man have a lot in Canaan let him bee a sure to bee a true Israelite And so we see there must of necessity bea a manifest change that fruitfulnesse is the best argument he hath begotten us anew that the signes of salvation are to be sought in our selves as the cause in Iesus Christ that wee must become new creatures as S. Paul hath it 2 Cor. 5.17 talk with new tongues Mar. 16.17 and walk in new wyaes Matth. 2.12 hating what we once loved and loving what we formerly hated then shall we have new names Rev. 2.17 put on new garments and have a portion in the new Ierusalem Revel 21. otherwise not Take notice of this all ye carnall worldlings who are the same that yee were alwayes even from the beginning and think the same a speciall commendations too though you have small reason for it for that wee need no more to condemne us then what we brought into the world with us Besides doe you live willingly in your sinnes let mee tell you ye are dead in your sinnes this life is a death and wee need no better proofe that you are dead then because you feele not your deadnesse § 150. SEcondly What to repeâ—â— and belâ—eve how we may know whether we have or not that thou hast not repented nor doest yet believe is plaine for as faith is a gift of God whereby the elect soule is firmly perswaded not only that the whole word of God is true but that Christ and all his benefits doe belong unto her so it is an honourable and an operative grace alwayes accompanied with other graces ever bearing fruit and repentance being a fruit of faith is a whole change of the mind and a very sore displeasure against a mans selfe for sinne as it is sin and a breach of God's holy Lawes and for offending so good a God so mercifull a Father with a setled purpose of hateing and forsakeing all sinne and yeilding universall obedience for the time to come wherefore hast thou a true lively and a justifying faith it will manifest it selfe by a holy life For as fire may bee decerned by heat and life by motion so a mans faith may bee decerned by his workes for though faith alone justifieth yet justifying faith is never alone but ever accompanied with good workes and other saving graces as the Queene though in her state and office shee be alone yet shee goeth not without her Maids of honour Titus 3.8 spirituall graces the beauties of the soule and good workes the beauty of graces and our justification is to bee proved by the fruits of our sanctification faith and workes are as inseparable as the root and the sap the Sun and its light and wheresoever they are not both present they are both absent Iam. 2.17.24 faith purifies the heart Act. 15.9 worketh by love Galath 5.6 and sanctifieth the whole man throughout 1 Thes 5.23 Act. 26.18 for as if our repentance bee sound it will make us grieve for sins of all sorts secret as well as known originall as well as actuall of omission as of commission lesser viz. thoughts as well as greater yea as well for the evill which cleaves to our best workes as for the evill workes Rom. 7.21 and as heartily and unfainedly desire that we may never commit it as that God should never impute it 2. Tim. 2.19 Againe it will worke tendernesse of conscience and such a true filiall feare of God that we shall feare to displease him not so much because hee is just to punish us as for his mercy and goodnesse sake and more feare the breach of the Law then the curse which we may know by asking our owne hearts these questions Whether we would refuse a booty if we had as fit an opportunity to take it and no man perceive the same as Achan had Whether wee would refuse a bribe like Elisha though wee should meet with one which were as willing and able to give it as Naaman Whether we would not deceive though we were in such an office as the false Steward whose Master referred all unto him and knew not when he kept any thing backe Whether wee would not yeeld in case it should be said unto us as the Divell said to Christ all this will I give thee if thou wilt commit such a sinne Whether we have a Spirit without guile Psa 32.2 and be the same in Closet and Market as being no lesse seene in the one then in the other Whether we more love to be then seeme or be thought good as Plato spake of his friend Phocion and seeke more the power of godlinesse then the shew of it Iob 1.1 For Christians should be like Aples of gold with Pictures of silver whose inside is better then their outside but both good and hee serveth God best who serveth him most out of sight that wheresoever hee is keepes a narrower watch over his vevy thoughts then any other can doe of his actions and no mans censure troubles him more then his owne Againe whether wee are as carefull to avoide the occasions of sinne as sinne it selfe and not now and then but continually Whether we feare our own corruptions as well as Sathans temptations Whether we esteem the Word as if God immediately spake to us in particular c. So likewise if our faith be true our obedience is constant like the fire of the Temple which never went out Rev. 21.7 and universall making conscience of all Gods Commandements one as well as another the first table as well as the second and the second as well as the first Matth. 5.19 for a regenerate minde cannot consist with a determination to continue in any one sin as when Christ cast out one divell we read that he cast out all even the whole Legion Marke 5.12 God loves those best that stick closest to his Word in every tittle and as Parents most affect those children that most resemble them so doth God It is true saith Saint Augustine God gives us Commandements impossible to nature that wee may the rather seeke unto him for grace and corruption will mix with our purest devotions imperfection swayes in all the weake dispatches of our palsied soules In all we do we somthing doe amiss And our perfection imperfection is Neither is it to any man given Corruption wil mix with our purest devotion to be absolute in any thing yea the very best of us have not done one action Legally justifiable all our dayes so that we are as farre from perfection as the center of the earth is from the circumference which semediameter or space is judged by the most expert to bee three thousand five hundred miles What then because we cannot obey in all shall we obey in nothing if we cannot performe our duty as we ought let us do our good will and endeavour what wee can for it is better to hault in the right way then runne in the wrong especially when God expects
