowledg so much doing and so much as a man doth for so much he knoweth of God and no more This will yet the more fully appear if we observe the Scripture Language which as it were defineth that knowledg of God by Obedience and denieth it to them who though they be not ignorant are disobedient That expression which the Prophet Jeremy bringeth in God speaking to Shallum concerning his Father is very observable to this purpose He judged the poor and the needy was not this to know me saith the Lord and why is righteous judgment a knowing the Lord but because it was a fulfilling of his command Upon this account it is that these words of the same Prophet they shall not teach one another saying know the Lord are read by the Caldee saying feare the Lord which the wise man joyneth with keeping his Commandements and those of the Prophet Hosea there is no knowledg of God in the land are rendred by the Caldee there is none that walketh in the feare of the Lord. Hence it is that the Sons of Eli though Priests are said to be sons of Belial which know not the Lord God where the one phrase is expounded by the other because Sons of Belial that would not stoop to the yoke of Obedience therefore branded as guilty of ignorance Yet more clearly God saith by his Prophet Jeremy they that handle the Law know me not And this is annexed as the reason because they transgress his Law a strange expression Handling the Law supposeth knowing it and yet not keeping they are said not to know even the Law which they handle and in the same prophesie God complaining of his people of Israel saith my people are foolish they have not known me they have no understanding and why thus but because to do good they have no knowledg Some know that they may know this is curiosity some know that they may be known this is vain glory but some know that they may do this is piety And because the Jews had not knowledg to do good they are said to have no knowledg by all which it appeareth an undeniable truth that for them who break this Commandement to say they know God and Christ is an odious lye To winde up this David acknowledgeth I said in mine haste all men are lyars but St John was not guilty of any such rashness in saying all Hypocrites are liars and therefore Credamus cedamus veritati nosque fateamu◠esse mendaces in a sence of our Hypocrisie let us assent to this verity acknowledging our selves to be liars nor let us any longer believe a lye and so cheat our selves into Hell Do not think a few barren notions drie sapless opinions airy frothy speculations to be a saving knowledg let not saith St Austin thy foolish heart deceive thee by imagining thy self to know God whilst thy Faith is a dead Faith without works Who would fraught his ship with such drossie Oare or stay for that gale which cannot waft him to Heaven Nay knowest thou not oh man that all such knowledg will only serve to make thy mittimus to Hell and aggravate as thy sin so thy torment in that day when all naked empty Knowledg shall vanish away Where will be the Scribes Where the Disputers Where the Wise Shalt thou not then have cause to cry out with the Poet Cur aliquid vidi or with Job Quare misero lux data est Woe is me that ever I knew any thing of God or Christ Oh that I had been born a Pagan an Ideot and never so much as heard the sound of the Gospell for then would my Condemnation have been less In a word what shame will at that day sit upon thy face when thou shalt be found before God Angels and Men a liar and he whom thou saist thou knowest shall say to thee I know thee not Be wise therefore in time and learn what it is to know Christ take heed there be not a worm of disobedience in the tree of thy Knowledg let it not suffice thee to have a great but labour for a good understanding ever remember that knowledg is as the means and Obedience as the end and therefore all knowledg is vain which
they have one upon another Consider 1. In handling them severally begin we with 1. The Being of a Christian It is that which is Characterized by two phrases to wit being in and abiding in Christ both of which are the same in substance and yet each of which hath its proper Emphasis That which is intended by both is the spirituall and mysticall Union which is between Christ and a Christian that which is peculiar in either is that by being in is noted the neerness and by abiding in is intimated the firmness of this Vnion 1. Every true Christian is in Christ Accident is esse est inesse saith the Philosopher the being of an accident is to be in his Subject Christiani esse est inesse saith the Divine the Being of a Christian is to be in Christ Indeed all Creatures have their Being in God and are said to consist in Christ in a generall notion because of their necessary dependance upon him as their Preserver â— but all Christians are in Christ after a more peculiar notion because of that neare and close Union which they have with him as their Redeemer The intimacy of this Union cannot be expressed by a fuller phrase then this of being in it is one thing adhaerere and an other inhaerere it is more to be in then to be with by or about a thing We do not only belong to but we are in Christ not that there is any confusion or transfusion of the substance or person of a Christian into the Substance or Person of Christ but that there is a solid substantiall and personall Conjunction between them Indeed it may seem strange how Christ being in Heaven and we on Earth we should be in him but it will be easily understood if we consider that it is not a locall or corporall but a Spirituall Union which no distance of place can hinder We have an Embleme of this in that of Marriage the knot whereof is indissoluble though the Husband be in the Western and the Wife in the Eastern part of the World No wonder if this spirituall contract unite Heaven and Earth Christ and a Christian together The nature and quality of this Union is that which the holy Ghost hath been pleased to represent in Scripture by various similitudes When St Paul speaketh of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ he implyeth that a Christian is in Christ as the Body is in the Garment which covereth and incompasseth it but this is the most remote allusion the same Apostle useth a fitter metaphor when he compareth Christ to the Head and Christians to the Members for as the Head and Members are so neerly united that they make but one Body so is it with Christ and the Church in which respect the very Name of Christ is given to the Church in those words of the Apostle so also is Christ. For which cause Origen saith Per unum Christum multi Christi by one Christ many Christs are made and St Austin Caput Corpus unus est Christus the head and the body Christ and the Church make but one Christ Parallel to this is that comparison our Saviour himself maketh use of when he saith I am the Vine you are the Branches look as the Branch is in the Vine so as that its very being depends upon its being in the Vine without which it dyeth and withereth so is a Christian in Christ And therefore he telleth his Disciples a little after without me you can do nothing Not to multiply similitudes of all carnall Unions that between a Man and Wife is nearest and by that