Law not the imbracements or love of the Gospel belonging The second thing observable is the Subject or Matter of the Apostles complaint Not as spiritual but as carnal This is not to be understood of all but of many amongst them for he doth acknowledg some wise and perfect to whom he was a debtor Now you must know this word or attribute carnal hath several significations in Scripture sometimes it signifieth no more than to partake of the same stock with us Thus the Apostle cals them carnal Masters or Masters after the flesh Ephes 6.5 And the Apostle makes a distinction between being in the flesh and walking after the flesh 2 Cor. 10.3 2. He is said to be carnal that although he hath a great measure of grace and with much spiritual fortitude doth conquer sinne yet it many times haled him away captive to those reliques and remainders of corruption in him And this as I remember is but in one place where Paul saith But I am carnal and sold under sin Rom. 7.14 3. The most frequent application of this word is to those who wholly give up themselves to the lusts of the flesh and make provision for them Even as customary sins are called the works of the flesh Ephes 2.3 This is the most general use of the word as we use it also in English 4. Carnal is used comparatively for those who are indeed godly but very weak and infirm retaining many corruptions and savouring much of the flesh though they for the main are godly And in this sense it is used in the Text. As unto carnal He useth the word As for mitigation sake and then explains his meaning calling them babes in Christ Observe That even among those who are truly and indeed of the visible Church of God there is a vast difference some are spiritual some are carnal some are men some are babes Though God created Adam and Eve in their full perfection yet he doth not regenerate us into a full stature in Christ Though it be the opinion of some Divines That at the Resurrection all the godly shall rise in their compleat perfection children in that stature they might have grown up unto yet it is not so here we are spiritually begotten babes in Christ and so have several degrees into which we are to grow yea one Christian may so far exceed another both in parts and graces that one would wonder that the same Heaven should ever receive them at last Yea one Christian in time may exceedingly differ from himself As the Apostles how rude and evil at first but how admirable and wonderfull when they had received the Spirit from above in a fuller measure Thus as one starre differeth from another in glory There is a vast difference between the Sunne and any of the lesse starres so it is many times in the visible Church To open this Point Consider First That it is a great Dispute Who are truly members of the visible Church The Papists they make all publick and grosse sinners to be truly of the Church even as a wicked or ungodly man may be truly and indeed a Citizen of such a City and have the Liberties thereof But the Reformed Divines they say Grosse and prophane men are not truly and indeed of the visible Church which is a company of sheep and not goats It is that through neglect of Discipline and want of godly order prophane obstinate men may abide in the Church who yet are to be cast out of it And this is not a ground for any to separate uncharitably and sinfully from the Church so polluted yet such wicked men continuing amongst believers are not internally but externally and in appearance only of the Church Even as a wicked branch or a dead hand is a part of the body equivocally it receiveth no life or influence so neither do these though they pray hear come to Church yet they receive no more spiritual benefit from Christ then the glasse eye doth vital operation from the soul And Bellarmine himself doth at last acknowledge That publick and open sinners though they be De corpore Ecclesiae yet they are not De Anima Happily therefore the Papists do not so much contradict the Doctrine of the Protestants as themselves For Amesius doth reject that Proposition which Bellarmine doth impose on us as if we held internal grace necessarily constituent of a member of a visible Church external profession of faith and of obedience to Christ is enough to this though Regeneration be wanting John said Some were not of them though they were amongst them 1 Joh. 2.19 Secondly In the primitive times they had a two-fold distinction of those that were in the visible Society There were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as did take care onely about the body and things pleasing to the sense which is the generality of people minding the necessities of the body and the pleasures thereof These are even like bruit beasts 2. There were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Animal or natural men and those indeed had the natural perfections of the soul learning parts morality and whatsoever in an humane way would elevate the reason of a man Lastly There were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spiritual ones who being sanctified by the Spirit of God did all things upon spiritual grounds and to spiritual ends Though this distinction may be allowed in an orthodox sense yet the Valentinians they made such a division and by their spiritual men meant such who could not sinne at all But the second and more common division of their hearers were into the Catechumeni such who were to be instructed and taught the principles of Religion For they admitted no grown person into Church-communion that were not competently taught the foundations of Religion Oh how many are amongst us though aged and married persons that need to be placed in this forme 2. Poenitentes the Penitents of whom there were several degrees and such were those who being Christians in profession did yet fall into grosse and scandalous sinnes such were kept from the Sacrament They had a distinct place in the Church as not worthy the communion of the rest Oh Beloved in the Apostles times in the primitive times when there was spiritual zeal for the glory of God a prophane impenitent man was no more owned for one of theirs than we would own a toad in our dishes or a swine in our garden No not with such an one not to eat Withdraw from such a man Cast him out saith the Apostle and thus for many hundred years after Christ But alas we are like so many Hospitals full of diseased persons The other were those that were initiated and received into their Society and made partakers of the Sacrament But 3. The Apostle in the Text he speaks of two degrees onely amongst the godly the Spiritual and the Carnal the men and the babes even as we speak of the Incipients and Proficients Now the
them I rather think the latter because it 's used as a Name of honour If any man suffer as a Christian saith Peter 1 Pet. 1.3 Now this title Christian is of great importance Many are apt to say As they are a Christian when there is no reall Christianity in them For to be a Christian is as much as to be one anointed For as Christ was so called because annointed with all Graces in an unlimited manner so every Member of Christ is called a Christian because anointed with Graces Oh then thou that gloriest in that thou art no Heathen no Infidel no Jew but a Christian consider whether this be not a vain boast For is thy prophaneness thy wickedness thy impieties the anointing of Gods Spirit So that to have the reall power of Christianity is a difficult and straight work In after times the title Christian still continued And although they were sometimes called Cornelians from Cornelius Cyrillians from Cyrillus and Joannitae from John Chrysostome Eustathiani from Eustathius yet they did not own these Names And as Heresies began to rise up in many places some teaching one thing some another the Christian that kept to the true Faith that was constantly and universally believed in all the ages of the Church beginning from Christ and the Apostles times was called Catholique or universall in which sense he said Christianus mihi nomen Catholicus cognomen So that to be a Catholique was to believe that Faith which had been universally taught first by Christ and the Apostles afterwards by faithfull men in all ages And for the Papist to call himself a Catholique when the Roman Church hath so manifestly degenerated from the Apostolical and Scripture Doctrine and for them to make the Roman and the Catholique Church all one is as absurd as if a man should call London or England all the world The Papist therefore is no Catholique in a true sense because he cannot prove his Faith by the Apostolical Doctrine in the Scripture yea accuseth the Scripture as insufficient And some of their learned men have confessed that if they should try thir cause by the Scripture meerly it was gone I shall instance in one famous Name given to such who truly own Christ and his Truths and that is Protestants They were called thus not many years since in Luther's time whereas the Orthodox had got some indulgence for the profession of their true Religion and pure worship The Popish party did importune the Emperour of Germany to make an Edict at Worms and afterwards at Spires That no Religion should be publickly professed and owned but the Roman The Lutheran Party both Noblemen and others made a Solemn Protestation against that unjust Decree and ever since all that reformed from Popery have been called Protestants So that all those who have a compliance with Popery that admire their way in their heart or act by their principles cannot truly be called Protestants Thus you have heard the chief names by which Christians are called And still after no mans name And whereas Papists call us Lutherans Calvinists c. we indeed own Luther and Calvin and such men for worthy and famous instruments of Gods glory in their time but it is their calumny to call us after their Names It is true a man by way of difference or distinction he may say a Lutheran and Calvinist to denote some peculiar opinion but to own any man as an Author of our Faith or the foundation of Religion is not consistent with true Christianity There are pregnant Reasons for this First Because as our faith in regard of the efficient cause is the gift of God so the object and motive of it must be Gods authoriâ—y because he speaks and revealeth such things Humane faith is because a man saâ—â—h such a thing divine faith because God saith so Now see how carefull the Apostle was that the Churches faith should not be in humane wisdome but in the mighty power of God And so the Thessalonians received it not as the word of man but as the word of God 1 Thess 2.13 The Apostle saith They had not dominion of their faith 2 Cor. 1.24 They were not able to make any Articles of Faith necessary to be believed You see then none may be called after men we are not their Disciples their believers for that which resteth on men is but an humane faith and we ought to have a divine faith Men indeed may be instruments to propound the things to be believed but the motive is a divine testimony because God saith so Solomon by his wisdome declared to which woman the childe belonged to but he did not cause the affections of the mother to the child So faithfull Officers of the Church may declare the truth of God but they cannot work faith in thee Secondly Therefore we may not be called after men to build on them because we are not baptized into any mans name and we are onely to professe those in whose name we are baptized into 1 Cor. 1.13 Paul doth powerfully urge this Argument why they might not say they were of Paul because they were not baptized into the name of Paul So then his Disciple thou art and his badge thou onely art to wear in whose name thou wert baptized and that is not into the name of a man but the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost Thirdly The Apostle presseth another Argument Was Paul crucified for you Did Paul die for you 1 Cor. 1.13 His meaning is In him onely we are to believe who is able to make our reconciliation with God who hath wrought our Redemption for us And therefore it 's a very high sinne to build your faith on a man It 's to make him a Saviour it 's to put him in Christs room Fourthly Our Apostle urgeth a further Argument in the same Chapter He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord And Christ is made unto us Wisdome So all boasting in men is to be excluded as well as boasting in works Oh but what is the cause of so many errors of so many divisions It 's from boasting in men such a man and such a man and by this meanes the glory due to God is taken away Fifthly The Scripture makes it a great sinne in matters of Religion and the worship of God to be servants of men 1 Cor. 7.23 Now what is it to be a servant of men when as bruit beasts we are wholly led at the command of others believe what they bid us believe worship with such worship as they command yet this hath been an universal sinne in all ages of the Church Men nuzzled in ignorance and pleasing themselves in their folly have without any judgement or information from Gods Word taken such a Religion and followed such a Worship as hath been imposed upon them Hence they have been sometimes of one Religion and sometimes of another because they have been servants to men and not Disciples of Christ
to the Gentiles And Rom 11. shews at large how that the breaking off of the Jews was the ingraffing of the Gentiles And thus if we consider those famous places where the Word was at first planted we shall see them for their barrennesse and unfruitfulnesse turned into a dung hill The seven Churches of Asia Where are they This Corinth What is become of it Those that would not obey Christ whose yoke was easie are forced to endure the iron chains and bonds of Mahomâ—t Rome in this Apostles time had her faith published over the whole world but is so apostatized that her Idolatry and Heresie is as much proclaimed Insomuch that the Epistle ad Romanos is now in or contra Romanos The Epistle to the Romans is an Epistle against them because of the grosse corruption of those main points of Predestination and Justification and other material points Thus you see how Gods administration is very various and dreadfull he gives it to one Nation and takes it from another It 's the judgement of some men That the Gospel will be taken from all these western parts of the world and given to the East Indies and other parts but how certain this is none can tell In these later dayes we hear not of any Heathenish Nation converted some glimmering light the Natives in New-England have received that is the most that hath been done lately For as for the Jesuites boasting of their conversion of the Indians the bloudy cruelty and horrible violence they have used deplored even by some of their own parties makes that but a fable It 's the opinion of all That Heathens and Pagans are not to be compelled to the true Faith because they are without the Church and she hath nothing to do with those that are without the Church Though Hereticks and such as are within may be compelled to the means of truth and salvation Why then in these later dayes Heathenish Nations do not receive the faith as in former times who can divine Only the fervour and zeal of propagating the Gospel is far lesse than formerly Insomuch that it is bewailed by a learned man Hornbeck that that injunction and command to go and preach the Gospel to all Nations is not enough laid to heart Fifthly In planting of Churches commonly their infancy and beginning hath been more pure and godly than the successive ages Take Rome in her nascent condition and their faith was eminent but in her crescent or growing estate she presently degenerated All Churches have been at first planted either by the Apostles themselves or Apostolical persons and they had purity of Doctrine and godlinesse of order and life onely then they were but few and obnoxious to persecution all which made them heavenly and holy but when they began to be numerous and prosperous and the meaning of the first planters was worne out then the Church grew not like her self One of the ancientest Ecclesiastical Historians Egesippus saith of a pure Virgin she presently became a Strumpet because of all that false and superstitious worship that crept into her Lastly Because of that pronenesse to degenerate and from gold to become drosse Hence God hath in mercy raised up Reformers and stirred up men with invincible zeal being full of the holy Ghost who have laboured to bring Churches to their first plantations and institution Thus the Jews a people planted by God yet many times so grosly corrupted through Idolatry and prophanenesse that the Governours thereof are called Princes of Sodom and Gomorrah Isa 1. Now to purge this fountain How many zealous Prophets did God raise up in his time And thus after Christs time when the wine of Gods Word began to be mingled with the water of mens inventions and all Religion was turned into a meer Pageantry as in Popery God then raised up Luther Melancthon Calvin and others by whose means Christ became known again Now there is a great difference between a plantation and a Reformation A Reformation doth not pretend to make new Churches to bring a new faith in the world as a plantation doth but only to file off all the rust that hath been by long custome upon the Church of God Plantation is to make Heathens and Pagans Christians but Reformation is to make degenerate Christians who have degenerated in their knowledge worship and life to make such remember their first inâ—titution such ignorance and prophanenesse was not at the first Vse of Instruction How much God may justly expect of us in England who have not only had a plantation of the Gospel many hundred years ago but after a deep apostasie a gracious Reformation also What manner of persons should we be Angli quasi Angeli it was said of old Certainly we should be so in respect of knowledge worship and godlinesse The Christian Faith was by some received long before we were called English for in the eight hundredth year after Christ Egbertus King of the West-Saxons having got all the dominion into his own hands almost made an universal sanction that the whole Nation should be called the English Nation being named Brittans before It is not my intent to enter into that Dispute of the learned who planted the Gospel in England As for the Papists who would make one Augustine to be our Apostle is so ridiculous that it cannot be believed for there were godly Christians already in the Island that refused him because he was a superstitious proud person saying The Spirit of God was not in him because there was not humility in him The Gospel was brought in here long before those dayes Some say Joseph of Arimathea Some say that Pudeus and Linus whom the Apostle salutes were Britains For Martial in his Epigrams mentioneth them as Britains This is clear that in Tertullians time the Gospel was spread in this Island and though unknown to the whole world yet the word of God found it out but to see our degeneration it may make us astonished especially in ignorance superstitious worship and prophanenesse Oh were we thus planted at first or were we reformed to be thus Do not many among us live like bruit beasts rather than Christians Setting aside the name what is there either for knowledg or life more than is in a meer Pagan or Heathen Oh the patience of God that should continue the Gospel thus long amongst us Was there more unworthinesse in Jerusalem in Ephesus in other Churches which yet God hath made desolate places Certainly we might well conclude That God would remove our Candlestick were there not a remnant that love the Gospel delight in it and labour to walk worthy of it How can prophanenesse and beastly courses be found amongst us when the light of God hath shined round about us Bring therefore forth fruit meet and worthy of such an heavenly plantation lest the same God that planted us do at last pluck us up For God he sometimes speaks to a Land to build it up and plant
then believe no longer as men Do not think or speak as men but as those who have God perswading you Secondly The Scriptures are only the foundation because they are the immediate verity or truth coming from God who is the first essential truth They have not only a Divine Authority but evident infallibility As God himself is Truth and is not like man that may lie So his Word is likewise Truth and cannot lie or deceive as the writings of men Therefore Psal 19. they are said to be purer than gold seven times refined And it 's said The Scripture that cannot lie or cannot be broken John 10.35 It 's an heavy judgement to be delivered up in matters of salvation to believe a lie It 's the spiritual curse that is threatned to those of the Antichristian apostasie 2 Thess 2.11 Now they must needs be thus punished that forsake the Scripture and build upon other foundations Seeing then the Scripture doth contain infallible truth onely and not one iota or tittle of that can fall to the ground and in all other foundations that may be laid there may be falsehood errour and grand Impostures Let then those hearers that are carefull to keep a good faith walk by this Rule Chrysostome said Never expect good from that man who is not searching of the Scriptures attending to the Scriptures It 's an heavy grievous sinne that in your family in your closets you do no more acquaint your selves with the Bible Take a Tree from the River side and plant it in a wildernesse what can you expect but a withering And thus it is if you take a man from the Scripture his seeming faith graces godlinesse will all presently vanish Thirdly The Scriptures onely are the foundation of faith because they are onely immutable and unmoveable They abide alwayes the same they are not subject to changes to perturbations of affections as men are Councils consisted of men carried by passions and interests Even in the Council of Nice and the four first Councils there were great sidings great animosities particular interests and parties and therefore unlesse we had an unchangeable foundation we must be mutable Camelions Now the word of God that is said To abide for ever whereas all flesh is grasse and the glory thereof fadeth away 1 Pet. 1.24 25. It 's called the eternal Gospel Revel 14.6 So then that which was three thousand yeares agoe is still true because the Scriptures are still the same There is no new Bible though there may be many new opinions and new Sects Aristotle commendeth the Government of a Nation by Lawes above the wils and arbitrary resolutions of men because Lawes are fixed and known And so it is in the Church of God that hath a known Law and Rule Therefore it is an hainous errour which the learned note in Cusanus though otherwise not a very bad man in affirming That the Scripture is to be interpreted Secundum currentem statum Ecclesiae according to the present course and exigency of the Church and therefore in some age those things are received which in another are rejected Lastly The Scripture is only to be laid for a foundation because this onely is strong enough to support and bear up in sad hours of temptation and dangerous times of persecutions Who would be cheated or distinguished out of the Truth by subtil Hereticks or scared and terrified by violent opposers Therefore we had need be built upon such a rock that can endure all waves How could the Martyrs have resisted to blood had not they had Scripture-assurance Luther had this temptation Tune solus sapis c. and nothing but the Scripture confirmed him Our Saviour quelled Satans temptations by arrows out of the Scripture quiver When a man comes to die may he not be assaulted about the truth of his faith whether he die not in heresie or damnable opinions and nothing but the Scripture can uphold him Now for the matter of Doctrine to be believed some men lay four rotten and weak foundations others may be reduced to this The first is that of the Papist The Authority of the Church and the Pope being wholly ignorant themselves but resting all on their Authority Bellarmine doth not blush to expound that place Behold I lay in Zion a foundation stone secondarily to the Pope Now although we grant That the Ministry of the true Church is very usefull and necessary as the instrument of our faith and the preservation of it In which sense it 's called The pillar and ground of the Truth 1 Tim. 3.15 yet it is onely a Ministry not a Magistry It 's a political Pillar upon which Edicts use to hang for Declaration of the Magistrates will not an Architectonical Pillar that beares up the house So that Austins speech is true I had not believed the Gospel had not the Authority of the Church moved me viz. by way of introduction and preparation As the woman of Samaria did to the Samaritans who at first believed because she told them but afterwards they believed for Christs own sake We do not believe in the Church as we doe in the matter revealed in the Scripture Therefore that ignorant implicit faith to believe what the Church saith is not a scripture-Scripture-faith faith of knowledge besides then every member must believe according to that Church he is of and seeing there are Churches against Churches there shall also be faith against faith The second foundation men lay is The Authority of the Civil Magistrate This is a meer political faith Many men have no other apprehension about Religion than the Laws of the Land wherein they live They matter not whether true or false whether acceptable to God or consonant to Scripture but this is commanded and this they do As Seneca said in his time He observed that Worship of their gods Non tanquam Diis grata but legibus jussa not as acceptable to the gods but commanded by the Lawes But the Apostles example is clean contrary for they preached a faith to be believed that was contradictory to that Religion which was established by humane authority and they resolve thus It 's better to obey God than man Act. 5 29. The third is Private Revelation and Enthusiasmes As the Papists on one side have cryed down the sufficiency and perfection of the Scripture so Illuminatists men fancying to themselves Revelations from God have also decried it making themselves above the Scripture A dangerous and damnable delusion Therefore the Apostle John bids us Try the spirits and that cannot be without the Rule of the Word 1 John 4.1 And Fourthly Another false foundation is Meer humane Reason There are many risen up that make Reason the Judge and foundation of all Doctrinal Points the Socinian especially hereupon they reject the Trinity the Divine Nature of Christ as being against Reason Now although rectified Reason be necessary as an instrument to revive the things of faith yet it
more A poor man thinketh a little summe of money great treasures For the day shall declare it c. This Text you heard containeth the proportionable Effects or successe which builders wise or foolish have in Gods house And the Apostle first layeth down a general Proposition Every mans work shall be made manifest which hath already been dispatched We therefore now proceed and for this manifestation the Apostle informeth us of the time first and then the manner how The time first in these words For the day shall declare it and of this at this present All the doubt is What the Apostle doth mean by the Day There are some understand it of the Day of death when every man receiveth his particular judgement he shall then know whether his building will abide or no. Others understand it of the Day of Judgement which is called the day of the Lord and that day by an emphasis Bellarmine indeed is positive in this because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used with an Article which signifieth the Day of Judgment but that is false For the time of the Gospel is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13.12 The night is past the day is at hand c. So that we cannot close with this interpretation because the Apostle carrieth it all the way for this life while we are in this world as will be shewed when we come to explain what is meant by the fire We take therefore Day for no more than Time such a day hath God in his wisdome appointed for the blowing away all this chaff As we see a covering of thatch doth not ordinarily hold long but fire or winde ariseth and cosumeth all Thus the Septuagint sometimes render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time So that the meaning is Howsoever these errours and false Doctrines may continue yet time at last will discover the vanity and weaknesse of them The Grecian said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time was the Touchstone the trial of all things And the Latines say Veritas est temporis filia Truth is the daughter of Time The day will declare it that is time will make them manifest onely the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Day doth denote the appointed and set time which God hath for the taking of all such disguises whereas it is the clean contrary with truth The longer that lasts the more it is believed the sufficiency and evidence of it is the more entertained Now although we thus understand it of time in this world yet it cannot be denied but at the Day of Judgement there will be a full discovery of all the works and Doctrines of men Observe That God hath his time when he will discover the errours and falshoods of mens Doctrines A day shall declare it You have a parallel expression Their folly shall be made manifest and they shall proceed no further 2 Tim 3.9 he compareth false teachers to Jannes and Jambres as they did miracles like Moses for a while but at last their folly and sorcery were discovered So it 's here God will put a stop to the torrent of errours he will shew a great difference between his truth and mens inventions the one shall be received and the other rejected This Gangrene that spiritual Physician can stop from further contagion God that could stop the infection of the plague on a sudden that the arrow should kill no more at mid-day hath done this also wonderfully in his Church The day did declare Arianism Pelagianism Nestorianism and the like To enlarge this Doctrine consider these things First In that the Scripture cals the time of manifestation a Day wherein is light and the Sunne beams it doth excellently imply That all the while there are corruptions in Doctrine and Worship that time is a time of darknesse Let men never so much rejoyce in them and count them happy times yet the Scripture cals them dark times So that to take away the truths of God the pure worship of God is indeed Solem è mundo tollere to take the Sunne out of the firmament All the while the Church of the Jews was without the Law and the Prophet without true teaching of the Word of God they were in a worse condition than the Egyptians in their Egyptian darknesse for that hindred them onely in their bodily motions and outward accommodations but this tends to the destruction and damnation of soul and body The true Ministers of Gods word are compared to light and to salt Matth. 5 13. Nihil Sole sale utilius both are necessary and usefull They are called the Starres and it must needs be a dark night when no starres shine Since the Apostles times the Church of God hath many times come under such dark times that it hath been like the old Chaos when darknesse covered the deep Take we heed then of calling darknesse light there is a woe to those that do so Isa 5.20 as some do the times of Reformation the times of Deformation If these corrupt Doctrines which come from the prince of darknesse thou callest light as coming from the Father of lights Thou intitlest God to the Devils work and that is no mean â—in This should teach the godly what to think under the overflowing of errours to account them dark and sad times Secondly There are no foolish builders that thus deform Gods Temple but they are by Gods permission in his wrath and anger because men have abused his truth and waxed wanton under it therefore hath he sent the spirit of delusion and errours amongst men 2 Thess 2.10 For this you must know though God be not the Authour of any evil and it were blasphemy to ascribe sinne to him as the cause of it yet as a just Judge he doth not onely suffer but also order that heresies and corruptions shall be in the Church They are of the Lord by permission and ordination though not efficiency and approbation Thus in Deut. 13.3 If there arise a false Prophet I the Lord do it to try you And in Ahabs time you may reade of many lying spirits in the false Prophets yet they could not goe to delude such or such till God gave them leave 2 Chron. 18.21 Thus 1 Cor. 11. There must be heresies Why must there be so God to punish mens corruptions their pride their ignorance their wilfull abuse of his knowledge will suffer such things to be Though he hath a gracious end That the approved may be made manifest That as all the persecutions which have been in the Church were from God as a just Judge to exercise the patience of it So all the heresies and errours which have been were to exercise the wisdome and true faith of the Church So that howsoever times of overflowing of errours be dark and uncomfortable times yet to consider the cause is farre more uncomfortable for these came from mens corruptions and Satans instigations as also from a provoked God in Heaven who punisheth our former