I can witnes that one of no meane parts being invited to a buriall puld out his key in the Church being halfe a sleepe halfe awake and knockt on the pew crying Drawer what is to pay By all which it appeares that drunkennesse deprives men both of wit and memory and yet madly wee persue this vice as the kindler of them but no wonder when the forbidden Tree which promised our first parents knowledge took their knowledge from them the same divell having a hand in both I might proceed to his knowledge in the best things and shew you As drunkards are purblind to worldly wisdome so they are stark blind to heavenly that whereas some are like the Moone at full have all their light towards earth none towards heaven other like the Moone at wane or change have all their light to heaven-wards none to the earth drunkards are like the Moon in Eclips having no light in it selfe nether towards earth nor towards heaven Though they are apt to thinke themselves Giants for wit and Eagles for light and judgement even in Divinity also which makes them so put themselves forward as how often have I seene a case of leather stuft with wind as he in Marcellus Donatus thought himself a very beefe-brain'd fellow that hath had onely impudence enough to shew himselfe a foole thrust into discourses of religion thinking to get esteeme when all that he hath purchased thereby hath beene onely the hisse of the wise and a just derision from the abler judgements not unlike that Germane Clown who undertooke to be very ready in the ten Commandements but being ask'd by the Minister which was the first he answered thou shalt not eat If you doubt of it doe but aske the drunkard a reason of his faith and you shall see hee can no more tell you then the winde can tell which last blew off my hat Or onely heare him relate what the Minister spake for seldome but hee stumbles at and mistakes his words for as when S. Augustine justified free will against the Manichees the ignorant would take him for a Pelagian and when he denied free-will to the Pelagians they would take him for a Manichee when he was neither but disputed against both the extreames the one utterly denying it the other too highly extolling it so when the Minister teacheth that it is impossible for a man to bee justified by his workes bee they never so glorious and exact performaÌ„ces these brutish drunkards wil cry out he condemneth good works if he shew them the necessity of living well they 'll thinke hee excludeth faith from justifying let him prove it a dead faith which is without good workes and those good workes but shining sins which are without faith and shew that both faith and workes are equally necessary to salvation and they will understand hee meanes them both as meritorious causes whereas he acknowledgeth neither but faith as an instrument good workes as a necessary concomitant God alone the efficient and Christ alone the meritorious cause of salvation for know this that good workes cannot justifie us before the severe Tribunall of Almighty God our workes deserve nothing it is onely in Christ that they are accepted and onely for Christ that they are rewarded Neither is it faith which properly saves us but the righteousnesse of Christ whereon it is grounded by grace yee are saved through faith Ephesians 2.8 It is the God of truth that speakes it and woe unto him that shall make God a lyer by grace effectually through faith instrumentally we are not justified for the onely act and quality of believing it is the justice of Jesus that justifies us which faith apprehends it was the brazen Serpent that healed not the eye that looked on it yet without a looking eye there was no helpe to the wounded party by the promised vertue It is true our Adversaries oppose this doctrine both with Pens and Tongues violently in the Schooles invectively in the Pulpets but come they once to their death-beds to argue it betweene God and their owne soules then grace and grace alone mercy and onely mercy Iesus and none but Iesus this their great Belweather is driven to confesse yea saith another give us this faith and then let our enemies doe their worst the Devill tempt the world afflict sinne menace death afright yet faith will vanquish all through the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ Againe let a Minister speak against affectation of learning in Sermons they will say he condemnes learning let him tell such as live and allow themselves in drunkennesse adultery swearing deceiving c. that they are in a damnable condition and in a reprobate sense they will say he calls them reprobates and judgeth them damned in all which they resemble the Saddâ—ces who tooke occasion to deny the Resurrection from that wholsome doctrine taught that we should neither serve God for reward nor feare of punishment but meerely out of obedience and love or the Iewes who when Christ speake of the Temple of his body understood him to meane the materiall Temple and thereupon tooke great exceptions Yea we have a world of such amongst us who seeme Malchus like to have their right eares cut off they heare so sinisterly And rather then not carpe if the Minister but use a similitude for ornament and illustration sake borrowed from nature or history they will say he affirmes the matter thereof possitively to be true like as that simple fellow thought Pontius Pilate must needs be a Saint because his name was put in the Creede And so much to prove that the Drunkard hath neither wit nor memory § 42. HAve we yet done no An unpardonable crime not to drinke as they doe I would we had I would we were well rid of these filthes but let us proceed in speaking as they doe in drinking By that time these gutmongers have gulped downe so many quarts as either of their names hath letters in it they have drawne in some fresh man who perhaps after the third health refuseth to drinke any more being of Diogenes his humor who being urg'd at a banquet to drinke more then he was willing emptied his glasse upon the ground saying if I drinke it I not onely spill it but it spills me so this mans unacustomed rudenesse and monstrous inhumanity begins a quarrell For it is an unexcusable sault or as I may say an unpardonable crime to refuse an health or not to drinke equall with the rest or to depart while they are able to speake sense and this they can almost prove for was not Pentheus son to Echion and Agave by his owne Mother and Sister torne in peeces for contemning of Bacchus his feasts hereupon many have lost their lives because they would not drinke but happily by Gods blessing and the parties patience in bearing their fowle language he hath delivered himselfe of their company at which they are so vexed that they gnaw their owne tongues for spight and
graine of grace is more worth then many pounds of naturall parts But learning and grace do not alwayes keepe company together yea oh Lord how many are there that have a depth of knowledge yet are not soule wise that have a library of Divinity in their heads and not so much as the least catechisme in their consciences No rare thing for men to abound in speculation and be barren in devotion to have full braines and empty hearts clear judgement and defiled affections fluent tongues but lame feet yea you shall heare a flood in the tongue when you cannot see one drop in the life But see how justly they are served they might bee holy and will not therefore though they would bee soule wise yet they shall not the scorner seeketh wisdome but findeth it not Pro. 14.6 Let them know never so much they are resolved to be never the better and they which are unwilling to obey God thinks unworthy to know § 51. NO wicked man is a wise man That no wicked man is a wise man for as God is the giver of wisdome so hee reveales himselfe savingly to none but his children the godly First God only is the giver of it For as no man can see the Sunne but by the light of the Sunne so no man doth know the secrets of God but by the revelation of God Mat. 16.16 17. to know the mysteries of the Kingdome of Heaven wee must have hearts eyes and eares sanctified from above Deut. 29.2 3 4. Ps 111.10 Luk. 24.45 Ioh. 15.15 Rom. 8.14.15 No learning nor experience will serve to know the riches of the glory of Gods inheritance in the