wrath as they come from Adam yet holy as they descend from faithfull Abraham And this holinesse which is derived from the fathers to the children is nothing but an inward and inherent benediction of the covenant made betweene God and the fathers God hath bound himselfe to the fathers to be the God of them and their children and therefore children are holy and blessed because of that covenant For the further explication of this hard and difficult point it will not be amisse to answer a few objections 1. If the Iewes be holy branches Quest. 1 because descended of an holy root and therefore wee must not doubt of their restitution how is it that the Prophet Isay 65.2 saith in the name of God All the day long have I stretched out mine hand to a stubborne people and that the Lord covered them with a spirit of slumber Isay 29.10 Whereto I answer Answ that the Iewes are a rebellious people 1. Not universally but a part of them for I am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham saith Paul vers 1. 2. Not perpetually for it is but till the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall come in vers 25. So that there is no contradiction betwixt these two propositions Israel is for a time and in part rebellious and Israel is in part and in the fulnesse of time to be called againe 2. Quest. 2 How can the children of holy parents bee holy whereas both Scripture and experience teach that the holinesse of parents is not traduced to their sons See Ezek. 18. If a man be just vers 5. hath walked in all the judgements of God vers 9. yet if he beget a son that is a theefe or shedder of bloud that sonne shall die the death vers 13. The holinesse of his father can doe him no good Besides this Christ himselfe cals the Iewes sometimes a generation of vipers sometimes the sonnes of the Devill Ioh. 8.44 Sometimes bad parents have good and sometimes good parents have bad children wicked Ahaz hath good Ezekias good Ezekias hath wicked Manasses wicked Manasses hath good Iosias and good Iosias hath wicked Sallum and Iehojakim Whereto the answer must be Answ that here is not meant a personall and habituall holinesse but an hereditarie holinesse of the whole Nation the former is not traduced from parents to the children the other is personall holinesse is a qualitie infused by regeneration confirmed encreased by the exercise of holy actions whereby a man is made conformable to the Law of God and begins to please God as the holinesse of Abraham Isaac and Iacob This is not found in everie Israelite but onely in the regenerate nor propagated from Abraham to all his posteritie for Ishmael and Esau had it not nor doth the Apostle meane it in this place here ditarie holines common to the whole Nation is an outward dignitie or the grace of the Covenant whereby all the children are within the Covenant which is made to their fathers The right to this Covenant is that which the Apostle cals holinesse and from this the Apostles argument is good If the root be holy that is covenanted to God then the branches are holy that is within the same Covenant 3. Quest. 3 Whereas wee Gentiles are not of the holy root from Abraham whether doth this belong to us and to our children Whereto I answer That branches Answ some are native some ingrafted the sap and the moysture and the fatnesse of the root is conveyed to both We Gentiles though we be not the naturall branches yet are the naturall cut off and we engrafted in their stead as the Apostle shewes at vers 17. Thou being a wilde olive tree was graft in for them and art made partaker of the root and fatnesse of the olive tree So that we are succeeded in their right and therefore me thinkes the reason is good If their sonnes were by the right of the Covenant borne Iewes why are not the children of Christians by the same right borne Christians and as this Covenant of grace was not conferred upon them by Circumcision but onely confirmed so in Baptisme the same right is not conferred but sealed Whereupon Tertullian cals Baptisme the signing of faith Chrysostome the seale of faith Basil the seale of faith and Augustine the Sacrament of faith By all which it appeares that there is no grace before Baptisme Therefore Hierome sayes well Nos non nasci Christianos hoc est conditione naturae sed renasci Christianâ—s hoc est conditione gratiae Wee are not borne Christians that is in the condition of nature but wee are regenerated Christians that is by the condition of grace Wherefore ignorant are those men and foule are those mouthes who affirme that infants dying without Baptisme are damned Christ saith Mark 16.16 He that shall beleeve and be baptized shall be saved Qui non est baptizatus sed qui non crediderit condemnabitur but he that will not beleeve shall bee damned He saith not He that is not baptized but he that beleeveth not shall be damned S. Augustine who was harsh and unfound enough in this point confesseth Ad Scleucian Epist 108. that Baptisme of fire or bloud is called Baptisme as well as that of water And S. Ambrose in his funerall Oration at the death of Valentinian who was slaine when hee was but Catechumenus Regnare cum Christo in coelis â—tsi tincius non erat affirmes that hee did reigne with Christ in the heavens although he was not baptized For though God have tied us to use it yet he hath not tied himselfe to it for hee doth not save all that are baptized and yet will save some that were not baptized as amongst the Iewes they were not all condemned that died without Circumcision so neither are all they now that die without Baptisme In 2 Sam. 12.18 Davids childe died the seventh day which was before the day of Circumcision and yet saith David I shall goe to him vers 23. God cals them his sonnes Ezek. 16.20 21. so I come to the third argument VERS 17. Vers 17 And though some of the branches bee broken off and thou being a wilde olive tree wast graft in for them and made partaker of the root and fatnesse of the olive tree boast not THis is the third reason taken from the twofold condition of the Gentiles the one shewing what they were in former time the other what now they are They were branches of a wilde olive now engrafted into the right olive tree More particularly thus the argument consists of an antecedent in the 17. verse and a consequent in the 18. In the antecedent I note first the estate of the Iewes which was like to a tree whose branches be broken off in the beginning Secondly the double estate of the Gentiles the first they were like to a wilde olive tree without the compasse and hedge which was about the Lords garden as also void of all
