the olde man is manacled and it is the bridle wherwith our stubborne and effrenate affections are helde in and whereby we are gouerned and directed in the new and liuing way as the Apostle speaketh So excellent a thing is the feare of God that nothing may be compared vnto it Whereupon Ecclesiasticus saith well Chap. 40.26 Riches and strength lift vp the mind but the feare of the Lord is aboue them both there is no want in the feare of the Lord and it needeth no helpe 27. the feare of the Lord is a pleasant garden of blessing there is nothing so beautifull as it is Wherefore you good fathers which haue a desire to teach your children and seruants the true seruice of God in token of thankfulnes to their maker and redeemer Christ Iesus for so great benefits and graces receiued you must enter them with the feare of God and you must hold and continue thē in the same with the feare of God if you laye not this foundation all your labour is lost Gods seruice shall eftsoones slide away from them and then they might better neuer to haue knowen the way of righteousnes without this there is no stay or helpe from apostasie which state is most miserable of all other This maketh vs to tread surely in all the waies of the Lord whereas the forwarde children which haue no feare catch many a fall For Gods loue looke well to this point and euer carrye in your mind that most holesome saying of the Apostle in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Philipians Make an end of your saluation with feare trembling and Pro. 28.14 Blessed is the man that feareth alway Titus 2.11.12 For the grace of God that bringeth saluation vnto all men hath appeared and teacheth vs that wee should deny vngodlines and worldly lustes and that wee should liue soberly and righteously and godly in this present world HItherto I haue spoken of the beginning and true foundation of Gods seruice now it followeth in order that I should teach you the whole buildinge with all the partes thereof that so good parents might goe forward in their dutie vntill they haue brought their childrē to a comly frame in Gods house But here first before we come to these partes we must speake something of the connexion of this text with the former and of the words of the text as they lye in order This word the grace of God is al one in effect with that which is translated mercie in the 130. Psalme and they both tend to one end that is to stirre vp men to the seruice of God the one noting out vnto vs the relenting and pitifull affection in God vpon the sight of our miserable estate into which we had cast our selues helplesse the other the gladsomnes of our heauenly father in bestowing this his mercie vpon vs which is signified vnder the worde grace From the nature of which two words I gather this double fruitful exhortation First that seeing our God which was our iudge and not onely our iudge but also the partie grieued offended did notwithstanding yearne in compassion towards vs pitie our miserie and forgaue vs all our debt and trespasse so now wee in token of thankfulnesse to him againe should yearne and grieue within our selues to see his name dishonoured And secondly whereas God hath bestowed his grace so frankely and gladsomelie to saue vs so now we being saued by his grace it should bee our ioye to serue him for it in all obedience and in euerie good duetie And whereas the Apostle saith that this grace hath appeared or as the Greeke verbe saith shined hee noteth out vnto vs the magnificence thereof as if the Lorde had reared it vp in the middest of the firmament like the sunne to giue light vnto all the partes of the world Great is this grace of GOD in Christ Iesus which hath shined and appeared vnto all nations knreds and tongues and vnto all kindes of men honourable and inhonourable And teacheth vs that wee should denie vngodlines and worldly lustes In these words the holy Ghost layeth downe the true and onely methode of proceeding in this seruice of God which is that wee should first wash out of the heart all vngodlinesse and worldly lustes that so there may be a conuenient roome for his worship to come into For euen as a foule and stinking viall infecteth the pure good ointment which is put into it euen so the worship of God if it be placed in a foule heart it will soone corrupt and shortly turne into flat idolatrie impious dissembling Agreeable to this the holy Ghost teacheth 1. Cor. 5. Purge out therefore the olde leauen that yee may bee a newe lamp And againe in the sixt verse a little leauen leaueneth a whole lumpe so a little vngodlines and wordly affections sowreth the whole masse of Gods seruice and maketh it vnpleasant vnto him Wherefore all must bee cleansed out And againe in the fifteenth of the Actes the Apostle speaking of the working of the holy Ghost in gathering into his Church the polluted Gentiles saith hauing purified their harts by faith So that now we see he y t will keep his vessel holy vnto the Lorde and prepare his heart aright to serue God he must wash it and rince it and purifie it before hee cannot make it too cleane for the seruice of God is the purest thing in al the world And here that wee may the better