Saints to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Eph. 1.17.18 and 3.19 for as meere sense is uncapeable of the rules of reason so reason is no lesse uncapeable of the things that are supernaturall Yea the true knowledge of the nature and state of the soule must come by his inspiration that gave the substance As the soule is the lamp of the body and reason of the soule and religion of reason and faith of religion so Christ is the light and life of faith 2. God reveales himselfe savingly to none but the godly and such as he knows will improve their knowledge to his glory even as husbandmen will not cast their seed but into fruitfull ground which will returne them a good harvest the secrets of the Lord saith David are revealed to them that feare him and his covenant is to give them understanding Psa 25.14 these secrets are hid from the wicked neither hath hee made any such covenant with them the faithfull are like Moses to whom God shewed himselfe Exod. 3. like Simeon that imbraced Christ in his armes Lu. 2.28 like Iohn the beloved Disciple that leaned on his bosome Ioh. 13.25 like the three Disciples that went with him up the mount to see his glory Matth. 17. like the Apostles whose understandings he opened Luk 24.45 and to whom hee expounded all things whereas to unbelievers he speakes all things as it were in Parables Mar. 4.34 see this in Abrahams example shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do saith God Gen. 18.17 As if this were an offence in God if he should tell the righteous no more then hee tells the wicked They which love God saith S. Iohn know God but they which have not this love know not God though they have never so much knowledge besides 1 Iohn 4.7 Yea suppose a man be not inferiour to Porcius who never forgat any thing he had once read to Pythagoras who kept all things in memory that ever hee heard or saw to Virgil of whom it is reported that if all Sciences were lost they might bee found in him to Bishop Tunstal whom Erasmus called a world of knowledge to A ristotle who was called wisdome it self in the abstract to that Romane Nasica who was called Corculum for his pregnancy of wit that Grecian Democritus Abderita who was also called wisdome it selfe that Britaine Guildas called Guildas the sage that Iew Aben Ezra of whom it was said that if knowledge had put out her candle at his braine shee might light it againe and that his head was a throne of wisdome or that Israelitish Achitophel whose words were held as Oracles to Iosophus Scaliger who was skil'd in thirty languages yet if he want faith holinesse the love of God and the Spirit of God to be his teacher he shall not be able really and by his owne experience to know th◠chiefe points of Christian religion suc◠as are Faith Repentance Regeneration◠the love of God the presence of the Spifrit the Remission of sins the effusion o◠grace the possession of heavenly comforts not what the peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost is nor what the communion of Saints means when every one of these are easie and familiar to the meanest and simplest believer Now will you know the reason the feare of the Lord saith Salomon is the beginning of wisdome Prov. 1.7 as if the first lesson to be wise were to be holy For as the water ingendereth yce and the yce againe ingendereth water so knowledge begets righteousnesse and righteousnesse again begetteth knowledge It is between science and conscience as it is betweene the stomack and the head for as in mans body the raw stomack maketh a rheumatick head and the rheumaticke head maketh a raw stomack so science makes our conscience good and conscience makes our science good It is not so much scientia capitis as conscientia cordis that knowes Christ and our selves whence Salomon saith give thine heart to wisdome Pro. 2.10 and let wisdome enter into thine heart Proverbs 4.4 Againe if it be ask'd why the naturall man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God S. Paul answers he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2.14 and indeed if they be spiritually discerned how should they discerne them that have not the Spirit Now if it be so that men may bee exquisitely wise and incomparably learned in the worlds opinion and yet very fools in the judgement of heaven if not many wise men after the flesh are called but that a great number of them go the wrong way yea if God turnes their wisdome into foolishnesse that abuse their gifts and reveales himselfe savingly to none but such as feare and serve him then is their no safety in following their example or in building our faiths upon their judgements Indeed we are too prone to imitate the learned and to thinke we go safe enough if wee tread in their steps although they tread awry for say wee they know the will of God what hee requires and practise what they thinke will bring them to happinesse especially so much as is absolutely necessary to salvation and they do so and so or else they speake not as they think because they do not as they speake for none live worse then many of them But
and shall not be able how shall they be able who seek not at all Luk. 13.24 And if the righteous scarcely be saved where shal the ungodly and sinner appeare as the Scripture speakes 1 Pet. 4.18 And thus you see that mercy is for vessels of mercy Mat. 5. and not for vessels of wrath that he which is truth it selfe hath a like threatned the eternal death and destruction of the wicked as promi sed the salvation of the godly § 146. BUt thy carnall heart VVicked men believe no part of Gods word really and in deed which is flint unto God wax to the divell will believe the promises let goe the threatnings you shall dye saith God is heard but you shall not dye saith the divell is believed as it fared with Eve when she eate the forbidden fruit yea thou believest his promises that thou shalt have them but thou believest not his precepts to doe them nor his threatnings that thou shalt suffer them for thy not believing and disodedience which sheweth that thou truly believest neither yea this makes it apparant that either thou believest there is no God at al or else that God is not just and true nor speakes as hee meanes in his Word which is worse or if thou doest believe that hee is a just and true God thou believest also that thou shalt bee punished as hee threatens for thy provoking of him and thou provokest him that thou mayest be punished which is worst of all so that take thee in the best sense thou art but one of David's fooles which say in their heart there is no God and livest therafter which is never a whit strange for it is usuall with them to thinke there is no God for whom it would make that there were none what we would have to bee we are apt to believe I confesse it is hard for men to believe their owne unbeliefe in this case much more hard to make them confesse it for he whose heart speakes Atheisme will professe with his tongue that he believes there is a God and that hee is just and true and that every tittle of his word is equally true which being but granted this must necessarily follow that God will as well punish the impenitent as pardon the repentant Wherefore bee no longer faithlesse touching what is threatned against obstinate sinners but faithfull for he that will not believe these witnesses of Gods severity against sin shall everlastingly