Prov. 13. 20. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise 6 Br. It exhorts the righteous to walk worthy of the high honour which God hath raised them to Ephes. 5. 8. Walk as children of light As you are more excellent by your high calling so be more excellent in your walking adorn religion by your prudent holy carriage shine as lights in the world Phil. 2. 15. Some Antinomians of old taught That whatever a mans life was yet he was justified so he believed the Gospel whom Luther confuted Such as are a Royal Priesthood should be a peculiar people 1 Pet. 2. 9. The Lord hath dignified the righteous above the rest of the world and they must not take the same latitude which others do Prov. 31. 4. It is not for Kings O Lemuel it is not for Kings to drink wine nor for Princes strong drink It becomes not them who are high-born to be intemperate So it is not for you who are of a sacred Pedigree whom God hath made superior to others to be vain and loose in your behaviour Alexander would have the Graecians known not only by their Garments but their Vertues A child of God should be known by the exemplariness of his life 1 Pet. 1. 15. Be ye holy in all manner of conversation Christ hath anointed his people with the Graces as those Virgins were purified with sweet odours and he looks that they should send abroad a sweet perfume of Holiness Christians must observe the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is lovely and of good report Phil. 4. 8. they had need walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acurately Ephes. 5. 15. because so many watch for their halting If the wicked find any thing in the people of God dishonourable to their Profession they lay the blame upon Religion It is Salvian's note What will the Pagans say when they see Christians loose and vicious The Christians live so bad because Christ taught them no better How should the righteous cut off occasion from them that seek occasion 2 Cor. 11. 12 Daniels Piety sealed up the lips of his enemies Dan. 6. 4. Martin Bucer was Tantae Sanctimoniae vir so unblameable in his life that those who did most malign him had nothing justly to lay to his charge Oh Christians look to your steps when you have prayed against sin then watch against temptation a spot in a Royal Robe cannot be hid a dash os ink would quickly have been spied in Aaron's white linnen If there be a blemish in a Professor every ones eye is upon it the sin of such a person causeth blushing among the Saints as the Patriarchs could not chuse but be ashamed when the cup was found in their Sack Oh that all who profess the name of Christ would depart from iniquity 2. Tim 2. 19. Dare not to blaspheme that Worthy Name by which you are called Jam. 2. 7. Such as are more excellent than others God expects some singular thing from them they should bring more glory to God and by their exemplary piety make Proselites to religion Better fruit is expected from a Vineyard then from a wild Forest 7. Br. Hath God so enobled the righteous and given them a superexcellency above others Then let the righteous be thankful Psal. 113. 7. He raiseth the poor out of the dust that he may set him with Princes God hath raised you out of the low estate wherein you were by nature and hath made you more illustrious than others that he may set you with Angels those Princes above Oh let the high Praises of God be in your mouth Psal. 149. 6. God hath done more for Believers than for all the world besides He hath given them the holy anointing the new name the white stone which is the earnest of the inheritance and at the day of judgment Jesus Christ will confess their names before his Father and the Holy Angels And their Souls and Bodies being re-united shall be fully invested with glory And after their Session at Christs right-hand it shall be proclaimed Thus shall it be done to the persons whom the King of Heaven will honour Doth not all this deserve thankfulness Psal. 100. 1. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord In the Hebrew it is Sound forth his praise as with a Trumpet Praise God with the best instrument the Heart and let it be scrued up to the highest Peg do it with the whole heart You who are righteous speak well of God and tell others what he hath done for you His Blessings bestowed are Legacies not Debts Praise is a glorifying of God Psal. 50. 23. and will not you chearfully pay this Pepper-corn Will you not do it constantly Psal. 146. 2. