case in the bitterness of her soul received from the Lord a blessed seed that was Samuel who restored religion and setled the state of the Kingdome in the first of Samuel the first chapter and the sixteenth verse but it is most plain in the birth of Solomon for after Davids great fall and the grievous punishment that God laid upon him upon his great repentance which followed whereof the fifty first Psalm is a perpetuall monument God gave him a Sonne that was Solomon the like whereof was never before nor hath been since in the second of Samuel the twelfth chapter As on the other side they that are born according to the flesh and begotten in the strength of nature prove wilde and rebellious as Israel and Absolom and of a contrary disposition to them that are born to them that are in the state of grace Secondly For his name and that little Sermon which Eve makes touching his name that is she called him Seth and renders a reason quia posuit eum 〈◊〉 semen aliud pro Abele quem occidit Cain In which Sermon there is no one word which hath not its severall sense It is said First He is positus Secondly By God Thirdly As a seed Fourthly Another seed Fiftly instead of Abel Sixthly Of Abel whom Cain slew For the term of putting or setting we have it in the third chapter of Genesis and the fifteenth verse where God saith I will put enmity Psalm the hundred fourty eighth He sets them a law Proverbs the twenty second chapter and the twenty eighth verse Remove not the ancient bounds which thy Fathers have set in the first epistle of John the fifth chapter The whole world is set on mischeif By which setting or putting is added stedinesse and permanency But we shall see the nature of the word most plainly in the twenty eigth chapter of 〈◊〉 Pono in Zion lapidem where it is used for laying a foundation or for the setting of a rift or graffe or root which as we know is set to growe and not to be pulled up by and by there is the sense of the word set or put In which sense it is not only referred 〈◊〉 to Abel who as we know was a transitory and no permanent seed for he was no sooner shewed to the world but presently he 〈◊〉 as taken away as one of whom the world was unworthy Hebrews the eleventh chapter But also to Cain whose land was the land of Nod To teach us That in the felicity of Gods Saints there is stedinesse and continuance but as for the pleasures of the wicked they continue not one hour but are uncertain So that it is in effect as if God should say before indeed I gave Abel but it was not my minde to have him continue but this seed whom I will give Adam shall stay so as neither Cain nor Lamech nor the gates of hell shall prevail against him Matthew the sixteenth chapter That is the meaning of the word set or put which was the first observation And this seting or putting receives great strength from the setter that is God whole weaknesse is stronger than the strength of man And therefore look what he sets shall continue to teach us that albeit the first Saint was taken away yet now he will have Saints to continue They shall not only be shewed to the world but shall have a foundation and take root being set by God Touching the wicked Eliphaz saith Their foundation is as an overflowing of water for they shall be carried away as Cains posterity was with a flood Job the twenty second chapter and the sixteenth verse But the righteous shall have an everlasting foundation Proverbs the tenth chapter For as when God will have a thing crooked no man can it make streight Ecclesiastes the seventh chapter and the fifteenth verse so what God will 〈◊〉 and have to take root it cannot be pulled up or removed Positi sunt ad hoc saith the Apostle in the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter and the second verse and in the eighth verse They were ordained to stumble at the word Therefore being appointed by God to that end it is impossible they should be otherwise That is for the wicked On the other side Whom Christ taketh to his custody he saith of them in the tenth chapter of St. John No man shall take them out of mine hand and as the Apostle saith in the second to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 second chapter and the nineteenth verse The foundation of God abideth sure and stedfast Novit 〈◊〉 qui sunt 〈◊〉 neer 〈◊〉 this is that which the Apostle calls deposition that is 〈◊〉 thing 〈◊〉 to trust in the second to Timothy the first chapter and the fourteenth verse for even so God will have Saints and the 〈◊〉 of the godly to continue in the world till he come to call them out of it Thirdly it is said of Seth he is positus in semen for there is a person that is no seed that was Abel before God gave a man to Adam but he gave no seed to him for that is called seed of which there growes something But of Abel there came no 〈◊〉 or seed 〈◊〉 but as it is said of Christ that when he shall lay down his life videbit semen longaevum Isaiah the fifty third chapter that is a seed though not issuing out of his loyns yet 〈◊〉 from his spirit So we are to understand that spiritually there came a seed of Abel for there is a spirituall generation as well as a carnall so spiritually Elisha was the Childe of Elias because the spirit of Elias was doubled upon him in the second of Kings the second chapter and John Baptist is called Elias Matthew the seventeenth chapter because in these graces of the spirit that was in Elias he resembled him as the Child doth the Father It is the saying of the Prophet Isaiah the sixt chapter semen sanctum est substantia mundi and therefore Seth is appointed and set by God to be the spirituall seed of the Church as the seed of mankinde by carnall generation Fourthly But why should God need to give Adam and Eve seed he had seed enough already that was Cain and his posterity which were come to seventy seven persons yea but they are not content with that seed but would have another Cains seed pleaseth them not therefore they are earnest Suters to God for a holy seed As God promised Abraham first a seed that should be sicut pulvis terrae Genesis the thirteenth chapter and the sixteenth verse that is such as should grow in the earth and set their affections therein and after another that should be sicut stellae coeli Genesis the eighteenth chapter that is such a seed as should set their mindes in heaven and seek for a heavenly country Hebrews the eleventh chapter So Adams two seeds first Cain and his posterity which were like the dust of the earth such as were earthly affected and