perish But suppose the Scriptures were lesse expresse and cleare in this point the Law must not be interpreted according to the delinquents judgement but after the will and meaning of the Law-giver which made the same Indeed a world of men believe with Origen that God is so mercifull that al in the end shall bee saved both reprobate men and Divells they presume that God must needs save them because hee made them without any other ground though in another fit they are as apt to despaire and to say with the same Origen should all other sinners obtain mercy yet not I yea it is to be feared that many die with this fond presumption of mercy in their minds as the Israelites with meat in their mouths but shall they therefore be saved because they think they shal be saved no no more then Esau had the blessing and Agag his life given him because they confidently thought they should § 147. SEcondly All the promises in tailed to believers and limited with the condition of faith repentance looke upon the promises single and thou shalt finde that they are not made indefinitely to al but with a restriction to such only as are qualified and made capeable thereof by grace from above The Penmen of holy Writ have set out Gods mercy in high and stately termes Heb. 4.17.18 Ion. 4.2 1 Pet. 1.2.3 Ephesians 3.18 but withal they declare that hee resembles Augustus Caesar in his dispensing the riches thereof of whom they which write his life note that in his military discipline hee was exceeding liberall and lavish in his gifts to such as were of any desert but withall as sparing and straite handed to the undeserving What though Christ in the Gospell hath made many large and precious promises there are none so generall which are not limited with the condition of faith and the fruit therof unfained repentance and each of them are so tyed and entailed that none can lay claime to them but true believers which repent and turne from all their sinnes to serve him in holinesse without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12 14. Esay 59.20 So that hee must forsake his sinne that will have God to forgive it 1 Samuel 2.30 As for instance our Saviour hath made publike Proclamation Mark 16.16 that whosoever shall believe and be baptized shall be saved but marke what withall is added he that will not believe shall be damned Againe Heb. 5.9 he is said to be the author of eternall salvation unto all that obey him not unto them which continue in their rebellious wickednes and never submit themselves be ruled by the scepter of his word These and many the like promises yeild joyful assurance to the sinner that repents no comfort to him that remaines impenitent Or in case the condition of faith and repentance is any where unexprest yet every promise must be understood with such condition yea it was never heard that any ascended into heaven without going up the staires of obedience and good works that any have attained unto everlasting life without faith repentance and sanctification for even the Thiefe upon the Crosse believed in Christ and shewed the fruits of his faith in acknowledging his owne sinne reproving his fellow in confessing our Saviour Christ even then when his Apostles denyed and forsooke him in calling upon his Name and desiring by his meanes everlasting life For know this that whosoever Christ saveth with his blood he sanctifieth with his Spirit and where his death takes away the guilt and punishment of sinne it is also effectuall for rhe mortifying of sinne Romans 6 5 6. Christs blood saith Zanchie was shed as well for ablution as for absolution as well to cleanse from the foyle and filth of sin as to cleare and assoyle from the guilt of sin God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that wee should be holy and without blame before him in love Eph. 1.4 they therefore that never come to be holy were never chosen Hee is said to have given himselfe for us that hee might redeeme us from all iniquity and purge us to bee a peculiar people unto himselfe zealous of good workes Titus 2.14 and Luk. 1.74 75. Yea the Lord binds it with an oath that whomsoever hee redeemeth out of the hands of their spirituall enemies they shall worship him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of their life 1 Peter 2.24 Other Scriptures to this purpose are many as Matth. 19.17 hee that will
no more then wee can do and accepts of what we are willing to doe for if we purpose before hand not to sin and in the act doe strive against sinne and after the act be sorry for the sinne sin shall never bee laid to our charge if wee hate our corruptions and strive against them they shall not be counted ours It is not I saith Paul but sin that dwelleth in me for what displeaseth us shal never hurt us and wee shall bee esteemed of God to be what we love and desire and labour to be Now let this point bee argued in the Court of thy conscience for although others may give a shrewd guesse yet the mother knowes best whether the child bee like the Father or no Say whether thou art guilty of these graces or not guilty He who makes not conscience of sin hath no true faith and the true method of grace is first cease to do evill then learne to do well Isa 1.16.17 for as we die to nature ere we live to glory so we must dye to sin ere we can live to righteousnesse there can be no fellowship between light and darknesse Christ and Belial the Arke and Dagon cannot lodge under one roof the house must first be cleansed ere it can be garnished in a payre of Tables nothing may well bee written before the blots and blurs be wiped out the good husbandman first stubs up the thorns and puls up the weeds then soweth the good seed if the wax receive a new image the old doth cease at least as the increase of light makes a decrease of darknesse it being impossible that two things of contrary natures should bee together in one subject the one not expelling the other either wholly or in part so it is betweene grace and corruption In a word if thou canst say I deprecate all sin I repent heartily of that is done I abhor to commit it I earnestly pray against it I strive with all my power to avoid it I thirst for more grace I am ready to all good works I rest wholly and onely on my Saviours merits thou mayest goe on and say I therefore rightly believe I believe and therefore am justified I am justified therefore called I am called therfore elected I am elected therefore I shal be glorified Otherwise if thou beest as it were a dead man continuing under the burthen of notorious crimes without sorrow or feare or remorse or care of amendment Ephes 2.1 if thou art a drunkard if thou art frequent in the language of hell viz. swearing cursing c without feare or sorrow or striving to leave it if thou delightest to boast of sinne and mischiefe or seekest to defend it Psal 52.1 if thou art of a reprobate judgement touching actions and persons esteeming good evill and evil good if the divell hath so bewitched thee that thou preferrest hell to heaven and blamest those that do otherwise if thou imitatest a bad stomack in turning â—â—ery thing to an evil construction so making a temptation of every thing Titus 1.15 if Ishmael-like thou mockest or Cham-like thou scoffest at the religious or usest bitter jests against them Psal 1.1 Ephesians 5.4 if thou raisest slanders of them or furtherest them being