is this Union shadowed in which respect St Paul cals Marriage a Mystery and let us see that even this resemblance cometh short of expressing this Union for whereas the Man and Wife are but one flesh He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit To end this See hence both the excellency of Faith and the felicity of a Believer 1. The excellency of Faith Inasmuch as it is by Faith we come to be in Christ sometimes we read that Christ is in us and sometimes that we are in Christ If we would know how Christ is in us the answer is by his Spirit which he conferreth upon us and therefore saith our Apostle Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us Again If we would know how we are in Christ the answer is by believing so much our Apostle intimateth here for these two clauses Hereby we know that we know him and hereby we know that we are in him seem to be Synonymous and plainly intimate that we are in him by knowing which is believing him indeed both the graces of knowing and loving him before mentioned concurre to our Union with Christ Inasmuch as the morall union of hearts is by love and the mysticall of persons by Faith Oh how efficacious is this grace which tyeth the knot between a Christian and Christ and maketh them one 2. The felicity of Believers A Christian besides his naturall hath another more noble being to wit in Christ it is that which is both magnum privilegium and magnum solatium A great priviledg it is to have so near a relation to Christ As it is the honour of Christ as God that he is Ens independens hath his being of himself So it is the honour of a Christian that he hath his immediate dependance on and being in Christ nor is there only honour but comfort in it Since we being in Christ have thereby a participation as of his person so of his merits and benefits That fellowship with Christ whereof the Apostle speaketh in the former Chapter and all the comforts attending on it whence flow they but from this spring Our Union with Christ by being in we have a title to Communion with and so Wisdome Righteousness Redemption Sanctification yea all through him That grand Objection against the comfortable Doctrine of the imputation of Christs Righteousness How can a man be made righteous by another mans Righteousness is hereby answered and the riddle of it unfolded we are in him and one with him by whose Righteousness we are made Righteous And as the husband marrying the wife endoweth her with all his worldly goods so Christ uniting the Christian to himself invests him with his spirituall goods Look asâ— all men being naturally in Adam have the guilt o sin so all Christians spiritually in Christ have the merit of his righteousness imputed to them so much the rather because that whereas we were but virtually in Adam we are actually in Christ Adam was only a publick person representing Christ was not only our representative but surety by whose payment we must needs be discharged yea indeed it were Blasphemy to imagine there should be more demerit in Adams sin to condemn then merit in Christs Obedience to justifie those who are in him Hence that mellifluous Aphorism of St Paul
know him where the latter we know is that scientia knowledg which immediately looks on Christ and the former is that conscientia knowledg which immediately looks upon the act of knowing Indeed it is the choice priviledg of the rationall soul that it can reflect upon its own acts whereby it is that a man not only understandeth and willeth but knoweth that his soul doth exercise those functions this is that which accordingly a Christian improveth in respect of his spirituall actings so that he doth not only put forth the operations of his graces but is in some measure assured that he doth put them forth for as when I look in a glass I look upon my self looking in it when I touch my body I feel my feeling of it In like manner the soul by reflex knowledg apprehends her own apprehension judgeth of her own judgment and believes her beliefe Suitable to which is that of devout Anselm Qui fidei sensum in corde habet hic scit Christum Jesum in se esse A Christian having an experimentall sence of Faith in his soul knoweth himself to be in Christ. 3. This Knowledg of Knowing Christ and being in him is only i◠respect of our selves not others we know him saith the Apostle not that you know him or that you are in him but that we every one attaineth this knowledg in respect of himself Congruous to this purpose is that of St Austin Fides est in intimis nostris nec enim quisquam hominum videt in alio sed unus quisque in semitipso Faith is inwardly seated in the heart which one man cannot discern in another but only in himself Indeed Negatively we may conclude concerning those whom we see wallowing in prophanness living in wickedness that for the present they are not in Christ nor have any saving Knowledg of him Positively we cannot concerning any though never so holy in appearance that they are in Christ Since whereas men may give undoubted signs of their badness they cannot of their goodness Indeed this new name is such as no man knoweth but he who receiveth it and that only in himself who doth receive it and as to know it in our selves is very difficult so to know it in another is impossible True we must here distinguish of a double knowledg to wit of Charity and Certainty the former is only a probable opinion improperly called knowledge and is that which we may have of others being in Christ by their external conversation Thus the Author to the Hebrewes was perswaded better things of them to whom he wrote and St Peter calling Sylvanus a faithfull brother addeth as I suppose nor are we to understand any more by St Pauls phrase concerning the Thessalonians knowing your election of God since not the Apostles themselves except by special revelation could infallibly know any particular persons to be the chosen of God and members of Christ 4. Lastly This knowledge of our own interest in Christ on the one hand is not barely conjectural but infallible and yet on the other hand it is not perfect and compleat 1. This knowledge is not cannot be perfect for by the same reason that one and every grace may be perfect in this life whereas full perfection of grace is the priviledge of that other life Indeed one of the names by which this grace is called in Scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full assurance but that is onely in a comparative notion since none ever had an absolutely full assurance There are indeed several degrees and measures as of others so of this grace and the higher degree may be said to be full in comparison of the lower but the highest is not altogether perfect True it is sometimes and in some persons this knowledge may be so clear and firme that there may not be any sensible stirrings of infidelity the conclusion which such an one maketh of his union with Christ may be peremptory without actual haesitation but still there are some remainders of unbelief in the heart whence it is that their knowledge is not alwayes in an equal height but hath its ebbings as well as flowings 2. But though it be not perfect so as altogether to expell doubting yet it is infallible so as to exclude deceit it is not onely