is a work of infirmitie and consequently it cannot overcome Gods power for the weakness of God is stronger than the strength of man in the first to the Corinthians the first chapter but there is no reason to say or think that the weakness of man is stronger than the strength of God and therefore the Apostle saith Romans the third chapter Can the unbelief of man which is an infirmite of man make the faith of God of none effect It is not possible Though we be unfaithfull yet he abideth faithfull and cannot deny himself in the second to Timothy the second chapter and the thirteenth verse Thirdly Whereas sinnes are said to be great so the number of them how great or many soever they be yet we are not to doubt but there is pardon for them for there is mercy offered where there is multiplicitie of sinne Christs counsell is Be ye mercifull as your heavenly Father is mercifull Luke the sixt chapter and we see that mans mercie is so great that it forgiveth those that doe offend seventy times seven times Matthew the eighteenth chapter and the twenty second verse therefore Gods mercy must needs be greater Therefore God to shew the greatness of his mercy saith Howsoever man will not receive his wife when she goeth from him and becommeth another mans yet turn ye to me and I will receive you to favour Jeremiah the third chapter and the first verse So we see that Gods mercy exceeds mans mercy But the reason why we despair of pardon upon the sight of our sinnes is for that as the Prophet speaketh Mans thoughts are not as Gods thoughts Isaiah the fifty fift chapter man thinks that unpossible to be numbred which God doth number David to shew that his finnes were innumerable saith they are more than the hairs on his head Psalm fourtieth and the twelfth verse and yet Christ saith that our heavenly Father doth number all the hairs of our head Matthew the tenth chapter and the thirtieth verse Manasseb crieth out that his sinnes are more than the sande of the Sea which cannot be told and yet God doth comprehend and hold it in his hand Isaiah the fourtieth chapter and the twelfth verse And albeit in mans judgment the Starres may seem innumerable yet the Prophet saith That God counteth the number of the Starres and calleth them by their names Psalm the one hundred and fourty seventh so albeit our sinnes seem innumerable to us yet he can number them and albeit we think it impossible they should be forgiven yet God doth not think so Fourthly Against the grievousness of sinne there is hope of mercy For though they be as red as scarlet he will make them as white as snow Isaiah the first chapter and the eighteenth verse As our sinne is great so saith the Prophet Great is thy mercy towards men for thou hast delivered me from the nethermost hell Psalm the eighty sixt and the thirteenth verse and so great that he saith Psalm the seventy first and the fifteenth verse I know no end thereof Therefore albeit the greatness of sinne be grande barathrum yet major est abyssus misericordiae dei And as there is in us abundance of sinne so in Christ we finde superabundant grace for the remission of sinne Romans the fift chapter but as for peccatum meum that is such finnes as are of the same size that Cains was against which the Devill chiefly takes exception that we should not doubt of Gods mercy but that we may finde pardon though our sinne be the shedding of blood yet it is pardonable for David committed murther and yet obtained forgivness and was received to be a Saint in heaven Though a man be guilty of lying and denying the truth yet there is mercy in store with God for that sinne for Peter after he had denyed his Master and swore that he knew him not against his own conscience was for all that forgiven and that we should despair of no sinne to them that did shead the blood of the Sonne of God that holy and just one and killed the Lord of life even to those the Apostle saith Amend your lives and turn that your sins may be done away Acts the third chapter and the ninteenth verse and yet this sinne is farre greater than Cains sinne Jerome saith that Judas did offend God more in repelling his grace and 〈◊〉 of his mercy after his sinne than he did in betraying the Sonne of God Therefore when Cain saith My sinne is greater than can be pardoned the Fathers say mentiris Cain and Bernard saith absit major enim est dei pietas quam hominis iniquitas whereupon albeit Manasseh confesseth that he hath sinned above the number of the sand of the Sea and that his transgressions are multiplied yet knowing that Gods mercy is greater than the malice of men he ceaseth not to crave forgiveness and for that obtained pardon and was received into favour To conclude this point he that will hold Cains opinion doth not beleeve the promises of God that the womans seed shall be of sufficient power to break in peices the Serpents head but in saying his sin is greater than can be forgiven it is all one as if he said the malice and 〈◊〉 of the Serpent is greater than the virtue and power of Christ and contrary to that which the Apostle saith Hebrews the twelfth chapter that Christes blood speaketh better things than the blood of Abel he holds that Abels blood 〈◊〉 lowder for vengeance than Christs blood can doe which crieth for mercy and sorgiveness but it is absurd and