raised Psalme 4.2 and 31.18 and 35.20 as the red Dragon Revelation 12. cast a flood of water out of his mouth after the woman when hee could not reach her with his clawes verse 15. or any way opposest them for the opposition of goodnesse gives thee the title of wickednesse which alone is the enemy thereof and shewes thou art a souldier of the great Dragon who goes out to make warre with that blessed seed that keepe the Commandements of God Revel 12.17 these or any one of these especially the last shew that thou never camest where regeneration repentance and faith grew that thy soule like Venus Altar in the I le Paphos was never yet rained upon by grace from above for if the Image of God by faith were repaired in thee thou couldest not but bee delighted with those that are like thy selfe thou couldest not but love the godly because they are godly for the very first part of conversion is to love them that love God 1 Iohn 3.10 And in vaine shall a mans heart absolve him that is condemned by his actions for vertue and vice are both Prophets forewarning us of things to come the one of certaine good the other of paine or penitence § 151. BUt behold an other starting hole For if the evill spirit sees thee convinc'd of the necessity of repentance he will perswade thee to deferre it untill hereafter But he can repent when siâ—knes comes knowing that if he can prevaile therein it is all one as if thou hadst never purposed to repent at all for as experience may informe us not one of a thousand which take this course ever attaine unto it for either they adjourne the time prefixt from next yeare to next yeare c. or else they attaine not to that repentance which is true and sound But see the particulars laid open Thou promisest thine owne soule that thou wilt repent when thou art sicke though indeed the farthest end of all thy thoughts is the thought of thy end and to make thy reckoning at the last day Death may be sudden and give a manne leasure to be sicke the last and least thing thou makest reckoning of But hark in thine eare Oh secular man thy life is but a puff of breath in thy nosthrils and there is no trusting to it yea the least of a thousand things can kill thee and give thee no leasure to be sicke Surges may rise on suddaine ere wee think And whiles we swim secure compel us sink Saul being minded to aske counsell of the Lord concerning the Philistins was prevented for want of time 1 Samuel 14.19 And commonly wee never have so much cause to feare as when we feare nothing When Sampson was sporting with his Dalilah he little thought that the Philistins were in the chamber lying in waite for his life Iud 16. Full little doe sinners know how neare their jollity is to perdition judgement is often at the threshold while drunkennesse and surfeit are at the table § 152. BUt admit what thou imaginest 2 Orif death be not sudden repentance is no easie worke and late repentance is seldome true namely that death be not suddaine much the better for is it not commonly seene that the purpose of proroging for a day or a weeke doth not onely last for a yeare as the suspension of the Councell of Trent made for two yeares lasted tenne but as ill debtors put off their creditors first one weeke then another till at last they are able to pay nothing so deale delayers with God they adjourn the time prefixt from next yeare to next yeare whereby they and that good howre never meet as you shall observe one Coach wheele followes another one minute of a Clock hastens after
good with that then other beasts do with two so an holy man doth more good with a little knowledge then a worldling with a great deale yea he thinks himselfe as happy in giving light to others as in receiving it into himselfe Now suppose a mans greatest learning be religion and his knowledge only lyes in the best things as the weaker vessell may hold the better liquor yet a competent estate well husbanded is better then avast patrimony neglected Never any meere man since the first knew so much as Salomon many that have known lesse have had more command of themselves True it is in some kind of skill they outstrip even the best of Gods people who if they are put to it may answer as Themistocles did when one invited him to touch a Lute for as he said I cannot fiddle but I can make a small Town a great State so may the godly say wee cannot give a solid reason in nature why Nilus should overflow only in the Summer when waters are at the lowest why the Load-stone should draw Iron or incline to the Pole-starre how the heat of the stomack and the strength of the nether chap should be so great why a flash of lightning should melt the Sword without making any impression in the Scabbard kill the child in the wombe and never hurt the mother how the waters should stand upon an heape and yet not overflow the earth why the clouds above being heavie with water should not fal to the earth suddainly seeing every heavie thing descendeth except the reason which God giveth Gen. 1.6 and Iob 26.8 but we know the mystery of the Gospell and what it is to be borne anew and can give a solid reason of our faith wee know that God is reconciled to us the law satisfied for us our sins pardoned our soules acquitted and that we are in the favour of God which many with their great learning doe not know And thus the godly are proved wiser then the wisest humanist that wants grace § 158. SEcondly they are wiser then the most cunning Politician that lives 2. Wise◠the◠the most cunning policia◠For to judge aright the greatest Politician is the greatest foole for he turnes all his religion into hypocrisie into statisme yea into atheisme making Christianity a very footstoole to policy Indeed they are wiser in their generation then the children of light and are so acknowledged by the Holy Ghost Luk. 16.8 But why not that there is a deficiency of power in the godly but will for could not David go as far as Ach tohpel could not Paul shew as much cunning as Tertullus yes surely if they would But because their Master Christ hath commanded them to bee innocent as Doves they have vowed in an Heroicall disposition with Abraham Gen. 14.22 that the King of Sodome shall not make them rich no crooked or indirect meanes shal bring them in profit they will not be beholding to the King of Hell for a Shoo-tye and hereupon the Foxes wiles never enter into the Lions head But take these Politicians as they are in their owne Element and it may peremptorily bee spoken of them as one speakes of women that in mischiefe they are wiser then men neere upon as that old Serpent the Divell yea they are so arted in subtilties through time and practise that they will have trickes in their sconces to over-reach the Divell himselfe indeed he hath one trick beyond all theirs for like a cunning fencer hee that taught them al their tricks kept this one to himselfe namely how to cheat them of their soules But to go on These are not wise as Serpents according to our Saviours counsell but wise Serpents that is wise in evill not wise in that which is good or if you will wise in goods not wise in grace For as that old Serpent seemed to boast that he was richer then Christ when he said all these are mine so the politician may truly say for the most part I am wiser then my plain dealing neighbour by five hundred pounds but see their wisdome displayed They are such cunning dissemblers