Manners are a pollution of this spiritual Temple So that in the words you have a strong Argument against all Church pollutions whether doctrinal or practical from a similitude or comparison the Apostle useth Those that are the Temple of God must be dedicated to him and not polluted with any unclean thing but the Church of Corinth is the Temple of God And that this Argument might pierce the more he puts the sting of a sharp Interrogation upon his words Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God Know ye not as if he would have said This is a confessed Principle a truth acknowledged by all none can or ought to be ignorant of it Now for the explication of the word Temple and the Reason to prove they were the Temple as followeth in the words I referre it till we come at it For truly this Text is a Mine of gold every word hath precious matter in it Only consider at this time the interrogative Introduction Know ye not One great cause why they admitted such prophanensse and corruption in the Church was the ignorance of or the not attending to those Priviledges and Relations they were called unto If they had duely considered they were Gods Temple they would not have suffered strange Doctrines or strange manners to come in amongst them as no strange uncircumcised might enter into the Temple Observe That the consideration of those Priviledges and Relations which all the People that professe God are put into would be a great Argument against all kind of Pollutions In the 1 Cor. 6.19 the Apostle argueth against all libidinous and unclean waies because their bodies were the Temple of the Holy Ghost now here the Apostle doth not so much speak of every man as their Assembly united together as they were a spiritual Society joyned together As is more largely to be shewed The Apostle argueth chiefly though not excluding sinnes of practice against corruptions in Doctrine and the Ordinances instituted in the Church by which we may see the Scripture puts corruptions in Doctrine through errours and in our lives through ungodlinesse in the same guilt both are unclean and so may not be admitted into the Temple even as the Apostle in the first Chapter verse 5 6. and Gal. 59 useth a Proverbial speech A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump against corruptions in life and in Doctrine but of this more afterwards That which at this time I insist on is To shew what a goade and spurre to all purity and holinesse in Doctrine and Manners the consideration of Church-Priviledges Church-Titles and Relations aâ—e Thus Rom. 6.3 Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death Ignorance of the extent of their baptism what it did signifie and oblige to made them live in sinne I know nothing more to be complained of then that people generally rest in this They are the Church of God They are Christians They are baptized but they do not understand what these things mean nor what they oblige them unto It would make us all tremble to consider the vast disproportion between our Names our Relations and our lives This hath occasioned many to runne into an extremity to say We have no true Churches no true members of a Church amongst us because the ignorance corruption and prophaneness is so great amongst us though therein they go beyond bounds For this Church of Corinth was not unchurched by the disorders and corruptions amongst it To enforce this Doctrine upon us consider some of the chief and notable Titles or Relations the people of God have and see if rightly considered they would not work like fire to consume all our drosse As First The very word Ecclesia Church This is given to all the spiritual Societies and Assemblies that we read of in the Scripture converted to the true Faith Thus the Church of Corinth the Churches in Asia Now how great a matter is this very word Church For a people to be a Church the word signifieth as much as a company of people called out of the ignorance idolatry and prophanenesse of the world to worship and serve God in his way and to obey his Laws So that when men come to be of this body they are to renounce all their former prophanenesse and wickednesse and live a life conformable to the Word which is the Churches Charter and by which it walketh Thus all our Congregations should be men called out of the ignorance and prophanenesse of the world to live according to Gods Rule But where are the persons or the Societies that do this Are not many of our Assemblies in the world and of the world still in respect of conversation There will be scandals and offences in the Churches of God too often but woe be to such who by their prophanenesse idolatry and wickednesse give so many scandals as to make us accounted a Babylon a Sodome or as the world Indeed they who do thus charge us go beyond their line for we have a true Church and a true Ministry and true Ordinances only the lives of men are generally so corrupt and wicked so ignorant and beastly that they are spots in our Assemblies and a grievous reproach to that holy Profession which we have taken upon us So then if we would have our Congregations and persons freed from all these defilements remember what the word Church is a company called out of the world And as for ignorant and prophane men the orders of Christ are to endeavour their reformation but if they continue obstinate then they are to be cast out As the Clouds that are exhaled from the earth which though terrestrial in nature yet follow the motions of the Heavens so though in our original we be of the world and are dust and ashes yet by this heavenly call we are wholly to live a heavenly conversation Is it for Starres to be like the dung of the earth Is it for a Church to be a prophane ignorant and worldly people Oh this very title should raise up your hearts Are we not a Church persons called out of wickednesse Why then are we such Apostates as to degenerate from our Titles and Names If Christ complained of those that had made the material Temple a den of thieves Mat. 21.13 will he not also of such who shall make his Church a stew a dunghill a place of wickednesse and ungodlinesse I beseech you know these things and consider them better If you would have the Name of a Church have the nature Life and operations of a Church Secondly The consideration that we are the people of God in a more peculiar manner then all the Nations of the world that do not know God This also should affect us This is that Covenant of Grace God enters into I will be their God and they shall be my people Jer. 7.23 2 Cor. 6.16 Yea a peculiar people Gods Jewels Gods Treasure Deut. 26.18 Psal 135.4
no Sunne beames to comfort and refresh Secondly Here only is the Foundation of all graces or the Mediatour by whom God is gracious to us As they say in Aegypt there is never any rain from Heaven so all that part of mankind which is without Christ partaketh not of gracious influences of Heaven God is a consuming fire to them There is no death of Christ no Ascention no Intercession no pleading for them they come into Gods presence without Beniamin Thirdly Only in the Church are such persons who are qualified for gracious Priviledges Here only is true Piety here only is Faith Repentance Here only men do in a right manner pray to God All those moral vertues and excellent endowments amongst the Heathens though gilded over were nothing but drosse Vse of Instruction Are the Churches of God thus Temples of God and should every one of us be thus in particular Oh then how holy how godly how orderly should all our Assemblies be What Jeremy can make Lamentations bitter enough to see how this Temple of God is made a dunghill How comes so much ignorance and prophanenesse to be amongst us Are we not places prepared rather for the Devil and his evil Spirits to dwell with us then Temples of the Holy Ghost Know this that your defilements are worse then those of Heathens and therefore it 's said Judgment should begin at the House of God 1 Pet. 4.17 And in Ezechiel's Prophesse The destroying Angel is commanded to begin at the Sanctuary Ezek. 9.6 Yet we sit and hear these things and do not fear and tremble Where is Gods gracious presence discovering it self How few are the men that have God and his Spirit dwelling in them but rather their souls are possessed with Devils Hence cometh that pride that malice that opposition unto all godlinesse Oh then let us so live that we may say Such men have God and his Spirit dwelling in them Be men affected with understanding of these things To see nothing but a man in you nothing of God yea to see nothing but a Beast or a Devil in you how contrary is it to that holy relation we stand in And that the Spirit of God dwels in you We have considered what that is to which the Church of Corinth is compared viz. The Temple of God what more is to be said of that will come in the next verse I proceed to the ground and reason of the Comparison Why they were the Temple of God and that followeth in the next words And that the Spirit of God dwels in you The particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath many significations or uses in the Scripture Here it is Causall as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for ye are In many other places it 's so used Jere. 42. Thou art angry And We have sinned i. e. For Joh. 2. they staid not there many daies and the Passover was at hand i. e. For. So here you are the Temple of God for the Spirit of God dwels in you Thus you see it 's a causall Inference In the Reason consider the Person described Secondly His efficacy or operation The Person described is said to be the Spirit 2. The Relation to whom the Spirit of God Thirdly The operation or effect it dwels in you The Greek word Spirit as the Hebrew Ruach is of a vast signification in the Scripture I know none more boundlesse but when attributed to God it signifieth either absolutely the Divine Nature common to the three Persons Joh. 4. God is a Spirit because of his most pure and simple essence 2. It signifieth the Divine Nature of Christ as when it is said to be dead in the body but quickned in the Spirit 1 Pet. 3.18 3. Sometimes the anger of God and the effects of his wrath Thus we read of a Spirit of judgment and burning Isa 4. And a Spirit of giddinesse c. Lastly Relatively for the third Person in the holy Trinity Baptizing them in the Name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost Mat. 28.19 And thus it 's used here because it 's called the Spirit of God Now this Texe doth two waies prove the Divine Nature of the Holy Ghost 1. From the Manner of argunig They were the Temple of God because the Spirit did dwell in them which could be no sound Argument were not the Holy Ghost God And 2. Partly Because Temples wâ—re built to none but God even as Sacrifices were offered to God only And this is so ingrafted a truth in nature and acknowledged so professedly by Papists that when they are charged for Idolatry in dedicating their Temples to such and such Saints they say Temples indeed are to be built only to God but they name such a Saint only for memorial not as a Person they dedicate them to But that distinction is a meer fig leaf if you consider their practice So that we have two Doctrines 1. That the holy Spirit of God is God 2. This Spirit of God dwels in the Church These Points will be very profitable For the first The Holy Ghost is God There have not only Heretiques of old as the Macedonians or of late in other Countries as Polonia and Transilvana Servetus and the Socinians but even some in this land very lately not only maintained privately but have published Books on purpose to prove the Holy Ghost not to be God of the same essence with the Father and the Sonne Indeed there was a long contention whether verball or real it 's disputed between the Greek Churches and the Latin Churches about the procession of the Holy Ghost whether from the Father and the Sonne also or Father only but no doubt at all about the Deity of the Holy Ghost I intend to handle this point Practically yet so as first Doctrinally to inform your judgments about the truth of it and that I may do it the more orderly you must know that those who have denyed the holy Ghost to be God have been divided into two waies Either First Such who have thought him to be no Person but to be an attribute or operation in and from God which in man we would call an accident So that as Gods wisdome Gods anger and power they do not make a distinct Person they say So neither doth this concerning the holy Ghost but is no more than the mighty power of God putting forth it self Secondly Others make him a Person yet not a God but in the fore-front of the Angels they make him the chief Angel as they say there is a Prince of Devils But the Scripture is very clear to overthrow those damnable Heresies And 1. That he is a Person not an attribute appeareth by all those personal operations that are given to him So that by what arguments we can prove God the Father or any man to be a Person by the same we may prove the holy Ghost to be a Person as that form in which we are baptized Into the name
represâ—nt this though many learned men ancient and later have used similitudes because there is no such thing as a God besides the true God And therefore Basil said well to the Heâ—etique desiring a similitude to represent the Trinity Da mihi alium Deum aliam trinitatem tibi ostendam Thus we have laboured to establish your faith in this necessary point Now I shall shew Why the holy Ghost is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spirit The word at first did signifie wind Why then doth the Spirit of God assume this comparative expression of wind Or rather Why is he called a Spirit Even for these Reasons First Essentially For the simplicity and purity of his Essence and this is common to every other Person for God is a Spirit Secondly Hypostatically For his personal propriety because he proceeds from the Father and the Sonne by way of spiration the manner whereof we cannot comprehend no more than the generation of the Sonne Thirdly Effectively Many wayes 1. For the Incomprehensibility of the actions of the Spirit John 3. The wind bloweth where it lists and no man knoweth from whence it comes so is the Spirit 2. The Diversity of his operations As the breathings of the winde is from several corners the Spirits dispensations have not been alwayes alike 3. For the Efficacity moving the hearts of men to love good to hate evil 4. For the Impossibility of resisting this 5. For the Necessity of it to every good worke as the winde is to the ship Vse Is the holy Spirit God Then take heed of that blasphemous scoffing which many carnal and wicked people are guilty of which is to mock at the very name of the Spirit If a sinne against the holy Ghost be unpardonable and doing despite unto the Spirit of grace leaveth a man in an impossibility of recovering How darest thou let thy heart and tongue be thus set on hell fire Thy body and soul is to be the temple of the Spirit Thy duties are to come from this Spirit and doest thou deride it Vse of Admonition Take heed of entituling thy own fancies and delusions to the Spirit of God For seeing the holy Ghost is God it must be a capital crime to make such sinfull fancies and thoughts that come from thy corrupt heart to flow from the holy Spirit of God If to counterfeit the publick Seal or Coin of a Land be a capital crime How great a sinne is it to â—ake thy sinfull and carnal affections as if they were the workings of Gods Spirit And that the Spirit of God dwels in you Two Propositions you heard were contained in these words First That the Spirit of God is God which hath been demonstrated Secondly That the Spirit of God dwels in his Church We therefore proceed to this second Doctrine And now to open this let us consider First What the phrase to dwell in the Church implieth Secondly How he dwels there As the Spirit of God is said to dwell in us so in other places God promiseth to dwell in his people 2 Cor. 6 16. And Christ is said To dwell in our hearts by faith Ephes 3.17 All which are not to be understood of any visible or local habitation much lesse comprehensive that we cold comprehend God for he is as he said one whose circumference is every where and center no where The Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him but it is meant in a mystical and spiritual manner Now this phrase To have the Spirit dwell in us denoteth First The propriety that it hath to us that we are his possession as an house is a mans own where he is Lord and Master And this is worthy of consideration That we who once were the Devils he dwelt in us He ruleth in the hearts of the disobedient Ephes 2. have now him expelled from us and the Spirit of God taking us for his possession We pity persons bodily possessed that they foame and rore and are throwne sometimes into the fire and sometimes in the water but he who is a wicked man the Devil possesseth his soul more dreadfully he puts him upon anger malice upon unclean lusts and noisome filthy wayes and though many be of the Church visibly yet in regard of their own particular they are thus possessed by the Devil who hath their heart their eyes their tongues their whole body so that they seem to be a walking Hell So that herein is a wonderfull change when the Spirit of God comes and takes possession of a people who before were captives to Satan and led aside according to his will 2 Tim. 2.26 Secondly When it 's said The Spirit of God dwels in a people it supposeth That he doth fashion and prepare them for himself For every lodging is not fit for so noble a guest but as great men carry their rich furniture with them to have convenient lodgings so also doth the Spirit of God raise up a people by illumination and sanctification to be a fit habitation for him As they say Anima fabricat sibi domicilium The soulâ— makes the body so curiously organized and diversified for it's self to be in So much more doth the Spirit of God put spiritual life and quicken up our dead hearts that we may be prepared for the enjoyment of him It 's said The Spirit of God moved upon those waters Genes 1. that covered the deep when the earth was without forme or void Thus the Spirit of God doth take us out of our natural confusion and horrible darknesse and makes us comely with those ornaments he puts upon us So that as it is impossible to have the Sunne but withall we must enjoy glorious light So we cannot have the Spirit of God but withall many precious and heavenly gifts will be bestowed upon us Oh then how few persons how few Congregations can endure the lustre of this Doctrine What heavenly or precious jewels have they of Gods Spirit Thirdly When it 's said The Spirit of God dwels in us it denoteth The familiarity and condescending Communion that God vouchsafeth unto his children To dwell with one is an act of communion Hence 1 Peter 3.17 Husbands are commanded to dwell with their wives Our Savior expresseth this familiarity by John I will come in and sup with him and he with me Revel 3.20 So that what was spoken of Moses as so rare a priviledge He spake to God face to face as one friend speaketh to another in some kinde of sense though not after the same manner is true of every godly person Hence the Spirit of God is said to enable us to cry Abba Father Galat. 4 6. which though it suppose a filial reverential frame in us yet also godly boldnesse and confidence Hence he is also said To witnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God Rom. 8. So that children being admitted to sit at their Fathers Table have that bread which dogs may not eat of They have
we called an house of prayer In Solomons prayer 1 Kings 8.48 the captives of Israel carried into another Land are supposed in their captivity to pray unto God with their face towards the Land of Israel and also towards the Temple Fourthly But from this Temple to argue for such holinesse in our Churches Yea and with Bellarmine and others to plead for private praying in the Church more than in other places as if there were more holinesse therein and for the places sake to have more acceptance is unjustifiable by Scripture John 4.21 24. The time is coming when they shall not worship in this mountaine or in Jerusalem but they shall worship him in Spirit and truth There is no Jerusalem now nor any place like Jerusalem and now God would have us in every place lift up holy hands in prayer 1 Tim. 2.8 It 's therefore unwarrantable by Scripture to pray in a Church for the places sake to have the prayer the more acceptable as Bellarmine pleadeth And indeed because there is no such peculiar institution nor no such peculiar promise therefore there cannot be such a relative holinesse Private prayers in the Church though pretended not to be done for the places sake while we are at the publick Ordinances are also incongruous and unwarrantable partly because they are against the nature of private prayer prescribed by our Saviour When thou prayest shut thy door after thee Mat. 6.6 Private prayer must be done in a private manner and partly because the Church is for publick Ordinances We meet together in spiritual communion and while the society is singing for thee to be privately praying is unsuitable to the duty in hand where there ought to be one heart one mouth and consent Fifthly Because the Temple was so glorious and Gods promise was in a special manner made to it therefore the Jews put all their trust and confidence in this though their lives were full of wickednesse and grosse impieties yet because they had the Temple that made them think themselves happy Hence the Prophet severely reproveth them for it saying Trust no more in lying words saying The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord are these Jer. 7.4 Hence at last God was so provoked that he gave it up to idolatrous Heathens to be destroyed that a stone should not be left upon a stone For Hadrian the Emperor quite demolished it and in stead thereof built a place with a new name calling it Aelia and upon the gate set the Image of a Swine by way of scorn and derision to the Jews to whom that beast was unclean And thus truly God hath done with many glorious spiritual Temples under the Gospel Where are the seven Churches of Asia And where is the pure Church of Rome now The present Governours of that Church glory of their succession to their former Worthies Whose faith was spread over the whole world but they succeed them as vespae apibus Wasps many times do Bees or as night doth the day Lastly Our Churches therefore do not resemble the Temple an holy place dedicated to God but their publick Synagogues where they met together to pray and reade the Word and have it expounded Some find fault that we call this material building a Church but use of speech doth fully justifie this It 's an ordinary figure to put the place containing for the thing contained Thus it 's said All Jerusalem went out And Oh Jerusalem that killest the Prophets Mat. 23.77 which is meant of the Inhabitants thereof Thus we call a City or a Town the people of the Town But of this we have spoken formerly But though there is no such relative holinesse in these places as was in the Temple neither are the duties regarded for the places sake but the place for the duties yet there is a moral and civil decency or respect to be had to them as we do unto places appointed for solemn meeting and therefore are unfitly compared to barns or stables or to be polluted like them not because of any holinesse in them more than in other places but from a civil respect But these things only occasionally by the way The next main thing is That believers joyned in a Church way according to Scripture are Gods temple and that requireth these things First Purity and an undefiled life from the wicked wayes of the world Though they be in the world yet not of the world This is called pure Religion to keep a man defiled from the world Jam. 1.27 And we must not be conformed to the fashion of this world Rom. 12.2 We are to be as Lot in Sodome so farre from having fellowship with it that we are to grieve in seeing and hearing the evil deeds of others We are to be like the three Worthies in the midst of the fire and yet our hair not singed thereby Do not thou then judge of thy self as the Temple of God when thou art like a dung-hill thy heart is not a sacred Temple but an open Inne or Market-place all strange lusts may lodge in thee thou art to take Christ for an example not the world Secondly Dedication and giving up our selves wholly unto God Thy soul and body are to be one Temple onely thy soul is the Saxctum sanctorum there should only be admitted choice and sanctified thoughts and intentions Shall I take saith the Apostle the member of Christ and make it the member of an harlot 1 Cor. 6.15 Shall I take the Temple of God and make it a publick stew for all lusts As they said of their Temples Procul ô procul este prophani So do thou of all noisome and filthy sinnes As there were constant Porters to watch the Temple so do thou continually set a watch before thy heart and soul that no unclean thing enter in Thirdly Here is implied Vnion of the members of the Church together The Temple was not one stone or a few stones scattered up and down but exactly and curiously joyned together The Churches are compared to a body where there are several organized members and all usefull one to another Lastly Communion Not onely internal by faith and love which we have with Christ the Head and so with all the members For this communion is invisible but external in a visible society and fellowship one with another in the publique worship Hence they are greatly reproved That forsook the assembling of themselves together Heb. 10.15 Visible communion in Church-Ordinances brings much glory to God and great edification to our selves Vse of Instruction What kind of societies we should be who are Gods temple Gods house Gods Church What enjoyment of God What effectual participation of his presence The body by its senslesnesse doth quickly discover whether a soul be in it and the soul will quickly manifest whether God and Christ be in it if the Temple of God What holinesse and purity ought to be in our lives Oh this is the glory of the Church