blasphemous so to think for it cannot be but Christs blood which is Gods blood Acts the twentieth chapter must have more force to intreat for remission at Gods hand than the blood of a man can have to obtain vengeance major enim est propitiatio quam iniquitas For the Justice of God which is the second hindrance thus it stands That which God hath pronounced cannot be recalled but we are to see whether this hold true or no the Sentence pronounced by God upon Hezekiah was dispone domum tuum moriêris enim in the second of Kings the twentieth chapter and the first verse and the Sentence of God to be pronounced by Jonas was That within fourty daies Nineveh should be destroyed Jonah the third chapter but yet neither did Hezekiah die at that time neither was the City of Nineveh destroyed as the Prophet had said it should The reason is because albeit God spake suddenly against a Nation or Kingdome to pluck it up and destroy it yet he saith If this Nation against whom I have prenounced this Sentence doe turn from their 〈◊〉 I will repent of the plague that I thought to bring upon it 〈◊〉 the eighteenth chapter and the eighth verse so then Gods meaning was that the King should die except he did repent and that Nineveh should be destroyed if it did not repent but they repented therefore God revoked
and though they had yet this reward doth not last for ever Honor fugientem sequitur sequentem vitat We see Saul Judas 〈◊〉 and Saphira while in hypocrisie they made a shew of good works to procure themselves glorie were disappointed and they 〈…〉 of God upon them But though it have a 〈…〉 yet not 〈◊〉 Patrem vestrum 〈◊〉 Which is 〈…〉 That if they have glory yet it is not God 〈◊〉 gives 〈◊〉 this 〈◊〉 And as the 〈◊〉 of Manna was a figure that it came not 〈…〉 blessing of God Exodus the sixteenth chapter And when the Manna of the wicked 〈◊〉 it is a signe that it was not Gods gift 〈◊〉 the tenth chapter So in that the glorie of hypocrites doth not 〈◊〉 it is a token that it is not a praise given them of God Again it 〈◊〉 That though 〈◊〉 have a reward in earth yet not in 〈◊〉 for then to hypocrites that say we have cust out Devils and preached in thy name he shall say Depart from me I know ye not Matthew the seventh chapter Secondly Note how powerfull this perswasion is to make us avoid vain glory and the desire of it Here Christ saith non habet is mercedem ye have no reward In the next verse he saith you have your reward habet is mercedem to shew that the worldly reward is nothing in respect of the heavenly reward that God will give Gods reward is by grace in this life for to them that forsake father and mother he promiseth an hundred fold Matthew the nineteenth chapter and the twenty ninth verse Then by glory in the world to come the glory of a Kingdome Luke the twelfth chapter It is my Fathers pleasure 〈◊〉 give you a kingdome Than which glory none is greater and therefore he will say Come ye 〈◊〉 possesse the kingdome Secondly such a Kingdome as shall be void of all affl ction that might take away the glory I know the afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory to come Romans the eighth chapter And howsoever no Kingdome is so glorious but either eye hath seen or care hath heard or at least the heart may conceive of a Kingdom of more glorie yet such is the glory provided for them that by well doing seek the praise of God and not of men as neither eye hath seen the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter and the ninth verse So that if we knew the gift of God John the fourth chapter if it would please him to open the eyes of our minde that we might see the excellencie of the Heavenly reward Ephesians the first chapter and the eighteenth verse and the basenesse and uncertainty of the worlds gift we would not only not desire but even carefully avoid and be afraid of the worlds glory and would abhor the desire of it as a thing not only injurious to God but hurtfull to our selves Operemini non cibo qui perit sed cibo illi qui permanet in vitam aeternam quem filius hominis dabit vobis hunc enim Pater obsignavit id est Deus John 6. 27. Novemb. 6. 1598. THese words are the beginning of that long Sermon which Christ made concerning the bread that comes down from Heaven the occasion whereof was the flocking of the multitude to Christ for that they had been partakers of the feeding of the loves and for that Christ saw them so earnest in seeking after material bread he takes occasion to put them in minde of a more excellent bread which they should labour for For whereas the names of the good things in this life were given to spiri ual things As that godlinesse is gain the first epistle to Timothy the sixt chapter That to 〈◊〉 in good works is true riches the first epistle to 〈◊〉 the sixt chapter and the eighteenth verse That to be decked with virtue is the beauty that doth indeed adorn both men and women the first epistle of Peter the third chapter and the fourth verse It appeareth that howsoever these corporal blessings doe carry the names of good things yet they are not so truly called but the truth thereof is comprehended in spiritual good things whereof the good things of this life are but shadows Christ by that water which the Samaritan came to draw took occasion to speak of the water of life whereof whosoever drinketh shall thirst no more John the fourth chapter and the fourteenth verse And by the bread which the Capernaites sought after took occasion to stirre them up to seek for the bread of life So should we from the outward things which we enjoy for the maintenance of the life present gather spiritual meditations of true good things necessary to the life to come Secondly These words depend upon the former verse Wherein Christ seeing them flock unto him said reseek me not because ye saw the miracles but for that ye eat of the loves Upon which words as he concludes with this exhortation Labour not for the