that like Pope Alexander the sixth what they think they never speake why is this cast away saith Iudas crafty cub he would have had it himself as the Fox would disswade other beasts from that booty which hee meanes to make his owne or like a fellow that rides to the pillory they go not the way they looke they will cut a mans throat under colour of curtesie as Vlysses by gold and forged letters was the means of stoning Palamedes even while he made shew of defending him and then to wipe off all suspicion from themselves their gesture and countenance shall be like Iulius Caesar's who seeing Pompie's head fel a weeping as if he had beene sorry for it when by his onely meanes it was cut off so like Rowers in a Boat whilst in their pretence they looke one way in their intent they go the quite contrary It is observed of the Fox that he will stand by the river and let his taile play in the water till the Fish come flocking about it and then with a jerke he swoopes them out with his paw these are such Foxes they will not looke towards the booty they ayme at yea they are so politicke that no man shall be able to determine either by their gesture vvords or actions vvhat they resolve for their vvords like an Italian Torch vvill prove your bane vvhen they seeme to give you most light and best direction they vvill say as Elisha to the Syrian Army follow me and I will lead you to the man whom yee seeke vvhen they lead you into the lap of your enemies 2 Kings 6.19 And sutable to this is their gesture and actions for like Acco they will evermore seeme to refuse what they most desire and to desire what they most despise Yea they can hardly be read though like Hebrew letters you spell them backwards for admit the stander by conceives their going to be like that of a Crab-fish contrary to the way they looke as our Saviour knew it fared with the Pharisees and Sadduces Mat. 16.1.3 which made him conclude with O Hypocrites yet having not the spirit of discerning he can but guesse at it and so give over onely this he may be sure of that they doe not intend what they pretend like as in jugling feates though we know not how they are done yet we know well that they are not done as they seeme to be Now if they can any way advantage themselves by anothers ruine and doe it cunningly as Iesabel did when she kild Naboth by suborning false witnesse against him and proclaimed a Fast before the murther though all such policy be but misery and all such knowledge ignorance yet ô how wise they thinke themselves now they are able to blind the Devill with a Cushion but they are grossely mistaken for wherein doth this their great wisdome consist but
bray'd with a Pestell yet he will not depart from his foolishnesse Pro. 27.22 for let God send never so many messengers to him and plagues upon him as he did upon Pharaoh he will not depart from his sinnes he must retaine if not all yet at least this his beloved sinne untill he is overwhelmed in the bottomlesse Ocean of his wrath yea let him heare even our Saviour himselfe say that he shall give an account at the day of judgement for every idle word Matth. 12.36 yet he will goe on in his hellish plots and perswade himselfe he shall give no account at all or let some Prophet of the Lord tell him what traines are laid to catch his soule and how many Principalities spirituall wickednesses and powers of darknesse lye in ambush against him Ephes 6.12 As El sha disclosed the traines and ambushments of the King of Syria against the King of Israel 2 King 6.9.10 which was as good a peece of service as could be he makes nothing on 't he shall speede as well as his fellowes and indeede so he shall even as Laban or Nabol or Dives doe in Hell if in due time he repent not and so restore what he hath wrongfully gotten as the worst of them would doe if they were suffered to returne out of Hell to their former riches Now that thou mayst repent while the day of thy life lasteth take one motive from the damned in Hell who would gladly repent now but cannot St. Augustin asketh this question what we thinke the rich glutton in Hell would doe if he were now in this life againe would he take paines or no quoth he would he not bestir himselfe rather then returne into that place of torment againe yes his teares should even strive with the sand in the hour-glasse he would doe any thing to seâ—ke the Lord while he may be found Wherefore to day if ye will heare his voice harden not your hearts Yea as our Saviour Christ said to forewarne all revolters Remember Lot's wife so say I to forewarne all Arch-politicians and cunning Machevillians of the world remember poore Naboth's Vineyard § 160. 4. He cares 〈◊〉 for a little muck tâ—â—eave behind â—im then for soule or bodâ— FOurthly vertue is in farre lesse esteeme with the cunning Politician then riches As it fares with a naturall foole he is so farre from selling all that he hath to buy the rich Pearle of faith with the wise Merchant Matth. 13.46 that he will sell this rich Pearle and all other grace to boote to purchase the triviall commodities of white and red earth and good reason as temporising States-men politicke Machevilians and hypocriticall Ambidexters thinke who make a shew of Religion but in their hearts laugh at it he knowes no other coyne he desires no other stampe yea to be rich thinkes this worldling is to be three parts of the way on-ward to perfection Indeed gold is the onely coverlet of imperfections t' is the fooles curtaine that can hide all his defects from the world yea from himselfe for though he have a want of all good and which is worse a sense of want of that want yet he thinkes himselfe in a very good estate and so much neerer to Heaven for having abundance of earth And yet if God did not give to some of them their riches in wrath he would not deny them the use of their owne as how often are men baser by being wealthier like Pierce Gavistone who as the Chronicle reports the more he was enriched the worse was his estate or whether it be that they have not so much wit as to know their money will buy them all necessaries of meate drinke apparell and the like or whether by a just judgment of God the Devill makes them his drudges to get and bring him in gold as the King of Spaine doth the poore Indians that he may keepe it in banke for the next prodigall to spend as ill as the other got it as how oft is that spent upon one Christmas revelling by the Son which was fourty yeares a getting by the Father I know not but sure I am that though with that Priest 2 King 12.9 they can put a world of gold and silver into their chests yet they cannot take it out againe to doe themselves good for the Devill keepes the key as Iehoash the King of Israel did of that chest vers 10. So that a covetous griper is like Tantalus who standeth up to the chin in water and hath all kinds of fruits hanging over his head but is not suffered to tast them Or like an Asse who is laden with gold but feeds upon thistles Or like the Indians who though they have all the gold amongst them yet are the most beggerly and naked people alive For what is he other then a rich begger or a begger in the midst of his riches when upon all his estate there is set a spell and his wealth sayes to him in effect touch not tast not handle not But O fooles incomparable Aristippus cared onely for the body as if he had had no soule Zeno but