Religion and godlinesse is counted such a nicety or nothing to a mans wealth and outward accommodations that he will as was said of one Bishop sing Canticum novum and yet never be out of tune because alwayes serving the times Vse of Admonition If thou wilt be Christs Disciple indeed know the glory and reputation of the world and his commands practised are not consistent together Thou canst not be judged a wise man a discreet man and yet a violent man for the kingdome of Heaven if you goe faster or beyond the common formality of most men you have lost your repute presently As was said of Naaman He was a great man a mighty man but he was a Leper Thus doe thou expect a rich man a good natured man an honest man but too forward too much for purity and precisenesse Oh that ever this should be among Christians The Jew loveth the most zealous Jew The Papist the most devout Papist but we reformed Protestants love not those whose tongues and lives doe most protest both against Idolatry and all wickednesse Well doe not thou give over for all that for though they judge it folly yet thou awest their conscience secretly Let him become a fool that he may be wise The Preceptive part or Duty injoyned hath been considered Let him become a fool It 's pity to lose the least oar of this gold and therefore I shall at this time insist on the last particular which is the Effect or Benefit of this Duty That he may be wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are two Greek words among others which the Scripture useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seemeth to be larger for that comprehends not only the acts of the understanding but of the will and the affections and this is called the wisdome after the flesh Rom. 8. because the whole power of the soul is concerned therein but this in my Text doth chiefly relate to the mind and understanding of a man though Sapientia be à sapere a metaphor from the taste as the palate discerneth of meats so doth a wise man of the nature of things Now much dispute there hath been among Heathens What wisdome is and Who is the wisest man The wisest of the Heathens would not arrogate to themselves to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lovers of wisdome But we see Paul in this Text tels us where indeed wisdome is to be had and that is only from God through the Scriptures all the humane wisdome of the world being indeed folly Hence are Luthers propositions Qui sine periculo velit in Aristotele philosophars necesse est ut ante bene stultificetur in Christo And againe Nemo bene philosophatur nisi stultus id est Christianus Observe That onely in the Church of God or in Christianity is true wisdome As there is no salvation so there is no wisdome out of the Church That which hath the appearance of so much folly and absurdity is indeed the onely true wisdome and that will appear in several particulars wherein I shall not take wisdome in so strict a sense as Aristotle sometimes doth for the knowledge only of most excellent and admirable things Nor as others making wisdome to be only of divine things science of natural things and prudence of humane things But I shall take it as largely as the Scripture which under wisdom comprehends the whole way of faith and godlinesse That therefore only true wisdom is in the Church of God appeareth several wayes First Here we have the only Rule of wisdome which is the Scriptures so that all people without this sit in darknesse and want the starre to bring them to Christ or happinesse David doth in many places acknowledge this excellent property of Gods Word That it giveth wisdome to the simple Jer. 8 9. They have refused the word of God and what wisdome can be in them Thus you see that only Christians have the true Rule of wisdome viz. Gods Word But oh the ingratitude and rebellion of many who love their folly and their darknesse when yet they may be thus spiritually wise Who is there that readeth this Book to believe accordingly to inflame his affections and order his life accordingly Who looketh into this Glasse to dresse himself and compose himself according to those commands No folly no cause of repentance would be in us could we keep exactly to this Rule O me nunquam sapientem cryed Tully when deprived of all his hopes But O me semper sapientem may the godly say while keeping close to Gods Word Though thou art no Scholar no learned man though poor and contemptible yet from the Scripture thou mayest learne great and admirable wisdome Secondly Only in the Church is true wisdome because this cometh from God above and is by divine infusion into us Men may be moral wise men and have great political prudence as Cato was called the Wise but we Christians are to expect a wisdome from above or an heavenly wisdome as the Scripture cals it Jam. 3 17. Alas every man naturally though of never so much raised intellectual abilities in humane things is a very fool and mad man in heavenly and spiritual things Therefore this wisdome is a gift of God and is the eye or chief part of our godlinesse If any man want wisdom let him ask it of God Jam. 1. God indeed gave Solomon political prudence and civil wisdom but that which is necessary for all is wisdom for their souls and to walk in such wayes that bring to happinesse This wisdom a poor despised Christian may have when a great learned Scholar may be without it Thirdly In Christianity there is only true wisdome because there is only true godlinesse Now in the Scripture phrase To fear God to live holily to mortifie sinne this is wisdome The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Pro. 1.7 and to depart from evil is a good understanding Hence all along in Solomons Proverbs we see godlinesse called wisdome and the godly man a wise man As on the other side a wicked man is the fool and he that sinneth is said to do foolishly There is no Jewish piety no Heathenish piety only Christian piety There cannot be any godlinesse but where the Spirit of God sanctifieth and regenerateth So then if thou wouldst attain to true wisdome know that consisteth in the fear of God and departing from all sinne Thou art never more foolish and unwise than when thou givest way to any lust such things will cost thee a dear and bitter repentance Do not say this wisdom is too high for thee for by praying and seeking to God thou mayest enjoy it Fourthly Christianity teacheth the true wisdom because that only enstructeth about the true and proper end of all our actions which is happinesse How did the wise men of the world stagger up and down like giddy men in
Divisions are ye not carnal 25 Envy its several acceptations ibid. Observ That envying wheresoever it is is a fruit of the Flesh and such a sinne that a godly man should especially watch against ibid. Envy It s Original Degrees Object Subject Aggravations Remedies 26 The difference between Envy and Zeal 32 For whereas there is among you strife 33 Observ That strifes and quarrelling contentions amongst Christians argue them to be so farre carnal ibid. Sinfull strife Its Cause Effects Aggravations 34 Whereas there is divisions among you p. 37 Observ That divisions and factions do quickly creep into the best and purest Churches 38 Divisions divided their Nature Causes 39 Are ye not carnal and walk as men 42 As man its several significations ibid. Observ That all those who are named Christians and would be accounted so should walk and live as those that are more than meer men ibid. What the phrase to live as men implieth 43 Verse 4. For whereas one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not carnal 45 Observ That although it 's the duty of People to have a great and high esteem of the Ministers of the Gospel yet they are not sinfully and inordinately to admire or rest meerly upon any mens persons 46 Wherein the respect due to the Ministers of the Gospel doth consist ibid And when it may degenerate into sinfull admiration 48 For while one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not carnal 49 Observ That it is not lawfull for Christians to call themselves by the Name of any men though never so Eminent so as to build on them 50 Of the Names that Christians have been called by in several Ages ibid. Observ That when the Devil cannot hurt the Church by a prophane and sinfull Ministry then he labours to destroy it by abusing the names and esteem of those who are truly holy and eminent 54 What are the common wayes of Satans doing hurt to the Church by the Ministers and Officers thereof ibid. And even by eminent godly men 56 1 COR. 1.12 And I of Christ 58 Observ That although Christ only is to be relied upon as the Head of his Church yet it is not his will that under this pretence we should despise or contemn his Ministry and the means of grace he hath appointed 59. Of sinfull setting up of Christ ibid. Of the causes of grace Efficient and Instrumental ibid. Verse 5. Who then is Paul and who is Apollo 62 Observ That faithfull Ministers seek not to win or gain a people to themselves but to Christ 63 A two-fold end of preaching the Word ibid. The Characters of that Ministry that seeks not the peoples applause but to bring them to Christ 64 Who then is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed 66 Observ That the Ministry in Gods Church is the Means and instrumental Cause he hath appointed to work Faith and all other Graces in the Hearers 67 How the Ministry is not an instrumental cause of grace and how it is ibid The properties of the Ministry as such a cause 69 Who is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed even as the Lord gave to every man 70 Observ That Faith is the great and eminent grace which God by the Ministry works in some Hearers ibid The Nature of Faith It s three Acts Knowledge Assent and a resting on Christ 71 The Effects of faith ad intra 72 Ad extra 73 Even as the Lord gave to every man 74 Observ That God hath given several Gifts and Abilities to the Ministers of the Church and thereby makes use of them all for his glorious ends ibid. Why all Ministers have not the same gifts 76 Rules or Helps to profit by the Ministry 77 Verse 6. I have planted Apollo watered but God gave the increase 78 Observ That it's Gods unspeakable goodness sometimes to send his Word and plant his Gospel among a people that never heard or knew any thing of it before 79 Apollo watered 82 Observ That it is not enough for a people once to receive the true Faith and principles of Religion but they need a further watering and quickning them up to grow ibid. Wherein this spiritual watering consists 83 And why there is such need of quickning means 84 But God gave the encrease 85 Observ That it's God only who can and will give encrease and spiritual successe to the Ministerial labours in the Church 86 How God works 90 Wherein God giveth the increase ibid. And why he only can 92 Verse 7. So then neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the increase 93 Observ That the best and most able Ministry is nothing without Gods power giving the increase 94 What the Apostle doth not mean and what he doth mean in saying The Ministry is nothing ibid. Directions how to hear the Word 96 Verse 8. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one 97 Observ That although there is diversity and variety in the gifts of the Ministers yet they all ought to agree in one ibid. They should agree in Doctrine in their End and Scope and in Affection 98 The sad effects of dis-union in the Ministers 99 What people should do when Ministers and Professours are divided ibid. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour 101 Of Reward and Merit 101 105 106 Observ That according to a mans labour and working for God he is sure to have a proportionable reward 102 All have work to do ibid. A two-fold doing of good works ibid. The requisites to such a work as God will accept 103 A lawfull self-seeking 105 Verse 9. For we are labourers together with God 109 Observ That the Ministers of the Gospel are workers with God for the conversion of mens souls So 2 Cor. 6.1 110 Why God will have co-workers ibid. Ye are Gods husbandry ye are Gods building 113 Observ That the people of God are his husbandry and building ibid. What our being Gods husbandry and building joyntly implies ibid. And then what they severally imply 114 Ye are Gods building 117 Doct. That particular Churches are or should be Gods house Gods building ibid Of Gods house or Church ibid. What Gods building and our being his house implieth 118 Verse 10. According to the grace of God which is given unto me c. 121 Observ That it 's the property of godly men in all the good they have or do to attribute all to Gods grace ibid. The Properties of praising Gods grace ibid. Why the godly are so sensible of Gods grace 123 How profitable that duty is ibid. What opinlons are coolers of this duty of giving thanks to free grace 124 As a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation ibid Observ It 's a special part of the wisdom and heavenly art of the Ministers of the Gospel to lay a good and sure
can be expected from a Church consisting of such Men speak of Houses where the Devils walk where spirits haunt men dare not dwell there I tell thee That a Family where ignorance and prophaneness is nourished is an house not only haunted but even possessed by Devils And how canst thou eat sleep and live in such a place Fourthly In the primitive times there were a rank of people that were called Catecumini as we said before Candidati or Competentes such who being converted from Paganism were not yet fully instructed in the matters of Religiâ—n and therefore they had time to get knowledg before ever they were admitted to Church-Communion And answerable to this there was a Catechist one whose work and office it was to instruct such before they were Baptized Thus you see how carefull in Antiquity they were that they might have no ignorant persons among them And certainly as in all Arts there are Principles which must be learned before they can come to Conclusions so it 's here in Religion And oh that we could see this Knowledge brought in amongst people To be a Christian is to be anointed and this Vnction teacheth us all things Joh. 2.20 viz. necessary to salvation Fifthly Principles of Religion largely so called are of two sorts either Corrupt Idolatrical and Heretical or true Sound and Consonant to the Scripture Now there are many in the world are too forward to infuse poysonous and dangerous Principles so great a matter is it to consider what men are seasoned with at first either privately or publiquely Thus many are infected with Popish and superstitious Principles many with erroneous and false Doctrines and these foundations being laid it 's very difficult ever to remove them As the vessel is first seasoned or the tree at first planted so it is likely to continue The Apostle cals those Jewish Ceremonies the beggerly elements Gal. 4.9 or Principles of the world Why so because the superstitious Teachers made them the first Elements the Principles the foundation of all and therefore they thought all Religion was taken away if they were removed And thus you have divers persons they have indeed some Principles of Religion but they are Popish and Superstitious such as put out the Knowledge of Christ and the Scriptures And It 's a two-fold labour as Socrates said to a perverted Disciple of his to teach them for they must first be untaught their erroneous Principles and then must be instructed in the truth Oh then look to this that thy Principles about Religion be not false ignorant and superstitious ones Sixthly The true Principles of Religion are reduced to severall heads and are both short and easie but necessary to be known The Doctrine about God and Christ and our selves which is the Credendum The Doctrine about Faith and Repentance which is the Agendum And about things to come which is the Sperandum About God we are to believe That he is and a rewarder of those that seek him About Christ This is eternal life to know Jesus Christ Joh. 17.2 and the holy Ghost for we are Baptized in his Name About our selves the desperate pollution of our natures the hainousness of sinne the aggravation of the curses of the Law The things to be done are Repentance which driveth out of our sins and Faith which driveth out of our own righteousness But because these are Divine Works therefore a man must be regenerated and born again And this Principle Christ insisted on to Nicodemus Joh 3. The things to come are The Resurrection of the Body The immortality of the Soul The Day of Judgment The Heâ—ven and Hell provided for the godly and the wicked These Principles are plain and easie not to flesh and blood but in respect of the manifestation of them They are laid down clearly in Scripture None without horrible impudency can deny them Indeed there are many sublime Disputes about the Trinity and about Christs Incarnation but these are not necessary to be believed by every one Oh then how great is thy ingratitude God hath made the necessary things easie and plain and yet thou art not acquainted with them If God had commanded some greater matter of thee If he had required all thy time all thy study thou wast obliged to have done it How much rather in things of so easie apprehension But now when we say These divine Principles are easie you must take heed of two mistakes 1. We do not mean that the divine Faith and Belief of them is easie to flesh and blood no but they are easie supposing the grace of God in respect of other particulars in Religion For otherwise To believe with a Divine Faith viz. by the Spirit of God inabling upon divine Authority which is only true Faith is the immediate work of Gods Spirit Therefore Faith though it be but Historicall and not saving is the gift of God When we desire a Knowledge and Faith of these Principles we mean not such a Faith as most men have a Faith of custom and humane education a Faith because they are brought up in such a Religion but upon Judgment and Knowledge grounded upon the Scripture That which is usually called the Colliars Faith To believe as the Church believes Is the Husbandmans and the Tradesmans and the rich mans and the poor mans Faith too much in the world So that as Christ saith His yoke is easie and yet also it is very hard Easie to the heart sanctified but grieveous to the unregenerate So it is here The Principles of Religion are easie and plain to the mind inlightned but they are either foolishness or absurdities to the greatest Scholar that is if hâ—s heart be not opened And thus Paul found himself derided and called a Babler amongst the Athenians 2. We do not mean that the bare saying of the Principles of Religian by heart and rote is the true believing and knowing of them As the Child is not said to be fed with milk unless it swallow it down and be nourished by it So neither can they be said to believe the Principles of Religion unless they do with understanding apply them and receive them into their hearts But this is all that most attain unto they can tell you God made them That Christ is their Saviour That they must repent of sinne But these things are by meer rote They learn them as formerly in Popery they learned their Prayers in Lattin they knew not what they prayed for so neither these what they do believe Now the Grounâ—s for Instruction in these Principles are First Because God accounts of no zeal nor devout affections if they be not the fruit of Knowledge Thus Christ told the woman that was so zealous for her Fathers worship Ye worship ye know not what Joh. 4 22. Though God once accepted bruit beasts as a Sâ—rifice to him Yet now saith the Apostle let 's offer up our selves a reasonable Sacrifice Rom. 12.1 The Jew had a zeal but
which are easie and plain Principia luce suâ lucent they shine with their own light as the Sunne shineth with its own light you need not another Sunne to see it So that if these principles this light be put on the Candlestick held out in the Minâ—stry they of themselves do easily enlighten the whole house that is Suppose a man come with attention and faith for oportet discentem credere and principles cannot be proved but especially the sanctification of the Spirit of God is required So though the Sunne be never so visible if the eye be not prepared all is in vain to a blind man Now then supposing this Who can plead for that damnable ignorance in many people that have lived so many years where the Word hath been preached What can such say more than Heathens or Pagans that do all things to an unknown god as you heard and believe and worship they know not what I tell you such have not the first stone yet laid for any spiritual foundation What do such Bats and Owles in the Sunne-shine of the Gospel Oh if thou hadst lived in Sodome or Aegypt it had not been such a wonder but in Jerusalem to be so blind argueth thy case damnable Secondly The Word preached expects this effect not only to lay a foundation but to build upwards not only to plant but to grow Thus Ephes 4.13 the Offices in the Church are to bring us to a full stature in Christ Paul went up and down to confirm and increase where he had laid a foundation Where God gives talents he looks for increase The Ministry is a talent of which God will require a strict account So that it 's a just reproach to a people that live under the means if they be not out of the lower form if they have not left first and low principles rising to higher perfection As Paul doth sharply reprove the Hebrews for this want of growth Heb. 6. Oh then sit not down at the lower round in the ladder stay not at the bottome of the hill Christianity is a race There is work and work enough for thee Thus David prayeth His eyes may be opened to understand the wonderfull things of the Law Psal 119. His eyes were already opened and he had more knowledge than his teachars yet he prayeth as fervently to have his eyes opened as if he were a beginner and Eph. 1. Paul prayeth for those already enlightned that the Spirit of wisdome and illumination might be upon them What Paul said to Timothy Let thy profiting appear to all 1 Tim. 4.15 so say we you that hear and enjoy teaching Let your profiting appear to all Let all the world see there is a vast difference between living under no Ministry or a negligent Ministry and an instructing one If Corn should grow no better in improved grounds then in the barren heath it would be very strange To a blind man the day and night is all one he seeth as well at one time as another Oh fear thy self in a state of blindnesse to whom preaching and no preaching the Ministry and no Ministry is all one for thou makest no more progresse Thirdly A third Effect of the Ministry is To establish and settle in the truth to give a sound mind For through mens corruptions pride and vain-glory the Ministry as it may increase mens parts so accidentally increase their errours As April-showrs that make the flowers fresh and sweet so cause many croking frogs also This age doth testifie it If men get any knowledge any parts or abilities This is like new wine in old bottles it breaketh the bottles The sails are too big for the ship and so they are Doctores before they be Discipuli they are teachers of others before well taught themselves Now it 's a shame and a blame for any people to runne into erroneous Doctrines that enjoy a sound Ministry Mark that place Ephes 4.14 speaking of the Office of the Ministry one effect he mentioneth is That we should not be carried away as children with every wind of Doctrine Hence Ministers are called Guides and Shepherds and a great preservative it is to attend upon them and submit to them not with a blind obedience but as owning the institution of Christ and the way to keep from falshoods and this is not to preach our selves but your good It 's best for the sheep to keep to his faithfull Shepherd They are not infallible it's true much lesse art thou infallible therefore a blessing is to be expected in Gods order Lastly It is a shame to a people living under the Ministry of the Gospel a long while if they are not thereby furnished with abilities for those several personal duties that God requireth of them As for example Parents must bring up their children in the knowledge of the Lord. Private Christians are to have the Word dwell so plentifully in them that they are to admonish one another The Husband is to instruct his wife at home if she doubt of the things of Religion They are to instruct rebuke as occasion serveth Now how uncomely is it as we formerly shewed if thou a man so old so long hearing the Word preached canst not discharge these personal duties Oh the dreadfull account Oh the many duties God looks for at your hands which will not be expected from others In the next place Let us observe what a sinne it is if people are not able to bear or receive the practical operations of the Word For all knowledge if it be not after godlinesse is a tinkling cymbal The Word is not only the tree of knowledge but the tree of life also And First The Word is usually cloathed with this Majesty as to awe mens consciences to make them civil to cause them to forbear many grosse and rude wayes they were once accustomed unto Thus Johns Ministry though it did not convert Herod yet it made him do many things gladly The rocky and stony ground was a little mollified on the top to receive the Word though it was not soft at bottome The Word though it doth not soak to the bottome of mens hearts though it doth not enter so deep yet it thaweth above sometimes and men grow more civil This makes the wals fall down though it doth not take the City Oh woe then and again woe to that man to whom the Word hath not done so much as this but he is as prophane as a very beast as if he had lived in hell and not under the preaching of the Word which is called the kingdom of Heaven The wild beasts of the field they hide themselves when once the day begins to break forth And certainly prophane uncivil men should even call to the mountains and hils to cover them rather than be seen in such evil wayes Those that are drunk are drunk in the night saith the Apostle 1 Thess 5.7 and they are called works of darknsse Why then dost thou stumble in the
live according to the wayes ignorance folly and customes of the world They are to shine as lights amongst a froward and crooked generation Phil. 2.14 Pure Religion is said to keep it self unspotted from the world Jam. 1.27 All the wicked and ungodly wayes in it are not to defile and soil him As they speak of a River called Alpheus that emptieth it self in the Sea yet even in the very Sea it keepeth its sweetnesse and is not made salt and brackish as the waters of the Sea are They are in the world but not of it Hence Rom. 12. Be ye not conformed unto the fashion of the world but be transformed in your minds Here you may see who are men of the best fashion in a place not men of the greatest wealth honours or earthly dignity but who do not conforme to the fashion of the world that hath not the cursing swearing lying uncleannesse and all the works of darknesse that the world is said to lie in Let us improve this Doctrine and I know no truth a sharper sword to enter into your bowels than this For generally men think it a disgrace not to live as most men do what to grow so precise and strict as not to do as others do They are afraid to own such to be thought such Oh what Antipodes are such men to the Scripture Either lay down the name of a Christian or else live above what men of the world do As Alexander said to a souldier named Alexander Either lay aside his name or else do valiant acts Matth. 5. If ye love them that love you what singular thing do ye do not even the publicans the same Mark that there is a godly singularity and the people of God must be singular not do so or live so as most men in the world do The Apostle in this phrase To live as men or According to man may imply these things First Meer men have no divine faith in the matters of Religion wrought in them by the Spirit of God but walk according to the natural dictates of conscience and education and so are for that Religion which they have been brought up in and accustomed to whether it be right or wrong whether good or bad This our Saviour cleareth when Peter made that excellent Confession of Faith That Christ was the Sonne of God our Saviour graciously accepts of it and tels him Flesh and bloud hath not revealed this to him Mat. 16.17 So that then men walk as men in all matters of Religion when they have no more than custome or the countenance of the Laws of the Land where they live no more than flesh and blood hath made known to them Thus we see the Jews the Turks the Papists they all wilfully adhere to the Religion they have been used to and so many Christians believe in Christ upon no better grounds than they do in their falsehoods Be not then any longer such men and servants of men as the Apostle cals it that is to believe the truâ—hs of Religion upon humane authority humane motives That our Saviour meaneth when he bids us Call no man master on earth because Christ is the only Master Mat. 23.8 Not that the instruction and teaching of Church officers is to be rejected as some absurdly would inferre from those places for we are commanded to hear them and to enquire for the truth at their mouth only it 's not a divine faith till it be upon divine grounds Not as the word of men but as the word of God 1 Thess 2.13 It 's a sad thing to consider how many walk as men in this respect being in matter of Religion without any eyes of their own as if another mans faith were to justifie them and not their own Secondly To walk as a meer man is to propound some outward inferiour comforts as the ultimate end and chief felicity of our souls Take a man as a meer man and the utmost end for which he labours and strives in this world is some earthly advantages Oh but what saith the Apostle of true Christians We walk not by sense but by faith 2 Cor. 5.7 And we behold not the things that are seen but the things that are not seen What made Moses deny all that earthly greatnesse he might have had in Pharaohs Court Who would have made such a choise as he did To suffer reproaches for Christ rather than the pleasures of Aegypt Why is this Because he saw him that was invisible and had an eye to the recompence of reward Heb. 11. See then Moses more than a man he propounds to himself as the greatest happinesse the enjoyment of God and communion with him And as the Sunne puts out the lesser light of the starres so this good in God obscured that in all earthly things Then therefore men walk as men when they look no further than the good things of this life riches honours earthly pomp and greatnesse and as for the enjoyment of God which is indeed the true end that they come short of Oh do not then walk as men any longer placing all your affections thoughts and desires in inferiour comforts Is this to have your conversation in Heaven Is this to sit with Christ in heavenly places Is this to make God your portion Is not this rather to have the Serpents curse upon you to lick up the dust of the earth and to mind earthly-things Thirdly To walk as meer men is to put confidence and hope onely in second causes and visible instruments not trusting the promise of God or believing his power that he reigneth and ruleth in Heaven and earth doing what he pleaseth This is not only to walk as men but as the wise men and most admired men in the world The Scripture brings in the thoughts of the wise men as if God sate in Heaven and did not judge all things as he pleased The fool hath said in his heart and that fool is every meer man there is no God Psal 14.1 No Judge no Governour Therefore they look only to instruments to second causes and they puff up themselves and grow insolent when they have these bladders to swim with As on the other side they sink even as Pharaohs hoast into despair when such outward props are taken away Know then that all thy dedejections cares and doubtfull thoughts either about thy self or the publick they argue thee to walk as a meer man Our Saviour doth excellently shame his Disciples for this when using several Arguments to the Disciples against their distrust and carefulnesse he tels them Such things the Gentiles and Heathens seek after Mat. 6.7 So that to walk as men is to be affected in our own particular or in the publick good as if there were no promise no God as if men were Omnipotent as if men brought about all things When Melancthon was often dejected about the affairs of the Church being prone to distrust and fears Luther told him That God had bound