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being The Carthaginians used at first to send the tenth of their yearly revenue to Hercules but by degrees they grew weary and left off sending Christians fail muâ—…h in their thank-offering Be not like them that play a fit or two of Musick in a year and then the Viol must be hung up Be often upon Mount Gerizim blessing God Consider Thankfulness is the work of Heaven you who shall have Angels reward do Angels work Sound forth the Memorial of Gods Holiness and celebrate his Fame Praise is the Musick of Heaven let not God want his Musick While others murmur do you bless Wait and long for that time when you shall be called up to the heavenly Mount and placed among the glorious Cherubims where your employment to Eternity will be to breath forth love and sound forth Praise Use 4. Consolation to the righteous who are under dejection of spirit God esteems them more excellent than others It is comfort 1. When they are humbled by sin they have mean thoughts of themselves and see so much corruption that they think they have no grace I but here is comfort God sees an excellency in them though they can see none in themselves he can distinguish between the grace in them and the infirmity and he judgeth of them not by their worst part but by their best God prizeth his people notwithstanding their failings a man values his Corn though it be mingled with Chaff 2. It is comfort when the righteous are humbled by affliction Lam. 3. 16. He bath covered me with ashes My outward comforts are as it were in the grave and have ashes thrown upon them the godly are apt to mistake and think God doth not care for them because he afflicts them Judg. 6. 13. If the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us But let not the righteous be troubled or cast away their anchor still God makes great account of them and though they are more afflicted than others yet they are more excellent God esteemed highly of Hezekiah on his sick-bed he heard his prayer and bottled his tears Job when full of boiles and sores
freedom taken from him while he suffers in prison his conscience is most free in short he is made free of a Company the innumerable company of Angels Heb. 12. 22. 5. A righteous man hath more excellent food Carnalists feed only on earthly provision he feeds on heavenly He tasts how sweet the Lord is Psal 34. 8. He feeds on Gods love this is the hidden manna he eats Christs flesh which not only begets life Joh. 6. 33. but prevents death Joh. 6. 50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die That is not die the second death other bread may nauseate or cause surfeit but there is no excess here we cannot eat too much of the bread of life we cannot have too much of Christ as one cannot have too much health Oh what excellent food is this God himself is in this chear 6. A righteous man hath more excellent armour viz. the armour of light Rom 13. 12. this is armour of Gods making Ephes. 6. 16. and the Lord with his armour gives strength Alexander might give a coward his armour but he could not give him his courage but God infuseth a spirit of magnanimity into his people with his armor he conveys strength 2 Cor. 12. 9. My strength is made perfect in weakness A Christian having on Gods armour and going forth in the power of his might nothing can hurt him 1 Joh. 〈◊〉 18. That wicked one toucheth him not That is Tastu lethali with a deadly touch saith Cajetan Grace is armour of proof it may be shot at but it cannot be shot thorough this spiritual armour is not burdensome a Christian may run his race in it as well as fight * The armour of God the more it is struck at the stronger it is the more saith is assaulted the more vigorous it is the more zeal is opposed the hotter it is this excellent armour makes a Christian stedfast in Religion Hypocrites wear Christs colours but want his armour therefore fall away The righteous man never gives over the Spiritual combat till the trophies are hung up and the palm-branches are put in his hand in token of victory 7. A righteous man hath more excellent hopes Credula vitam Spes fovet melius cras fore semper ait A sinners hope is in this life he hopes to encrease his Estate he makes the wedg of gold his hope 't is a perishing hope Prov. 11. 7. But the righteous mans hope excells his hope is in Christ his hope is both an helmet 1 Thes. 5. 8. and an anchor Heb. 6. 19. while he is fighting with tentation hope is an helmet while he is upon the waters of affliction hope is an anchor the anchor of a Ship is cast downwards the anchor of the Soul is cast upwards in heaven a Saints hope is a purifying hope 1 Joh. 3. 3. a death-bed hope Prov. 14. 33. a Soul-comforting hope Tit. 2. 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour When Christ was in the flesh he appeared as a surety now in heaven he appears as an advocate and when he comes in the Clouds he will appear as a Judg a righteous man hopes for this blessed appearing when Christ shall vindicate his Saints from all unjust calumnies and openly acquit them in the Court. 