we thinke or we hope but we know It is true as all other graces so this hath its counterfeite there is a presumption which looketh like this perswasion whence it is that a man may be deceived about it but still the knowledge it self is such as doth not deceive To this purpose are those similitudes which the learned Davenant maketh use of a man that is drunk may think himself sober a man that is in a dream may imagine himself to be awake and both are cheated in their opinions yet this hindereth not but that a sober man may know that he is not drunk a man that is awake may know that he is not asleep and this knowledge of theirs is infallible Thus whilest Hypocrites have a deceitfull presumption of their union with it hindereth not but that regenerate persons may and do attain an infallible knowledge of their knowledge of and interest in Christ To apply this What remaineth but that every one of us labour to be among the number of this We to know that we do know and are in Christ Indeed they who take upon them the profession of Christianity may in this respect be fitly ranked into three sorts 1. Some there are who are in Christ but know it not like children who live in their mothers belly but are not themselves sensible of it As Jacob said of Bethel God was in this place and I knew it not so may it be said of many Christians Christ is in them and they in him and they are not aware of it of whom we may pronounce in Virgils words O fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint Agricolas How happy were they did they but know their happiness for want of which their jealous mindes pass unrighteous censures upon themselves as if they were miserable 2. Others there are who pretend to know and be assured of their interest in Christ when yet they have no tru◠right or title to him their self-flattery fils them with this vain self-conceit and their blind ignorance causeth them to presume that they know Christ and whereas the condition of the former sort is in their apprehension only the estate of this sort is really miserable Indeed as one saith excellently they are eo magis desperati quò minus desperantes their case is so much the more desperate because they are so farre from despairing that they presume since by this presumptuous opinion of having already attained they are hindered from labouring after an interest in Christ and as the Philosopher said of one who had been ill taught that his task was double both dedocere and docere to unteach and
not cannnot be troubled at any evils who knowing that he is in Christ knoweth all things shall work for his good nor can the separation which death maketh be terrible to him who is assured of that Union with Christ which admits of no separation no not by death it self yea which death is so far from hindering that it hasteneth to a fuller perfection To end this therefore Let our first care be to knâ—w Christ and by knowing to get into him and then let our next endeavour be to know that we do know him and are in him The former will give us a right to but it is the latter will give us the comfort of all those glorious priviledges and benefits which Christ hath purchased and if we would know how to attain this reflexive knowledg pass we on to the 2. Next and last Proposition which discovereth the means of attaining it Namely hereby by keeping the Commandments we know that we know him and by walking as Christ walked we know that we are in him Look as if the question be put how we shall know the true Church the answer is by its essentiall marks so if you ask how shall we know that we are true Christians our Apostle answereth hereby by the Characteristicall properties To elucidate this Assertion observe these following Particulars 1. That knowledg which we have of our being in Christ and knowing him by these Characters is not à priori but à posteriori not by the causes but by the effects our Obedience is not the root but the fruit of Faith and we are not in Christ because we walk in him but we walk in him because we are in him To this purpose is that note of Beza upon the Text. Bona opera nos non inserunt Christo sed insitos consequuntur good works do not ingraft us into Christ but our being ingrafted into Christ enableth us to performe good works As therefore the Tree is known by its fruit and life is known by breathing and motion which are the effects of it So we know our Faith in and Union with Christ by our Obedience to and imitation of him 2. That knowledg we have by these Characters is safe and sure yea such as cannot deceive us For 1. Inasmuch as the commands which Christ requireth us to keep and the waies wherein he walked which we must follow are clearly set down in the Word if we faithfully compare our actions with the rule we may know whither we keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked or not True it is many are cheated with Alchymie instead of Gold think themselves to have those graces which Christ did shew forth whenas they are counterfeit but this is not for want of an exact rule discovering but because of a deceitfull heart misapplying so that were men but faithfull to themselves they might be able to pass a right censure in this Particular Hence it is that whilst the Hypocrite deludeth himself with a partiall Obedience and a counterfeit imitation the regenerate Christian being in some measure enlightned discovereth what is sincere and what is fained and so judgeth righteous judgment To this purpose is that of St Austin Qui diligit fratrem magis novit dilectionem quâ diligit quam fratrem quem diligit He who loveth his Brother more surely knoweth the love whereby he loveth him then his Brother whom he loveth and hence it is that the same Father saith Est modus gloriandi in conscientia ut noveris fidem tuam esse sinceram ut noveris spem tuam esse certam ut noveris charitatem tuam esse sine simulatione this is the rejoycing yea glorying of a Christian whilst his conscience regulated by the word and illuminated by grace giveth in evidence that his Faith is sincere his hope firme and his love unfained 2. Inasmuch as this Obedience to and imitation of Christ are the necessary and particular effects of our Knowledg of and being in Christ he who findeth the one may undoubtedly inferre the other To unfold this briefly know That the effects of a lively Faith are of three sorts Some which so flow from a true Faith that they are likewise the effects of other causes such are all acts of morall Virtue and extenall duties of Religion Hence it is that Heathen who have no Faith at all have performed the former Hypocrites who have no true faith the latter So that though from hence we may conclude Negatively he that doth not these things hath no Faith yet we cannot Affirmatively because we do such things therefore we are in Christ and believe in him Others which are only the effects of a right faith but yet such as faith produceth not but when in strength of this sort are the sence of Gods Love peace of Conscience joy in the holy Ghost magnanimity in afflictions and desires of dissolution From these we may conclude Affirmatively but not Negatively he that can act these duties doth know Christ but every one that knoweth Christ cannot act these duties