stirre vp our selues vnto this diuine seruice of God let vs diligently obserue the phrase of the holy Ghost The grace of God teacheth vs that wee should denie vngodlines and worldly lustes This is a metaphoricall speech taken from militarie affaires and is answerable vnto the worde abandon For when the good Captaine findeth iust cause of disliking in his souldiers he is said to abandon them that is to thrust them out of his band and to put them from their pay and so turne them away Again on the other side when the good souldier shall see the misgouernment of his captaine and his bad cause in hand hee leaueth his captaine and turneth to the iust cause denying and defying by solemne sacramentall othe of warre his former colours Without this denying the souldier shall not bee receiued but shall be taken and held as a spie and a traytor and so reiected Euen so beloued when we haue once renounced the black colours of the diuell the world and the flesh and are turned to the Lord Iesus because we see his cause is iust and his pay best now this great captaine and Lorde generall of heauen and earth before hee will admit vs into his band he requireth of vs that we should deny and defie our former colours that is all vngodlines and worldly lustes vnto which wee haue hitherto borne weapons For no man can serue two masters as our Sauiour saith in the gospell And therefore thou whosoeuer thou
hee taketh pitie on yet respecting the vnspeakable miserie from which we are deliuered and the greate freedome into which wee are brought that is into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God and to the inheritance of the Saints and to be citizens of heauen this would deserue infinit duties of thankfulnes but now this was not our deare Sauiours case alas it was no ease for him to saue vs as the monument of this day can well witnesse vnto vs at what time he finished the terme of 32. yeares seruitude and halfe hauing troden the wine presse of the Almighty borne the fierce wrath of God his father sweat water and bloud with strong cryings and teares and now hauing passed the yron gates of death hee appeared vnto vs bringing saluation through no little sorrowe and therefore now as the matter thus standeth who is sufficient for these things and who shall giue vs thankfulnes and dueties and seruice for so great deserts 4. The fourth motiue are all those sweete graces and blessings both temporall and spiritual which are bestowed vpō vs by Christ in giuing himselfe for vs. For as the Apostle sayth Rom. 8. Seeing hee spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs how shall hee not with him giue vs all things also So then when God gaue vs his sonne and Christ gaue vs himself all good things were giuen vnto vs to Haue I beene as a wildernesse vnto Israel sayth the Lord Ierem. 2. Hath the Lord been barren vnto vs or as a land of darknesse is not hee that God who hath made the light of England to shine tenne times brighter then euer it did before is not hee that God who hath planted peace in all our borders hath not hee in our daies crowned the earth with foyson of all things hath not he made the plowman to touch the mower and the treader of grapes him that soweth seede hath not hee made the hilles to droppe fatnes and the furrowes to reioyce and sing hath not he made our desert like Eden and our wildernesse like the garden of the Lorde and is not hee that God who hath taken away from vs that famine of the word which heretofore oppressed the land more then the dearth of AEgypt and made our soules like a well watred garden and giuen vnto vs abundance of spiritual blessings and set our Priests and our Leuites as in times past Now beloued seeing it is thus and our eyes are full of Gods blessings which way soeuer wee turne vs can we forget our duetie towardes our gracious God who hath opened his hand so wide vnto vs Can a maide forget her ornament sayth the Lord or a bride her attire yet my people hath forgotten me daies without number O good brethren let vs not prouoke the Lorde to speake vnto vs by his iudgements complaining as hee did sometimes of the children of Israel Esay 1. Heare O heauens and hearken O earth for the Lord hath sayd I haue nourished and brought vp children but they haue rebelled against me And againe in the fift chapter What could I haue done any more vnto my vineyard that I haue not done vnto it and when I looked that it shoulde haue brought foorth grapes it brought foorth wilde grapes 5 The fift motiue is that great and plentifull reward which God that cannot lye and with whom is no variablenes nor shadow of turning hath in his word promised and will hereafter performe to all his faithful and diligent seruants Though the Lord hath alreadie deserued our seruice and ten thousand times more thē we cā do in sauing our soules which were lost yet such is the magnificent franknes of our God that hee will not receiue the least dutie at our hands for nought no not so much as a cup of cold water bestowed vpon his seruants for his sake but hee will render a double reward for it O is it not good seruing of such a master where all things are still comming in and where nothing is layde out and no time spent but bringeth in double gaine both in this life and in the life to come Verely I say vnto you sayth our Sauiour Christ Mark chapter 10. verse 29. there is no man that hath forsaken house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receiue an hundred fold now at this present houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternall life O if men would serue the Lord what plentie of al good things should we enioy Proue mee now herewith saith the Lord of hostes if I will not open the windowes of heauen vnto you and power you out a blessing without measure Malac. 