good fruit the other what they are engrafted into the right olive tree where you may note how God bestowes upon the Gentiles a threefold grace and benefit first an engrafting into the right root secondly made partaker of the root made of the same nature with the root thirdly made partaker of the fatnesse that is of all the privileges and benefits of the covenant made to Abraham Isaac and Iacob I beginne first with the condition of the Iewes some of the bracnhes be broken off First they were such as thought themselves branches good enough because outwardly as faire and freth as any other And from thence note Wicked men seeke no further than to have the outward privileges of Gods children Secondly no outward privilege can acquit a sinful people from Gods anger nor prove them to be the people of God either proposition is before handled upon the first verse of this Chapter Secondly they are but some of the branches whence note two points first none that are within the covenant are broken off finally Secondly all the Iewes are not within the covenant made with Abraham see likewise on the first verse of the said Chapter Doct. Thirdly They are broken off God hath not so tied his promises and graces to any mans seed but some of them may be cast off if they degenerate though God made the promise to Abraham and his seed yet Ishmael hath no right unto it Cast out the Bondwoman and her sonne for the sonne of the Bondwoman shall not bee heire with my sonne Isaac Gal. 4.30 The same confirmed to Isaac and yet I loved have Iacob and hated Esau Mal. 1.3 the same confirmed to Iacob yet with many of them God was not pleased Rom. 10.5 The Iewes say they came of Abram and yet Christ hath censured them to be sonnes of Satan Ioh. 8.44 But this I meet hereafter I proceed to the twofold estate of the Gentiles The first is what they were oleaster a wilde olive tree quasi olea sterilis a barren olive-tree There be two kinds of olive trees that be barren the one made as Plinie reports Plin Nat. Hist lib. 17. cap. 24. that if a goat doe but licke it it presently becomes barren and never bears olives more the other naturally barren and is here called the wilde olive which hath the shape the leafe the bough of the true olive but it wants the generous juyce it wants the fruits Such were the Gentiles they had outwardly the same image and similitude with the people of God they had some morall vertues like unto leaves outwardly resembling the good workes of Gods children but wanting that generous juyce that is the graces of Gods spirit without which there is nothing that God accepts The first thing that may be gathered is Doct. The remembrance of former wildenesse wherein once we were should curbe us from growing proud of that estate wherein now we are We were once wilde and must not now insult ouer those that are as we were It is the counsell of God himselfe Isai 51.1 Looke unto the rocks whence you were hewen and to the hole of the pit whence yee were digged Amos was once an herdman Peter a fisherman Paul a maker of tents Iacob a keeper of sheepe and you reade not that when Amos became a Prophet Peter an Apostle Paul a Doctor of the Gentiles and Iacob a Lord in his Countrey that ever they forgat their former estate and meane condition wherein they had lived Amos as milde when he was a Prophet as when he was a herdman Peter as lowly when he is an Apostle as when he was a fisherman Paul as courteous when he is a Doctor as when he was a tent-maker and Iacob as humble when he is a Master and Lord as when he was a servant and keeper of sheepe This manner of perswading doth God often use to his people You shall love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Aegypt Deut. 10.19 Thou shalt not pervert the right of the stranger nor the fatherlesse but remember that thou wast a servant in Aegypt Deut. 24.17 18. The remembrance of what we have beene should keepe us from being proud of what we are Thou camest naked from thy mother remember this and bee not proud of thy wealth Thou wast polluted in Adam remember this and bee not proud of thy holinesse Thou wast a servant remember this and bee not proud of thy greatnesse Thou wast a stranger remember this and bee not proud of thy privileges Thou wast a prodigall remember this and be not proud of thy new favour Nebuchadnezzar was once amongst beasts Iob once on the dunghill the Governours once low 1 Sam. 2.8 A lesson as little practised as any other Herodotus in Euterp Arist pelit lib. 3. most men are like to Amasis in Herodote who being of meane descent yet at last growing great tooke a silver bason c. or like to Fabius in Plutarch who being advanced to a Consulship when his owne father came to him in a message from the Romane Senate would give no answer till his father should light and come on foot to him or like unto the Israelite who was a long time a servant oppressed in Aegypt a long time almost starved in the wildernesse but being come to Canaan grow proud on a sudden and forget not only their former misery wherein they had beene but the hand that made them and the God that delivered them He that should have beene upright when he waxed fat spurned with the heele c. Deut. 13.19 Or like to Pharaohs Butler who being in favour soone forgot that ever he had been in prison Gen. 40.23 If rich wee forget that ever we were poore if in honour that ever we were base if masters that ever we were servants if free that ever we were strangers It is strange to see that man who is but dust and every handfull of dust that flies hits him in the teeth with his basenesse should bee altogether made of drie dust that 's so easily blowne and carried aloft into the aire above his fellowes though they have the same father God and the same mother the Church and hope for the same kingdome heaven borne alike and die like come with nothing and goe away with nothing The greatest will have no cause to bee proud if hee remember whence he came from Adam the most honourable no cause to be proud if he remember whither he goes to the earth the wisest no cause to be proud if he remember what he is dust the richest no cause to be proud if he remember whither he must returne againe â—â— thalan o grandoribus literis inscripta babuit Willegesi Willegest recole unde veneris Becolcerus in Anno. 10 11. to the dust of the earth Gen. 3.19 We should be like to Willegesius who being the son of a Carpenter and afterward Bishop of Moguntia had this written in his Bed-chamber with great letters Willegesius Walligesius