meat c. So before he gives them this counsell he sets down the reproof Where Booze chargeth his servants concerning Ruthe that they should let her gather and not rebuke her the word signifieth to confound or put to shame Ruth the second chapter and the fifteenth verse the reason is because we are all ashamed of reproof Christ though he had no wounds by sinne was contented to be baptized as if he had been a sinner but we that have the wounds and sores of sinne cannot abide the plaister of reproof but think it a shame to be rebuked when we offend But Christ before he counsels them doth think good first by reproof to put them to shame And it is a shame to them in two respects First That in the heat of their Religion and devotion when they would seem most devout Christ chargeth them with hypocrisie Ye seek me not for the miracles that by them ye may beleeve but for the meat Secondly They are put to shame the more for that he doth not lightly touch them and glance at their hypocrisie but doth accuse them in vehement and earnest manner Verily verily I say to you the twenty sixt verse but Christ doth rebuke them for another end Howsoever it be a good effect that men be made ashamed of their sinne by reproof yet is it not the last end Christ doth it not to confound but rather to amend them and therefore exhorts them that they should chiefly labour for the meat that perisheth not as the Apostle in one place saith hoc loquor ad pudorem the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter and the fift verse doth elsewhere say I write not these things to shame you the first epistle to the Corinthians the fourth chapter So Christ to these men saith I speak not this for your confusion but for your amendment So that albeit they were guilty of hypocrisie yet not desperate hypocrites for Christ had some hope of them and therefore ceaseth
bodies that are corruptible to become glorious Philippians the third chapter and the twenty first verse If in this life we keep our selves from the filthinesse and pollution of worldly and carnal lusts our bodies shall be glorious after death therefore we are to be more careful for the soul than for the body Of this life Job saith It is but short Job the fourteenth chapter It is like a vapour that suddenly ariseth and vanisheth away James the fourth chapter It is as grasse the first epistle of Peter and the first chapter And it standeth not in the aboundance of riches that man hath Luke the twelfth chapter Man walks in a shadow and disquiets himself in vain Psalm the thirty ninth He is every moment subject to death and howsoever death it looks a young man in the face as it doth old men yet it is as neer to him while it stands close to the other Therefore the Wise man saith All the cares of this life are but vanity and vexation of spirit And howsoever while we are in our joyes drunk with the pleasure of the world as Naball the first epistle of Samuel and the twenty fift chapter So that though we be wounded we feel it not like the drunkard Proverbs the twenty third chapter Though we have not grace to say Quid prodest totum mundum lucrari Matthew the sixteenth chapter yet when it is too late we shall say What hath it 〈◊〉 us to have enjoyed the pleasures of this life Sapi. 5. The life to come is void of all misery and torment There is the fulnesse of joy and pleasure for evermore Psalme the sixteenth But all the pleasure and profits of this life if it were possible to possesse them all are not answerable to the joyes of the life to come With which present pleasures are joyned many griefs and torments If a man be never so rich or humble diseased or afflicted it will marre all his joyes But all the afflictions of this life are not comparable to the future glory Romans the eighth that shall be revealed which swallows up all our troubles that we suffer here because it is hard to root out of mens hearts the cares of this life and Christ doth not forbid them altogether to be carelesse But first seek the kingdom of God and all things else shall be cast upon you Matthew the sixt chapter If ye neglect earthly things for heavenly you shall not only obtain heavenly things but earthly things withall If we only seek bodily things and not heavenly we shall want both But if we seek for the soul we shall have things necessary for the body for the Lord 〈◊〉 said I will not for sake thee Hebrews the thirteenth chapter And David affureth himself that because the Lord is his 〈◊〉 he shall want nothing Psalm the twenty third If Salomon ask not riches nor honour but wisdome he shall have not only wisdome but riches honour and all other things the first book of Kings the third chapter the seeking of things pertaining to this life 〈◊〉 the care of the life to come but the seeking of Gods kingdom includes the care of all other things The 〈◊〉 that it is Christ the sonne of man that gives us this bread of life Muerial bread is the effect of Creatures but the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 is the effect of the redemption But seeing all things were made by Christ John the first chapter therefore it is Christ that gives us both eartnly and heavealy bread Christ made 〈◊〉 materiall bread of nothing but this bread he maketh of himself the one he made 〈◊〉 but the other cost him the shedding of his 〈◊〉 His flesh simply is not bread but his flesh 〈◊〉 for us caro 〈◊〉 prodest John sixth chapter the bread that perisheth and all the works of the Creation he performed in six dayes but the bread of life was not made but during the whole space of his life upon earth The six point is where the bread is to be found touching which he saith say not with thy heart who shall goe up to heaven to fetch this bread nor 〈◊〉 down to hell komans the tenth chapter and the sixth verse It is the Sonne of man that gives it for God the Father hath sealed him for this end In which words we have First a 〈◊〉 Secondly