up the affairs of the Church in one common place which his Rhetorick and Logick had not and that was faith The godly were more than men in Hosea 14.3 when being ashamed of their carnal confidence they said Ashur shall not save us we will not ride upon horses Fourthly To walk like men is to be full of falshood deceitfulnesse or hypocrisie to have no truth in heart or word one to another Thus David saith Every man is a liar and he makes that sad complaint Help Lord for the good and faithfull man perisheth every man speaketh vanity to his neighbour Psal 12.1 Oh this is the way of men upon the earth Hence the Scripture exhorts us Not to put trust in men Psal 146.3 no not in Princes or the great ones of the world Oh but all such lying hypocrisie and dissimulation should not be named among Christians Christiana fides should be farre more firm and resolved than Romana fides Let us love saith the Apostle not in word only but in heart and deed also 1 John 3.18 The Christians at first did meet together with one heart and one accord The very Poet said he hated him even to hell who spake one thing with his mouth and thought another thing in his heart Know then that cunning Artifices and lying dissimulations are farre from that truth that God desireth in the inward parts Christs sheep must not be the Devils foxes It was the Heathens desire That his brest might be as transparent as glass that so all his thoughts within him might be seen How should this shame the guile dissimulations and falshoods that are in men one to another Fifthly To walk as men is here in the Text to be in anger hatred and revengefull thoughts one against another whereas all beasts agree among themselves even the savage Bears and Tygers yea the Devils are not divided one against another Man naturally finds nothing so sweet as revenge upon others Therefore our Saviour to shew that we must be more than man bids us Love our enemies do good to those that hate us and despitefully use us Mat. 5. This is a lesson or duty that cannot be found in Tullies Offices he thought it lawfull to be revenged upon enemies Yea Aquinas a great Schoolman thinketh That to love and forgive our enemies is not a precept or command to all but a counsel of perfection to some of more perfect and admirable excellencies Oh then when you see men full of back-bitings uncharitablenesse envyings and revengefull purposes you may see those walk as men When Jacob expected nothing but cruelty and bloudy revenge from Esau and finding the clean contrary he saith He saw his face like the Angel of God above a meer man Sixthly To walk as men is to make a mans self the Alpha and Omega the center wherein all the lines must meet The Apostle reckoning up a Catalogue of monstrous sinners he puts this in the front Men shall be lovers of themselves 2 Tim. 3.2 And Christ on the other side requireth it as the fundamental qualification in every Disciple To deny himself and take up his cross Luk. 9.23 Now for a man to deny himself pleasures his self-interests his self-advantages this doth argue men to be of God It 's noted as the great admirable perfection in Christ whose copy we are to write after That he emptied himself and became of no reputation Phil. 2. That he pleased not himself In nothing did he seek his own glory his own ease his own exaltation And there is nothing can more demonstrate Christians to be above men then to be as Christ was in this respect It was a sad complaint of old All seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ Phil 2 21. Lastly To walk as man is to commit any sinne rather then to be persecuted for the truth of God To swear or forswear to turn into all shapes to avoid danger This Christ aimed at when Peter would have him decline his sufferings Get thee behind me Satan said Christ Thou savourest not the things of God but of man Mat. 16.23 What is it to savour the things of a man To do any thing or to use any unlawful and unwarrantable wayes to escape the present danger such are counted wise men and crafty men whereas this is dishonesty and ungodliness and no wisdome for such forsake their own mercy Vse of Examination How are all our Congregations How live they How walk they Do they not live as men yea how many like bruit beasts how many like Devils Oh whose image and superscription is this Doth God require this Doth his Word command such things Did Christ live thus in the world Are ye not called to be holy as God is holy Are ye not to do Gods will on earth as Angels in heaven Why then are ye as men Who are you then that say you will do as others you will not be singular you will not be strict and precise Thy Christianity doth inforce thee to these things if thou dost hearken to it If ye will be Christians indeed you must not live according to the fashion of the world yea the world most wonder that you runne not in the same excesse with them that you will not swear curse riot it and live loosely Do not please your selves with a meer title Vse 2. of Exhortation to the godly Oh see to what exactness circumspection you should rise Be ashamed and blush if thou art as men of the world proud as they earthly as they peevish and discontented as thee Oh when thou art overtaken with such distempers go and chide thy self Lord how have I been a foolish and ignorant man to day I am like others of the world I have not behaved my self as one that is born of God that hath a more divine Spirit As it 's a great shame to see a grown man speaking and doing like a child so it is here As Michal in a sinful scornfull way said of David in a good action we may of thee in a sinful action Thou hast made thy self as one of the vile ones to day that frowardness discontent passionateness argueth thee to be like one of the world Verse 4. For whereas one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo are ye not carnal THe Apostles scope is as you have heard to repress the pride and contentions that were in the Church of Corinth And now in this fourth Verse he describeth the particular factions and divisions among them One saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollo Paul was the first Apostle that preached the Gospel to them who though unskilful in speech as he saith speaking as some think only by way of conception yet was mighty in power through God to them Apollo he came after Paul and was more eloquent and so more apt to affect the hearers this some maketh the ground of the faction but it is first disputed Whether indeed the Corinthians set
Apostle Paul though he be an eloquent Apollo More spiritual matter this Text will also afford only I must first answer that Question Whether the Corinthians did indeed set up these eminent godly men as Heads of Parties or whether his meaning was that they set up many false Apostles and became factious Disciples to such only the Apostle spareth to name them thinking it wisdome to do so and instanceth in himself and other Pillars teaching them hereby that if such as were faithfull and godly ought not to be exalted how much less corrupt and false Teachers Some are for the Affirmative and some for the Negative but I think both Expositions may well be joyned together For the Corinthians some of them did too much glory in Paul and Apollo and set them up Otherwise Why should Paul bless God so much for that Providence that he had baptized so few For men were apt to set up those that baptized them as if they had been baptized into their name Therefore certainly the Corinthians did sinfully rest and glory in such as Paul Wherfore he takes them off and excellently concludes Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord 1 Cor. 1.13 Thus the first Exposition is true Then that the other also is true that although Paul instanceth in himself and others yet therby meaning other ambitious Teachers that affected Disciples appeareth also 1 Cor. 4.6 where he saith He had by a Figure transferred those things to himself and Apollo for their sakes That is for their Instruction to teach them that they must not think of Paul and Apollo above what they should as many of them did much less of false ambitious corrupt Teachers as many others also did This explained we may observe two more Doctrines 1. That it is not lawfull for Christians to call themselves by the Name of any men though never so Eminent so as to build on them Christ and his Truth are the foundation we must build upon The Apostles indeed are called the foundations Rev. 22.14 but they were immediately inspired and they were but secondary foundations fundamenta fundata not fundamemta fundantia as Divines say So that we are not Believers in Paul or Peter We are not the Apostles Believers much less the Fathers or any Doctors and Teachers in the world That is our Saviours meaning when he saith Call no man Master but Christ Mat 23 8. It is true this Doctrine is abused by some as is to be shewed when I come to speak of those who said they were of Christ viz. in a sinfull factious way They were not for Paul or Apollo or any Ministers they cryed down all the Ministry They are for Christ to teach them immediately But thus farre the Doctrine is true we may not be called after any mans name We are not to set up any Persons or Councils in Christs stead We are not to believe in them Homines non debent aedificari super homines said Austin For the opening of this let us Consider First The Names that Christians have had in the New Testament and afterwards in the Church For by wise Names we come to know the nature of things And First Christ did often call those that followed him his Disciples Thus He that would be his Disciple must hate Father and Mother for his sake And when the Apostles are sent out their Instruction is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make Disciples Indeed there are the seventy Disciples who were in a Church-Office next the Apostles but every follower of Christ his Doctrine and way was called a Disciple but it is Christs Disciples They were never called the Apostles Disciples or any mans Disciples And certainly this doth excellently denote what Christians should do viz. Take that duty which God from Heaven commanded us concerning Christ Hear him Mat. 17.5 a Disciple is not to dispute but to believe A Disciple is wholly to learn and receive from his Master And oh how excellent would this be if every Christian would thus hearken to what Christ saith If thou art Christs Disciple learn of him how to live how to walk how to obey Lean not to thy own understanding Lean not to others for only Christ is Truth Another Name and that most frequent was Believers Christians are often called by this title None more frequent And this also doth difference Christians from all other sects in the world All the Philosophers they affected to be knowing men not believing Averroes by scorn called Christians credentes Believers For such as he affected to know the Causes of things and to inquire in the hidden secrets of Nature counting it a disgrace to believe upon meer Authority Thus Julian upbraided Christians with their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 believe only Hence Rom. 1. The preaching of Christ was accounted foolishness to the Gentiles They sought for wisdome for strong demonstrations but the Apostles meerly declaring and preaching such Doctrines were accounted foolish bablers So that to be a Believer doth denote the captivating of our understandings unto the Word of God and every sublime thought or reasoning that doth exalt it selfe And certainly if a Christian would think how much he is to submit his understanding to believe the Doctrines of the Scripture it would much inable him also to believe the Promises for the Church in general or in particular for his own self Faith of assent would breed Faith of fideucial adherence Should it be so great a matter to believe that God will raise up the Church when it hath no help Or subdue thy corruptions when thou believest greater matters in Doctrine As the Trinity That God was made man the resurrection of the body This is an excellent point to be pressed though not so proper here Another Name often attributed to Christians is Saints The Saints at Corinth and in many places Oh the very Name of this title should strike blasting and confusion into man Art thou a Saint-lyer a Saint-drunkard a Saint-Blasphemer All that are Christians should be Saints and Holy And therefore the Scripture cals them by that Name Not that all will be holy in a Church no There will be tares as well as Wheat Nor that we are to depart from a Church where wicked men are not cast out Or that the Sacraments are to be administred to none but who are truly godly though they be free from gross sinnes These things cannot be inferred only Christians are called to be Saints and are Saints by Calling and so should be in their lives Oh consider this you who are prophane Beasts and tremble at it But the most famous and distinguishing Name of the people of God is Christians They were first called so at Antioch saith the Scripture Act. 11.26 Some have questioned whether others did not then put this Name upon them by scorn and reproach because Christ was crucified or whether they themselves did not voluntarily take upon them this Name as being a glory and honour to
good sense against the general sense of many others and this doth exceedingly please ignorant people What opposition did Paul find by such that taught tast not touch not that brought in worshipping of Angels and left Christ the Head and all this was done under a colour of wisdome and humility Col. 2.23 Even as in Popery still they urge we must have the Saints and Angels Mediators to God for us for is it fit say they an inferiour person should go into the presence of a great King without the favourite Thus the Heathens argued of old and thus the Papists now these things carry a shew of humility and so those thousands of superstitious ceremonies and wayes of worship that have been brought into the Church they come under the name of zeal and devotion but observe the Scripture you shall see Baptisme the Lords Supper when purely administred although in a grave and holy way yet in such simplicity and plainness that there is not the least mention of the least ceremony or traditional worship that afterwards was introduced and this the Apostle meant when he said He was afraid lest the Serpent should beguile them from the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ 1 Cor. 11.3 Oh that is a worthy place there is a simplicity in the Doctrine Worship and life of the Gospel and your minds are easily corrupted from this Thirdly If the Devil cannot yet scatter this little flock of Christ then he raiseth up all the power civil and ecclesiastical against it that he can Thus they were the builders Church-officers that refused Christ Mat. 21.42 Observe and you shall see the greatest persecutors of Christ and the Apostles were the Priests a Councel of them was called they were alwayes combining to put them to death so that a corrupt superstitious Ministery hath alwayes been the greatest enemies to Reformation and godâ—iness Heu Domine qui sunt in Ecclesiâ primi sunt impersecutione primi And therefore at our first Reformation the Protestants dâ—d truly affirm there could never be any Reformation unless they first began with the Court of Rome and the corrupt Clergy Sigysmund the Emperour said to one counselling to begin the Reformation à Minoritis yea saith he à Majoritis The Sunne in an Eclipse makes great corruptive alterations in sublunary things was the tradition and so a corrupted Ministery cannot but oppose and set against all those that discover and reprove their abominations and thereby are destructive to the souls of their followers Now with these venomed arrowes hath the Devil for the most part shot into the bowels of the Church But if he cannot do thus yet there will be a godly faithfull Ministery maugre all his malice Fourthly Then he steereth the clean contrary He will see how he can destroy mens soules by causing men to give them too much honour Even as Nehemiah's enemies that did oppose and do all they could to hinder the building of the Temple when they could no longer prevail by open violence then they proffered to build with them You have a notable History Act. 19.13 14. of vagabond Jewes that were conjurers who took upon them to adjure by the name of Jesus Thus you see the Devil when he could no longer work in his own name he works in Christs name And therefore Paul saith He transformeth himself into an Angel of light 2 Cor. 11.14 Now he cannot do that better then by abusing the repute of those that are eminent godly Teachers Let us consider How many wayes even by godly eminent men he may hurt the Church And First When he doth tempt and draw them away into any errour or falshood than their example draweth many after them The godlinesse and learning they have makes a way for an universal reviving of their falshoods We see this in Peter when he out of fear complied too much with the Jews confirming them in their superstition it 's said He compelled others to live as Jews Gal. 2.14 How did he compell them He did not threaten and use violence as Paul compelled Christians to blaspheme but his example meerly was so potent none dared do otherwise than Peter a Pillar of the Church yea Insomuch that Barnabas also was led aside by this dissimulation So that the Devil if he can no longer by the Chief-priest indanger the Church he will by the errours of one of the chief Apostles We might clear this in after ages by several instances especially Origen a man so famous for godlinesse learning and suffering for the faith of Christ that men thought it safer to erre with Origen than be in the truth with others What a great temptation did he prove to the Church as Lyrinensis doth excellently amplifie it He could do more hurt by one Origen than by many Marcionites or Manichees Secondly If he cannot corrupt their minds then he tempts eminent instruments in the Church to some failing in their lives to some unjustifiable practices that so their whole Doctrine may be condemned How circumspectly and warily did Paul walk that the enemies of the Gospel might not have wherewith to blaspheme Therefore our Saviour said The Devil had desired to winnow the Apostles Luke 22.31 In winnowing there is the purging of the wheat and the driving away of the chaff Now the Devil hoped for the later to find them but chaff as he thought by his temptations to make it appear Job was but an hypocrite and served God only for carnal ends And thus the Devil he labours to stirre up flesh and bloud in them as it was wofull in Peter to deny his Master whereby prophane persons might say who would care what Peter saith he in danger will lie and forswear his own Master Especially Judas was a fit instrument for him he used him to bring about the death of Christ so that Judas did as much hurt as all the Priests for he was one of Christs followers knew his way and for him to become Satans instrument this made much for the kingdome of Satan Not that Judas was once truly godly as some plead alate thereby proving the Apostasie of the Saints but in esteem and appearance he was for a while at least reputed of as a Saint Thirdly If he can neither corrupt their judgements or practices then he sets them up too high he maketh men in Christs room And this the Apostle doth so much argue against They have nothing but what they receive they are but instruments so as Paul spake in another case viz. of miracles asking the people Why do ye look upon us as if we by our own power had done this wonder The same may be applied to all ministerial successe It 's not Paul or Apollo doth enlighten the mind doth convert the heart See how much hurt the Devil doth the Church by the name of these instanced in One saith I am of Cephas that is of Peter Now the name and repute of Peter is that upon which all Popery is
Church Vse 2. Of Exhortation to you the people Hath the Ministry been usefull to bring you effectually to Christ himself This is that Paul desired You may hear much you may pray much you may be much affected with the matter preached and yet all this while not close with Christ to receive him as a Saviour and to obey him as a Lord. A woman may have many Letters and Tokens of love from him whom she loveth and be much affected to him yet not married to him nor enjoy him as her Husband And so thou maist have some affections and good desires but thou art not yet united to Christ The work of the Ministry is not done till we can leave you in the arms of Christ Till we have prepared the way for Christ to lodg in your fouls Who then is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed The former part of this Text hath been considered Paul's modesty and sincerity in gaining people to Christ and not to himself Now let 's consider in what order or rank of Causes the Apostle puts the Officers of the Church and that is in the Instrumental Causes Wherein you may Observe the Effect viz. Faith 2. The Manner of working it it is by Ministery They are not principal Agents They are Ministers by whom you believed The Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deacons And this is sometimes used for a special Office in the Church for those who had the care of the poor Thus the Elder and the Deacon are sometimes used for the setled Officers in the Church but in this place and many others the word is used largely for any Ministry or service And so the Apostles and Elders and Pastours may be called Deacons in this large sense viz. Such who by their labours and pains serve the Church and its good Observe that this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as almost all the rest of the Greek words that denote the duty and quality of Church-Officers signifie no dignity or honour but care diligence and all solicitude Thus the most glorious creatures have Names signifying their Ministry and service The Hebrew word for the Sun comes from a root that signifieth to serve as also for an Angel to be sent by way of ministration So the simple word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesychius makes to signify to make haste to runne to the markes end also as a man by this much striving stirreth up dust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is dust like that of Virgil Pulverulenta fugâ Rutuli dant signa per agros So that the word in its native signification denoteth that earnest labour and striving which men that runne to some mark usually make by stirring up so much dust that doth even obnubilate the aire and from this it doth metaphorically signify that labour pains yea agony and striving which the Ministers of God ought to have in their work As Paul expressed it I have fought a good fight I have finished my course 2 Tim. 4.7 Thus the word is opened and it doth as we told you denote the quality and condition of the Officers of the Church in respect of their Auditours They are Ministers Instruments by which God works Faith in the Hearers Doct. That the Ministery in Gods Church is the Meanes and Instrumental Cause he hath appointed to work Faith and all other Graces in the Hearers This Point hath its good use for this will teach you what you should expect pray and hope for by the Ministry How doth it beget and increase Faith in thee How doth it wash thee and make thee clean But let us be more particular And 1. We shall shew you how it 's not an Instrumental Cause And 2 How it is Only take Rom. 10.14 for an eminent place to confirm this Truth where observe the excellent Gradation Paul makes None can call upon God or pray without Faith and none can believe unless they hear and none can hear unless they have a Preacher and none can be a preacher unless he be sent See what a dependence here is and how strong a place it is to prove the necessity of the Ministry This premised we go to the method proposed First When we say it 's the instituted meanes or Instrumental Cause it 's not to be understood as if the Ministry or Peaching of the Word by any inward natural power of it self can work grace in the hearts of the Hearers no Experience witnesseth that after ten thousand Sermons men remain as ignorant and as bruitish as before The words reach only to the ear but they make no forcible impression upon the soul So then the Ministry doth not beget grace as the fire burneth or the hatchet cutteth which are Instruments that work by their own inward dispotion and power to pruduce their effects This is good to observe that so still our hearts and prayers may be up to God who works in and by the Ministry Secondly Because it 's not a natural Cause therefore it doth not also work necessarily these Divine Effects in every subject but where and when God is pleased to apply it The Sunne shineth every where upon one thing as well as another The fire burneth alwaies every where in one place as well as another But the Ministry doth not so that is successfull in one place and not in another That works upon one Congregation and not upon another And herein Gods wisdom makes a wonderfull difference The most unlikely the most indisposed many times find the Ministry inlivening and quickning of them when others are blinded and hardned So that though we should have the Ministry of Angels and of the most eminent men that ever lived still we must take heed that by our unthanfulness negligence prophaneness we do not provoke God to withdraw his power and presence in the Ministry For if it be so as it is to be feared it is so to too many people then the Ministry is but a shadow or if a body a body without a soul It 's but a dead letter Yea not only the Law but the Gospel and all preaching is but the ministration of death and condemnation when without Gods Spirit and power As Elias servant though he had his Masters staff yet that could do no good to raise the dead Child till Eliah came himself Oh then say Lord be thou in their Sermons in their Ministry In the next place let us shew how it 's a Cause or Instituted Meanes And that is thus First God hath appointed the constant and diligent use of this in the Church and the peoples constant and diligent attending on it 2 Tim. 4.2 Preach the word in season and out of season That signifieth the diligent dispensing of the Word And then the people they are commanded to be swift to hear James 1.19 And As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word 1 Pet. 2 2. So that God hath indispensably commanded all people of what degrees