plea it selfe The branches are broken off that I might be grafted in It containes two members the one the disparagement of the Iew The branches are broken off the other the Gentile's proud conceit of himselfe that I might be grafted in I begin with the first They are called branches onely in respect of outward prerogatives from whence learne first That such branches as shall bee cut off are so like others that God onely can distinguish them Doct. A point manifest in that Parable Matth. 13.29 When the servant would have pluckt up the tares that were among the wheat Christ forbids him for this reason lest while you plucke up the tares you plucke up the wheat as not being able to distinguish one from another according to that of S. Augustine Deus nobis imperavit congregauonem sib reservavit separationem illâ—us est s â—parare qâ—inesâ—â—t errare Aug. ad virgin Faeliciam Epist 109. Quidam tenent paâ—â—ral sâ—athedâ—as ut Dugregem custodiant quidam ut suis honoribus serviâ—â—t Aug. ibid. Aug. contra Petilâ—anum lib. 3. cap. 55. God hath required of us the congregating hath reserved the separating to himselfe hee must separate who knowes not how to erre Who can distinguish S. Iude from the Traytour Iudas or Simon Peter from Simon Magus but onely Christ Some doe sit in the pastorall chaires that they may keepe Gods flocke some that they may serve their owne preferments saith the same Father Ibid. Iudas doth preach and baptize as well as Iude as the same Father speaketh There bee branches saith Ambrose according to present righteousnesse and there be some according to the fore-knowledge of God and none can distinguish them but God there bee branches which Christ hath planted and some which hee hath not planted and till God cut off the one and leave the other none can make a difference betweene them Our first parents have two children the one within the Covenant the other not yet so like hat none can distinguish them but God In one Arke Shem Ham and Iaphet none knowes who is in or who without grace but God In one wombe Esau and Iacob which is predestinate which not none knowes but God untill the great Shepherd come none can distinguish sheepe from goats untill the reapers come none can distinguish wheat from tares untill the Master of the house come none can distinguish betweene the vessels of honour and dishonour If you aske the reason why God suffers the branches that must bee cut off to grow amongst others I answer that it is for a two-fold reason 1. Because the coldnesse of devotion in the one should by an Antiperistasis stirre up zeale in the other as the wind striving to blow out the fire encreaseth the flame 2. That the glorie of the true branches might bee more illustrious and eminent Laus trâ—buenda Murenae non quod Asiam viderat sâ—d quod in Asia continenter vixerat Cic. Orat. pro Murena Murena is to be praised not because hee had seene Asia but because hee had lived continently in Asia saith Cicero Lots chastitie appeares more in Sodome than when hee lived in the mountaines Hence see how unsound they are who take upon them to determine Vse who is not of the Church and therefore separate themselves from us saying as Isa 65.5 Stand apart come not neere me for I am holier than thou I know not what to say of such but as Constantine said to Acesius a Novatian Bishop Erigito tibi scalam Acesi ut sâ—lus in coelum â—scendas Sâ—â—r Eccles Hâ—st lib. 1. cap. 7. A tendi â— zâ—zaenia triâ—â—â—uâ—e non attendu Set up a ladder for thy selfe O Acesius that thou alone mayst ascend up to Heaven If they leave us because we have faults by the same reason they must needs fly into Heaven for there is no place in earth for them Thou lookest to the cockle and the wheat thou regardest not When thou dividest thy selfe from hypocrites in the Church thou dividest thy selfe from the Church And in heterogene all bodies a member cur off perisheth O then forsake not the greene pastures Et membrum in hâ—â—erogâ—neis â—e rit â—bsâ—â—ssum because of the goats nor Gods house because of the vessels of dishonour nor Gods wheat because of the tares nor Gods net because of the bad fishes that are in it Rather follow the rule of S. Augustine against the letters of Petilianus a Tolera propter bonos commâ—xâ—â—onem â— alorum ne visles propter â—â—alos claritatem bonorâ—m Aug. Contra Petilâ—anum lib. 3. cap. 2. Beare with the mixture of evill because of the good lest thou violate the charitie of the good because of the evill b Nee propter mâ—los bonos deseramus sea propter bonos malos sâ—sserâ—mus Aug. contra Parmeâ—anâ—â— lib. 2. cap. 8. Neither let us forsake the good because of the evill but suffer the evill because of the good 2. If no man can distinguish the good from the bad learne first not to judge of another that is ill for hee may prove good nor of him that is good in shew for hee may prove ill nor of thy selfe that thou art happie because thou hast the outward privileges of true branches but seeke for the power of godlinesse in thine owne heart to sinde those graces whereby thine election may be sealed unto thee hearing the word Vse 2 fervencie in prayer meditation of heaven hungring after righteousnesse combating against the flesh now obedience love and a joyfull expectation of Christs comming to judgement in the clouds of Heaven Secondly the branches are broken off Observ 2 Therefore no people no Nation so farre preferred above others but sinne will bring them to naught and cut them off from God That all Nations have their fals and periods is granted by all but what may be the cause of their subversion the most be ignorant The Stoicke ascribes it to destinie Plato Pythagoras Meâ—bâ—d 6. Polyâ—ic lib. 5. cap. 1â— and Bodin to number Aristotle to an asymmetry in the body Copernicus to the motion of an imaginary encentrique Cardanus and the most part of Astrologians to starres and planets All these have groped in darknesse and being misse-lead with an Ignâ—â— fatuus have supposed with Ixion in the fable that they had found the true Iuno when it was but a cloud of palpable darknesse for if wee consult with the oracles of God we shall there finde that sinne is the cause why God falls out with his children turnes cities into ashes makes kingdomes but ludibria fortunae the mocking stocks of fortune c. But I am loth that it should be said of mee as it was of Micaiah That man doth not prophesie to us any good There is one point more Thirdly the branches are broken off God can no sooner cast a man downe but man is ready to tread upon him Observ 3 Its Iobs case who when he was cast downe and lay upon the earth