an Affirmation The direction hath a Correction for we think we deserve it by seeking and labouring for it For Christ tells us it is not to be had except the Sonne of man give 〈◊〉 Christ gives us the bread of life three wayes First When he gives his flesh to be crucified for us in his 〈◊〉 for in death only it 〈◊〉 power to quicken us into eternal life as the Apostle witnesseth By death he did destroy him that had the power of death Hebrews the second chapter In thy favour is life Psalme the thirtieth But we are brought into Gods favour no otherwise but by the death of his Sonne Romans the fift chapter So that by his death we obtain life By the sacrifice of himself he hath done away our 〈◊〉 Hebrems the ninth chapter Secondly he gives us the bread of life in the sacrament his flesh is made bread for us in his passion when he dyed but is given and applyed to us in the Supper The expiation for sinnes was once performed upon the Crosse By one sacrifice hath he perfected for ever Hebrews the tenth chapter and the 〈◊〉 verse But 〈…〉 is often applyed to us in the 〈◊〉 Thirdly where as there are two 〈◊〉 of giving offert and confert he gives us this bread when he doth not only 〈◊〉 it unto us but makes us 〈◊〉 it If we 〈◊〉 hold of the bread by faith which is the work of God and 〈◊〉 that he is the food of our souls then 〈◊〉 will give us it and make us partakers of 〈◊〉 as Christ saith This is the 〈◊〉 That light came into the world and ye loved darknesse rather than light John the third chapter So it shall be our condemna ion if God doe only offer us the bread of life and doe not withall give us it and make us to receive it All bodily meats being a power nutritive but profit 〈◊〉 except they be a power digestive So though the body of Christ crucified have a power to give life and nourishment yet except we digest it with faith it shall doe us no good For our assurance hereof Christ saith of the Sonne of man that God the Father hath sealed him that is he hath power and authority to be the bread of life and to conserve life to them that feed on him He hath sealed him First with his nature being the very Sonne of God He is the similitude and ingraven form of his person Hebrews the first chapter and the third verse We need not to doubt of the remission of our sinnes for Christ as he is God giveth power to forgive sinnes Secondly as he is sealed with Gods
kept but to be layed out and bestowed for our use Datus est nobis ut detur à nobis And this is done in the latter verse In which we have to consider First the Gift Secondly Limitations First for the time As long as he lived Secondly the end To serve God If we ask why Hannah and the Virgin doe give to God the reason is because God being offended must be appeased and nothing doth more serve to appease wrath than a gift Proverbs the twenty first chapter and the fourteenth verse therefore Jacob 〈◊〉 a present to Esau Genesis the thirty third chapter Ut cum 〈◊〉 placeret muneribus As this kinde of satisfaction hath place in all offences so chiefly when offence is made per ablationem we have taken away and robbed God Philippians the second chapter of the faith and obedience we owe to him Therefore as we have offended per ablationem so must we satisfie per oblationem as Jacob having robbed Esau of his birthrigh by taking his blessing from him doth satisfie and appease his wrath by offering to him that is the ground and reason of our gift But if we will appease by a gift there must be an equality we may not offer a thing under the value of the thing which wastaken away that is the reason why all the sacrifices of the Law could not appease God as the Apostle sheweth It is impossible that the blood of Bulls and Goats should take away sinnes Hebrews the tenth chapter and Psalm the fourtieth therefore the Prophet saith Wherewith shall I come and appear before God shall I bring Rams and Sheep or Rivers of Oyle shall I give my first borne Michah the sixt chapter But all that will not satisfie God for that we have taken from him The value of our obedience to God is such as cannot appease and satisfie his Majestie being offended The soul is more precious than all the world and no sufficient ransom can be given by man for it Matthew the sixteenth chapter But if we can offer to God a thing of equall price to the obedience which we owe to God then no doubt but he will be appeased especially if we offer a thing of a higher rate But Christ is of greater value than all that we can take from God for howsoever the sinne be great in that we that are but men should sinne against God who is infinite yet if we look to Christs person who hath satisfied for us it is of such dignity as doth worthily serve for a ransom for the sinnes of all the world And for our concupiscence the love of Christ hath made a sufficient satisfaction for it which love is such as the Apostle calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that now we may sing both Mercie and Judgment Psalm the hundred and first of our selves we are to rely upon Gods mercy in Christ But in as much as Christ in our persons hath so fully satisfied for us we may be bold to tell his Justice now That his righteousnesse is made ours and we are made the righteousnesse of God in him the second epistle to the Corinthians the fift chapter The limitation for the time is all the dayes of his life To make him a Nazarite was not enough for that continues but for certain dayes Numbers the sixt chapter But Hannah gives her sonne to the Lord 〈◊〉 his life that is for ever Such a Nazarite was Sampson not for a few dayes but from the day of his birth to the day of his death Judges the thirteenth chapter and the seventh verse And besides these 〈◊〉 finde none that continued Nazarites so long But if we come to 〈◊〉 composition we shall finde that whereas before Christ many were made Nazarites and Priests to serve the Lord because they were not suffered to