Finally Other effects there are which flow from Faith only and alwaies which it is as naturall for Faith to produce as for the Sun to shine or the Fire to burn such are these my Text speaketh of a sincere Obedience and a consciencious imitation of Christ from whence we may infer both waies and so the proposition will be recipocrally true Every one who keepeth the Commandments knoweth Christ who walketh as Christ walked is in him and every one who knoweth Christ keepeth the Commandments is in Christ and walketh as he walked Put then both these Considerations together we may know that we keep the Commandments and if we keep the Commandments we may assure our selves that we know Christ no wonder if our Apostle say Hereby we know we know him We may perceive whether we walk as Christ walked or no and if we walk as Christ walked we may be confident we are in him no marvell if our Apostle say Hereby we know that we are in him The strength of this Argumentation will the better appear if we reduce it to a Syllogism which may be thus framed Whosoever keepeth the Commandments knoweth Christ Who so walketh as Christ walked is in him But I keep the Commandments and walk as Christ walked Therefore I know Christ and am in him The first of these which is the Major we know by a certainty of faith as being expresly asserted in this and other Scriptures The second which is the Minor we know by a certainty of experience finding these qualifications wrought in us and thus knowing the premises we inferre the Conclusion and so by a certainty of Faith joyned with experience we are able to assert our interest in Christ 3. This Knowledg which we have hereby doth not exclude the Testimony of the Spirit It is St Pauls assertion That the Spirit beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Yea St John in
what the son of my Wombe and what the son of my vowes but her affectionate desire that he should hearken to her Indeed no marvel if the boyling spirit run over in words and the zeal of the affection double nay triple the expression Thus was it here as Bullinger well observeth with St John prae ardore suo such was the vehemency of his hatred of the sin of hatred that he can never enough declaim against it and therefore not only once but again he reproveth it 2. Those sacred writers by these ingeminations intimate alwayes that the things about which they write are of more then ordinary importance and necessary concernement to be known and believed in matters of faith to be avoided or performed in matters of life yea and sometimes that there is no less difficulty then necessity and whilest they are things which must and ought yet they are not easily believed avoided or practised Upon these grounds no doubt it was that Solomon iterated his doctrine of the worlds vanity and Christ inculcateth upon Peter the duty of feeding his sheep nor is it improbable that St John here had both these in his eie he well knew how much the very being of Christianity did depend upon avoiding this sin and exercising the contrary grace how hard it is to cast out this poison of hatred where it is once harboured and withall that as the usurper being ejected the right heir gets possession and the old form being corrupted the matter is easily susceptible of a new so if he could eradicate this weed of hatred he should with a greater facility plant the flower of love and therefore no wonder he doth ingeminate his discourse of the vileness of this sin 3. Those divine Scribes thought these repetitions very needfull for those to whom they wrote in regard of the dulness of their mindes and weakness of their memories and hardness of their hearts To write the same things to you saith the Apostle Paul to the Philippians for you it is safe to wit least at the first you should not rightly understand them or not remember them or not be sutably affected with them God speaketh once and twice saith Elihu and man perceiveth it not our memories are of weak retention and therefore need renewed incitation the heart of man is by the Prophet Ezekiel compared to an heart of stone and it is not one blow of the hammer will break it The words of the wise saith Solomon are as goads and nailes and truly we are so dull that these goads must be often thrust into our sides so obdurate that it is not one stroak will drive these nailes to the head Disciplinam praeceptorum inculcationibus densamus saith Tertullian appositely we thicken and so as it were we strengthen our instructions by inculcations which is no more then what the need of the people requireth The consideration hereof is that which should teach both the teachers and the people 1. Let it not be grievous to us Ministers to repeat and thereby inculcate our doctrines upon the Auditors If a Musâ—â—ian shall only strike one string it maketh no musick but it is â—itting for a Preacher to insist upon one and the same truth nor must we here stand upon our own credit when it comes in competition with the peoples profit If it were not grievous to that eminent Apostle Paul why should it be to any of us we are not only instructers but remembrancers So St Peter accounted himself where he saith I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance and what is the office of a remembrancer but to repeat things formerly done or spoken that cannot be often enough taught which can never be well enough learned Nor yet do I hereby intend to patronize those illiterate or lazy ignorant or negligent Preachers who use iterations for want of premeditation and therefore say the same thing again because they know not what to say next far be it from me only I would mind my self and others how requisite it is we should sometimes upon some occasions reinforce by repetition some doctrines upon our hearers 2. Let it not be tedious to the Auditors to hear the same truths sometimes repeated by the Ministers we must not esteem it a dishonour nor should you account it a burden It is that indeed to which hearers are very prone aut nouum aut nihil some new thing or nothing is the cry of many if we come with a scitote something that they knew not before they listen but if with a mementote something formerly delivered they think their patience abused As they say of drinking wine the first is for necessity the second for pleasure the third for sleep so do Auditors with a little inversion account of a Sermon the first time they hear it with delight not the second except of necessity and if they meet with it the third time they fall asleep How sad is it that if we hear an excellent lesson on an instrument we call for it once and again nay decies repetita placebunt We are not easily weary of it and yet we care not to hear the songs of Zion rehearsed who ever complained of the renewed rising of the same Sun or loathed his daily bread why then are we so quickly cloyed in spirituals but especially repetitions most vex us when they are of reprehensions such as this is in my Text we love not to have our sores too often rubbed upon but tell me are you not willing that the Physitian should repeat his purging course though the potion be bitter for the health of your body and why so loath that we should repeat our reproofes for the health of your souls Divine and excellent