Sabbaths hee will bring to passe what hee hath threatned and set a fire in thy gates as in Ierusalem Ierem. 17.27 If you will not help the Armies of God yee shall bee cursed like Meroz Iudg. 5.23 Your sinne will finde you out though you be never so covertly hid as Moses told Reuben and Gad Numb 32.23 and when once you are found out and started evill shall hunt you and chase you till you bee destroyed Psal 140.11 What shall we doe miserable men in that day when the Lord shall come in a flame of fire Quid sacien us in ilid dâ—e miseri quando dominus igneus vencrit cadentibus slelliâ— Sâ—l in teneâ—â— as Lunain sanguinem mutabitur montes lit ceral quesâ—â—nt mare siccabitur quando peccatores dâ—cent montibus Cadite super nos tegite 〈◊〉 quaâ— dovocabunt homines moâ—tem non veniet vocata Hiâ—â— Epist de Scâ—â—â— Legis Tom. 4. the Starres falling the Sunne shall be changed into darknesse and the Moone into bloud the mountaines shall melt as wax the sea shall be dried up when sinners shall say to the mountaines fall upon us cover us when men shall call to death and death being called shall not come saith Hierome And so I come from the assurance and securitie this is my covenant to the grace covenanted or promised I will take away their sinnes These words have in them first a person secondly an action take away thirdly the matter removed I will this time goe but to the person I. It is proper to God alone to forgive and pardon sin It is the Lord the Lord that forgives iniquitie transgression and sinne Doct. For so God describes himselfe to Moses Exod. 34.7 It is hee that is a just God and Saviour from sinne and besides him there is none other Isa 45.21 It is our heavenly Father that forgives trespasses Matth. 6.14 Who can forgive sinne but God onely Mark 2.7 I say no more but as Nathan said to David when hee confessed his sinne and said I have sinned against the Lord The Lord hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die 2 Sam. 12.13 The Reason Reason 1 First because sinne is committed onely against the Law and Majestie of God and as for the offence against the creature it is no more but an iujurie wrong or trespasse for in sinne there bee two things 1. The evill or obliquitie of the action 2. An hurt or detriment arising unto man by the action The evill of the action or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 crossing the Law of God is the sinne properly and the remission of it is in God only But the hurt or detriment by that trespasse falling upon man in goods body name a man pardons without impeachment of Gods honour Thus then doth man forgive when he remits the harme that ariseth together with all anger and revenge But Gods forgiving is an absolving from the sinne it selfe as he himselfe speakes I even I am bee that puts away thine iniquities for mine owne sake Isa 43.25 It is I that put away thy transgressions as a cloud and thy sinnes as a mist Isa 44.22 God sometimes forgives the sinne when man forgives not the wrong and man sometimes forgives the wrong when God forgives not the sinne as Stephen Secondly Reason 2 the breach of humane precepts or doing of any thing against a man is no sinne unlesse it doe withall imply and include the transgressions of the Commandement of God Thirdly Reason 3 God takes away not onely the punishment as men in outward punishments partly can doe but also removes the guilt and corruption of nature which none else can doe Fourthly Reason 4 Gods power and authoritie is most absolute independant and cannot by any other be prevented or hindered from giving and granting of pardon to his sonnes and children And from hence let us learne First Vse 1 that seeing God hath made promise of forgivenesse of sinnes to the Iewes a promise to reconcile them by the covenant of grace let us not despaire of their salvation but set our selves to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as fellow-workers with God to helpe and set forward and to hasten their conversion that there may be one shepherd and one sheepefold as our Saviour speakes in Ioh. 10.16 And of all meanes to doe them good there is nothing more available than their observation of our good life who professe Christ that will worke when the word doth not 1 Pet. 3.1 2. Essicacior von bonioperu quà m elegantis serâ—onu Illius Doctoris libenter audio vocem Bâ—â—n sâ—p Cant serm 59. Horat. de art poetic Aug. confess lib 9 cap. 9. The voice of a good worke is more effectuall than that of an elegant speech I willingly heare the voice of that Teacher c. saith Bernard Si vis me flere dolendum priùs ipse tibi Thou must first grieve thy selfe if thou wilt have mee to weepe S. Augustine reports that his mother Monicha won her Patricius from being an impure Manichee by her prudence manners and chastitie Let us follow the rule of Christ Matth. 5.16 Let your light so shine before men c. Let us behave our selves among them as S. Peter wisht them once to behave themselves among us Have your conversation honest among the Gentiles that they by your good works which they shall see may glorifie God in the day of their visitation 1 Pet. 2.12 Capat artis est docere quod sacis Hier de re monach ex Cicerone The principall of an art is to teach what thou doest saith Hierome Secondly Vse 2 I might hence confute all superstitious persons proud pharisaicall Papists who seeke for righteousnesse of a sinner and the pardon of sins not only from Gods mercy in Christ but from humane satisfactions indulgences purgatory fire prayer for the dead and humane merits But I will not spend my time in taking out the stinke of these popish channels my conclusion is Vse 3 That seeing God only can forgive it let us become suiters unto him only to pardon it let us confesse it for confession must goe before remission It is excellent Psal 32.3 While I held my tongue my bones consumed while I cried all the day long Tacui and yet clamavi I held my tongue and yet I cried Tacuit unde proficeret clamavit unde desiceret tacui confessionem clamavi praesumptionem saith Augustine He was silent in that whereby he might profit himselfe he cried out whereby he failed I kept silent my confession I uttered my presumption all this while my bones consumed At last he bethinkes another course I confessed Agnâ—scit peâ—â—ator ignoscit Deus and thou forgavest The sinner acknowledgeth God pardoneth Before confession no comfort after confession no punishment Let us leave them let us hate them and pray for the pardon of them spare not to speake lest wee spare to speed but cry with the Publican God be mercifull to mee a sinner let us