or rankes soever To hear and depend upon the Ministry To wait at the gates of wisdome To obey and submit themselves to such guides Heb. 13. Let no man think himself too great or too wise and learned or too holy and godly These are soul-destructive waies For as it is a wo to us if we preach not the Gospel so it must be a wo to you if you hear it not For the same command that commands the diligent dispensing of this Word of life doth also command to the constant receiving of it Thus you see God hath commanded it It is not indifferent whether you will hear or no He hath not given any exemption to any Secondly As God hath thus commanded so he hath also graciously promised to go along with it So that the Word works by reason of the Promise God speaks a word of command to the Ministry Let it pull down sinne Let it build up grace And then it prevaileth against all opposition Thus when Christ gave his Apostles Commission to make Disciples and to preach to all men he encourageth them with this That he would be with them to the end of the world Mat. 28.20 Thus in this Chapter Paul plants and Apollo watereth but God giveth the increase So then God hath commanded this way those meanes and hath promised to be powerfull in them And therefore it 's God that sanctifieth God that begetteth us God that saveth by the Word As you see the Husbandman he prepareth the ground he throweth in seed but he cannot make it grow In the Apostles time and the first age of the Church how wonderfull and admirable was the Word in propagating Faith In converting men from their sinne and lusts And all because God was mightily with them Thirdly The Ministry is a meanes to beget Faith and Conversion as it is accompanied with Arguments to convince the understanding and Consciences of men as also with Arguments of terrour or joy to move the affections For this you must know that although the Ministry works not by any inward power as natural Causes yet it is very sutable to work upon men by propounding Arguments and Motives And these being powerfully set home by God make a wonderfull alteration by conjunction of the judgment So we may read of Paul that he did by severall Arguments prove and demonstrate that Jesus was the Cstrist So that they could not gainsay him Whereupon they did either believe or prove obstinate opposers If you aske then How comes the Ministry to be thus Instrumental The Answer is By a potent and strong conviction of the Conscience declaring Grounds out of the Scripture So that the Ministry is called the Candlestick which holds out the light The Word indeed is a two-edged Sword dividing into the inwards But there must be an hand to weild and govern it The word is an hammer but there must be an arm to strike it home And certainly it 's a wonder of wonders that people should be led in such captivity and slavery to their lusts that though they sit and hear and are convinced yet they believe not How often have we demonstrated out of the Word that thy lusts and dissoluteness are sinnes And how often at the same time doth thy conscience joyne with the Word that thou art convinced It 's thy case and thou art the man yet thou art obstinate and dost not reforme Doth not the Word bind thee up take away all thy cavils stop thy mouth thou hast nothing to say yet thou wilt be wicked because thou wilt be and so the Word is instrumental to beget grace because it worketh upon the affections by the Ministery There are Arguments of fear and terrour on one side there are Arguments of love glory and immortality on the other Now if humane Oâ—tours have been able to perswade their Auditours and Rhetorique hath made such changes in mens minds insomuch that some Heathens made Hercules so famous for strength the god of eloquence as if that were his his great might what shall we say of the Arguments and power of Gods Word which is above the hearts and consciences of men so that the Word workes faith and conversion by convincing the judgement and enflameing the affections As it is meanes or instrumental in this manner so there are these four Properties of this instrumental cause First The Ministery is the only ordinary way that God hath appointed either for the beginnings or encrease of grace For the beginnings Thus Faith is said to come by hearing Rom. 10.17 And God hath begotten us by his Word Jam. 1.18 And for the encrease Eph. 4. You may there see it is for the compleating of us in a full stature in Christ Thus as the ordinary way for a mans life is by outward food and sustenance so the ordinary meanes of all spiritual life is by the Ministery of the Word Indeed some propound particular cases as of Infants whâ— cannot hear or of deaf men or of some persons by unexpected calamities cast where no Ministery is to be had but we do not now speak of extraordinary wayes we know God did feed the Israelites with Manna from heaven when they could have no ordinary food but in Gods ordinary way unless thou expect a miracle the Ministery is the instrumental publique meanes Indeed the godly example of others and afflictions these may much prepare the heart but the Ministery that is the proper instrumental cause Secondly Because it 's the ordinary meanes therefore it 's the necessary meanes to which all are tied We cannot be without it if a man enjoy it not his soul becomes like a barren wilderness yea like a noisome dunghill Hence the Ministers are compared to those servants that distribute convenient bread to others As a house or family cannot be without bread so neither can the Church without the preaching of the Word The Ministery is frequently compared to rain the same word in its root for to rain and to teach and the preaching of it to the plentifull seasonable showers that came upon the parched ground so that as â— Land or Kingdome cannot subsist without the rain from heaven so neither people without these meanes Isa 5. When God commanded the clouds to rain no more upon his vineyard his meaning was he would take away the Pastor and the Teacher from them and then woe be to that land Thirdly This instituted means is very unlikely for such glorious effects to a carnalâ—â—ie Hereupon it 's very despicable and contemptible to humane reason The Apostle calls it the foolishness of preaching 1 Cor. 1.21 not that it is so indeed for â—t ' the wisdome of God to salvation but the Apostle calls it so according to the principles of humane wisdome For whether you do regard the matter or manner of preaching it 's both very unlikely ever to produce such effects The matter is high paradoxal incredible to flesh and blood The manner of delivering is plain without the
affected wisdome of the world without either miraculouâ— signes or scientifical demonstrations either of which would much perswade men Fourthly and lastly It 's the perpetual invariable means God hath appointed to the worlds end When the Ministery and Preaching shall cease then shall all this world with the things therein cease Thus Eph. 4. it 's there said to continue till Christs coming and Paul's direction about the Ministery must be kept till the coming of Christ The former dispensation is altered he hath taken away Priests and Levites the sacrifices and Altars but he will never take away Pastors and Teachers and Sacraments and these must abide as long as there is a Church on the world Vse of Examination It 's the Ministery this is the ordinary necessary appointed menans for faith and other graces Why then is it that it hath not been so to thee Oh it would be an heavy trouble to thee thou wouldst think God had some extraordinary jugement upon thee if thou couldst have no cloaths to warm no food to nourish thee no creature be that to thee for which it is appointed But behold a greater judgement then this no Ministery doth convert thee no Preaehing begets faith or repentance in thee In the Apostles times What multitudes were converted by the Word Yea in the first times of Reformation from Popery How many did not only receive the truth in their minds but grace in their hearts they were not only converted from Popery and superstition but from prophaness and impiety But now alas to whom is the power of God made known Certainly the Word is the same Gods arm is as strong as ever but men by their wilfull ignorance by their unthankfulness and rebelling against the light have sinned away the presence and power of God from the Ministery and then if God go not along with us Alas what can we do Oh that you who are hearers would deeply lay these things to heart God saith his Word is an enlightning Word a sanctifying cleansing Word Why is it not so to thee Why art thou no more reformed then where there is no Preaching no Ministery at all The same cursing swearing the same lusts pride covetousness and ignorance Is not all this because God doth not appear in his own Ordinances Oh men without hope How desperate is such mens condition for if the Ministery cure thee not what will cure thee Woe be to thee if the Word that is so effectual and operative to others be not also to thee Who is Paul and who is Apollo but Ministers by whom ye believed even as the Lord gave every man The third thing in order to be discust is the noble Effect whereof the Ministry is said to be an Instrumental Cause viz. Ye believed Faith is one of the most eminent Common-places in Divinity It 's the Sanctum Sanctorum in this spiritual building It s the fat in that spiritual Sacrifice we offer to God And because of the spiritual and most sublime nature of it it is least understood by the natural man I shall not at this time handle all the main particulars about it because the holy Ghost intends it not in this place Onely take notice that in stead of all the work of grace repenting reforming he nameth believing because this is Initial and Introductory to all the rest The word Faith or Believing is of a very large and fruitfull signification but it 's impertinent at this time to trouble you with it Observe That Faith is the great and eminent grace which God by the Ministry works in some hearers Thus upon Christ and the Apostles preaching still this is recorded And many believed Insomuch that Faith is said to come by hearing Rom. 10.17 The Scripture indeed sometimes speaks of faith as prerequisite to make the Word profitable Who hath believed our report And the Word profited them not because it was not mixed with faith Heb. 4.6 Here we see unbelief doth obstruct and hinder the savoury effect of the Gospel But that is finally in those that pâ—rish but in those that shall be saved God in his due time will by the Word preached work faith viz. enlighten their minds and open their hearts to entertain it To open this Doctrine Let us consider the Nature of Faith and that is usually said to consist in three acts whether they be all essential or some only I shall not here determine The first is Knowledge and understanding This is eternal life to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17.3 Yea it 's a strong and powerfull conviction of the mind Hence it 's called The substance and evidence of things Heb. 11.1 Believing in the soul is compared to the corporal seeing of the body To say a blind faith is as great a contradiction as to say a dark Sunne or a cold fire If it be faith it doth see the ground of its belief Indeed faith cannot comprehend the matter we believe the Doctrine of the Trinity the Incarnation of Christ are like the dazelling Sunne to our Bats-eyes but though faith cannot comprehend the matter believed yet it knoweth the ground why it doth believe in those places of Scripture and the testimony of Gods Word which saith It is thus and thus Oh then How farre are many from being believers For ignorance covers their souls as darknesse did the Chaos at the first The very principles of Religion the total ignorance whereof doth damn a man yet is like a veil upon most mens eyes Oh then consider that knowledge and understanding is the necessary way to let in faith or rather is a beginning and part of it If thou hadst lost thy eyes or wert smitten with corporal blindnesse How much would it affect thee But now thou hast unbelief and spiritual blindnesse yet it doth not break thy heart Say no more thou believest in Christ thou believest in God if thou knowest not what Christ and God is Though ignorant people are full of their devotion yet because it 's without knowledge and faith it 's as abominable as a Sacrifice without eyes Secondly But knowledge is not all How many Atheists are there that know much and understand the points of Religion yet believe not Therefore the second Act of Faith is to Assent to give credit to them as true and this indeed we mean and Scripture also means this most commonly when it speaks of believing the Word of God that is giving a firm and sure assent to it as true Hence that expression Faith is the substance Heb. 11.1 that is by faith we make those things that are future really subsist as it were in our souls as if present Thus Faith makes Heaven and Hell present The Apostle excellently describes it They behold not the things temporal or seen but the things eternal which are not seen 2 Cor. 4 18. Thus Moses is said to have an earnest eye of faith fixed upon the reward and that is an act
this means they who are indeed of this building of this field they are more happy then all others in the world for God is in covenant with them To them only God is their God and they his people And when the Psalmist had spoken of all external felicity saying Happy are the people that are in such a case he addeth Yea happy are the people whose God is the Lord Psal 144.15 So then we cannot name a greater Prerogative and Priviledge then to be in such a relation all that God hath is their's his wisdom power and goodness Only by the way take notice that many are externally of this husbandry this building that are not internally and therefore such have not the Promises made good to them in all respects How hardly can we say of many people They are Gods building Yea they are rather the Devils Den and his Hell But more of this hereafter Fourthly It supposeth care love and protection This floweth from the other Propriety causeth care and love among men What cares a man for another mans Field another mans Corn but he looketh to his own He weedeth that he fenceth that he keepeth that from all violence And this certainly should encourage the godly in their conflict with sinne Oh! they complain of the weeds thornes that grow up in their heart that choak the good seed let them remember they are Gods as well as their own and it belongs to him It 's for his honour and glory to have these thornes pulled up It makes for Gods praise that thy heart be a room swept and kept clear for him to lodge in Oh! urge this in Prayer O Lord am I not thy husbandry Is not my soul thy building Why then lieth it thus ruinous Why is it neglected by thee It 's not only my comfort my happiness but thy glory and honour is interested in this Come we in the next place to consider the several similitudes And First Ye are Gods Husbandry Take notice that he doth not here speak of the invisible and mystical Church of Christ but as they were a visible Church at Corinth As there was a visible company of men openly and publiquely professing the Faith of Christ and joyning together in an external Communion in holy Ordinances Here is much in this for it sheweth how all our particular Congregations should be what manner of Societies even such as are Gods Husbandry Gods Tillage Building and House This is the great truth that people should hearken after that they walk worthy of such glorious Titles and Relations This Relation of being Gods Husbandry implieth something on his part and many things on ours On his part First That he finds all people of themselves like a barren wilderness and fruitless desert The Curse upon the ground is fulfilled in them to bring forth nothing but briers and thornes All the things of grace and godliness are not only above our natures but contrary to them Even as if a man should see a piece of ground like the very rocks that no Husbandry could ever do any good on it The same are all people when the Word comes at first to them In other expressions it 's called raising up Children to Abraham out of stones And as wild beasts delight to be in the wilderness that is their habitation Thus are all men till converted by the Word so many wild beasts carried away with bruitish lusts in the wilderness of the world which makes the Scripture compare them so often to such things Oh then bewail the roughness and obstinacy in thy heart to what is godly Secondly It supposeth that grace and godliness is wholly planted by God in their souls for this floweth from the other Seeing we are such a barren wilderness what fruit can ever be expected from us All the fruit then of righteousness and godliness doth come wholly from him We of our selves stand like so many rotten fruitless trees to be cursed by God and cut down for the fire but it 's the grace of God that works the beginnings and increase of all godliness in them Marvell not then if you see a people under the sweetest and best seasons of grace to be yet barren and unprofitable for this fruitfulness is only of God Oh we would wonder that a people who know so much who hear so much that have clouds so often raining on them should yet be like so many stones and rocks Oh this is the wrath and judgment of God to be trembled under it For he makes one to grow and not another He causeth grace to spring up in one and not another Thirdly This supposeth that God likewise giveth all the seasons and opportunities of growth and fruitfulness As the Gardiner he looketh to his times when he must water the Plants lest they die The season of the year helpeth to grow as well as the nature of the soil Annus non ager fructificat Hence God when he is angry he threatneth that he will command his clouds not to rain Isa 5. God threatens it as the greatest judgment to deprive a people of the Ministry and sâ—ason of grace how low and slight thoughts soever people have of it Observe that place Ezek. 7.26 Mischief shall come upon mischief one calamity upon another And what then They shall seek for a Vision of the Prophet but the Law shall perish from the Priest Thus Amos 8.11 When God will make a people a barren and desert Nation then he makes those spiritual heavens like brasse and iron Oh then know that as the natural seasons and times are of his appointment so much more the gracious ones On our parts who are the field to be tilled there are these things First A willingness to have the Word of God prepare and wound our souls even tearing our heart to pieces that so the Word as seed may fructifie This is that the Scripture cals plowing up the fallow ground Jer. 4.3 That is when the Law and Threatnings of the Word enter into our very bowels is like the Plough that makes deep furrows in the heart Oh then that the secure confident and quiet heart that hath thus many years layen quiet and at ease feeling no grief nor trouble may at last be wounded and cut assunder This is not an acceptable pleasing work to you but very necessary it is Could the ground be sensible it would feel the plow making torments and rents in the bowels of it Thus it is here the Law of God the Word of God that comes like a two-edged sword in thy bowels that bloweth like a strong tempest and shakes thy sinnes at the very root Oh expect not healing and peace and comfort till you have been thus disquieted Do not then quarrell at the Word of God but rather bless him for the power of it when it changeth the whole face of a Congregation filleth thee with many sad and anxious thoughts sends thee home enquiring Lord what shall I do What will
an House of Prayer Ye are to be a praying people but thou art a cursing and blaspheming wretch In his House every vessel was holy but thou art a loathsome vessel of all impiety and filthinesse Fifthly Here is this further in this building It 's not an ordinary building but a sacred and an holy one Therefore as you heard they are called The Temple of the living God Now then what an astonishing consideration is this Those that are of this House must be separated unto God from all prophane and common things even as the Temple might not be polluted by any common action And hence is that phrase They are sanctified that is they are made holy by a peculiar dedication unto God Therefore in that 2 Cor. 6.16 17. when the Apostle had said they were the Temple of the living God he addeth this Exhortation Therefore come out from among them and touch no unclean thing Oh then if you would be thought the House and Temple of the Lord consider what Communion hath light with darkness What agreement is there between Christ and Belial Be not then forgetfull of this when thou art tempted unto any grosse impiety Sixthly It being an house all within are servants and so they are to do their Masters worke to live to him Whatsoever you do do all to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10 31. All those servants in the Parable called for by the Master and bid to merchandize till he came Luke 19 12. And those who have been eminent in Gods work they have this title in a peculiar manner Thus Moses the servant of God and Paul the servant of Christ Now alas who thinketh of these things Every man lives to himself to his own ease gain and advantage We walk not as servants who though they have gained never so much yet say this is none of ours we may not do with it what we please Servus non est persona sedres saith the Civil Law Thus this health this wealth these parts this time is none of mâ—ne I must improve it for my Master Oh what a good consideration would this be for every one to think I am set in this place I am in this relation I have these helpes to serve God with This is my chiefe end Seventhly It supposeth Order and Government The Church of God is an House now that hath domestical Laws There are Oeconomicks as well as Politicks it doth not deserve the name of an house where there is no body to command nor none to obey but all do as they list And must not this be much more in the spiritual house of God Paul did rejoyce to see the Churches Order and her faith Col. 2.5 her Faith for Doctrine her Order for Government Hence the Scripture speaks of those that govern and those that are to obey and God who is not a God of confusion hath not left every man to believe and think and maintain what he lift Hence are those spiritual censures of reproving admonishing and casting out a man Some walk disorderly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Thes 3.11 it 's an excellent word it signifieth such an exact order as in an army none may break his rank Thus God hath set a spiritual order in his Church some are eyes some hands some to preach some to hear some to rule some to obey and it 's a monster and not a body when every member would be an eye every private man a publick Officer in the Church This would be a Babel and not Gods house Eighthly Vnity love and concord among those that are in the same house Oh let this shame all animosities fractions and quarrellings Are we not of the same house How comely a thing is it to see brethren dwell together in unity Psal 133.1 2. It 's compared to that precious ointment poured on Aaron We reade in one Parable of some wicked servants that were drunken and did beat their fellow servants but how severe will their Master be against such How much respect have Laws given to the material building that none might quarrel or fight in the Church or Church-yard Now it 's a farre greater matter to have those brawlings and contentions in the spiritual house of God The primitive Christians were remarkable for all this when they all had one heart and one mind If it be a body and Christs body then one member must not fight with another Vse Of Direction to our particular Congregations Oh consider what titles and names the Scripture useth to give to such societies To be Gods house Is not this enough to confound us when we have by our lusts made them the sty of swine or as Jerusalem was in her desolation made for Owls and Satyrs to dance in so we chase away the presence of God from our Congregations and the Devil and lusts reigne over us Oh how unworthy are we of such names Know then that of all places Gods judgement will first begin with his own people Then judgement must begin at the house of God Your condemnation will be greater than those who never were dignified with such titles Study Reformation every one in his particular lest Christ take up a rod and whip to cleanse his Temple Certainly all our particular Congregations need much building much reforming this hath made so many sad questions Whether they may be called Churches because so many ignorant and prophane abound every where Let us labour to take away these blemishes woe be to those that give these offences you go on from one lust to another and never think what order God hath left to guide you by What purity zeal mortification ought to be every where To be like an heavenly orb full of glorious stars What doth the prophane man the liar the proud man the beastly drunkard in Gods house A master of a family that loveth God and hath care of his own soul will not let such a person dwell in his own house and do you think God will suffer it So then look not only to your own sins as private persons but as servants in so many houses Pray for godly order comely society Verse 10. According to the grace of God which is given to me c. THe Apostle having used those excellent similitudes of a field and an house in which relation particular Congregations are or should be unto God In this tenth verse he declareth what he had done among them as the house of God persisting in the same similitude So that the words are partly declaratory partly exhortatory Declaratory and in that there is the person set forth by a two-fold property a Master builder and a wise builder 2. Their is his action I have laid the foundation 3. There is the efficient cause of this According to the grace of God given unto me The latter part is Exhortatory but of that afterwards I shall at this time consider the ground and rise of all Pauls strength to lay this foundation viz. The
worship of God There is a secret delight and pleasure men have to make a worship of their own as Children have to make Babies The Scripture fore seeth this and therefore doth so often bid men take heed and they must not follow their own hearts and they must not go in the way they shall choose and they must not do what seemeth good in their own eyes These strict Prohibitions do suppose an itching inclination in men to make a worship of their own and the several ages of the Church have given sad experiences of this sinne The Church which had at first a simple plain and spiritual worship of God became to abound more in external Ceremonies then the Jews as Austin in his time complained If then it be so dangerous to erre about the worship of God What is that sure and stedfast Foundation which both Ministers and people must build upon And that is Only the Command and Divine Institution of God himself I do not speak of natural and necessary circumstances as time and place but whatsoever is the essence or part of the worship of God or the meanes thereof that must have a positive Command and a divine Institution The second Commandement which forbids all kinds or parts or meanes of worship which any man shall make to himself doth thereby command that only which God hath appointed So that as all that money is to be rejected as not currant which hath not the legall superscription on it so also all that worship is to be refused of which you cannot say This the Lord requireth This the Lord hath Commanded Austin doth to this purpose apply a sentence of Socrates God saith he is to be worshiped only in that manner as he himself willeth and appointeth Oh the purity of Ordinances that we should have enjoyed And how beautifull would the Tabernacle of the Lord have been if this Foundation had been alwaies laid Now that no other foundation may be laid but a Divine Command and Gods Institution will appear by several Reasons First There is express Scripture to keep close to Gods Commandement Deut. 31 32. Thou shalt not adde thereto nor diminish from it is Gods Commandement This Command is four times repeated in the Scripture by which it appeareth that no men under any pretence of stirring up devotion or decency may adde any thing unto his Command or deâ—ract from it as the publique Coin of a Land my not be clipt but it 's a Capital crime to do so and equivalent to this is that Exhortation Not to turn to the right hand or to the left Deut. 17.11 alibi In the Hebrew they are Verbes Not to dextrate it or sinistrate it as we may say The left hand is when men out of prophaneness and atheism or irreverence neglect the due worship God hath appointed The right hand is when men out of pretended zeal and good intentions set up that which God hath not commanded We are not then in our worship to offer a Sacrifice without eyes which then we do when we have not Gods Word a light to direct us We are not to be lâ—ke Sheep that follow those that go before Non quà cundum est sed quâ itur as Seneca said Hence those Pharisees that were so diligent and officious in their invented worship our Saviour in two or three words throweth it all down Who hath required these things at your hands And In vain do they worship me Mark 11.7 See there is no worship no service of God but thou must be able to answer this Question Who hath required it Who hath commanded it Otherwise it 's a vain worship In vain do they worship me And of all vanâ—ties this is the saddest when thy Religion and Worship will be found an empty vain thing It hath not advantaged thy soul There is no reward laid up for it Secondly Therefore must Gods Institution be a foundation Because when we have to do with God whatsoever is not of Faith is sinne Rom. 14.23 There was a great dispute in the Church about eating and not eating about observing daies and not observing some placed worship in that which others did not Now among other things what golden Rules doth the Apostle lay down and this chiefly Whatsoever is not of Faith is sinne Whatsoever is not of perswasion that it 's lawfull and acceptable to God if I do it it is a sinne And now How can any man be perswaded that is acceptable to God which is not commanded by him which is not his will Had any man in the Old Testament brought a dog or any other unclean beâ—st to be sacrificed had not this been a great dishonour to God The head in every sacrifice was to be thrown away to shew say some that mans own invention is not to be attended unto in the worship of God Thirdly Gods Institution and Command must be the foundation otherwise all our worship would come from ignorance and it would be endless From ignorance for the Word of God that only is compared unto light so that every one walketh in darkness that is not thus directed Therefore Joh. 4. that woman of Samaria who pleaded so carnaly for her false worship Our fathers they worshiped here and art thou greater then our fathers Our Saviour tels her They worshiped they did not know what It was a worship they had no Command no Institution for and so they did they knew not what As it would come from ignorance so it would be an endless worship for if we have not Gods Institution then every man may adde what he pleaseth As we see in Popery what a multitude of Ceremonies are introduced which they make worship of God And by what reason they do these they may bring in ten thousand more And it cannot be otherwise if once you take away this sure foundation Fourthly To the true and right worship of God there is a gracious Promise of presence acceptance and blessing I said not to Jacob seek my face in vain Isa 45.19 Thus take up all the sorts of worship Prayer and ministration of Sacraments Preaching of the Word these things if done in Gods order return full of precious mercies to those that are imployed therein Now if we are not conformable to this Command we may never look for any Promise for these two are alwaies joyned together As in the old Testament God promised to answer by Vrim and Thummim suppose the High-Priest had taken two other stones would the Lord have answered him No it was not according to his institution What a great breach did God make upon Vzzah because God was not sought in his due order as David said 1 Chron. 15.9 So then as no man or company of men can make a new Article of Faith or can institute a Sacrament because they cannot give the grace signified so it 's in matter of worship they cannot appoint new worship But you may say Why should it be such a sinne