indure by reason of death For Samuel though he lived fourscore years which age no man scarse exceedeth Psalme the nintieth He whom the blessed Virgin offered to be a Nazarite was such a one as endureth for ever and whose office cannot be intercepted by death Hebrews the seventh chapter and the twenty third verse As he is such a King as of whose Kingdome there is no end Luke the first chapter and the thirty fift verse so he hath an everlasting Priesthood The Lord hath appointed him to be a Priest for ever Psalm the hundred and tenth to make reconciliation between God and men so hath he obtained for us eternal redemption Hebrews the ninth chapter and the twelfth verse And is become the author of eternal salvation Hebrews the fift chapter and the ninth verse So that the limitation which Hannah speaks of stands more firm in Christ than in Samuel The second limitation is for the end signified in these words And he shall serve or worship the Lord For it stands with good reason that as 〈◊〉 was the beginning so it should be the end for as the Priest 〈◊〉 said in the first book of Samuel and the second chapter If man offend against God who will be his dayes man and come between God and him There is none to undertake this matter but he that is appointed to be the only mediation between God and man the first epistle to Timothie the second chapter and the fift verse that is Jesus Christ who as he is God and man so is God blessed for ever Romans the ninth chapter For a Mediator is not of one Galatians the third chapter but of two parties that are at variance and the mediator is to stand between them both Now there is great disagreement between God and man by reason of sinne which hath made a separation And therefore we are to inquire who shall be the mediator It is certain Samuel while he lived stood between God and the people as a Mediator to appease him by sacrifice But his mediatorship is come to an end Therefore wee must look for a more perfect Mediator such a one as Samuel himself needed Now the Mediator that stands between God and us is not Samuel the Priest but Christ the Sonne of the Virgin Who to appease the wrath of God his Father offered up himself as a lambe Isaiah the fifty third chapter to be a sacrifice for us Secondly Because we need a mediator to stand between us and Sathan he also doth perform this and deliver us out of the jawes of that roaring Lyon Wherefore as before he was a lambe as 〈◊〉 God as Samuel did so here like Sampson he delivers us like that Lion of the tribe of Judah which Jacob foretold Genesis the fourty ninth chapter and hath shewed himself in the fifth chapter of the Revelations as before he was a Priest so here he shewes himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the twelfth chapter to the Hebrews Thirdly he was to be our Intercessor in respect of judgement It is with us as it 〈◊〉 out between the Judges and the Clyent and therefore Christ is called an Advocate in the first epistle
both agreeable to the action we have in hand and also a good dependance upon that wherein we have been heretofore conversant But that these words are to be applyed to the holy 〈◊〉 and Sacrament of the Lords Supper appears for that before he calls himself the bread of life verse the thirty fift The bread from Heaven verse the fourty first The living bread verse the fifty first and all along this chapter there is nothing spoken of Christ but as he is the matter of this Sacrament and therefore these words are to be understood of the holy Eucharist And so these words as they yeeld comfort to the commers perswading them that they are of those whom God the Father hath given to Christ so no lesse comfort is reached to them here for that they understand from Christs own mouth That if they come to him they shall not be cast out but received of him so as none shall be able to take them out of his hands John the tenth chapter and the twenty eighth verse On the other side They that come not may know from hence that as they are not in the number of the Fathers Donatives that is such as are given to Christ but are the portion of Satan For they shall be cast out into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Apocalyps the twenty first chapter and the eighth verse And into utter darknesse where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Matthew the eighth chapter and the twelfth verse Touching the dependance his words have with that part of Scripture which we usually have held when we spake of Cains departure from Gods presence we heard that he did set himself as neer Eden as he could be that he was content for a little trifling pleasure that shortly fadeth to forgoe Gods presence where is pleasure for evermore that for a little worldly gain with Balaam he gives over all godlinesse which is the true gain and that not he but the whole world through ambition as Lords doe seek the worlds honor with the losse of the honor and favour of God Being thus departed from God we heard he came to a Land called Nod that is a Land of unquietnesse and troubles both in respect of the inward disquietness of his soul by continual fear the outward vanities of the whole world where he found that having forsaken God with whom is fulnesse of joy he could not have his desire satisfied by any pleasure that the world could afford But we left not Cain there but heard that the end of that journey was woe as it shall be the end of all those that walk in Cains way Jude the eleventh verse And for that there is none but may fall into the same way it concerns every man to think how being departed from the presence of God he may come back to Christ and especially that he watch his opportunity to come at such a time as Christ will not cast him out And that is taught us here in these words where Christ saith That whosoever commeth to him as he is the bread of life he shall not be cast forth But we must watch this