not onely whilest they live by their sinnes treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and prepare a fire in which they shall everlastingly be burned but also by propagating their sinnes unto posteritie and leaving behinde them the example of their vices whereby others daily are successively corrupted doe adde fuell to that hellish fire and increase their never ending torments So Gods servants even after they are dead have still a stocke going when as they leave behinde them their Christian vertues for examples and their holy writings teaching and perswading others to follow them whereby a daily addition is made to their glorie and happinesse Such legacies after his departure hath this reverend and faithfull servant of Christ left for the use and benefit of the Church and such children to perpetuate his name and memorie unto all posteritie I meane the summe and substance of many his learned Sermons which he preached in his place charge at S. Marie Overies in Southwarke to the great benefit comfort and contenment of those that heard him The which though he had not polished and perfected for the Presse as he might have done if it had pleased God to have prolonged his life yet I thought it not fit that they should alwaies be hidden from the world because they had not on them their best apparrell They were I assure thee his owne legitimate children conceived and bred in his owne braine which were thus farre fitted for their birth and prepared for the Presse though himselfe wanted life and strength to bring them forth Esteeme them not the lesse because they are Orphans but entertaine them rather with the more love and if thou findest in them any defects and wants pitie them the more because they have lost their father who would had he lived have supplyed them and esteeme them both in their own worth and also for their fathers sake And if I finde that thou givest this kinde entertainment to these his fruitfull labours as it were his first borne there are divers other children of the same father which shall ere long bee brought to light I meane his Lectures on the twelfth Chapter to the Romans and on a great part of the â—19 Psalme with some others In the meane while I commend them to God and the word of his grace which is able to build thee up and to give thee an inheritance among all them that are sanctified Thine in the Lord Iesus J. D. The Contents GOds Ministers must not conceale comforts from the wicked pag. 5 Wicked men presume upon outward privileges pag. 9 No outward privileges exempt from Gods anger p. 12 The faithfull cannot finally fall away p. 14 All that carrie the name of Christians are not in the Covenant p. 17 Those of all Nations that beleeve and repent shall be saved p. 19 A man may be assured of his salvation in this life p. 22 Parentage can neither hinder nor further salvation p. 40 Grace is above greatnesse p. 42 Sinne will ruine a people notwithstanding outward privileges p. 46 God predestinated us in Christ p. 52 We are predestinate to the meanes as well as the end p. 53 Faith nor workes forseene no cause of election p. 60 No meanes to glorie but by Christ p. 71 All that doe good workes are elect and shall be saved p. 74 The elect cannot finally be cast off p. 76 The Scriptures able to make wise to salvation p. 79 There is a familiaritie between God and his children p. 85 Prophets and good men stand in the gap p. 87 Prayers the Churches best weapons p. 89 The wicked persecute the best most p. 93 When the Prophets are gone the people fall from God p. 95 Wicked men overthrow the meanes of Gods service p. 98 Wicked men dispute against the truth with the sword p. 99 Christs Church scarsly visible sometimes p. 100 Wicked men requite Gods Prophets evill for good p. 102 When Gods servants crie to him hee answereth them p. 104 A great grace in corrupt times to bee preserved from sinne p. 109 God owneth not Idolaters for his p. 110 God hath alway a Church though invisible to man p. 113 To bow before an Idoll is idolatrie p. 117 God at all times preserves his Church p. 118 Those that belong to God are not many p. 120 God saveth man of his free grace p. 126 God in electing man respects not good workes p. 129 All men shall not be saved p. 134 No man can attaine life by his owne righteousnesse p. 135 Those that stand upon their owne holinesse are hardned p. 137 We must seeke God in a right manner p. 138 A man elect shall certainly be saved p. 139 Hardnesse of heart a signe of reprobation p. 141 The written Word should bee Iudge of controversies p. 144 Causes of hardnesse of heart p. 145 God punisheth one sinne with another p. 162 An heavie judgement to neglect the meanes to know God p. 163 Meanes of salvation abused turne to destruction p. 168 A miserie to heare and not profit p. 169 Meanes contemned are not profitable p. 173 God receiveth all that turne to him p. 164 The best things of wicked men turne to their destruction p. 177 They that seeke life in the Law finde destruction p. 181 God repayes men in the same kinde p. 182 God punisheth unbeleevers with spirituall blindnesse p. 187 God hates and severely punisheth infidelitie p. 193 When wicked men abuse their power God deprives them of it p. 194 Prudence in Ministers in denouncing of judgements p. 200 Men stumble at those things that should support them p. 203 The best may stumble reprobates fall finally p. 206 God workes good out of evill p. 208 God workes good to his by unlikely meanes p. 213 God takes al oportunities to do his children good p. 214 When the Gospell is abused God takes it away p. 216 Where the Gospell is preached salvation is offered p. 218 God requires an holy emulation p. 221 The good that is in others should provoke us to follow them p. 223 Gods kindnesse should make us ashamed of unthankfulnesse p. 225 The grace and knowledge of God and Christ is true riches p. 231 The Iewes at their conversion shall be inriched with graces p. 239 Faithfull Preachers turne all they say to their peoples use p. 241 Good people feare the losse of their faithfull Preachers p. 243 Ministers should intend the good of their people p. 247 Ministers by preaching and liuing should grace their calling p. 250 Good Ministers aime at the salvation of soules p. 252 A good Minister Gods instrument to save soules p. 256 Preachers must neglect no meanes to convert soules p. 258 We ought most to tender the salvation of those that are neere us p. 259 Living in sinne is an estate of death p. 261 Wee should not despaire of the calling of the Iewes p. 264 The Gospell the meanes of raising men from the dead p. 266 What is due to God of his owne blessings