to this purpose is that ratiocination of Seneca in his advice to Lucilius To them that say quousque eadem how long shall we hear the same admonitions Answer quousque eadem peccabitis how long will you commit the same faults Remedia ante vultis quam vitia desinere will you leave off the remedy before the disease is cured Ego vero eò magis dicam et quia recusatis perseveralo nay I will so much the rather reiterate and because you are troubled at it I will persevere in it The truth is whether you will hear or whether you will forbear whether it please or displease we must warn you of the same sins admonish of the same duties bespeak you with the same counsels again and again But it will be better for you if you are not only content but willing to hear the same instructions frequently urged Let it be true of vain pleasures commendat rarior usus That the less they are used the more they are commended far be such thoughts from us in reference to the sacred Oracles Those Gentiles when they had heard Paul besought him to preach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same words the next Sabbath day thus
his heart is strongly resolved to hold fast the Evangelical Doctrines and though hee cannot dispute yet hee will beleeve and though they bee things not seen by sense or reason yet his faith being built on a divine Testimony maketh them clear and evident so as hee dares venture his soul on them 2 Savoury and relishing Hee that hath this unction so knoweth as to taste a sweetnesse and excellency in divine things insomuch that with St. Paul hee accounts all other things as dung and losse in comparison of the excellency of this knowledge There is a great deal of difference between that knowledge a man hath of Countries by a map and that which he attaineth to by travels It is one thing for a man to hear a discourse of the beauty of Colours or the sweetnesse of honey and another for a man to see the one and taste the other Oh taste and see saith the Psalmist that the Lord is Good so doth every Christian his knowledge in Divine things is like the eye to colours and the taste to meats hee so seeth as to bee enamoured with the beauty hee so tasteth as to bee well pleased with the sweetnesse of them The needle which is touâ—hed with the loadstone doth not more naturally move towards the pole than a soul touched with the blessed Spirit moveth towards heavenly objects In one word this knowledge like the Light not of the Moon but Sun is ever attended with heat and so doth not onely inlighten the minde but inliven and inflame the affections 3 Operative and transforming Wee all saith the Apostle with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image in other sciences a man may bee exact at the theory and unskilful in the practick but in Divinity that onely is the right knowledge which mouldeth a man into the frame of what hee knoweth We read of Jacob that upon the agreement between him and Laban Hee took rods of green poplar and the hasel and chesnut-tree and peeled white strakes in them and made the white appear that was in the rods and set them before the flocks in the gutter in the watering troughs when the flock came to drink and conceiving before the rods they brought forth ring-striked speckled and spotted the like efficacy hath a true sight and apprehension of Evangelical truths upon every Christian inabling him to turn words into works and show forth a conformity to them in his life hee knoweth God and Christ so as to trust in and become like to them the precepts so as to observe and obey them sin and heresies so as to abandon and abhor them for which cause perhaps it is that the Gospel is called a doctrin according to godliness not onely because it teacheth godliness but being rightly known it enableth men to live godly Eâ—napiâ—â— in the Life of Porphiry speaking of his master Longinus saith that hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a living library a walking study so is the annointed Christian having digested the sense of Scripture into vital blood and commenting upon Scriptural Doctrin by a practical conversation To shut up this first consideration in a double meditation 1 How glorious a priviledge is it to bee a Christian and partake of the Unction what is more valued by a rational creature than knowledge and by vertue of this unction wee attain the knowledge of all things I mean those all things which are the onely things and without which he that hath the tongue of men and Angels and hath the exactest insight into Arts and Sciences may yet be said to know nothing nothing of that which he ought chiefly to know and which every true Christian in some measure attaineth to How clear and quick-sighted is a spiritual inlightened eye it seeth not onely things that are neer but a far off present but future things below but above looking even within the veil into the Holy of Holies The Christian knoweth those things which others are meer strangers to hee knoweth those things hee did before after another and a better manner That blasphemous expression of the Familists that a Christian is Deified may in some sense receive a fair construction whilest every Christian hath a kinde of omnipotency and omnisciency the former is by St. Paul asserted of himself I can do all things to wit through Christ that strengtheneth me and the other is here affirmed by S. John of the Christians You know all things to wit having received the unction 2 How great will the capacity of our knowledge bee when we come to Heaven what a surpassing brightnesse shall then encompasse our souls when wee shall see all truth in him who is truth it self That phrase of St. Paul We know in part seemeth directly opposite to this of St. John You know all things but yet they are easiy reconciled by observing St. Pauls scope in that place which is to compare our knowledge for the present with that which we shall have hereafter in reference to which the largest measure of knowledge we attain here is but a narrow scantling the knowledge we have here is an integral knowledge extending it self to all things necessary as a childe is an integral man having all the faculties and members of a man and therefore truly saith our Apostle You know all things but yet with all it is a gradual knowledge rising by degrees as a childe groweth stronger and taller and is so imperfect that in comparison of that knowledge wee hope for justly said St. Paul We know in part indeed our present knowledge is but sciâ—tilla futurâ— lucis a spark to that flame a drop to that floud a beam to that splendor we shall then enjoy so that though in it self it be an extensive yet in this respect it is a defective knowledge which wee now attain Then and not till then it is that wee shall know all things which a rational creature is capable of wee shall swim in a vast Ocean of divine knowledge wee shall be surrounded with such a glorious Light whereby wee shall exactly perfectly know what ever may conduce to make us happy Oh! how few are the all things wee see now in respect of the all things wee shall behold then how many things are now hid from us which shall then bee discovered to us and surely that little taste wee have now of divine knowledge cannot but make us long for that state wherein wee shall have our full draught 2 Having dispatched the absolute pass we on to the relative consideration of this benefit as it is an effect of that unction mentioned in the former clause and that such an effect as can flow from no other cause so that the affirmation intendeth a negation and when it is said you have an unction and know all things it implyeth that without this unction you cannot know any thing to wit of those things and with that knowledge which is