opportunity for there are two wenite's Come to me all ye Matthew the eleventh chapter that have departed from me to receive worldly pleasures and gain The other Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome Matthew the twenty fift chapter and the thirty fourth verse But he that will have his part in this latter venite must have his part also in the first He must come again to Christ by repentance else he cannot come to be partaker of the heavenly Kingdome In these words of Christ we have three persons First Pater dans Secondly Homo veniens Thirdly Christus non ejiciens Whereof the two former parts be the Condition the third person belongeth to the Promise The Condition stands in The Fathers giving and our comming The Promise is Christs not casting out Touching which parts joyntly we are to observe these That every one by experience sindes that the state of sinners live they never so pleasantly is but as Cain called his sonne Chanoch that is a good beginning For the mid'st of that state is unquietnesse and the end everlasting death Which being considered it will make every man willing to come again to God if there be any hope they shall be received In regard of our selves as St Paul speaketh of her that departed from her husband the first cpistle to the Corinthians the seventh chapter and the eleventh verse so it were just that in as much as we have willingly forsaken God and departed from him preserring transitory and earthly delights before his favour he should say Qui discedit discedat that being once gone from him he should not receive usagain But here we are to admire the goodnesse and mercy of God and Christ that instead of a revenger and punisher he is a mercifull receiver that where in Justice Christ might be a rock of offence to such as depart from him he will be a rock of refuge to them that he is so farre from casting out if they come that he is content to seek such as are lost Luke the nineteenth chapter and the tenth verse That he sends and sends again that they should come back Matthew the twenty second chapter That he stands at the dore knocking Apocalyps the third chapter And saith Come to us all ye Matthew the eleventh chapter So there is no doubt but Christ will receive them that come to him For as the ancient Fathers note If when he comes to us we cast not him out neither will he cast us out when we come to him And that no unworthinesse by means of any filth either of body or soul doth keep him from us we see for bodily uncleannesse he was content to be received by Simon the leper Mark the fourteenth chapter and the third verse And in regard of spiritual pollution howsoever a man know himself to be a sinner that is to have an unclean soul yet not to despair because Christ by the confession of his enemies is such a one as doth not only receive sinners but eats with them Luke the fifteenth chapter and the third verse yea he not only 〈◊〉 them that deserve to be cast out as unworthy to inher it s he Kingdom the first epistle to the Corinthians the sixt chapter and the ninth verse but doth also wash sanctifie and justifie them in his 〈◊〉 name and by the spirit of God The Condition on our part was That we come the meaning where of if we look into the ancient Fathers upon the thirty fift verse He that commeth to me is some externall part of Gods worship for so they expound it by the Apostles words Romanes the tenth chapter If thou beleeve in thy heart and confesse with thy mouth for 〈◊〉 eving is the affection of the heart but confession is outward in the conversation of life as some are said to deny God
Father This doth distinguish true Christians from Counterfeits which say I know not whether the Father doe give me to Christ and therefore I will not come but to such Christ answers Matthew the eighteenth chapter and the fourteenth verse Non est volunt as patris 〈…〉 de pusillis illis pereat De pusillis dixit saith Augustine non de 〈◊〉 Christ meaneth not such as are little in respect of the world but but little in their own eyes that are not possessed with a spiritual pride of their own righteousnesse as though they need not now to come another time will serve It was the opinion of 〈◊〉 Acts the twenty fourth chapter When I have convenient leasure I will 〈◊〉 for thee So they think another time will be more fit than the 〈◊〉 oceasion and so Christ must wait upon them they may not wait upon Christ. But as the Pharisees despised the counsel of God and would not be baptized by John Luke the seventh chapter and the thirtieth verse so doe these despise the counsel of Christ against themselves whose purpose happily was even at this time to have received them But because they despised his counsel that happeneth to them which besell Saul whom Samuel tels That if he had kept the Lords commandement he had now established his kingdome for ever upon Israel the first book of Samuel the thirteenth chapter and the thirteenth verse but for that he despised the oportunity now it is removed to another And of them that come it may be they will come but with Cains spirit not caring how or what 〈◊〉 they give to God But they must come as given of the Father and not tanquam ab hominibus 〈◊〉 they may not come like him that sate down at the Marriage without awedding 〈…〉 the twenty second chapter Who so commeth in that 〈◊〉 as he shall not be received for that he is not given of the Father so he shall be 〈◊〉 out into utter darknesse Thirdly The promise is They that come after this manner shall not be cast out Which is set out earnestly by Christ with a 〈◊〉 negation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is never at no hand This 〈…〉 for Christ doth performe it and 〈…〉 when the 〈◊〉 saith 〈◊〉 for sakest not them that seeke 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 the meaning is they not only 〈◊〉 God but with him 〈◊〉 joyes and glory 〈◊〉 So he that comes to Christ is 〈…〉 〈…〉 out