of thy Law good Father touch their tongues with a coale from thine holy Altar that by the blessing of thy holy Spirit they may be able to worke some holinesse in the hearts of a sinfull and unbeleeving people and cut downe the head and strength of some sinne that remaineth in us and to this end and purpose make them sound in thy Doctrines terrible in thy threatnings sweet in thy comforts powerfull and effectuall in all thy perswasions and mercifull Father make thy word like the bow of ionathan and like the sword of Saul or Gideon that never returned emptie from the bloud of the slaine and the fat of the mightie Lastly wee come unto thee for our selves againe thy most unworthy servants that are here assembled in a reverent feare of thy most holy and blessed name most humbly intreating thee in Jesus Christ to be gracious and mercifull to all our sinnes and to be effectually present with thy blessed Spirit in the midst of us all and grant that thy word may drop and distill upon our tender consciences like raine upon the mowen grasse and as dew comes downe from Heaven to water the earth take away the scales of ignorance from all blinde and darke understandings remove farre from us all lets and hinderances whereby the blessed seed of thy Word hath beene too many and sundry times made unfruitfull in the hearts of sinfull and unbeleeving people and to everie soule that is present in thy house this day or at any other time grant 〈◊〉 all holy diligence to seeke thee godly wisdome to know theâ— and sanctified understanding to finde thee aright that so thâ— Word may prove the the sweet savour of life unto everlasting lift â—â—ough Jesus Christ our Lord and onely Saviour in whose most holy and blessed name wee are bold to conclude these our weake and imperfect prayers in that perfect forme of prayer which Christ hath taught us saying Our Father c. AN EXPOSITION VPON The eleventh Chapter to the ROMANS VERSE 1. I say then hath God cast away his people God forbid for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin IN the former Chapter the Apostle disputed at large touching the fall and rejection of the Iewes The Coherence and Argument Quatenus corum causa culpa contigit In Rom. 11. so farre forth as it came to passe through their meanes and fault saith Solo applying that unto them which was prophesied of them so long before in the 65. of Isaiah vers 2. Tota dit expendi manus meas All the day have I spread out my hands unto a rebellious people and Rom. 10.21 And in this Chapter hee disputes of the casting away of the lewes Quatenus à Deo ob bonam causam permissa suit Zab. de necess lib. 1. cap. 2. so farre forth as it was permitted by God for a good cause they were cut off that the Gentiles might be planted in Rom. 11.19 yet after this he goes about to comfort them by laying downe two conclusions which make the two maine and principall parts of the Chapter The first That the rejection was not uniuersall respectu subjecti i. in respect of the subject that is The Iewes were not all cast off from the first to the eleventh verse The second That their rejection was not universall respectu temporis i. in respect of the time that is eternall and forever from the eleventh verse to the end Or with Calvin more particularly thus In Rom. 11. The mitigation of their despaire after their rejection consists in these six Theorems 1. That all Israel is not rejected God hath not cast away his people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. which hee fore-knew vers 2. The 2. That by their fall the Gentiles have obtained salvation vers 11. The 3. That in the end the Iewes shall be converted to the faith and kingdome of Christ in great number vers 12. The 4. That Abraham who was the root was holy and therefore hath some holy branches among them vers 16. The 5. That God can as easily graft them into the Olive tree againe as hee cut them off vers 23 24. The 6. That Gods purpose and counsell to graft them in againe is like the Lawes of the Medes and Persians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. For the gifts of God are without repentance vers 29. This is the Coherence and Argument I have no purpose to insist upon the Author Paul so named of Sergius Paulus Of the Author of the Epistle the Pro-Consull of Cyprus whom he and Barnabas converted to the faith Act. 13.7 12. as Hierome avoucheth Lib de claris Scriptoribus nor of the signification of his name which in the Hebrew signifies Marvellous or as Buxtorâ—ius Etymol In the Greeke Ease and Rest à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cesso or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quies or small and little as Augustine De spiritu litiera cap. 7. In Psal 72. nor why his name was changed it is done by Augustine Hee was first Saul viz. superbus i. proud then Paul viz. Humilis i. humble Nor of the authoritie of this Epistle Lib. 4. de verbo Dei cap. 4. Non debet esse admirationi aliquaâ—na arbor ubi in candem proceritatem â—otasylva surrexâ—â— Quid primuÌ„ in eo admirer quid poste à comprobem quid postremò laudibus inestimandis vehendam arbitror planesum animi dubius which is knowen and beleeved to be divine by the witnesse of Gods Spirit in Scripturis non ex traditionibus i. in the Scriptures not by Traditions as Bellarmine vainely goes about to prove nor of the excellencie of this Chapter which I have select It was an excellent saying of Seneca in one of his Epistles Some one tree is not to be wondred at when as all the whole wood hath growen to the like talnesse I am altogether doubtfull what I should first admire what afterwards I should approve and what finally I should judge worthy to be extolled with inestimable praises * Convivium sapientâ—ae singuli libri singula â—ercula Ambr. script oâ—â—ic lib. 1. cap. 22. Hieron de Psalmis Epist ad Paulinum It is a banquet of wisdome and everie booke a daintie dish as Ambrose speaketh And as one said of the writings of Salvianus there is not one Iota or phrase in this whole Chapter which is not pregnant and full of supernaturall knowledge Thesaurus sapientiae i. even a treasure of wisdome as Hierome stileth the Booke of the Psalmes I come to the Analysis The parts are five 1. A consolation of the rejected Iewes Analysis that notwithstanding God had cast them off yet such a remnant of them as were within the covenant of election should be saved through grace from the first verse to the seventh 2. A confirmation of the rejection of the stubborne Iewes by Testimonies of two Prophets the one David Psal 69.22 Let their table