same necessary soul-saving things for the affections are slow to receive though the understanding be quick You are not weary of the same sun though it rise every day We proceed to the next particular in the Text viz. the Event or consequent of Paul's foundation Another buildeth thereon So then Paul and the other Apostles laid the foundation in that they planted Churches at first and all that are to come after are only to build on that They must not divulge any new necessary Articles of Faith we must rest content with what is done by them already Observe That people are not to expect that Ministers should bring any other Doctrine them what is laid by Christ and the Apostles already Religion is matter of Doctrine which we receive from the Scriptures not matter of invention that we make of our own head Thus even Timothy is commanded only to build upon not to lay any foundation O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy charge 1 Tim. 6.20 That good thing comitted to thy trust The necessary truths of salvation are deposited in the Scripture and committed to faithfull men Now they must look they deliver the same Aurum accepisti aurum redde as Lyriuensâ—s To open this consider That the Apostles sent by Christ made it their business to inform in all things necessary to be believed and done They declared the whole counsel of God by a lively voice preaching to those that lived in those daies It is true they likewise informed of many other truths and duties in Religion that were not fundamental but still wheresoever they came they preached Faith in Christ and Rpentance Faith in Christ that required the knowledg of things to be believed and Repentance that was about things to be done And indeed if the Apostles had not laid down all things necessary their Commission would have been very imperfect and it would have redounded to Gods dishonour to send such foolish builders that could not lay a sound foundation So that it is horrible presumption for any to think that God hath revealed more to them then the Apostles What the Apostles had not revealed to them as necessary we are not to think it necessary Therefore 2. When the Apostles were to leave the earth and could no longer by a living voice commend those necessary things to them it pleased God that what they had delivered by mouth should be commended to writing These things are written saith John that believing we might have eternal life So then the believing of things written is enough to bring eternal life Joh. 20 31. And Timothy is commended that from the youth up he was acquainted with the Scriptures which were able to make him wise to salvation 1 Tim. 3. Since therefore the Apostles were taken into Heaven the foundations that we have to build on are the Scriptures only Hence though Christ be here called the foundation yet the Apostles and Prophets also are called the foundation Eph. 2.20 upon which Believers are built viz. secondary foundations So that to expect necessary things beyond the Scripture is as vain as to look for another Messiah with the Jews He that cannot see with one sun would not see with an hundred 3. Although the necessary foundations be thus laid yet our preaching and your hearing is not in vain for there is this further work to be done First Those necessary things we are to explain more distinctly and confirm more plainly that so Faith may be the more setled Necessary Principles of Religion have many excellent conclusions latent in them as fire lyeth in a stone which doth not appear but by striking out The Ministry therefore is to explain and distinctly to interprete these things As the candle though of it self it hath light enough yet unless put on a candlestick it cannot enlighten the whole room so the Word of God though it be full of light yet there must be the interpretation and application of it Therefore they are commanded to divide the Word aright 2 Tim. 2.15 The bread must be broken and digested else it cannot nourish So that this building lyeth in the further explication of what is believed We do not preach nova but novè not new things but in a new manner Secondly Though we are only to build on this foundation and no new thing be expected yet matters of Religion may be said to be new in themselves or unto us In themselves and so certainly there can be no new thing preached for as there cannot be a new Christ or a new Scripture so neither any new Faith Yea the Apostles and Christ himself did not bring any new necessary matter of salvation to what the Patriarchs and Prophets had before The Old Testament and the New are the same for the substance of Salvation though there be new Rites and new Sacraments and a clear explication But in the second place things may be new to us As in Popery when the reformed Divines first preached Justification by Faith denyed the merit of works as also the Pope to be head of the Church These were said to bring a new Gospel but it was a slander it was new only to men corrupted with errors and living in ignorance as the sun is new to a man that was blind but hath received his sight Thirdly This building upon the foundation lyeth in the powerfull application of necessary truths to the hearts and consciencies of men For the Scripture that speaks generally the Ministry that is to come particularly that doth as Elisha laid himself upon the Child mouth to mouth and body to body that so life might be procured To do by particular application of what is spoken generally in the Word this is the Ministry Vse of Instruction That it is a fundamental miscarriage in Religion to affect any thing further then the Scripture and the Apostles have left to us To expect such new things as cannot be built on this foundation Oh take heed of being weary of any point in Religion because thou knowest it already There is a sinfull itching both in Preachers and Hearers many times in these things As they were weary of the Manna because used to it We are indeed to grow in knowledg and in light both Persons and Churches are to grow in a reformation yet they must grow within the same kind as a Child groweth in the parts of man-kind he doth not degenerate into another nature But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon We are now come to the later part of this verse which is Exhortatory Let every man take heed c. By this he sheweth that it 's a matter full of danger his losse may be exceeding great And then withall a man had need use much diligence and circumspection otherwise he may think â—he buildeth gold and silver when indeed it is nothing but drosse or lead And when he saith Every man his meaning is onely of Officers and Teachers he doth not speak
of private persons though they also are to take heed they put no false or erroneous sense upon the Scripture but he speaks of publick Teachers who by their calling and Offices are to build Now the Object of this Exhortation is To take heed what they build To build after the foundation is laid is the same with watering after planting And it implieth a further continuation and illustration explication and application as also a clearer confirmation of that matter which is already laid down by the Apostles So that observe The Ministers of God are greatly to take heed that they preach no other thing than what is already contained in the Scripture Or It 's a dangerous thing to put that sense and meaning on the word of God which is not the true genuine sense of it They are with much care fear and trembling to consider how they build upon the Scriptures And if Ministers are thus to take heed then likewise all others who reade and search the Scriptures are to take heed of presumptuous boldnesse and irreverent ignorance in the perverting of it The Scriptures are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Testament or Will of Christ Now as it 's a dangerous thing even by the Laws of a Land to corrupt forge or falsifie a mans will No lesse capital is it to the soul of a man any wayes to pervert the Doctrine of the Word of God 2 Pet. 3.16 They that are unlearned wrest the Scriptures unto their own destruction See here a man may damn his soul by wresting and tormenting the Scripture as it were upon a rack to a contrary sense then what it intended Oecumenius on the place saith It 's as great a sinne to pervert the writings of the Apostles as it was to cut and mangle or murder their bodies To amplifie this consider There may be a two-fold building or ADDITION to the Word of God either Destructive and Corruptive such as wholly overthroweth the true meaning and sense of the holy Ghost And this is a very dangerous sinne Or else Perfective and Explicative Thus the New Testament was added to the Old as a perfective addition not corruptive though it could not have been added as Scripture but that the Authors thereof had a divine infallibility And now what the Ministers of God in their Ministerial labours do it must be an addition explicative of the foundation though it be not with divine infallibility We see here God thought it not enough to plant a people but he will have in all ages men to water not enough to lay a foundation but he will alwayes have builders who are to build on this For indeed we must not strain the Metaphor too farre Paul did not only lay the foundation but did also build up all the necessary parts of the house also onely by this similitude he would shew That there must be alwayes in the Church publick persons who by their Office are to build up people in faith and godlinesse but they are not left to their own imaginations to their own thoughts They must dresse every Sermon at the glasse of the Word they must preach as they reade in Scripture Secondly The word of God which containeth the foundation that the Apostles have laid may be either considered in respect of the words only or in respect of the sense cloathed with the words Now indeed it 's not the holy Scripture but when both the sense and the words go together if a man take the words only contrary to the sense he abuseth it and so promoteth the Hereticks and the Devils interest not Gods glory For the sense that is the internal for me and life of all the words So that it is not enough to alledge the words of the Scripture It 's not enough to be able to say The Scripture saith such words but the true sense and meaning that is the soul the words are the body only yet the words must be diligently attended unto as that by which we come to find out the sense The Devil brought Scripture but he perverted it applying it to an ill sense and so all Heretiques have alledged words but not the true sense breathing in them In the next place Let us consider Why we ought so to take heed and that is to be manifest in many respects First From God himself his glory and honour is greatly concerned herein For when we come in his Name and pretend his Word and indeed it is our own What is this but an high offence to God God doth severely threaten those Prophets that broached their own thoughts and preached the lies of their own imaginations yet said Thus saith the Lord. It 's no dallying matter it 's a matter wherein much prayer much humility and many graces are to be exercised lest we should highly dishonour God Oh if this were written in mens hearts they would be more tender and fearfull in delivering their opinions in saying This is the sense or that is the sense For when thou sayest This is the meaning of the holy Ghost This is the truth of God it behoveth thee again and again to consider lest thou put thy lie thy falshood thy sinfull imagination on God Secondly On Gods part we are to take heed Because he hath so severely threatned all those that adde or detract to his Word Any that shall alter these foundations or change these bounds If it be so hainous a matter among men to remove a land-mark and to confound such bounds how much more here That command not to adde or take away is set home with a terrible threatning Revel 22.18 If any shall adde God shall adde unto him the plagues that are in this book Oh see then what thou deliverest out of Scripture as Gods word for the judgments of God are threatned to such as offend herein And Prov. 30.6 Adde not unto his words lest he reprove thee Thou challengest any adversary to confute thee see here God will confute thee he will reprove thee and thou be found a liar Thou thinkest happily such and such an adversary will reprove thee take heed God doth not become thy enemy for such an opinion Oh then while we are preaching and delivering our heavenly message to you we are under a dreadfull account we are to pray and fear and consider lest God find us liars and reprove us at last Secondly On the peoples part Therefore we ought greatly to take heed For 1. The word of God in the true sense of it is the onely food and nourishment of the soul That onely doth nourish and cause to grow So that all those who build up any thing but Scripture-truths they give poison to a people to live upon How great a crime is it to poison any fountain where all people fetch their water And thus all they do and if it be not poison yet it 's but chaff What is chaff to the wheat said the Prophet Jer. 23.28 All
was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Martyrdome Christ died a Martyr as well as a Mediatour because by his blood he witnessed Gods truth You see then how deare his truths are to him And the Psalmist among other arguments useth this It 's time for thee Lord to work for men have made void thy Law Psal 119.126 And though it be but the least Commandment yet if any man shall teach men to breake it he shall be called the least in the Kingdome of Heaven that is he shall be none at all in the Church here as some expound and of Heaven hereafter Matth. 5.19 Know then that not only prophane lives but corrupt Doctrines do provoke God Secondly It 's necessary there should be a time because of the people who belong to Gods grace that they may see their errours and bewail them That they may redeem the time by pulling down their hay and stubble and building gold and silver Thus Luther and all the first Reformers alas they had a long time built hay and stubble till God opened their eyes and then they were as much for truth as once against it How could the people of God come out of Babylon if this day were not And if there be so much joy for reducing one straying Sheep how much more of wandering Shepherds Lastly In respect of men hardened in their errours that their obstinacy may appear the more That when they will not see though the day appear who then can justifie them Thus the Pharisees the proper builders of hay and stubble yet Christ tels them He came into the world that they might not see Their blindnesse was the more increased by his light Vse of Admonition To embrace those daies of light and Revelation which God brings into the world Do not dote upon thy own Opinions thy old corrupt Doctrines and Worship It 's no longer night the day appeareth It 's true such a day is very terrible to men who are wholly corrupted with their errours As Mal. 3. The Prophet speaking of his coming to purify the sons of Levi cryeth out Who may abide the day of his coming It 's as terrible you heard as the Day of Judgment to them Certainly to superstitious and idololatrical persons the day of Reformation is a terrible day They cannot abide the purity and holinesse of it Do not dispute but wisely observe when God causeth such daies to arise upon thee thy blindnesse will be the more inexcuseable Because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is We now proceed to the manner or Instrument by which the Day of God shall declare it and that is by fire This is the place that hath raised much fire of contention while Expositours differ about the interpretation of fire Austin as you have heard thought it one of Paul's hard places to be understood and is so modest that he professeth he had rather learn from others then dictate any thing himself This Text the Papists make the chief place for Purgatory therefore Bellermine lib. 1. de Purga cap. 5. is very large in the explication of this place calling it as difficillimum for tilissimum c. one of the most difficult places of the whole Scripture and yet most profitable because the Catholiques build their Ecclesiastical Doctrines on this place viz That there are venial sins and that there is Purgatory Indeed he doth in part Orthodoxly expound the fire in this verse saying Herein we do not dissent from Calvin and Martyr but he would establish it on verse 15. Of which in its time But it 's well that if there be such a fire it 's only of hay and stubble and will not last long By Purgatory fire they mean a severe punishment though not altogether so terrible as Hell in which place they go that are good for the main but yet have many sinnes cleaving to them from which they were not purged in this life If you ask for a text of Scripture some say It cannot be proved by Scripture but only it 's a Church tradition Others as Bellarmine labour to prove it by Scripture but by very obscure texts such as these are Now necessary things to Faith or Salvation are some where or other laid down plainly in Scripture But that this is only a probatory fire and not a a purgatory as they hold appeareth by this clear Argument They hold that only wicked actions shall come into the purgatory fire but the Apostle makes all actions good or bad to come under this fire The fire shall try every mans work If it be gold or precious stones it must be tried by fire as well as hay or stubble whereas purgatory fire is only for hay and stubble And this sufficiently clears the place from any such corrupt glosse which would build hay and stubble even from that very text that threatens fire to such Doctrine But it 's not enough to confute a false interpretation unlesse we give a true What then is meant by fire And First We will take it for granted though some think otherwise that fire is used in the same sense by the Apostle in these verses It 's revealed by fire The fire shall try Yet â—o as by fire Three times the Apostle nameth fire and it 's not likely that in so short a space he should use it in different senses Taking it therefore for one and the same fire let us consider how the Scripture useth the word fire and I shall not reckon up all the significations but what respects to this in my Text And 1. Fire signifieth the wrath and anger of God Why is thy anger kindled like fire And God is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 2. For the Effect of Gods anger tribulations and punishment When thou walkest through the fire Isa 43 2. 3. It 's used for any thing that will try and examine That as the fire tryeth the gold but consumeth the drosse so whatsoever way God takes to examine that is fire Thus Psal 66.10 Thou hast tryed us as silver is tryed And Gods Word is said to be like gold seven times tryed in the furnace Psal 12 6. Especially Zechar. 13.9 4 More particularly it 's used for Gods Word because that doth try and discover all false waies Jer. 5.14 I will make my â—ords in thy mouth fire saith God to Jeremiah For fire hath light and heat in it both these try First Light Every thing that is manifested is manifested by the light Ephes 5.13 Secondly Heat Calor separat heterogenea Heat separateth the drosse from gold Now the Word of God is light and heat 5. Fire is used for temptations afflections The precious tryal of your faith by fire 1 Pet. 1.7 Count not the firey tryal a strange thing 1 Pet. 4.12 Mark 9.29 Every Sacrifice shall be sâ—ltâ—â—â—ith fire That is as some expound it Every man that would be acceptable to God he must have salt to season him and this
off every man from his dearest sinnes The Apostle speaking 2 Pet. 3.11 of this expectation and how the whole world shall be then on fire he cryeth out What manner of persons ought we to be For Heathens and Atheists that believe not this Day it 's no marvell if they eat and drink and take no care but how is it that thou a Believer of these things art not in Prayer often in fasting and humiliation in reference hereunto Vse of Instruction The reason of the deluge of all errours and prophanenesse is for want of good logick They do not inferre good conclusions from good Premises For to be a Church to be Christians to be Believers of such sure and certain things do not those inferre to all What manner of persons should we be in all godlinesse and holinesse of Conversation Do you not know these things Are not these things acknowledged by all How then can wickednesse and sinne be found in any mans life Oh men be either desperate Atheists or mad fools Atheists if we believe not these things fools if we believe yet our lives not answerable thereunto What wilt thou plead at the day of Judgment What will thy own conscience say for thee Wilt thou not become immediately speechlesse not able to open thy mouth when God shall command to take such a sinner such a wicked man and bind him hand and foot and throw him into Hell If these things be not true deny them if you cannot you dare not deny them then go home and mourn in secret and meditate in secret on these things Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God The Introductive Preface hath been dispatched we come to the Assertion it self and therein we are to consider the Subject who are compared And 2. To what they be compared And Lastly The ground or Reason of the comparison The Subject compared is Ye Ye are the Temple of God This Ye may be taken both Collectively as a Church a Community a Society as the Temple was not one stone but a multitude of stones artificially built together And Secondly Distributively Ye that is every man is the Temple of the Holy Ghost As 1 Cor. 6.17 Your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost But the first sense is here chiefly to be retained he speaketh to them as a Church 2. Here is the Matter we are compared to The Temple of God I shall speak more of this in verse 17 Only the word Temple is used sometimes for that magnificent and glorious building of Jerusalem where God had appointed all his worship Sometimes it is used for Heaven as being that glorious Palace wherein the Majesty of God doth effectualy demonstrate it self The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth any large Palace or Tower any Kingly House and is attributed to the Tabernacle 1 Sam. 1.9 It 's used for Heaven as Gods House Mich. 1.2 and Psal 11.4 From Templum comes that word Contemplâ—r because all behold the glory of the Heavens as also some say Considere from sidus But metaphorically the word signifieth First The Body of Christ Destroy this Temple said Christ and in three daies I will build it up Joh. 2.19 And if the Temple were holy because of the Schechinah the habitation of Gods presence there how much rather doth Christs body deserve to be called the Temple because the Godhead dwelled in it so fully for the company of Believers assembled and joyned together in the service and worship of God So that as God promised to commune with the people of Israel from between the Mercy-Seat and did there graciously exhibite himself so it is here Thus then as the Temple was a peculiar place dedicated to God wherein God promised his gracious presence so it is with a company of Believers joyned together in a Church way Concerning the holinesse of the Temple more in verse 17. Doct. That the People of God met together to worship him according to his way are the Spiritual Temple of God The ancient Temple was not more glorious and admirable to the humane eye then such Societies should be to the eye of Faith Thus Antichrist is said to fit in the Temple of God 2 Thes 2.4 that is in the Church of God where the true Church was And learned men think that latter part of Exekiel's prophesie though very obscure concerning the measuring of the Temple is nothing but the Promise of the building of the Church in the new Testament in an heavenly and glorious manner The Scripture delights to allude to those ancient usages in the Old Testament So that Evangelical Duties are sometimes called Sacrifices thus the people of God a Temple in this place To open this Doctrine let us consider what is in the Church allusively to the Temple And First The Materials for the Temple were to be polished and fitted by art ere they could be made part of the building The trees and timber of themselves the stones of themselves were not fit for that goodly structure but they had Instruments of art going over them to prepare them and thus it is ere a people come in to be made Members of a Church indeed there must be a Divine efficacy and power passing over them We of our selves have not Faith have not preparednesse for such Church duties till God doth enable us Look we therefore how we come into the Church of God How is it brought about that we are so If there be nothing but nature and custome or because we are born in such places if we have no more for our being Christians then Jews have for being Jews Turkes for being Turkes this is not to be Gods Temple indeed No that must be said to thee which was to Peter Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee Mat. 16.17 Hence the Church of God is compared to a Vineyard to a Garden all which are not naturally so but by art and industry are made such Thus it is here whatsoever our Societies and Meetings are in reference to God it is wholly of his making Secondly The Materials of the Temple were very excellent and precious of gold and silver c. not hay and stubble The best stone the best wood that would not putrifie and all things were covered over with gold and the gold was to be pure gold even the very snuffers were to be of gold Now what did this represent but to shew what kind of people those should be who were of the Church of God even as much differing from the others as gold and precious stones from pibble stones as precious wood from bryers So then if we be the Temple of God we ought to be a people of more noble and heavenly Conversation then the world can reach unto There ought to be no sinfull debasing waies amongst us As Michall though falsly said to David dancing before the Ark Thou hast made thy self like one of the vile fellowes of the Land it is
errours and the more difficult it is to know when it is an errour the more art thou to be afraid In Levit. 13. you see it was a very hard matter to discern between the Leprosie and any other distemper some had not the Leprosie it was only a scab so some do not runne into grosse and damnable heresies but yet they have a scab a loathsome distemper upon them These things being the truths of Scripture and not the words of men pleading for their own interest and reputation should much prevail with you Fourthly They are defilements Because they pollute the conscience minde heart and whole life of a man Hence you have that phrase Men of corrupt minds 1 Tim. 6.5 2 Tim. 3.8 Destitute of the truth Thus mens consciences also are said to be defiled Tit. 1.15 So that the corruption of a man by errours is a Metaphore from the body which through sicknesse or death is corrupted Thou wilt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption Act 2.17 That as from the dead body worms and putrid vermine grow and live So from minds corrupted and destitute of truth do flow these erroneous Doctrines Thus not only wickednesse may denominate men to be dead Let the dead bury the dead Mat. 8.22 And the wanton widow is dead while she liveth 1 Tim. 5.6 but even the erroneous and heretical minde is dead while it seemeth to have much 〈◊〉 And truly bodily corruptions in some sense are not so great as the corruptions of minde and conscience The Apostle in the second Epistle makes lustfull and libidinous waies to defile the body of a man which is Gods Temple but here you see errours and corrupt opinions defile the soul that is the more noble Temple of the Holy Ghost So that these mind-defilements make thy disease the more â—â—câ—rable This putteth out the eye this kils the spy and monitor of all thy actions Lastly Corrupt Doctrines are called defilements to shew how loathsome and abhominable they should be to us To hear the Scripture say That by false Doctrines the Church is polluted and defiled should make a man presently abhorre such waies Thou canst not abide dirt or vomit upon thy garments and canst thou endure these deformities upon thy soul Thou canst not endure to see a drunkard wallowing like a swine in the mire but to see men stagger and reel and even be drunk with giddy and vile opinions this should be a more loathsome sight Labour then for a Scripture judgment in these things and do not thou have more indulging thoughts towards errours then the Scripture alloweth I do not forbid thy charity to some persons erring but to errours If a godly man should be overtaken with drunkennesse or uncleannesse thou wouldst say the sinnes were abhominable though thou wouldst pitty the man and pray for him so it is here Vse of Instruction Wherein lyeth the purity of Churches Even in pure and sound Doctrine as well as in pure lives Some they cry out against purity in lives they love not such Puritans they cannot endure such strictnesse Others they love not this purity of Doctrine The Remonstrants deride the word Orthodox as if it were a spell used by some Writers Now in both waies we overthrow the purity of Churches To have pure Doctrine pure Ordinances and yet men to be impure in lives is a very dolefull sight Again to have men appearing with pure lives yet impure Doctrines is also very grievous to him who is endowed with a sound Faith If any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy We have dispatched the sinne supposed we come to the punishment proposed Him shall God destroy A terrible sentence and that which may make all those who grow wanton in the matters of Religion like Belshazer to quake and tremble In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same word with defiling the Temple They defile Gods Temple and God will defile them This is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in other places God will destroy Now this is meant of eternal destruction without repentance The Scripture cals eternal punishment destruction not in the sense of the Socinians heresie as if both body and soul were totally annihilated for that cannot be called a torment but rather a freedom from torment but because both body and soul are deprived of all comfort and happiness and so are exposed to all the curses and the tormenting wrath of God without ceasing So that this Text doth represent corruptions in the Doctrine and Worship of God under as terrible a consideration as any great sinnes committed For look upon the threatnings against the vilest monsters of sinners they can be no more then this Those will God destroy And so it is here of such as defile the Truths of God with errours even as Nadab and Abihu were wonderfully and terribly destroyed for offering strange fire upon Gods Altar though men may suffer them Though the parties themselves may blesse their condition yet God will destroy them if they do not recover out of these snares of the Devil Now that God will destory eternally such as defile this Temple without reformation will most fully appear by 2 Pet. 2.3 4. which Chapter should be an Allarum to these times For First Her fore-tels that as in the Old Testament there were false Prophets so in the New Testament notwithstanding all the light of the Gospel and the Truths of God revealed in his Word there should be false Teachers here you see it 's expressely fore-told that it should be no stumbling block to us we should not be offended at the truth nor at reformation out of Popery and superstitions because of such events Now these are described by their Actions They shall bring in damnable heresies Connder that expression All heresie is not innocent It 's not excusable as the Remonstrants plead for here are damnable heresies 2. The Manner how they shall privily bring in There is great craft and subtilty there is underworking as Moles do under-ground Then you have the consequent evil of this They bring upon themselves swift destruction Here is more then in my text not only destruction but swift destruction That is two waies swift First Because God will not delay He is so provoked that he cannot bear them long And then Secondly Swift in regard of their thoughts It comes before they thought of or expected any such thing And whereas it may be said They prosper they meet with no such visible wrath of God see verse 4. Whose judgment lingereth not and whose damnation sleepeth not All the while they are secure their judgment doth but watch the time the fittest time to make their destruction more dreadfull Now that still people may be afraid of errours and heresies he instanceth in three the most horride Examples of Gods vengeance and argueth thus that if God were so severe against them let not such as bring in damnable heresies expect better The