9. A righteous man hath more excellent joys Religion doth not restrain but resine his joy what is the joy of a sinner he takes joy in corn and wine he sucks from the flower of pleasure alas what is this to the joy of the righteous Rom. 5. 11. We joy in God This joy ariseth from the pardon of sin the first-fruits of the spirit the praelibation and fore-tast of glory the gleanings of this heavenly joy are better than the vintage of carnal joy Plato told the Musitians That Philosophers could dine and sup without them much more a Believer can be merry in the Lord without the supplement of worldly comforts 1. It is a more inward joy Psal. 4. 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart Other joy lies more in the surface it pleaseth the senses 't is like the Paradise the Turks dream of where they shall have all dainty dishes served in they have gold in abundance silken and purple apparel and angels their servitors bringing them red wine in silver cups this delights the fancy and the senses but divine joy cheers the conscience Aecolampadius on his sick-bed when they asked him if he wanted any light putting his hand to his heart said Hic sat lucis Here I have light enough The Saints joy being inward sweetens affliction it turns their water into wine 1 Thes. 1. 6. Having received the word in much affliction with joy Theodoret when he was on the Rack in the midst of his Torments said He did find no anguish and when they took him down from the Rack he complained they did him wrong in so doing for saith he all the while I was on the Rack I thought there was one in white an Angel stood by which wiped off the sweat and I found much sweetness which now I have lost 2. It is a more unmixed joy Worldly joy is usually spiced with some bitterness guilt eclipseth it Prov. 14. 13. In laughter the heart is sorrowful One may drink wormwood in a golden-cup but the joy of the righteous like David's Harp drives away sadness it gives honey without gall it hath no allay or umbrage 3. The joy of the righteous is more durable Other joy is like a flower which withers while you are smelling to it I have read of a River in America which runs in the day with a full Torrent but it is dry at nigâ—… The comforts of the world run strongly in the day of health and prosperity but at the night of death they are dried up but as joy abounds in the godly so it abides Joh. 16. 22. Your joy no man taketh from you Divine joy is but begun in this life it is perfected in glory here is but the tuning of the instrument the sweet consort is reserved for heaven here the Saints do but sip of the cup there they shall drink of the rivers of divine pleasure for evermore Psal. 16. 11. 3. A righteous man is more excellent than a wicked in respect of what he Shall Have He shall have a better reward both righteous and wicked are rewarded but there is a vast difference the wicked shall have a reward of punishment the righteous of mercy Psal. 58. 11. So that a man shall say verily there is a reward for the righteous They shall be rewarded with a Kingdom Luke 12. 32. The heighth of mens ambition is a Kingdom Earthly Kingdomes are corruptible What is become of the pride of Babylon the glory of Athens the pomp of Troy they lie buried in their own ruins But the Kingdom
the object which is near the glass the beams of Gods love are more intensly enflamed towards them who are near him by grace these have the strength and spirits of his love distilled he loveth them as he loveth Christ Joh. 17. 26. Indeed in one sense Gods love to Christ and Believers is not alike for Christ is loved purely for his own sake but Believers are loved for Christs sake yet in another sense God the Father loves Believers as he loves Christ It is the same love for the quality the same for the unchangableness of it God will no more cease to love Believers then he will to love Christ. 6 Br. See from hence what a venerable opinion we should have of the righteous they are to be prized by us above others Psal. 15. 4. He honoureth them that fear the Lord. A Sa in rags is better than a sinner in scarlet We prize things that have an excellency in them why do we value Gold and Pearl but because they excell glass-bugles Oh then esteem the righteous as most worthy because of their intrinsick holiness whereby they out-shine their neighbours The righteous carry Christ about them Gal. 2. 20. Christ liveth in me Queen Cleopatra put a Jewel in her cup which contained the price of a Kingdom how rich are they who carry the pearl of Price about them Despise not the Saints for their worldly Poverty but honour them for their Vertue we esteem of a Ruby or Diamond though it be in the dust John Baptist was girt with a leathern-girdle yet he was more than a Prophet Mat. 11. 