the Arke of the Covenant and the Temple which Salomon built Quis cladem illius urbis quis sunera sando Explicat aut possit lachrymis c. Virgil. 2.1 Aeneid Babylon who could say of herselfe as Isay 47.8 I am and none else beside mee I shall not sit as a widdow c. Yet now she is laid waste Ostriches cry there and the Satyres dance there Isay 13.21 Few places had such prerogatives as Nineveh so much state that Volateran reports that it was eight yeeres a building and all that time no lesse than ten thousand worke-men and Diodorus Slculus that the height of the wals were an hundred foot the breadth able to receive three carts on arow it had fifteene hundred turrets and yet none of these have sence but paper-wals to preserve their memoriâ—â— So the seven Churches of Asia I am seges est ubi Troja fuit Ovid. Epist 1. Nice Ephesus and Chalcedon famous for generall Councels and now the ruines and rubbish of them cannot bee found they are turned into pastures for oxen and sheepe 2. Outward privilege is no proofe of election for then all the Iewes enjoying the same privileges should bee saved aswell as any one of them Beware then you deceive not your hearts Vse that you trust not to these broken reeds that have no strength that you judge not of your estate by these outward marks It is not your hearing nor your maintaining of the Gospell but it is your sanctified holines in the heart Follow holines for without that no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 not Herods holines nor Pharisaicall holines not Popish holines in rites and ceremonies will you know that are of the Church I know you desire it for alas what good will it doe a man to have Princes to bow unto him doubt what shall become of his soule That saying of Trajan the Emperor will be but cold coÌ„fort at the day of death though my words perish in the aire yet When that day shall come that Christ shall set some on his right hand and others on his left you will have no comfort but in this that you led good lives kept cleere consciences served God in singlenesse of spirit for then hee will take you by the hands and bring you into his Palace admit you into his Court make you Inheritors of his Kingdome invest you into his glorie where I hope we all long to be and where I hope we shall all meet to praise the blessed Trinitie the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost to whom be glorie So I come to Pauls answer in the next words God forbid for I also am an Israelite Answ This answer consists of two branches The one Pauls reply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid The other the strength of his reply in three Arguments 1. From the person Paul 2. From the fore-knowledge of God 3. From the state of the Church in the time of Elias I begin with the reply God forbid It seemes to bee a bare negation but is indeed in sence Bipartita propositio Ad Rom. 1. a two-fold proposition saith P. Martyr 1. God hath cast away none that are within the Covenant God forbid that 2. Which followes by way of corollarie All that are Iewes are not within the Covenant Doct. and from these two propositions follow two conclusions They that are within the Covenant of grace cannot finally be cast away 1. They that are within the Covenant of grace cannot finally bee cast away 2. All men are not within the Covenant of election and grace I beginne with the former and lay downe these grounds Reason 1 whereon it being built will stand like the house upon a rocke against the wind of Popish opposition The 1. God who elected them is unchangeable I am 1.17 I am God and change not Mal. 3.8 a Sine mutatione facit mutabilia moderatur mobiiased sine motu Aug de Trinit lib. 1. cap. 1. He being without change doth make things changeable and governeth things moveable but without motion saith Augustine b Et qui mutat opera non mutat concilium consess lib. 1. cap. 4. And hee who changeth his works changeth not his counsell c Et quodsemel habet nunquam admittit What he once hath he never loseth d Tempus ab aevo esse jubes stabilisque manous das cuncta manert Boet deconsol philos lib. 3. From all eternitie thou commandest time to bee and remaining stable thou causest all things to abide saith Boetius They that would see more may finde it in e De Ecclesiast Hierarch cap. 3. Dionysius the supposed Areopagite that though a man would fall yet God will bee sure in his Covenant The 2. Reason 2 Institut lib. 3. cap. 24. second given by Calvin All the elect are committed by God the Father to the keeping and protection of God the Sonne All that the Father giveth mee shall come to mee Ioh. 6.37 and in Ioh. 17.6 Thine they were and thou gavest them to me and therefore Christ cals himselfe the true Shepherd in Ioh. 10. and knowes everie one that God puts into his keeping vers 14. If a Shepherd then he is to tend and keepe all that is committed to his trust and if you will know how faithfully Christ doth keep them see Ioh. 17.12 All that thou hast given me I have kept and not one of them is lost save the sonne of perdition c. And Ioh. 6.37 Him that commeth to me from the Father I put not away nay there is not one that God hath commended to my keeping but I will shew him to my Father and bee accountable for their soules at the day of judgement For I will raise him up at the last day saith the Shepherd of Israel vers 39. The 3. Reason 3 If any thing should cut them off who are once in the Covenant it must needs be their owne sinne or the stratagem of an enemie Sin cannot because if any of them sinne they have an advocate with the father Iesus Christ 1 Ioh. 2.1 Hee will present them blamelesse and without spot and in the meane time keepe them that they shall not fall Iude 24. nor can the stratagems of Satan prevaile for I give unto them eternall life and none take them out of my hands and they shall never perish Ioh. 10.28 If the elect could be deceived it should bee by false Christs and false Prophets Matth. 24.24 they would deceive if it were possible the verie elect The 4. The assurance of salvation is sealed the covenant is not onely made as Gen. 17.7 but it is also sealed Reason 4 for God hath sealed us and hath given us an carnest-penny for hee hath sealed us and hath given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1.22 So Ephes 4.30 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed c. So 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God remaineth sure