when that which is affirmed or denyed is evidently contrary to truth and the other when the thing so asserted is injurious and pernicious to them that beleeve it And truely both these may justly bee charged on the Lyars in the Text for they denyed that which was in it self manifest yea which they themselves had been convinced of and that which they denied tended to no lesse than the utter subversion of the Christian faith and the destruction of those who adhered to it and therfore no wonder if St. John by way of question accuse the Hereticks in his time of Lying who is a Lyar c. That which I shall briefly observe from both these titles is the zeal of this holy Apostle in reproving these Hereticks Lyars are execrabile hominum genus a most execrable sort of men hated and abhorred of all nor is a Lyar more odious among all men than an Antichrist is among all Christians so that our Apostle could not well have branded them with names more odious than these The truth is two sorts of sinners are severely to bee rebuked Hypocrites and Hereticks an example of the former wee have from Christ himself who reprehending the Hypocritical Pharisees calls them fools and Vipers and of the latter in St. John who gain-saying the Heretical Teachers of his time calls them Antichrists and Lyars Indeed in one of those Titles is a latent reason of his bitternesse against them namely because they were against Christ Had they been onely his Antagonists no doubt hee would have been milde and gentle but his masters honour was concerned in the quarrel no wonder if hee bee so zealous Moses the meekest man upon earth in his own concernments is so inraged against the Israelites for their Idolatry that hee breaketh the Tables of the Law The Historian observeth of Caesars souldiers that they pursued their Generals Engagements with vigour whilest they were cool and temperate in their own concernments and surely though towards our own Adversaries wee must show meeknesse yet when they are not onely ours but Christs enemies it becomes us to testify our love to Christ by our Indignation against them It was an excellent saying of Guevara in an Epistle to the Emperour Charls the fifth Christianus nullâ re magis dignosci potest quam si Deâ— factas contumelias et blasphemias severissime ulciscatur suas obliviscatur there is no better Character of a right Christian than to forget the injuries done to himself but to be angry at the blasphemies against God and Christ And which serveth so much the more to justify our Apostles severity in reproving those false Teachers is that they were not obliquely but directly opposers of Christ they were such who did not onely indeavour to lop off the branches of Christianity but to pluck it up by the roots to deface the building of Religion but to destroy the foundation as there is a difference in sins so in errours all diseases are not alike malignant nor all errours equally pestiferous every Heterodox opinion is not a sufficient warrant to brand a man with these Appellations of Lyar and Antichrist but when they were so heretical as to deny Jesus to bee the Christ no marvail if this holy Apostle not out of a rash bitternesse but a well-grounded zeal use these harsh invectives It is a frame of spirit which wee finde in other servants of God as well as S. John The Apostle Paul having to do with Elimas spares him not but calls him a Childe of the Devil an enemy of all righteousnesse and writing to the Philippians concerning heretical teachers calleth them the concision and compareth them to dogs no lesse Satyrical was that of Polycarpus to Marcian Agnosco te primogenitum diaboli I know thee to bee the Devils first-born Let the same spirit bee in us in oppugning the Authors and Abetters of damnable heresies The visible descending of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles was in fiery tongues such tempers had they yea all their successors the Bishops and Pastors of the Church ought to have tongues set on fire from heaven which may flame forth in vehement increpations as of notorious sinners so of venomous hereticks 2 From the Appellations proceed wee to the Accusations I. The first whereof we find to be denying that Jesus is the Christ in which words there is A Truth implicitely asserted by the Apostle Jesus is the Christ An heresy explicitely charged on the false Teachers namely the denial of this truth he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ. 1 When our Apostle saith who is a Lyar but hee that denyeth what doth hee but tacitely assirm this to bee a truth That Jesus is the Christ and because it is a fundamental truth upon which the whole Fabrick of Christian Religion standeth give mee leave a while to insist upon it not as questioning but for the further streng thening your assent to it so much the rather because of the multitude of Jews which are at this time crept in among us whom though I have little hope to convince yet I would strive to prevent in those secret indeavâ—rs which probably they use to seduâ—e Christians from the faith of Christ That there was such a man as Jesus of Nazareth born and living among the Jews is an history so authentical that there will bee no need of spending time about the proof of it It is acknowledged by the Jews themselves witnesse Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities where he maketh an honourable mention of him in these words At that time was Jesus a wise man if it be lawful to call him man c. It is confessed by Pagans Suetonius in the life of Claudius speaketh of him by the name of Chrestus Tacitus and Pliny the younger acknowledged him by the name Christus and surely that which not onely his followers but his enemies confess may well be taken for granted The only difficulty is to make it appear that this Jesus that then lived is the Christ that is the person whom Moses and the Prophets foretold to bee the Messiah To this end the onely thing to bee done is an inquiry into the Praedictions concerning the Messiah which if they bee found verified in this Jesus and no other person can bee assigned in whom they are verified it will bee clearly manifest that Jesus is the Christ This way of arguing I so much the rather make choice of because it is that to which Christ himself directs us when he bids the Jews to search the Scriptures that is the Old Testament which then was the only written word upon this account for they are they that testify of me therby putting the controversy to this issue that if he were not the person of whom the scripture did testify as the Messiah let him be accounted an Impostor and Deceiver Accordingly it is that his Apostles in their discourses concerning him still have recourse to the Prophetical writings Thus St.