3. Againe Esay 48. Oh that thou haddest harkened vnto my commandements then had thy prosperitie beene as the floud and thy righteousnes as the waues of the sea Furthermore the Prophet Dauid vseth most excellent similitudes to set foorth this estate worthie of due meditation Psal. 92. The hornes of the righteous shall bee exalted like Vnicornes they shall be annoynted with fresh oyle they shall flourish like a palme tree they shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon they shall be fat and flourishing and they shall bring foorth fruite in their age that is they shall haue a power euen aboue nature loe thus shall the men bee blessed that serue the Lord and men shall say verily there is fruite for the righteous 6. The sixt and last motiue to stirre vs vp to this industrie in Gods seruice is the Lords ende and as it were the marke and butte whereat hee shooteth in sauing vs which is that wee should giue ouer our liues whollie vnto him in the zeale of good workes thereby to set foorth the praise of his glorious working towards vs. And this is expressed in the 130. Psalme But with thee is mercie that thou maiest bee feared And secondly in this our text Who gaue himselfe for vs that hee might redeeme vs from all iniquitie and purge vs to bee a peculiar people vnto himselfe zealous of good workes And thirdly S. Peter in his first Epistle and second chapter sayth That wee are a chosen generation a royall Priesthood a holie nation and a people set at libertie that wee should shew forth the vertues of him that hath called vs out of darknes into his meruailous light This is the end then of Gods redemption Now beloued shall the Lorde lose his ende by our negligence and bestow all his labour in vaine and shoote as it were at a wrong marke hath he culled and picked vs out of all the world to bee a speciall and peculiar people vnto himselfe to be zealous of good workes to excell all other in vertue and to holde out his glorious vertues vnto all the world and shall we now neglect the high caller and contemne his
entercourse of gods mercy iudgement most healthfull to the soule of euery Christian. Mercie and trueth haue mette together righteousnes and peace haue kissed ech other Let all Christians reioyce at this happy meeting Let the sea make a noise and al that is therein let the flouds clappe their handes and reioyce their fill let the mountaines skip before the Lord like yong rammes and let euery mouth confesse vnto the Lord and sing mercy and iudgement Oh if Gods mercy had not met his iustice by the way and kissed and imbrased it wee had all of vs bin swept away with the whirlewinde of his wrath long ere this day but with thee is mercy saith the Prophet Gods mercy hath staied his iustice from dealing extremely with vs. Who can sufficiently praise this mercie of God The Lord is gratious righteous saith the prophet therfore will be teach sinners in the way Oh what a glory is it to the Lorde to saue poore soules that were wandring downe to hell and oh what cause haue we now aboue all creatures to sound out the praise of this mercifull God who were brought euen to deaths doore are nowe lifted vp againe by his grace this name gratious and mercifull is Gods sweete name and soundeth as much as Iesus whom y e church in the 1. of the Canticles describeth after this manner Thy name is as ointment poured out therefore the virgins loue thee because God hath mercie in store for poore sinfull creatures therefore wee will runne after him by the smell of his garments and remember his loue more then wine all our talking shal bee of him and his mercie and of his praise there shall be no ende Wherefore now you good parents you which are the Lords deputies sing mercie and iudgement to your families continually and sing not onely mercie but sing iudgement also and againe sing not iudgement alone but sing iudgement and mercie both together If you teach your children Gods iustice and iudgements only then they shal fall vpon the rockes of despaire and so goe mourning downe to hell Againe if you learne them onely Gods mercie then will they sinke in the sands of securitie and so bee cast away eternally Wherefore if your desire be to haue your children passe the dangerous sea of this world that so they may arriue in the quiet hauen of blessed rest you must teach them to saile both by Gods iustice and mercie And now hauing taught you out of the former verse the way by the streight line of Gods iustice now we are come to the calme and pleasant sea of his mercie But with thee is mercie Now then looke to your wounds for here is