preferment of the Iew is none at all Quisque nascitur ex Adamo nascitur dimnatus de damnato Augan Psa 131. Whosoever is borne of Adam is borne condemned of him that is condemned saith Augustine Let the Iew say hee hath Abraham to his father yet if hee bee not borne of God that he is descended from the Patriarkes yet if hee bee not within the Covenant of grace and mercie not borne of water and the Holy Ghost hee is no better than the Gentile that knowes not God My conclusion is that of the Apostle Rom. 3.9 Is the Iew more excellent than the Gentile no in no wise For all both Iewes and Gentiles are by nature servants of sinne First learne Vse 1 that it is no privilege to be a Iew and have Abraham to his father to bee beautified with outward privileges if a man have not the faith of Abraham and bee marked and sealed for a childe of God To say Wee have Abraham to our father Vend care praerogativam religiosi nominis superare Gothes Vandales haerericâ pravitate Salvian de provident lib. 7. Ioh. 8. to crie the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord Ierem. 7.4 To challenge the prerogative of a religious name to goe beyond the the Goths and Vandalls in hereticall naughtinesse To use the words of Salvianus are but perizomata fig-leaves not able to cover our nakednesse Secondly they both alike stand in need of Christ Vse 2 Both be ransomed by that Lambe which they have slaine both washt with that bloud which they spilled both made alive by that Iesus whom they have killed I come to the second which is their future condition They also may obtaine mercie And first from the verie appellation and name of mercie they may finde mercie to come out of their former blindnesse I note That all the hope of any unconverted man to come from under the tyrannie of sinne Doct. depends upon the the mercie of God in Christ Iesus Who shall deliver me from this body of sinne I thanke God through Iesus Christ Rom. 7.25 as vers 26. To proceed Some have disputed of the time when this mercie shall be revealed unto this people All that I dare say of that is but probabilitie and may bee comprized in those conclusions of which I have before spoken vers 26. Some have disputed of the number whether all of this Nation which shall remaine alive at that time when the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall finde mercie shall embrace Christ and be turned unto God Pererius to prove it produceth Chrysostome on vers 12. of this Chapter and vers 26. I come to the point viz. Doct. There be many in the state of sinne and infidelitie Sunt filu Des qui nondum sunt nobis sunt nobis qui non sunt Deo Aug. de correpi grat cap. 9. who shall in the end finde mercie with the Lord and be saved It is Augustines conclusion There are sonnes of God who are not yet so to us and there are some so to us who are not to God Of the one is mention 1 Ioh. 2.19 They went ou◠from us because they were not of us Of the other in Ioh. 11.52 It was the prophecie of Caiaphas It is expedient that Iesus should die not for the Nation onely but for the children that were scattered What would a man have thought of the Prodigall of Paul of Manasses of Peter of the Gentiles Many are asleepe in sinne that shall bee awakened many in a slumber that shall bee rowzed many dead in sinne that shall be started by the voyce of God in the Gospell Verily verily I say unto you the houre commeth and now is that the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God Ioh. 5.25 Many sheepe doe now run astray who shall bee brought to the sheepe-fold and returne to the Shepherd and Bishop of their soules as the Apostle speakes 1 Pet. 2.25 To this purpose saith God to Israel Though a man have oppressed by violence lift up his eyes to Idols given to usurie yet if that man turne from his wickednesse hee shall save his soule alive Ezek. 18.27 The reason of all is taken from the infinite dimension of Gods mercie De natura Deorum lib. 1. whereof I may say as Simonides in Tully as before vers 23. So I come to the occasion The mercie shewed unto you By the mercie shewed to the Gentile God will provoke the Iew to seeke mercie and they that seeke it shall finde it The Conclusions are 1. God would have us men to bee at an holy emulation and strife which of us should be greatest in his favor and deerest in his sight 2. The good that we see in others and the mercies shewed unto others should bee strong provocations for us to follow them as vers 11. So I come to an inference that the Apostle makes upon this VERS 32. Vers 32 God hath shut up all in unbeleefe that he might have mercie upon all IN the former verse hee did equall the Iewes and the Gentiles in miserie in this verse hee doth equall them in mercie In which words note First a judgement upon man unbeleefe Secondly the generalitie and extent of it all men Thirdly the end and event of it contrarie to that which Satan intends that he might shew mercie Lastly the Author God These are the parts But I must invert them and take them as they stand And first of the Author God Blindnesse and infidelitie is most justly brought upon man by God yet say I not by God onely for there bee three efficient causes of mans induration and infidelitie Man the Devill God First the wicked brings hardnesse and infidelitie upon himselfe so did Pharaoh Exod. 7.13 as vers 8. But of this I have spoken before vers 8. And therfore I come to the generalitie all Hoc est incredulos esse ex Lege arguit demonstravit Chrysost Non injiciendo iis incedulitatem Origen Non vi sed rationc Hier. He hath shut up all c. viz. Hee hath convinced all by his Law and Word That is hee hath proved and shewed them to be unbeleevers out of the Law so Chrysostome Not by casting into them unbeleefe as Origen Not by force but by reason saith Hierome God shuts men up in unbeleefe as in a prison punishing them as a just Iudge with the gyves and fetters of their owne infidelitie Doct. Here note a difference between civill and spirituall imprisonment Civill imprisonment is for sinne but not sinne But spirituall imprisonment in blindnesse is both for sinne and is sinne The Conclusion is this God punisheth one sinne with another as above hath beene shewed and therefore he hath declared them to bee captivated and enclosed in the prison of their sinnes that so it might appeare to all men that the pardon of their sinnes and the salvation of their soules proceeds onely from Gods mercie From whence wee may learne Doct. That