is of quality by way of Analogy is that which wee finde as in Threatnings so in Promises between the Service and the Reward and this expressed two waies 1 Sometimes one contrary is promised as the recompense of another To the Mourners is assured comfort to the Hungry fulnesse to the Humble exaltation to the Poor a Kingdome and to them that sow in tears a joyful Harvest in all which how great a congruity there is is obvious at the first view 2 Sometimes Like is promised as the reward of like thus wee read of Honour to them that Honour God and Love to them that Love him of Giving to them that Give Forgiving to them that Forgive and Mercy to them that are Merciful of Eternal life to them that continue in well doing and here of eternal life and continuing in the Father and the Son to them that continue in what they have heard 2 How pretious is the benefit considered in it self you shall continue in the Son and in the Father that is saith the Greek Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so the same in substance with that in the former Chapter Our fellowship is with the Father and his Sonne Jesus Christ onely the manner of expression is somewhat more â—mphatical whilest the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in noteth the Propinquity and the Verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the permanency of this fellowship That Question why the Holy Ghost is not mentioned is thus resolved by Estiuâ— Quia de eo non erat oborta questio because as yet there was no controversy raised and so no need of mentioning him If it bee asked why the Son is put before the Father the answer is well returned because the Apostle had just before inveighed against those who though they pretended to acknowledge the Father yet deny the Son Though withall there may besides bee a double reason assigned The one to insinuate that the Son is not lesse than the Father but that they are equal in essence and dignity upon this account most probable it is that the Apostolical benediction beginneth with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and then followeth the love of God the Father The other because as Beda well glosseth No man commeth to or continueth in the Father but by the Son who saith of himself I am the way the truth and the life To draw it up lo here Eximia laus doctrinae an high commendation of Evangelical Doctrin that it leads up to Christ and by him to the Father the water riseth as high as the spring from whence it floweth no wonder if the Gospel which commeth from God through Christ lead us back again through Christ to God and as by hearing and beleeving this Doctrin we are united to so by adhering to and persevering in it wee continue in the Son and the Father Suitable to this is that promise of our blessed Saviour If any man love mee hee will keep my Word and my Father will love him and wee will come to him and make our abode with him if wee not onely receive but keep Christs word he and the Father will not only come but continue with us They who never heard nor received the Gospel are without God and without Christ so St. Paul saith of the Ephesians whilest they were in their Heathenish condition They who having heard the Gospel and for sake it are far from God and Christ God himself saith If any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him but if that which wee have heard abide with us wee shall continue in the favour and affection of in â—nion and communion with Christ and the Father And now beloved if the Psalmist said Blessed are they that dwell in thy house much more may I. Blessed are they that continue in the Son and in the Father if S. Peter said of being on Mount Tabor with Christ at his Transfiguration it is good for us to be here much more may we say It is good for us to be with the Son and the Father If hee that was asked where his treasure was answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Cyrus was his friend well may the Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 place his wealth in the friendship of and fellowship with the Son and the Father Let me then be speak you in those words of St. Jude keep your selves in the love of God which though it be chiefly understood in the active sense keep in you a love to God yet withall it may admit a Passive Interpretation keep your selves in Gods love not is there any better way than by keeping Gods word in our selves if Christs word dwell in us he himself will dwell with us the Ark was a blessing to Obed Edoms house so is the Gospel to the place where it is Preached much more to them who so hear as to receive and so receive as to retain it Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard that you may continue in the Son and the Father so much the rather when we consider what Followeth in the next verse an assurance that this continuance shall know no end but being begun on earth it shall be perpetuated in heaven to all eternity for this is the Promise which he hath promised â—â— eternal life which God willing in our next discourse shall bee unfolded THE FIRST EPISTLE OF St. JOHN CHAP. 2. 25. VERS And this is the Promise that hee hath promised us even eternal life AS there is in bad men an aversnesse from so there is in the best a backwardnesse to their duty The one through wickednesse have an Antipathy the other through weaknesse an inability to what is good corruption is so prevalent in those that they will not receive and so remanent in these that they have much ado to retain either Truth in their minds or grace in their hearts For this Reason no doubt it is that Almighty God is pleased by his sacred Pen men not onely to impose services but propose rewards and to enforce his commands by arguments Among those many Arguments by which our duty is perswaded none more effectual than those which concern our selves there being in us all such a principle of self-love as puts us upon seeking our own advantage and of all those advantages which allure to the doing our duty none equal to that recompence of reward that eternal life which is laid up for promised to and shall be conferr'd upon us How fitly hath our Apostle here coupled together a difficult duty and an excellent motive perseverance whether in well beleeving or well-doing is no easy task the hands of our Faith and obedience like those of Moses are apt to grow heavy and have need of the stone of a Promise to bee put under them that they may bee steady to the going down of the Sun of our lives and a sweeter fuller Promise there is not in the whole book