the baulme of Gilead whereby our soules are cured euen Gods mercie Is the candle of thy soule the light of thy mind put out through the darknes of sin so that thou canst not tel how to walke in the course of this life acceptably to God and inoffensiuely to thy neighbour here is Gods mercie in Christ Iesus readie to enlighten thee but with thee is mercie As if the Prophet should haue said with thee is Christ Iesus in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge With thee is mercie with thee is Christ Iesus who is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnes With thee is mercie with thee is that light that shineth in a darke place vntill the day dawne and the day starre ariseth in our hearts With thee is mercie that is thou art hee which commanded the light to shine out darknes and thou art hee which shineth in our hearts to giue the light of the knowledge of the glorie of God in the face of Christ Iesus And to conclude with thee is mercie that is thou art that louing God which doest counsell vs for our owne good to buy of thee eye salue and to annoynt our eyes therwith that the sight of our vnderstāding may recouer againe to beholde all thy wonderfull mysteries in thy sonne Christ Iesus the which the Angels desire to beholde And with thee is the well of life and in th light shall we see light 2. Secōdly are thy will affections out of frame so that thou hast no power of thy selfe to will desire any heauenly good behold Gods mercie is at hand againe to repaire thē and to put a new power and facultie in them as the Apostle teacheth Phil. 2. For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do euen of his owne good pleasure 3. Thirdly are all thy members distempred with sinne by reason of that law of sinne and bodie of death which hath setled it self in euery part member about thee so that thou criest out with the Apostle O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death Christ Iesus the son of this merciful God being sent down from heauen by his mercifull father hath taken vpon him our whole nature euery power of our nature and hath sanctified it all for vs as the Apostle teacheth vs Heb. 2. For he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one wherefore he is not ashamed to call them brethren And againe in the same chapter For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe likewise tooke part with them that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death that is the diuell So that now if thou wile lay holde on Gods mercie and Christs merits which he once purchased for thee in thine owne nature the power of sinne shall euery day more and more dye in thee and thou shalt grow into the image of Christ thy Sauiour all thy members which before were the instruments and weapons of vnrighteousnes now they shall be chaunged into the instruments of righteousnes fight for God Now thine eyes shall beholde the thing which is right now thine eares shall be open to heare the word now thy hands shall make peace now thy lippes shall speak truth thy mouth shall blesse thy feete shall be swift to all goodnes and euery member shall bee sanctified vnto the Lord. Oh great is this mercie of God that hath giuen his son Christ Iesus to doe so great things for vs. 4. Fourthly doth the multitude of thy sins which thou hast brought forth out of this bodie of death lye boyling in thy conscience so that thou cāst take no rest neither night nor daye come againe hither to the mercie of God In that day saith the Prpohet Zachary there shall bee a fountaine opened to the house of Dauid and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sinne and for vncleannes That day is this blessed time of the Gospell in which wee now liue hauing his pretious word sounding vnto vs on both eares this fountaine is that pure righteousnes and merits of his sonne Christ Iesus which he wrought for vs while he
honorable and heauenly deseruings at our hands wee cannot doe it If our gracious Prince to shew her puissance against a forraine power should call forth one or two of her subiects who are most beholding vnto her to iust and turnie in her presence for her honour would they not straine all their strength in this seruice yea and their liues too Now shall wee doe more for our Prince then we would for God Hath not our God called vs out by name to fight for his honour to bee a chosen and peculiar people vnto himselfe to stand on his parts to shew foorth his vertues and to bee zealous of good workes yea and that wee might the better performe this seruice hee hath furnished vs with his owne armour and weapons yea and his owne hand is with vs too though all men see it not and shall not we now doe valiantly for our God and shall not wee nowe endeuour our best to answere the expectation of our heauenly King O my deare brethren see the ende of your calling You are not called to shewe your owne strength or your owne vertues or your own holines but you are called to shewe foorth the strength and the vertues and the holines of the almightie and to bee zealous of good workes But what is this zeale that we may know it and followe it This zeale as the Spouse in the last chapter of the