for the soule as if he had had no body Achitophel for his family alone as if he had had neither body nor soule of his owne to care for but these care neither for soule nor body nor family for he both tyres and starves them but for a little mucke to leave behind them Fiftly as a foole can finde in his heart to be surety for a stranger yea 5. Hee can finde â—n his heart to goe to Heâ—â— so his son may be ieft rich yeild himselfe to Prison for anothers enlargment Pro. 17.18 so the politick worldling and cruell oppressor can finde in his heart to goe to Hell for another he will damne his owne soule to leave his Sonne rich yea what a deale of paines and care doth the covetous man take for his owne damnation he scarce weares a good garment or eates a liberall meale or takes a quiet sleepe but torments himselfe to get that for getting whereof he shall be tormented so himselfe is voluntarily miserable here and elsewhere that others may be happy And yet let him with Pope Iohn the 22. leave behind him 250. Tunnes of gold even all this will not make his Sonne happy ' it s well if it make him not more unhappy No neither it nor the whole world without grace shall ever make him contented as it fared with Alexander who having conquered this world was troubled that there was no more worlds for him to conquer Besides in a short time this Sonne of his must part with his wealth also for either his riches shall be taken from him as they were from Iob or else he from his riches as the rich man was from his substance and wealth Wherefore it were more policy a great deale for him to make his Sonne good then great for godlinesse is great gaine as the Apostle well phraseth it 1 Tim. 6.6 because it
think it a disgrace though the great exchange the World should judge it so Even modesty in some is a vice when out of a weake flexibility of nature Even modesty in some is a vlce a man hath not courage enough to deny the request of a seeming friend If a man never abandoneth evill untill he abandoneth evill company it is high time to take courage yea the longer wee have beene with them the more need have we to hasten out of them If this satisfie not as the Emperor Frederick said to certaine of his Minions that vvere importunate to get into their hands the ancient demeasne of the Empire that hee would rather be accounted of small liberallity then perjured even so had vve in this case rather be accounted inconstant then be unconscionable To the second part of the objection True love and friend ship only among good men I ansvver That true love and friendship is only among good men The vvicked may talke of it and one drunkard may professe to another that hee loves him as well as himselfe and therein speake truth for saith Augustine most elegantly to such an one thou lovest thy selfe so as thou wilt destroy thy selfe and thou wilt destroy him whom thou lovest as thy selfe yea better then themselves for you shall have one Ruffian salute another with God save you Sir but after some strange attestations sweare away himselfe with God damn me Sir now how can any wise man thinke him a friend that is his own enemy he that is evill to himselfe to whom will he be good But see the depth of such a mans love and whether it be not to damn thy body and soule everlastingly S. Ambrose tels us of one who solicited a godly woman to incontinency saying he infinitely loved her she answers if you love me so well as you seeme put one of your fingers into the flame till your flesh be burnt off he replys that was no part of love in her to require it yes said she if yours be love to cause both my body and soule to be burnt in hell fire for ever which by consequence will follow if I yeeld to your request and take your counsell Oh that thou hadst the wit to answer the drunkard when he tempts thee thus Indeed there is a kind of agreement which is strengthened by sinne it selfe as if one fee the keeper of a wench his secrecy is bought for ever But all this while if one call another friend it is but to give him a nick-name whereof hee is not guilty for true friendship is so sacred holy and pure that it will not be used in evill which made Pericles when hee was desired by a friend of his to aide him with false witnesse answere that hee would befriend him as farre as the Altar meaning so farre as stood with piety and religion or his duty to God but no further and Phecion refuse to help his son in law Cariles in judgement being accused for bribery saying withall that hee had made him his friend and allie in just and reasonable matters and in them only and this likewise made Papinian a Pagan being commanded by the Emperor Caracalla whose Steward and familiar he was refuse to defend an unjust cause as Marcellinus records and thus it fares with all that are truly religious There is not any one quoth the sincere Christian either in blood or otherwise so neare unto me but if he fall from God I will fall from him why our Saviour Christ hath taught me both by precept and example that I should acknowledge none so as to be led by them for my brother sister or mother but such as do the will of my Father which is in heaven Matth. 12.46 to 51. Whereas on the contrary Nothing rivils hearts so close as religion in things lawfull nothing rivits hearts so close as religion it unites them together as glew doth boards together it makes a knot even betweene such as never saw one anothers face that Alexander can not cut yea Tyrants will sooner want invention for torments then they with tortures bee made treacherous How many have chosen rather to embrace the flames then to reveale their companions and brethren in Christ There is no friendship like the friendship of faith There is Amor among Beasts Dilectio among Men Charitas among Christians that is their peculiar nature makes husband and wife but one flesh grace makes them even one spirit and it is a question whether naturall Parents are to be loved above spirituall we know that Christ preferred his spirituall kindred to that of the flesh and major est connexio cordium quà m sanguinum saith Beza Why should wee love them more that brought us into this sinfull and miserable world then those that bring us into a better world where is neither sinne nor misery why them that live with us on earth but a while equall to them that shal live with us in heaven for ever But to goe on Surely as grace in her selfe is farre above nature so is she likewise in her effects and consequently unites in a farre more durable bond Christians hearts are joyned one to another with so fast a glew that no by respects can sever them as you may see in that paire of friends Ionathan and David none had so much cause to disaffect David as Ionathan none in all Israel should be such a looser by David's successe as he Saul was sure enough setled for his time only his successor should forgoe all that which David should gaine so as none but David stands in Ionathan's way to the Crowne and yet all this cannot abate one dramme of his love As also in Ruth and Naomy whom nothing but death could part Ruth 1. If you will see other examples looke Rom. 1.10 11. 1 Thes 2.17 19.20 Galathians 4.18 19. Act. 20.37 38. and 16.15 Luke 4.42 2 Kings 2.4.9 and 4.9 10. As grace is the greatest attractive of love so is it the surest bond it is like varnish that makes seelings not onle shine but last Where God uniteth hearts carnall respects are too weake to dissever them since that which breakes off affection must needs be stronger then that which conjoyneth it and why doth S. Iohn use these words once to the elect Lady 2 Iohn 1.2 and againe to Gajus 3 Iohn 1. whom I love in the truth but to shew that to love in the truth is the only true love Indeed religion is the surest cement of all societies the loser joynts of all naturall and civill relations are compacted and confirmed by the sinewes of grace and religion and such a lose joynted friendship cannot hold long which wants the nerves of religion Wherefore give mee any foe rather then a resolved Christian no friend unlesse a man truly honest § 205. BUt here it will be objected Object That wee hate and contemne all Another objection answered who are not like our selves that wee remember them so much to