to babes and hid them from the wise men of the world said our Saviour with much hearty affection Matth. 11.25 The valleys they receive the drops of heaven and are more fruitfull than the mountains though high but barren So that humane wisdome is as great an hinderance as humility is a furtherance Lay down then all high and conceited thoughts when thou comest into Christs school yea unteach thy self all thy former opinions and arguments and be like an rasa tabula as Aristotle said the soul was for the Spirit of God to write divine truths upon thy heart Doth not the Wiseman tell us That he who is wise in his own eyes there is more hopes of a fool than him Prov. 26.12 Therefore saith he Leane not unto thy own understanding Prov. 3.5 Oh this humility would preserve against all heresies all dangerous opinions An humble man is like the Tree planted by the waters side God hath two places as it were to dwell in Heaven is one and the humble heart is another Isa 57.15 God by the Prophet in that place accounts of such an heart like as unto his glorious Throne in Heaven Thirdly Humane conceited wisdome must needs hinder the entertainment of Christs truth Because it sets it self on the Throne to be Judge and to determine truth or falshood according to her own principles It makes weights and a standard of its own and will weigh even what God and the Scripture saith by its own self yea humane wisdome doth not only thus intrude into the throne but hath her instruments the Socinians who plead to have her the Judge and the Determiner of all religious controversies What from Scripture hath by the Orthodox been asserted to be that these will put upon reason making it the rule of faith Hence there is no Trinity with them not three Persons and one God because it 's against their reason Christ is not truly and essentially God because against reason say they Christ was not a Mediatour by his bloud as a Sacrifice to expiate our sinnes because against their reason Thus you see what a direct adversary the reason of man as of it self is against divine truths whereas what the Apostle speaks of the woman He did not permit her to usurp Authority over her husband or to speake in the Church 1 Tim. 2.12 The same ought to be applied to humane wisdome not to usurp over faith or to speak authoritatively in the Church It 's true a mans reason or wisdome may be considered two wayes 1. As corrupt and darkened through original sinne And in this respect onely we speake of it as such an adversary to the mysteries of Religion 2. As enlightned and sanctified by the Word and the Spirit of God Now in this later respect though it be not a Judge but is to be judged yet it 's an excellent instrument to faith When faith hath first laid its foundation then reason and learning succeeding and building upon it is wonderfull serviceable for the explication and confirmation of divine truths I speake as unto wise men saith Paul Judge ye what I say 1 Cor. 10.15 Thus civil prudence and all humane literature while it 's a servant not a Mistresse is of wonderfull use but when with Hagar it will pride over Sarah then cast it out of doores That which some adversaries to learning object That learning is never sanctified is contrary to the instance of Moses who was skilfull in the Aegyptians learning which was the fountain and seminary of all learning to the world And thus the Apostle Paul as he sanctified some verses out of Heathen Poets as Tertullian expresseth it So God had also sanctified all his humane abilities But herein earthly wisdome is so repugnant because it 's apt to make it self judge And although nothing in Religion be against sound reason yet many things are above it such as it cannot reach unto Fourthly Humane wisdome is such an opposite to heavenly truths Because of its subtilty to finde out cavils and excogitate Arguments against the Truth Insomuch that the more learned and knowing men are the greater difficulty it is to believe men who have lesse parts and learning know not all those subtil and specious Arguments which Heretiques especially if learned and subtil do bring forth They know not what the Socinians have to say against the Trinity against the Deity of Christ What Arminians for Free-will What the Papists for many of their superstitious wayes and it 's well they doe not not but that the truth is evident against them onely it might shake and stagger their faith who are weak whereas men of knowledge exercising themselves in their Bookes that they may be able to confute them meet sometimes with specious colours yea even some seeming Anakims in the way Mans wisdome is farre more able Destruere falsa then probare vera we can better object against truth then by faith assent to it and then no wonder it be so apt to miscarry Lastly The more wisdome and knowledge men have the more busie the Devil is to make them on his side Because the Serpent was more subtil than other beasts of the field therefore the Devil used him Ornari à te Diabolus quaerit said Austin to a great Scholar whom he would gladly have converted Most Heretiques have been men of great parts of admirable eloquence to perswade and winne men Good Elocution and Rhetorique is so apt to beare all downe before it that Hercules was made the God of Eloquence by some Heathens as if it had as much strength as he Vse Then how much are men of parts and understanding to bewaile themselves God chooseth babes and simple ones rather than such Study humility renounce thy understanding become a little childe Oh it may be that which thou art so proud of so confident of will be the means to damn thee as Absolom's hair was his death If any man thinke himselfe wise let him become a foole that he may be wise The Doctrine observed is That humane and earthly wisdome is a great enemy to the things of God In the matter of Doctrine to be believed we have demonstrated it already The next thing in order is The manner of Declaration and Publication of it in the Scripture And here we shall find worldly wisdome to be a great adversary But I shall instance in one thing only about that and that is The simplicity and plainnesse of the style That whereas there are two things that are exceeding apt to take with the world The one with Rational men The other with Affectionate men The Scripture seemeth to be furnished with neither For with rational men strong demonstrations and scientifical probations prevail exceedingly they lay they are slaves to reason bring a rational argument and this is such a cord that the strongest Samson cannot break Now many times men of strong reason are no wayes Rhetorical As the earth where mines of gold are is barren of grasse and
farre surpasseth all their morality First then let us shew Wherein the faith of a Christian commanded by the Scripture doth farre surpasse all humane knowledge and science which men by nature do glory in And First Faith doth surpasse all humane sciences in the dignity of the subject The matter about which a Christians faith is exercised doth farre transcend all that about which humane knowledge doth exercise it self For the highest that they could reach unto is only to the knowledge of natural effects produced by natural causes And if any could prove these by the former this they called a demonstration Though some men say No man ever yet gave a demonstration à priori quoad se but quoad nos So then all the excellent wisdom of the world hath been only to consider the nature of sublunary things or to discourse about the nature of the heavenly bodies and their motions and if they did arise to consider of a God the Maker of these it was in a very uncertain doubtfull way Hence the Apostle speaks of them Acts 17.27 that they were as men in the dark feeling after a thing to find it as the Sodomites smote with blindnesse felt for the door This is all our humane wisdome can help us to but now by faith we have the supernatural mysteries of salvation revealed unto us The Scripture tels us Of a God in Christ reconciling man to himself of mans original misery of Christ the Mediator Alas how poor and contemptible are the highest notions even of Plato though called Divine when you come and read Paul There are such admirable and heavenly truths revealed in Gods word that all humane wisdome was no more able to find or apprehend such things then a dwarf could reach to the Heavens If we then consider the dignity and worth of that subject which the Scripture revealeth and faith is exercised about dirt is not more inferiour to precious pearls than humane knowledge to faith Secondly Faith differs from all their humane science in respect of the excellency of the end For the end of all Scripture wisdom is to bring us to eternal life The Scriptures are able to make us wise to salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 The things of Christ are said to be written That believing we might have eternal life John 20 31. There was never any humane knowledge could teach a man to be eternally happy Platoes Divinity and Aristotles Morality though they have the words of happinesse and have large discourses about it yet wanted the thing it self Oh then let us blesse God for Scripture-wisdome for the treasures of knowledge revealed there Learn of David How wonderfully was he affected with Gods word What light and wisdome did he attain unto thereby The Scriptures will teach thee such a blessednesse and such a way to blessednesse that could not enter into thy heart to conceive before the light thereof came into thee Thirdly Faith doth surpasse all humane knowledge in its certainty and infallibility A man that believeth the truths of God revealed in the Scripture hath more certain knowledge then all the more wise and learned men of the world For the object of faith being Gods testimony and his Divine Authority it 's as impossible for faith to be deceived as it is for God to lie Hence it 's called The full assurance of hope Heb. 10.22 And we believe therefore we speake 2 Cor. 4.13 How could the holy Martyrs witnesse those divine truths even to death had they not been possessed with full and sure knowledge of those things they died for whereas if we look into all humane knowledge there is very little certainty insomuch that some have expresly affirmed Nihil scitur yea that that also was not known and what little certainty they have appeareth by the contrary and different opinions in all their main points Fourthly Faith doth more establish settle and quiet the heart of men then all humane wisdome Solomon observeth a vanity and vexation of spirit even in all humane knowledge but now faith doth establish settle and satisfie the soul Heb. 11.1 It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Those that want faith are said to be double-minded men Jam. 1. inconstant as the waves of the Sea Oh the anxiety and perplexities that meer humane knowledge hath cast men into And so those who have no other bottome than the Authority of Church or the power of men to believe These are reeds shaken up and down with every wind Their faith is upon ambulatory and moveable considerations wheras faith makes a man like Christ The same yesterday and to day and for ever Lastly The Christian faith is above all philosophical knowledge Because of the strong and mighty effects it hath to convert the heart and reform the life Acts 15 9. Purifying their hearts by faith How can ye believe when ye seek glory one of another said our Saviour John 5.44 Yet these humane Gnosticks did only aim at glory though Philosophers call them the Liberal Arts yet they could not set them free from their lusts whereas Christ John 8.32 said If my Word abide in you you shall be free indeed Never did humane knowledge make such wonderfull converts and work so great a reformation as the Christian saith hath done And although we have now too many who say they do believe and yet do such things as many of the Gentiles would be ashamed of yet these men have not faith indeed but the name and title of it for as much as faith though but like a grain of mustard-seed would bid such mountains of lusts be removed into the Sea In the next place The moral or practical wisdome of the world cometh farre short of Scripture-wisdome For First The most knowing men were ignorant of original sinne which yet is the fountain of our calamity The Heathens indeed bewailed the mortality and misery of man but they know not our natural pollution the ground of all Yea we see Paul himself though a Pharisee was not acquainted with that Law of sinne within him till inlightned by the Word Rom. 7. Now if men know not their disease or the cause of it they can never be cured So that whatsoever precepts about living well they delivered yet they built on a sandy foundation they did not dig deep enough Secondly All humane wisdome and prudence knoweth not how to mortifie and forsake sinne upon true grounds because they were ignorant of Gods Spirit Rom. 8.13 If ye through the Spirit do mortifie sinne They did not crucifie the body of sinne nor bewail it because it was sinne but for humane respects as it did hinder the publique or as it was prejudicial to their glory and fame but they overcame one lust by another Thirdly All earthly prudence cometh short of this wisdome because it 's circumscribed within the bounds of this world and this life It looketh out no further whereas the Scripture giveth directions for
in the powerfull effects of it than to binde the Sunne in chaines that it might not runne its race Now though this is mighty and powerfull yet it 's very foolish and despicable in the worlds account And thus you have the first part For the second The Matter of a Christian hope that also is very foolish A man must be the worlds fool that doth part with all for this hope even the Resurrection of the dead to eternal glory This was the incredible paradox Why should it seem incredible to you said Paul when he preached this Resurrection For this he was accounted a mad man The Athenians so famous for knowledge when Paul preached this they called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a babler a trifler or as others a sacrilegious fellow Indeed to prove this Article of Religion by natural reason or by examples in nature is impossible though learned men bring pleasant illustrations of it but to those that denied it our Saviour said They erred not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Mat. 22.29 We see the Artificer can turn by his Art some kind of earth into curious resplendant glasse and cannot God mueh rather make this vile corruptible body glorious and incorruptible But Thirdly and that chiefly The Duties required by Christ and all that practical way of godlinesse which he enjoyneth carrieth with it a great shew of folly We shall instance in some things that so we may not be ashamed to be godly though accounted the worlds fools and mad men Many men have knowledge they are convinced that it 's their duty to live a more strict precise life but they are ashamed they cannot abide mocks and derisions which the power of godlinesse will expose us unto As First Christ requireth of all his Disciples to live contrary to the wicked wayes of the world Christs Disciples must live in a singular way to the world Pure religion is to keep a man unspotted from the world Jam 1.27 especially Rom. 12.2 Be not transformed to the fashion of the world See then whether these duties will not make a man the worlds fool He must not swear or curse as they do be unclean and runne in excesse of riot as they do be proud and earthly and unjust in their dealings as they are Now there is no man if he be thus carefull to avoid all the defilements of the world but he shall be like the Owl among other birds they are so strict so singular and this they deride when it 's no more than Christ hath commanded Who would put himself upon the scorns and contumelies of others were it not Christs command Take up this principle I must not live as most do most men are damned most men walk in the broad way to Hell there is therefore a narrow and strait way that I must strive to enter in at The world lieth in wickednesse hath many wicked bruitish superstitious eustoms it 's the place where the Devil reigneth And therefore whatsoever wicked men say do thou and thy family serve the Lord Let them make songs of thee raise lies and speak disdainfully do thou still persevere to be Christs fool Beza's name was Theodorus and Genebrard the Papist he by scorne calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The fool of God it may be he spake as Caiaphas truly though he did not meane so for Beza desired rather to be a foole in the worlds account than be one of Romes wise men Secondly It is a folly in the world to be so fervent zealous and active in matters of Religion They like well enough a general profession of Christianity a lukewarm obedience unto all the duties thereof but this zeal is forwardnesse they cannot abide that is rashnesse indiscretion that 's madnesse and wilde fire Now it 's true there may be an ignorant and a rash zeal but men are apt to judge so of any more powerfull and forwarder practices of holinesse than they themselves use Whereas the Scripture is plain That no man can be saved that doth not make it his businesse his work his one thing necessary to do the work of God The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Mat. 11.12 Doest thou think then by thy formality coldnesse and luke-warm moderation ever to attain Heaven Is not Christianity compared to striving in a mastery to running in a race Do ye not read of Pauls striving forward and forgetting all things that are behinde Phil 3 Did not the holy Ghost descend in the form of fire with a mighty rushing wind to signifie how active it is in those that are godly Doest thou therefore cry out of this forwardnesse and this zeal What is this but to open thy mouth against Heaven On thy death-bed it may be nothing will trouble thee so much as thy slothfulnesse and barrennesse that thou wast not as active for God as for the world thou wouldst then wish thy soul might fare as theirs shall who made it their imployment to serve God Thirdly That part of Christianity seemeth a foolish thing which presseth the life of faith and not of sense Thus the world knoweth not what to make of it That as the Heathens thought the Christians worshipped the clouds because they had no Idols or sensible Images but looked up directly to Heaven So worldly men think the godly please themselves with fancies and imaginations because they talk of the promise and living by faith and not walking according to the sensible principles of the world yet the just shall live by faith Rom. 1.17 A godly man like the earth is fastned upon nothing visible When Habakkuk said Habak 3.17 Though the fig-tree did not blossome c. yet he would rejoyce in God his salvation Would not worldly men think this was his folly rather than faith So when Paul said He was poor yet making many rich and as having nothing yet possessing all things 2 Cor. 6.10 Doth not the world count this folly When Paul said to the believers That all things were theirs would they not say like Festus not much learning but much ignorance had made him mad Lastly To acknowledge Christ and his way though to our outward undoing This seemeth great folly our Saviour therefore doth so fortifie his Disciples That they should not be offended at troubles that they should be hated of all men that they should account it an happy thing to be persecuted for his sake And we see the Apostles and Martyrs chusing the greatest torments rather than to deny any of Christs Truths Now what a foolish thing doth the world account this not to be any thing to do any thing to say and unsay to believe and disbelieve to save a mans estate and his life As the persecutour told Basil the great in this thing indeed great Why would he lose his life for meer neceties and words it was but saying so and so a little matter and all should be well Thus the matter of
not Christ ours because though Christ was given for us yet it was as a Mediatour to work our peace that so thereby he might be exalted and might have the preheminence in all things So that the Church is for Christ not Christ for the Church Secondly Because all things in the world are ordered by his providence onely but the whole worke of God about his children is the effect of his Predestination Now Predestination is an act of his more immediate love than Providence is and the Providence of God is subservient to his Predestination Therefore is Gods care and government over all things that he may attain the ends of his Predestination Insomuch that there had been no Creation at first no world at all nor would there still be any sustentation or conservation of it were it not for the Churches sake Vse 1. Of Exhortation to the godly to live by faith on such principles What generous noble and heavenly dispositions would these thoughts breed Scito te Deum esse said one thinking the soul to be a beam of that Divine Essence but thou mayest truly say God hath made thee heir of all things It 's not the Devil but God that doth now shew thee the glory of the world and the Church and saith All these things are thine Consider then whether they be thine by that spiritual end they are intended for Do all creatures all conditions all events make thee more godly Do they work such divine effects upon thy soul Oh do not thou be thy own adversary herein Vse 2. Of Terrour to wicked men for it followeth by way of contraries Nothing is yours viz. for your spiritual good The Ministry God gives is not for you The mercies you have they are not for your souls health Oh the depth of thy unspeakable misery whether life or death all things help thee forward to hell Having asserted a comfortable and rich Doctrine out of these words for the godly we proceed to make some Objections or doubts about it which will be as file to the iron or like the Wine-presse to the Grapes to prâ—sse out the sweet Wine therein And indeed this truth seemeth Obnoxious to many Exceptions as in Religion there are many Doctrinal points which do amaze humane reason such as that of the Trinity the Incarnation of Christ the Resurrection of the body so there are also many Practical Positions which seem contrary to all reason and experince of which this in my Text is one All things are the godly mans It seemeth to be an Idea or meer fiction and expression if we consult with what befals the godly Come we therefore to Answer some of the Objections And First The doubt may be How are all things the godly mans for his use and spiritual edification when many times we see the godly man gets no goâ—d by these The Corinthians who had Paul and Apollo and all those eminent Teachers for their use yet by their Divisions and carnal Emulations they made no spiritual improvement of them How many Sermons and Sabboths do even the godly let go that there never appeareth any footstep of them as if they had never been And then as for their mercies and their afflictions how many times do these draw out their corruptions and they seem to be the worse for them To Answer this First We must distinguish between Gods intention in giving these and the godly mans actual improvement of them to that end When the Apostle saith All things are yours his meaning is on Gods part His love is so great that for the godly only all things in Heaven and Earth were created If so be therefore at any time these things turn to thy hurt blame thy self The Physician will tell the Patient sometimes All these Potions and all these Cordials they are yours you are to take them you may expect much good and ease by them But if the Patient be wilfull and disorder himself it is his fault not the Physicians that they do hurt So that the meaning is all things in their creation and Institution were for the godly mans good Therefore Secondly The godly man through his weaknesse and sinfulnesse not walking up to Gods order may make that an hinderance which God intended a furtherance A godly man may receive the Word and Ordinances sometimes in vain Sometimes afflictions may for the present make him more froward and passionate and mercies more presumptions and confident as the Examples of David and others shew So that our folly and corruptions mingle bitter things with Gods sweet and then we complain this Text is not true The foolishnesse of a man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord Prov. 19.3 When we do not our duty we think God doth not fulfill his Promise Our waies are unequall and then we think Gods are not equall So that you must understand this Promise All things are yours in a well ordered use of the means as all other Promises are It 's said The Spirit will lead you in all truth Joh. 16.13 Gods Word is promised to be accompanied with the fulnesse of the Lords blessing to those that are his But how If we order and prepare our selves If we do not put in some barre and obstructions For sinne that withholdeth good things from us that separates between God and us as also between these Promises and us Thirdly Though the godly may for a while make these things against their end and not for it yet this will not be alwaies Nay God will so order it that this decay of theirs or this disorder shall likewise be turned to their good As those who through mistake may swallow down some strong Physick though for the present they may be deadly sick and worse then ever they were yet afterwards it may be they are the better for such violent helps Fourthly When we say all things are the godly mans you must take them in their Collective cooperation as Rom. 8. All things work together This particular or that particular may throw thee down may make thee worse but then God bringeth about some other things that help altogether for thy good As they say of Aegypt All the venemous Herbs grow there and also all the Antidotes are to be had there Where there is a Malady there is also a Remedy And truly thus Gods dispensations are with his Children This or that particular may hinder thee this or that may prejudice thee but God hath appointed other things to correct these There is a benigne influence with the malignant as it were and both tempered together advance speedily towards Heaven The second doubt is this If all things are for the godly and only theirs exclusively to the wicked then this may seem to justifie all the wickednesse and impiety of ungodly men Why should they be blamed if they get no good by the Ordinances if they profit not under the Ministry for God did not intend them for their