Canticles teacheth vs is no small matter but a most ardent and burning loue vnspeakable ouercomming all the affections in man Loue is strong as death and zeale is cruell as the graue the coales thereof are fierie coales and a vehement flame yea the flame of God as the Hebrew worde signifieth Much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drowne it Now then beloued you see the end of your redemption and calling it is not only to do good works but to be zealous of good works you are called and redeemed to the heate and fire of good works you are called and redeemed to such a burning loue of them that nothing may quench it nay euen as death and the graue ouercome all things so this zeale in vs of good workes should ouercome and cast downe before vs all the lets and impediments which stand vp against vs in the seruice of our God for loue is strong as death zeale is cruell as the graue Wherefore O you redeemed of the Lorde not with golde and siluer as Saint Peter speaketh but with the pretious bloud of his owne sonne lay this vnto your hearts and stirre vp your selues vnto Gods seruice you that haue eares to heare heare and you that haue zeale within you bee inflamed for euery one cannot I call vpon you all as the Apostle Saint Iohn writeth I call vpon you little children because you are well acquainted with your fathers deare loue and tendernesse towards you I call vpon you young men because your affections are strong in you and you are best able to beare the Lordes burthen and I call vpon you olde men because you by reason of your long experience haue most knowledge of your dueties giue the Lorde his due and right and abound in all manner of good workes which he hath ordained for vs to walk in to the glorie of his holy name Teach a child in the trade of his way and when he is olde he shall not depart from it Pro. 22.6 When I began to read this verse vnto you I told you it consisted of two parts of a precept and the reason of the precept Hitherto I haue spoken of the precept and of the necessarie circumstances belonging vnto it and now I am come to speake of the reason of it that so I might stirre vp the life of the precept in his working in you And when he is olde he shall not depart from it that is if thou faithfully instructest him in his way while hee is young he shall haue the benefit of it all his life after But now that parents might bee compassed about with a cloude of exhortations I haue thought good here not onely to presse forth the principall scope of this text but also to sucke out of the bowels thereof the more hidden and abstruse collections and to gather the like arguments out of other scriptures because the whole scripture is one and lendeth hand to it selfe 1. The first reason which should moue parents to take in hand this dutie of instructing their children in this trade of their waye is drawne from the necessitie of the precept because euery child naturally is conceiued and borne out of the way as the Prophet Dauid teacheth vs Psal. 51.5 Behold I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me And the Apostle Saint Paule sayth Ephes. 2. That we are by nature the children of wrath And Moses in the 6. chapter of Gen. teacheth vs that all the thoughts and imaginations of mans hart are continually euill and the Apostle sayth 1. Cor. 2. that the naturall man cannot perceiue the thinges which are of the spirite of God And againe Rom. 8. hee telleth vs that the wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God for it is not subiect to the lawe of God neither indeed can be Wherefore now you see plainely how euery mothers child is borne into the world blind in his vnderstanding froward in his will and affections corrupt in all the motions of his hart dead in the life of God wholy possessed with sin so that except now his nature be changed by good education hee cannot possibly applye himselfe vnto any good waye but hee must needs all his life long runne astray and in the end fall headlong into hell fire Wherefore O you parents as you haue giuen your children the worse so giue them the better also as you haue brought them forth the children of wrath and death so now teach them howe they may become the children of grace and life teach your children in the trade of their way they must needes bee taught for except their education and teaching bee better then their birth they are cast away for euer and they may curse their parents that euer they brought them into the world 2. The second reason to moue parents to this vertuous teaching of their children is taken from the oportunitie thereof For if euer they will doe their children good nowe they must doe it while they bee children The Smyth must strike wile the iron is hot and the Plowman must plowe while his ground will worke and the Sayler must saile when hee hath winde and tide and as you see euerie trade hath his proper oportunitie so this trade also of education hath childhood for his fittest time to worke vpon If you doe not teach your children and traine them vp in good nourture while they bee yong all your laboure shall bee but lost afterwardes you shall strike vpon the colde iron you shall plowe in the