comforting the conscience inlarging the affections hee is then said to come and appear so runnes the Promise in the Gospel If a man love mee hee will keep my words and my Father will love him and wee will come in to him and make our abode with him in the Epistle to the Angel of the Laodicean Church Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open the dooâ— I will come in to him and sup with him and hee with me 3 Besides both these there is a personal comming of Christ and this is double for so wee read hee shall appear the second time Indeed the Jews fancy two Messiahs oâ—e of the Tribe of Ephraim the other of the Tribe of Judah one the Son of Joseph the other of David wee no where read of any Messiah of any other Tribe than that of Judah But that which was the occasion of their errour is a certain truth namely that there is a double comming of the Messiah One of the titles of the Messiah is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee that is to come and it is that which as it did from the beginning so it will till the end of the world belong to him for though the first comming bee long since past in respect of which this very Apostle saith in the next Chapter The Son of God was manifested yet there is a comming to come in reference to which hee saith a little before in that Chapter hee shall appear And indeed though the late learned Annotatour refer the appearing in my Text to that virtual comming of his when Jerusalem was overthrown yet since there is no reason necessitating to restrain it to that and so soon after namely in the second verse of the next chapter this appearing is mentioned again where it must bee understood of that second and last comming I conceive it most congruous with the generality of Interpreters so to understand it here This is that comming of Christ which was Prophesied long agoe Enoch the seventh from Adam mentioned this advent saying The Lord commeth with thousands of his Angels and Daniel where hee speaketh of the Son of mans comming with the Clouds of Heaven Of this comming the New Testament maketh frequent mention It is foretold by Christ himself I go and prepare a place for you I will come again By the Angels This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him gone into heaven By the Apostles The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel and with the Trumpet of God So St. Paul Bee patient Brethren unto the comming of the Lord. So St. James Which if immediately it respect the virtual yet is to bee extended to this personal comming Finally There shall come in the last daies Scoffers saying where is the Promise of his comming So St. Peter That hee shall come again is an Article of our Creed founded upon many pregnant Testimonies of holy Writ To determine the time of his comming is without the compass of our knowledge because not within the spheare of Scripture-Revelation wee have lived to see those men found Lyars who have audaciously presumed to set the time Let us desire to know no more than God hath revealed and that is that it shall bee the last day At this comming whensoever it is bee shall appear to wit in splendor and Glory so it is called by St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And herein lyeth the difference between the first and second comming of Christ Primus adventus ejus occultus secundus manifestus saith an Ancient his first comming was hidden his second shall be manifest quum conspicuus factus erit So Beza readeth my text when he shall appear conspicuously his first coming was in the form of a Servant his second shall bee in the splendor of a King at his first comming hee was meek as a Lamb at his second hee shall bee terrible as a Lyon at his first comming hee was accompanied with mean men at his second hee shall bee attended with mighty Angels at his first comming hee rode upon an Asse in his second hee shall ride upon the clouds Finally his first comming was in meanness and ignominy his second shall bee with might and Majesty This comming I trust beloved wee all beleeve and let us all be exhorted more and more to confirm our faith in it Indeed a sure beleef of this second advent is of urgent necessity in order to an holy life since nothing maketh the Servant more diligent in his business than a certain expectation of his Lords return hence it is that one character of a true Christianin the New Testament is to look for Christs appearing which implyeth a stedfast confidence that hee will appear It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 si but cum If hee shall appear as if it were a thing dubious or onely probable hee may come or hee may not come but when hee shall appear as a thing certain and indubitable and taken for granted by our Apostle that they to whom hee wrote were fully convinced of and so shall I now charitably judge of you and proceed to the 2 Next particular which is implied and that is our appearance in those words before him The first comming was to save sinners upon the terms of faith and repentance his second shall bee both to save and destroy to destroy the incredulous and impenitent to save the beleeving and penitent sinners In order to this it is that whereas his first comming was to bee judged and so condemned and crucified his second comming shall bee to judge both by absolving and condemning That hee may perform this office of a Judge there must bee a general citation and consequently appearance of all men before him when hee shall descend from heaven all shall ascend out of their Graves Wee shall all stand so saith St. Paul to the Romans Wee must all appear so is his phrase to the Corinthians before the judgement Seat of Christ nor is this universallity onely in respect of all sorts of men but of all persons Quicquid hominum universis seculis toto orbe progenitum as Leo hath fully expressed it whatsoever man hath been is or shall bee born in any age or part time or place of this world hee must necessarily come before this Judge at that day Indeed some shall have boldnesse and some shall bee ashamed but all shall appear before him Hee telleth us himself that All nations shall bee gathered before him both sheep and goats good and bad The wicked indeed shall not stand in the judgement that is they shall fall in their cause but they shall stand in their persons desire they will bee to bee