unknown tongues 1 Cor. 14. do fully reach to this Ministers may affect such obscure unprofitable and impertinent matter as that the people may no more be bettered then if all things were done in Latine The Apostle had rather speak five words to edification then five hundred other wayes Insomuch that a powerfull profitable way of preaching is a great gift of God a special blessing unto a people And though some Ministers partake of it more than others yet all are to bend themselves for the peoples profit Si non vis intelligi cur vis legi said he we may adde cur vis audiri we see the nurses care is to make the childs meat most conveniently eatable and fit for nourishment and Ministers that do otherwise are such unkind fathers that our Saviour speaketh of as not possible when the children aske bread they give them a stone when they aske fish they give them a serpent Thirdly In that all things are the Churches is implied That no Officers have an absolute dominion over their peoples faith neither may lord it over them according to their lusts and ambitions but to doe all things for their souls good Paul though an Apostle would not assume such dominion 2 Cor. 1.24 Not that we have dominion over your faith And 1 Pet. 5.3 forbids all lordship over Gods inheritance They are Gods inheritance they are his field that they are to dresse and till not for themselves but their Masters use The Pope of Rome with his Abettors do infinitely transgresse in this particular who though he style himself Servus servorum the servant of servants is yet the Lord of Lords whatsoever they give us to eat we must swallow without chusing All our Sacrifices must be without eyes the more ignorance in our faith the more devotion No all the power and authority of Church-officers is not Magisterial but Ministerial we must come with Thus saith the Lord As it is written That which we have received that we are to deliver and when they keep to this then He that heareth them heareth Christ and He that despiseth them despiseth Christ No man may adde to or detract from the last will of a man much lesse Gods Testament which is to be the rule to the Church while she is in this world Fourthly In that all Officers are the Churches there is implied That not onely finis operantis but operis also not onely the end of all Ministers but the end of the offices and gifts themselves are for the Churches good God when he set Pastours and Teachers he gave them for the perfecting of the Saints and compleating their graces and bringing them to a full stature in Christ Eph. 4.11 12 13. Now it 's good to consider the manifold ends why God hath given such offices and gifts to his Church And First It 's to multiply and gather in more to the Church even the whole number of the elect Thus they are called fishers of men Mat. 4.19 they cast in the spiritual net of the Gospel and out of the bitter waters of the world they take up many for Gods Kingdom Many thousands were taken at the beginning of the Gospel Thus they are also called Fathers because by the Word they beget many to eternal life So then the Officers of the Church are yours to bring you home to God of Wolfs to make you Lambs of Beasts to make you Saints Oh consider whether the Ministry hath ever been yours in this sense or no! Hath it removed those mountains those high Towers of sinne that exalt themselves against Christ Hath it reformed thee of thy lusts of thy beastlinesse Oh may you not say in a contrary sense to Paul You have ten thousand Instructers yet no Fathers you have had many preachers but no father none hath begot thee anew to a spiritual and heavenly life Secondly It 's to convince and reprove to trouble and disquiet the soul for sinne and thus they are yours though wretched man had rather be without them Paul was very sharp and severe against the errours and vices of believers All Ministers are commanded To reprove and rebuke with all authority Tit. 2.15 To lift up their voices like a trumpet and to tell Israel of their transgressions This is for your advantage more than all false and daubing delusions You see God himself would not spare Aaron or Moses though never any talked to God face to face as he did yet God reproved him for his rashnesse Because he did not sanctifie him before the people and therefore would not let him enter into the Land of Canaan Oh it 's a good sign when you can receive a sharp reproof and rebuking Sermons as yours as profitable to you desiring not to be spared Thirdly They are yours for quickning and increasing of grace To bring us to a full stature as you heard the Apostle calleth it Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 There is watering as well as planting Paul reproveth these Corinthians as carnal that he could not speak to them as spiritual And Heb. 6. he speaketh terribly to those that are still in their first principles and are not carried on to further perfection Consider then here is the Ministry and all the gifts and Sermons you have enjoyed for your benefit and profit Is your understanding more enlightned your hearts more tender your lives more reformed Is your knowledge bettered your graces more quickened and your whole conversation more fervent and zealous Fourthly They are for consolation and comfort unto the tender and broken hearted for sinnes Hence they are the Ministers of the Gospel and they bring the glad tidings of peace We are sent to comfort and give rest to those that are loaden with sinne Oh that we could meet with a people that need this balm of the Gospel that want this oil of Gods grace in their wounds There are thousands of people to whom we must not we dare not dispense the comforts of the Gospel we cannot say these glad tidings are to be published to you Lastly Not onely their gifts and office but all events whatsoever do befall them Their honour or disgrace their life or their death their esteem or their persecution is for the Churches good 2 Cor. 5.13 Whether we be besides our selves or sober it is for you saith Paul And in another place he makes one end of all his sufferings to be for the Churches sake Col. 1.24 If the Ministers of the Gospel runne through good report or bad report life or death it 's for the Churches good And therefore Chrysostome understands that life and death after mentioned of the Ministers so that you are not only to learn by their Sermons but by all their mercies or by all their sufferings not only their tongues but all things else should teach you Vse of Exhortation Take heed that through thy unbelief and other sinnes the Ministry and all the abilities and gifts thereof
was for his eternal torment They call such things the blessing of God and so indeed in themselves they are but to wicked men they are curses For as the godly mans afflictions come from Gods love Whom he loveth he chasteneth Heb. 12. so wicked mens mercies come from Gods anger Had God loved thee thou hadst had it may be more afflictions more wants and exercises Secondly Wicked men have not the world Because they are overcome by it the world hath them rather Therefore they are called as you heard the world as if their very souls as well as bodies were made of the dust of the earth whereas the godly have the world as if they had it not they have God and the world too they have Heaven and Earth too they do not prâ—â— the worse their duties are not the more thinne and distracted As Abraham and David these were rich and great men in the world yet if you reade Davids Psalmes you will finde his heart set on God above all these things Thirdly Wicked men have not the world Because they do not own and acknowledge God as the giver of all neither do they live to him but the things of the world are instruments to draw out their lusts to make them the more wicked They take the good creatures of God and abuâ—e them to wickednesse Therefore Rom 8. The whole creation is said to groan under them as being weary of them The very Air the very Earth is weary of them yea the timber in the house and the stones of the wall do witnesse against them they are by the things of the world made more wicked Lastly They have not the world Because they have not an holy contentation of mind They are not quiet or satisfied in their condition they have no true peace notwithstanding all their abundance and the reason is because they have not pardon of sinne and enjoyment of Gods favour with these and they are only blessed who are so Matth 5. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth You see the whole earth is promised to a meek humble contented spirit whereas a wicked man is compared to the Sea that is alwayes foaming and never lieth still The Vse is two-fold 1. Of Comfort and Exhortation to the godly Comfort in what distresse and strait soever thou art in Say not I have not this I want this I am poor and miserable for thou hast Heaven and Earth onely set faith on work This is the hand to receive those treasures This faith is not a fancy it 's not a foolish imagination but a real investing of thee with all things But it 's of Exhortation also to have the world for thy spiritual use Take heed of the wickednesse of it We have not received the spirit of the world 2 Corin. 4. Oh it 's an excellent thing not to have the spirit of the world but of God! Vse 2. Of Instruction To shew the power and miserable estate of the richest and greatest men in the world that want godlinesse none is so poor so miserable as they Thou sayest this is thine and that is thine Alas because Christ and the Promise are not thine nothing is indeed thine If they be thine they are thy poison thy destruction thy damnation and thus they are thine Or Life We proceed to the third thing in order and that is the several Conditions or Estates we are in Life is yours and Death is yours Chrysostome and Grotius after him limit this to the life and death of the Ministers in the Church If they live enjoying their liberties and outward comforts it 's for you If they die if they lose their liberties and lives it 's for the Churches sake As Paul said He was willing to be a Sacrifice offered up for the Philippians faith Phil. 2.17 This is indeed a truth but as the world is a general so there is no reason but that we should take Life and Death in as General a sense And indeed this limited one may well come under the first enumeration Paul and Apollo all are yours At this time we shall treat of Life The Scripture speaks of a three-fold Life 1. Animal which is in beasts 2. Humane belonging to men as rational And 3. Supernatural or an heavenly life which onely deserveth the name of it The other being but shadows and dying lives Now we shall especially speak of this humane life being perfected with that supernatural life Observe That Godly men do onely live or The Godly onely doe make a spiritual use of their life Life is only theirs 1 Pet. 3.10 He that loveth life and would see good dayes let him refrain his tongue from evil let him eschew evil and do good Here you see the only way to live and to have good dayes is to avoid all evil and imbrace all good Hence Christ John 6. cals himself The bread of life and he giveth the water of life none liveth till they be united to him We shall insist on these things 1. That only godly men live 2. That wicked men though in the midst of all their jollity yet the Scripture doth not account of them as living persons And First The godly man only liveth Because he is united to God and Christ the fountain of life David doth often style God The fountain of life Psal 36.9 And in his favour there is life And in the New Testament especially by John Christ is made the Author of all life He is therefore compared to the Head and to the Vine If the members or branches be separated from these they die and wither presently as John 15. This is so frequent an assertion that we need not dilate on it If not a member of Christ there is no life in thee Aut es in membris aut in humoribus said Austin Thou art either among the members or the humours of the body of the Church Gal. 3.20 Paul said He no longer lived but Christ in him and the life he lived was by faith in the Sonne of God What did not Paul eat and drinke and enjoy the common Aire as we doe Yes this he doth not call his life Oh they live who no longer live but Christ in them Thy sense thy carnal reason thy corrupt affections thy worldly inclinations these no longer live but Christ in thee and his graces Secondly Onely the godly man liveth Because he hath a spiritual and a new life added to his animal life For as the soul is the life of the body so grace is the life of the soul Hence our Saviour cals all wicked men dead men Let the dead bury the dead Matth. 8.22 That is a strange expression but very true No dead corpse is more destitute of life and apprehension than their souls are of any heavenly motions any spiritual hungrings or thirstings All the merry and jolly men in the world they are dead men if living in their sinnes Therefore among the Pythagoreans who kept strict
a curse a punishment and so can be no more for good then hell and damnation can be Insomuch that to the wicked man death and hell are both alike they are of the same nature He can take no more comfort from one then from the other when death is approaching then also is hell and everlasting torments This is decreed immutably for every man once to die It was a vain boast of Paracelsus to think That if he had had the ordering of himself from his birth he could have preserved his life alwayes These are mad delusions Where sinne is there death followeth and it would be an excellent Antidote against sinne to consider what followeth it When thâ—u entertainest any sinne thou biddest death also come in at the door as pleasant and as delightfull as it is yet it brings death Thirdly Though death be in it self thus a curse and cometh as a punishment to wicked men yet unto the godly it is of a clean contrary nature The guilt and curse of it is taken away It 's no more the execution of that dreadfull sentence Thou shalt die but the chastisement of a loving Father because God loveth his children therefore they die death is made like Jacob's Chariot as the old man rejoyced when he saw that because it would carry him to see Joseph whom he so much longed for Thus doth death to the godly man It 's the glad messenger that comes to carry him to his Father to eternal glory It 's true the godly man dieth as well as the wicked he hath the same diseases the same paines but the Nature of them is farre different one is a curse to the wicked a beginning of hell and torments The other is a mercy to the godly and a passage to eternal glory Even as the afflictions which befall the godly they come from Gods love Whom I love I chasten Heb. 12. Thus it is also with death it self Lastly The ground why death is thus altered to the godly man why he should thus differ from the wicked men is wholly from Christ and his death as appeareth 1 Cor. 15.54 O death where is thy sting Death is swallowed up You would think the grave swalloweth up the godly man but his body swalloweth up the grave The sting of death is sinne if that be taken away the Snake cannot hurt now the guilt of sinne is removed by Christ Do not then think it impossible that ever such a terrible thing as death should be made lovely and the thoughts of it sweet and comfortable Yes by Christ all the terrour is done away As death had no power over him so neither shall it have over the godly These things premised Let us consider in how many particulars death is a godly mans it 's for his benefit and comfort And First In this respect Because by death he gaineth he is invested with greater glory joy and happinesse than this world can afford All the while a godly man liveth in this world he is a loser he is kept from his best treasures he is not enjoying his best blessings which will be vouchsafed to him This the Apostle you have admirably expressing Phil. 1.23 Paul is there in a great strait he knoweth not how to be content to live he can hardly satisfie himself to be kept from Christ so long To die is gain saith the Apostle and to depart and to be with Christ is farre better Paul is willing to live for the Churches good but yet that is not so good to him as to die Oh if a godly man could raise up his heart to such faith as Paul had he would even think this world an Aegypt this life a prison it 's to my losse to be here I might have better company better glory better joy every thing transcendently better Indeed we reade of Elisha and Jonah desiring death from impatiency because of the vexations upon them but that was sinfull But to long for and hasten the coming of Christ to be above the love of life and all outward comforts above the fear of death because of the heavenly affections the soul is transported with to Christ this is admirable Oh then that we were not such worms but like Larks could rise out of the earth and soar up into Heaven with holy joy and delight of spirit then death would be as a gain to us and life as a losse Yet this is not so to be understood as if death in it self were to be desired or to be prayed for for in it self it is a natural evil and so is only to be submitted to patiently not desired but the consequent of it viz. eternal glory this is to be prayed for as the Apostle doth fully expresse it 2 Cor. 5.4 We would gladly be cloathed with immortality yet to put off this mortal body is grievous as little children cry for their new garments and yet cry while they are putting them on Secondly Death is a godly mans Because it putteth a period to all those miseries and troubles he was here exercised with It 's the haven after all the tossings he had in this world If we had hope only in this life saith Paul 1 Cor. 15. we were of all men most miserable therefore death is that which makes them happy Alas were it not for death their reproaches would be eternal their persecutions would be everlasting Insomuch that death must be as welcome to them as the divisions of the waters of Jordan were to the Israelites to come out of Aegypt Mat. 24. Lift up your heâ—d for your redemption draweth nigh And Christs coming not only at the Day of Judgement but at the particular death of every godly man is the coming of the Bridegroom Then all tears are washed from their eyes Their happinesse doth not begin till death arrests them Now in this world for the most part the godly have the bitter things thereof Dives had the good things of this life when Lazarus had the bitter Besides the hatred and opposition in the world They groan under the guilt of sinne under the power of sinne Now death puts a stop not onely to worldly troubles but all spiritual diseases This flux of blood will run no more they shall have no more pride no more unbelief no more doubting about the pardon of sin in a moment their souls will be made like a paradise like the upper region no clouds no fears at all Thirdly Death is theirs Because it 's the finishing of all their worke and servâ—ce and by that they come for their wages How doth the labouring man long for the end of the day or the week that he may come to receive his wages Thus is death God putteth all his children on work he giveth them all talents and he takes them not away till they have done their work for which he appointed them Thus Moses Gods servant dieth Thus David served in his generation Thus Paul finished his course When they have done all their
redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 Seeing therefore that in Christ is all fulnesse and in us nothing but sinne and emptinesse no marvael if we be his more than our own Now this is of admirable comfort to the godly as well as it inferreth duty For seeing thou art Christs the Question is not in matter of Justification What thou art but what Christ is Not what sinne thou hast but what righteousnesse Christ hath Therefore if the Law come and demand perfect obedience say I am Christs If thy conscience accuse thee say I am Christs If the Devil tempt thee and arraign thee still say I am Christs To be Christs must needs answer all Objections Who shall impeach Christ Who shall accuse Christ So that it is an excellent evangelical life when we can by faith fill our souls with this assurance We are Christs Then as farre as the fulnesse and sufficiency of Christ will bear us out and bear down all oppositions so long may we be confident This is a great Gospel sinne that we live in our selves and upon our selves in our works in our righteousnesse or are slavishly dejected because of sinnes when humbled for them whereas we should live by faith in Christ as Christ dwels in our hearts by faith so we should dwell in him How is the Apostle ravished alwayes with the grace that comes by Christ The priviledges of Justification and Adoption and Sanctification that we have by him are to be more than meat or drink unto us Fifthly We are Christs Because we are wholly to be disposed by him in all conditions in all exercises and temptations For Christ being made a Lord and King over us he orders us in all things he ruleth and governeth us according to his will Sometimes he cals us to labour and worke for him sometimes to suffer for him Now in what ever condition or exercise we are in this should teach us patience and submission we should not think much of suffering for his Name Truth and Glory Our Saviour doth not think such a Disciple worthy of him that doth not love his father mother and life it self lesse than him Thus we see the Apostles and all the Martyrs because they were Christs their bodies their estates all they had they did not grudge to give all to him when he called for them Seeing therefore we are Christs he is our Lord all is in reference to him we should not repine at any labour or suffering for him Thou art worth ten thousand of us said the people to David thou shalt not any more endanger thy selfe in battel Thus shouldest thou say Christs Name his Truth his Glory is ten thousand times better than all my wealth or life it self But as we see God hath made all things for men the beasts of the field and the birds of the air are killed for man and there is no pity therein because they were created for this end and this is their perfection So are we made for Christ our wealth our health our estates our parts they are all to be sacrificed for Christ and this is the proper perfection of them this is the best improvement They doe then attaine that glorious end for which they were given us Oh how would this make us deny our selves and preferre Christ more that as God hath given him the preheminence in all things so we should Now in the next place let us consider Some Characters or Properties of such as are Christs And First They desire more knowledge of him more acquaintance with him they prize him above all worldly things Paul Phil. 3.8 accounts all things dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ The Church in the Canticles is inamoured with his beauty all which Song is to be understood spiritually of that spiritual fulnesse and excellency which is in him Hence the godly are said To have their conversation in Heaven because there is Christ whom they look for Phil. 2.31 Thus faith represents the Lord Christ in all lovelinesse and excellency So that the voluptuous man is not more taken up with the love of pleasures than the Christian is with Christ There are the treasures of wisdom and grace in him all which the godly soul is searching into 2. Those that are Christs they abhorre and have no communion with any sinne or wickednesse because that only Christ hateth Though we be poor and miserable Christ may love us but if sinfull then Christ abhorreth us 2 Cor. 6. What concord between Christ and Belial What agreement between light and darknesse Christ indeed conversed with sinners but it was as the Physician with diseased persons to make them better even to heal them and thus may we But no fellowship of approbation are we to have with the works of darknesse but rather to reprove them You may reade then in the very fore-head and life of many whether they belong to Christ or no. For would Christ defile himself with such ungodly wayes Oh blasphemy to think so Now he that is Christs he labours to be like him he hath his Image upon him They are said to put on Christ as men do a garment nothing but Christ appeareth in them and on them 3. Those that are Christs they live not to themselves but to him They please not themselves or others in a sinfull way If I should please men I were not the servant of Christ Gal. 1.10 Thou canst not give content to the world please them and please Christ too And therefore as Christ so Christians are alwayes hated opposed by the world It doth not look upon them as their own for then they would love them The Disciple must not thinke to be above his Master And truly no wonder at this for if Christ sought not his own glory and greatnesse but humbled himself in that despicable way of a servant how much more ought we not to exalt our selves but to be debased that he may be magnified Vse of Exhortation to those who are Christ's to be self-denying to take up Christs crosse to love him more than all they have for Christ is not for thee but thou for Christ as man was not for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man and therefore the duties of that day were to yeeld to mans necessity so Christ and his Truth and his Gospel they are not for thy life or thy credit but these are for them Let then the lesse give place to the greater It 's not so necessary that thou shouldst be rich great and honoured in the world as that Christ and all things of Christ should be preserved How ungodly then is it to pretend Christ or make use of the Name of Christ for thy carnal advantages This is to make the head be under the feet Vse 2. Of Terrour to all those who live in the constant practice of wickedness they are none of Christs and so they have no portion in his blood no share in his mediation How miserably did Esau cry out because he
Happinesse p. 108 Houshold-Duties See Family House Gods People are his House p. 113 Of the Material House of God p. 117 See Churches Husbandry Gods People are his Husbandry p. 113 What that Implieth ibid. I Ignorance HOw the ignorance of people hinders the Ministry p. 2 Ignorance lamented and reproved p. 4 5 13 16 17 71 83 90 151 The Effects of Ignorance 16 Illumination Of the Illumination of the Spirit p. 90 Inconstancy Inconstancy in Religion reproved p. 18 Inducements Inducements to Holinesse p. 193 Infirmities Of the Infirmities of the Saints p 22 23 And why they are not quite freed from them p. 23 24 K Key OF the Key of Knowledge p. 9 10. Knowledge Knowledge of Principles necessary p. 15 Knowledge of the meaning of Scripture a gift of the Spirit p. 210 The duty of Growth in Knowledge p. 83 L Love LOVE praised p. 30 The only Motive of Love and Agreement is Godlinesse p. 33 Its Cause and End ibid. Live Godly men do only live p. 279 Wicked men do not live p. 281 M Ministers MInisters hindered by the incapacity of the People from Preaching many excellent sublime Truths p. 2 3 Wickednesse how hurtfull to the Church p. 54 What Prudence is requisite in their Preaching p. 9 10 In reference to the capacity of the Hearers p. 2 3 4. Work is two-fold viz. Teach Govern p. 9 10 Must divide the Word aright p. 9 Are not sinfully to be admired and how that is done p. 48 What hurt Satan doth by bad ones p. 54 In what cases they may praise themselves p. 137 Must preach no new Doctrine p. 139 Must preach Christ the Foundation p. 145 How Servants to the Church and how not p. 271 Faithfull seek not to win people to themselves but to Christ p. 63 May preach from a corrupt end or a good end ibid. And what those ends are ibid. Must not only plant but water p. 83 Cannot work grace p. 86 94 That is faithfull hath grounds of comfort under successelesse labours p. 89 Co-workers with God p. 109 How carefull they should be to lay a good foundation in the hearts of their hearers p. 125 How they should build upon the foundation p. 126 to 161 Ministry Ministry The ends and use of it p. 3 17 18 140 The great respect due unto it p. 46 Its successe from God p. 86 c. 94 Sufficient in its kind to effect its end ibid. The appointed Instrumental cause of Faith p. 67 How it is such a Cause p. 68 How not p. 67 The Properties of it as such a cause p. 69 How all are obliged to attend it ibid. How to profit by it p. 77 How blessed with increase by God p. 86 Is to continue to the end of the world p. 69 Why God will make use of it ibid. Ministerial Gifts Ministerial Gifts Why all not gifted alike p. 76 Though diversity of gifts yet all should agree in one p. 97 Whether from the Holy Ghost or no p. 209 The end of them p. 211 Merrit See Reward Members Members of the visible Church who p. 6. Distinguished ibid. Man Man according to man several significations of that phrase p. 42 To live as men what that implies p. 43 Meanes Meanes of Grace alwaies needfull to all p. 84 Manifest Manifest All sinne though never so secret shall be made manifest p. 165 N Name NAme Of peoples being called by the Names of eminent men in the Church p. 50 The Names that Christians have been called by in several Ages 50 c. What hurt the Devil doeth the Church by the Names and esteem of men p. 54 New New No New Doctrine to be expected O Order See Government Ordinances ORdinances The sinne of neglecting them p. 61 Officers See Ministers P Papists PApists as such have but a humane blind Faith p. 53 Perfection Perfectionists Confuted p. 8 22 Prayer Prayer for Gods Directing Ministers p. 12 Praise Praise In what cases Ministers or others may praise themselves p. 137 Preaching Preaching One manner of preaching censured and another commended p. 10 Presence Presence Of Gods presence with his Church p. 200 Pride Pride Of pride p. 34 Principles Principles of Religion first to be laid p. 13 Reduced to several heads p. 14 Are easie p. 15 17 Necessary p. 15 Priviledges Priviledges of the Church and every Believer p. 265 Are Obligations to duty 193 Profit Profit Rules or helpes to profit by the Ministry p. 77 88 93 96 112 Protestant Protestants agree in Fundamentals p. 41 Whence so called p. 51 Providence Providences All Providences for the good of the godly p. 286 Prudence Prudence requisite in a Minister in preaching such matter and in such a manner as is for the peoples good p. 9 Planting Planting the Gospel p. 80 Punishment Punishment of Losse and of Sense p. 223 224 Purgatory Purgatory An Argument against it from the great Text brought for it p. 177 Q QUarreling See Contention R Reformation REformation of the Church p. 81 175 Reigning-sinne Reigning-sinne That word explicated p. 23 Right Right or Title two-fold p. 264 Relation Relation-Duties p. 3 Reproof Reproof How to be performed p. 11 Riches Riches The Churches Riches ennumerated p. 265 Reward Reward two-fold of Debt and Promise p. 101 Of works p. 102 Essential and Accidental p. 105 Lawfull to encourage our selves in good Works from the promise of the Reward p. 150 Reward of Godlidesse in this life p. 106 In the life to come p. 107 The greatnesse of the Heavenly Reward and the vast disproportion that is between the Reward and the work p. 108 Respect Respect Of Respect to the Ministry p. 46 47 48 And how it may degenerate into sinfull Admiration p. 48 S Saints SAints How all things are theirs p 265 Secret Secret The most secret sinnes shall be brought to light p. 165 The Aggravation of secret sinnes p. 168 Self Self-seekers A lawfull self-seeking p. 105 Self-seeking in a Minister what p. 64 65 Sinne. Sinne Of the sinnes of the godly p. 12 Schisme Of Schisme and Division Civil Ecclesiastical p. 38 Its Nature and Ingredients p. 39 Its Causes p. 40 Slothfullness Of Slothfullness in Religion p. 13 Spirit Spirit How it works by and with the Word and the Ministry thereof p 86 The signification of the word when attributed to God p. 201 Its dwelling in the Saints p. 205 212 Its Effects in the Church p. 209 212 See Holy Ghost Spiritual Of a spiritual man p. 7 Strife Strife See Contention Strictness Strictness in Conversation how despised by the wise men of the world p. 241 Vindicated p. 241 Scripture Scripture A plea for its simplicity p. 233 Its sufficiency p. 139 The only Foundation of our Faith p. 126 Stedfastness Stedfastness in the Faith p. 83 T Temple TEmple The use of the word and its signification p. 197 Of Gods spiritual Temple p. 197 226 Compared to the material one p. 198 Believers joyned in a Scripture way are Gods Temple p 228