9. He was honoured to usher in the King of Glory into the World John was so eminent a person that doubtless Herod might have kept his oath though he had not beheaded him for he sware to the Damsel to give her what she asked unto half of the Kingdom Mar. 6. 23. But John Baptist was more worth than all his Kingdom A Saints facing may be mean but he hath a rich lining the out side of the Tabernacle was Goats hair but within it was embellished with Gold Psal. 45. 13. The Kings daughter is glorious within Jesus Christ himself was outwardly mean yet in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom Col. 2. 3. A Soul inspir'd by the Almighty and beautified with grace doth exceed others more than the light of the Sun doth exceed the light of a Taper 7 Br. If the righteous are more excellent than others then how severe will God be against those that wrong them the wicked are thorns in the sides of the godly Saint Paul was scourged by cruel hands 1 Cor. 11. 35. Thrice was I beaten with rods aâ—… if you should see a Skullion whip the Kings Son but shall not God avenge his Elect Surely he will Isa. 34. 6 8. The sword of the Lord is silled with blood for it is the day of the Lords vengeance and the year of recompences for the controversie of Sion As if the Prophet had said The time appointed is now come sor Gods avenging Sion's wrongs Jer. 50. 10 11. Chaldea shall be a spoil saith the Lord because â—…e were glad because ye rejoiced O ye destroyers of mine heritage Jer. 30. 16. All that prey upon thee will I give for a prey The Saints are persons of Honour they are God's first-born Oh how enraged will the Lord be against such as offer injury to them they trample God's pearls in the dust they strike at the apple of his eye The righteous are Gods royal diadem Isa. 62. 3. Will a King endure to have his Robes spit upon and his Crown thrown in the dirt What is done to the righteous is done to God himself When the Kings favourite is struck at the King himself is struck at 2 King 19. 22. I know thy rage against me The rage of Sennacherib was against the person of Hezekiah but there being a league between God and his people the Lord took it as done to himself I know thy rage against me Certainly it shall not go unpunished Psal. 105. 14. He reproved Kings for their sakes What became of Julian Nero Dioclesian One of them had his deaths-wound from Heaven others of them had theit bowels come out and died raving Charles the ninth of France who had glutted himself with the blood of so many Christians in the Massacre at Paris was in such inward horror that he never durst be waked without Musick and at length blood issued out at so many parts of his body that he died bleeding These were set up as publick Monuments of God's vengeance 2 Use. Let us try whether we are in the number of these righteous ones then we are more excellent than others 1. A righteous man is an humble man he who is proud of his righteousness is unrighteous Luk 18. 1. God I thank thee that I am not as other men are I fast I give Tythes Here was a Triple crown of Pride the Pharisee wore Righteousness though it raiseth the name it depresseth the heart Job 15. 10. If I am righteous I will not lift up my head The Violet is a sweet flower yet hangs down the head such a flower was Job The righteous are like the Silk-worm while she weaves her curious works she hides her self in the silk The righteous man is more in judging himself than in playing the Critick upon another He shrinks into nothing in his own thoughts 2 Cor. 12. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though I be nothing David cries out I am a worm and no man Psal. 22. 6. Though a Saint though a King yet a worm St. Austin Lord I am not worthy of thy love Bishop Hooper Lord I am hell but thou art heaven One of the Martyrs subscribed his Letter The most hard-hearted-sinner John Bradford He who is righteous puts a greater value upon others than upon himself Phil. 2. 3. Let each esteem other better than themselves The higher Grace is the lower the Heart is the more Gold you put in the Scale the lower it descends the richer the Ship is laden the lower it sails When the Soul looks black in its own eye it is most comely Isa. 57. 15. I dwell with him also that is of an humble spirit God hath two Heavens and the humble heart is one of them 2. A righteous man is devoted to holiness The Priests under the Law were not only wash'd in the great laver but adorned with glorious apparel Exod. 28. 2. the emblem of a righteous man who is not only washed from gross sin but adorn'd with inward sanctity he is what he seems he hath not only holiness painted on him but living in him 'T is said of Zachary and Elizabeth they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless Luk. 1. 6. A good Christian is Gods Temple his body is the outward Court of the Temple and his