became an Apostate As Iohn groweth in the spirit so Ioash decayeth in the spirit 2 Chro. 24.17 c. As Zacheus turneth from the world so Demas turneth to the world and God is no lesse the permitter of the one then the cause of the other if we consider him as a righteous Iudge punishing one sinne with another by way of retaliation Hereupon when Christ meets with good Nathaniell a true Israelite in whom there was no guile he saith unto him beleevest thou because I saw thee under the Figg-tree thou shalt see greater things then these Iohn 1.50 whereas to the obstinate Iewes he saith by hearing ye shall heare and shall not understand and seeing yee shall see and not perceive Math. 13.14 Even like Hagar that had the Well before her but could not see the water Gen. 21.19 make the heart of this people fat make their eares heavy and shut their eyes least c. Isaiah 6.10 which words with the former examples are written for our learning and warning for was the Talent thinke we onely taken from him in the Gospell Did none lose the spirit but Saul Have none their hearts hardened for their obstinacy but Pharaoh Doe none grow out of favour with him but Haman Doe none become Infidels besides the Iewes None prove Apostates but Iudas Have none their eyes darkened and their hearts hardened for their sinnes but the Gentiles O yes the idle servant was but a type of many that should have their Talents taken away Saul was but a type of many that should Iose the spirit Sampson was but a type of many that should lose their strength the Gentiles were but a type of many Christians which should have their minds darkened and their hearts hardened whom God should give up to a reprobate minde c. It 's true this is not meant of naturall or speculative knowledge wherein the wicked have as large a share as the godly but of spirituall experimentall and saving knowledg which is supernaturall and descendeth from above Iames 3.17 And keepeth a man from every evill way Pro. 2.12 Wherein the wicked have no part with the Godly the natural man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2 14. Now God esteemes none wise that are not so in this latter sense yea naturall and worldly wisdome without this is meere foolishnesse in Gods account 1 Cor. 1.20 and 3.19 and no lesse then twelve times infatuated by the wisdome of God in one Chapter 1 Corinthians 1.2 Whence it is that the Scribes and Pharisies who were matchlesse for their knowledge and learning and that in the Scriptures Gods Oracles which will make a man wise or nothing are called by our Saviour who could not be deceived foure times in one Chapter blind and twice fooles Math. 23. and Baalam who had such a propheticall knowledge that scarce ever any of the holyest Prophets had so cleare a Revelation of the Messiah to come is called by the Holy Ghost foole 2 Peter 2.16 and good reason for though he was a Seer hee could not see the way to Heaven and the same may be said of Iudas who knew asmuch as the wisest naturall man for if he had beene wise he would not have taught others the way to Heaven and gon himselfe the direct way to Hell Alasse the greatest Clarkes and they that know most are not always the wisest men many of the wise and the ancient and the learned with Nicodemus are to learne this lesson that except they be borne againe they cannot enter into the kingdome of Heaven Iohn 3.4 9. and they that give themselves to be so bookish are often times so blockish that they forget God who made them Now as our Saviour said to him which thought he had done all One thing is behind Luk. 18.22 so may I say to these who thinke they know all one thing is behinde and that is the true knowledge of God of Christ of themselves and how they may be saved and hee which knowes not thus much although I cannot say he is a starke foole yet I may truely say hee is halfe a foole and halfe a wise man as Ona-Centaure was halfe a man and halfe an Asse for all learning and knowledge without this is but as a wodden Diamond in a Lattin ring and others who know lesse and are lesse learned may be more wise It was a true and just reprehension wherewith the High Priest snib'd the Councell as they were set to condemne Christ and a great deale better then hee meant it Ye know nothing at al Iohn 11.49 hee spake right for if wee know not the Lord Iesus we know nothing at all our knowledge is either nothing or nothing worth What saith Aristotle no more then the knowledge of goodnesse maketh one to be named a good man no more doth the knowledge of wisdome onely cause any person properly to bee called a wise man saving knowledge of the trueth workes a love of the trueth knowne yea it is an uniforme consent of knowledge and action hee onely is wise that is wise for his owne soule he whose conscience pulleth all hee heares and reades to his heart and his heart to God who turneth his knowledg to faith his faith to feeling and all to walke worthy of his Redeemer he that subdues his sensuall desires and appetites to the more noble faculties of reason and understanding and makes that understanding of his serve him by whom it is and doth understand he that subdues his lusts to his will submits his will to reason his reason to faith his faith his reason his will himselfe to the will of God this is practicall experimentall and saving knowledge to which the other is but a bare name or title for what is the notionall sweetnesse of honey to the experimentall tast of it It is one thing to know what riches are and where they be and another thing to be master of them it is not the knowing but the possessing of them that makes rich Faith and Holinesse are the nerves and sinewes yea the soule of saving knowledge the best knowledge is about the best things and the perfection of all knowledge to know God and our selves as being the marrow pith or kernell of Christianity and it is much to know a little in this kinde What said Aristippus to one that boasted how much hee had learned learning consisteth not in the quantity but in the quality not in the greatnesse but in the goodnesse of it Wee know a little gold is of more worth then much drosseâ—a precious stone is a very little thing yet it is preferred before many other stones of greater bulke yea a little Diamond is more worth then a rockie mountaine so one drop of wisdome guided by the feare of God is more worth then all humane learning one sparke of spiritual experimental and saving knowledge is worth a whole flame of secular wisdome and learning one scruple of holinesse one drame of faith one