but received to be a member of 〈◊〉 my 〈◊〉 body 〈◊〉 partaker of the divine nature the second 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chapter and the fourth verse What is meant by being 〈…〉 appears by the 〈◊〉 out of the dry branch that bringeth forth no 〈◊〉 John the 〈◊〉 chapter which is to be cast 〈◊〉 the fire by the 〈◊〉 that 〈…〉 and is cast out Matthew the fift chapter by the bad fish caught in the net which is cast away Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the fourty eight verse This casting out is a degree to that casting into utter darknesse which Christ speaketh of There is a second for as that is out of the Church as John the ninth chapter and the thirty fourth verse of whom Christ saith Mark the fourth chapter and the eleventh verse but to them which are without the first epistle to the Corinthians the fift chapter and the twelfth verse What have ye to doe with them that are without that is the Heathen And this is nothing but a disposition to the second for as that is to be cast out of the Kingdome of Heaven of which Apocalyps the twenty second chapter and the fifteenth verse for as autem er ant canes and to be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone where their smoak shall ascend for ever where the worm never dyeth and the fire is never quenched where they shall wish for death and death shall flie from them This is the state of them that are cast out But Christ promiseth That who so commeth to him being given shall not be cast out but shall be quit from death and damnation He doth not only receive them and eat with them but receives them into that union that is inter alitum alimentum that is to be one with him which is a greater union than is either between brother and brother or between man and wife for herein is that verified That we are received to be partakers of the Divine nature by partaking whereof he is in us and we in him we and Christ are made one we receive him and he receives us So that as God cannot hate Christ so he cannot but love us being ingraffed into him Thus it comes to passe that we are not cast out but are made partakers of all the good things of Christ who saith to him that comes to him Luke the fifteenth chapter Omnia nostra tua sunt and Matthew the fifteenth chapter Intra in gaudium Domini that is the chief point in this promise As for them that come not to Christ howsoever they deserve to be cast out yet Christ doth not cast them out but they cast out themselves in as much as they sever themselves from this Sacrament which is the holy of holiest and from the memorial of his loving kindness He that commeth not to the Lords Supper sets himself in the state of the Heathen which albeit they have a kinde of prayer and a knowledg no lesse than we yet come not so farre as to celebrate this Sacrament He is in no better state than the Jews and Turks which albeit they beleeve the creation of the world and the last Judgment yet acknowledge not Christ nor come to him tanquam panis vitae But they must come to the Lords Supper if they will be bidden to the Lambs Supper Neither may they defer to come at their own pleasure for it may be now is the time that Christ will receive them and if they neglect the opportunity they shall be cast out as Saul was in the first book of Samuel the thirteenth chapter It remains that we stirre up in ourselves a willingnesse to come For to come is a voluntary action as Christ tells us John the fift chapter Vos non vultis venire adme nam qui venit ideò venit quia voluit venire unlesse we be as willing to come as Christ is to receive all is nothing Matthew the twenty third chapter and thirty seventh verse Quoties volui noluistis How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not Therefore we must beware of removing this willingnesse from our selves To this end we must continually pray that Christ will work in us this willingnesse that the Father will draw us by his spirit and say with Peter Matthew the fourteenth chapter and the twenty eight verse Domine mitte me ad te venire let me be in numero pusillorum non timentium one of those little ones that
hath no doubt a seed that is the wicked which are his Children which are alwaies at warre with the seed of the Church As the seed of Serpents doth prove to be Serpents so for that wicked men are the seed of the old Serpent Christ calls them Serpents Matthew the twenty third chapter and because Judas was the child of the Devil therefore Christ calleth him a Devil John the sixth chapter the seventieth verse The reason why the wicked are called Serpents is because they stop their cares like Serpents and will not hear the voyce of the 〈◊〉 salm the fifty eighth because they sharpen their tongues like Serpents and hide Adders poyson under their lips Psalm the hundred and fourtieth that is blaspheme God and speak evil of men So 〈◊〉 as the Elect are the seed of the woman spiritual so the wicked and 〈◊〉 are the cursed seed of the spiritual Serpent And God pronounceth that there shall be perpetual hostility between them There is a corrupt seed Isaiah the first chapter and the fourth verse The other a holy seed Isaiah the sixth chapter and the thirteenth verse Our Saviour expounds the good seed to be the children of the kingdome and the cockle to be the children of the world Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the thirty eighth verse The Apostle compares the children of God and the children of the Devil together the first epistle of John the third chapter and the tenth verse between these is that perpetual enmity that is here spoken of The same is between the Church of God Acts the twentieth chapter and the Synagoue of Sathan Apocalyps the twenty ninth chapter between the two Cities the Citie of God whose foundation is upon the holy hill Psalm the eighty seventh and great Babylon Psalm the hundred thirty seventh and Apocalyps the eighteenth chapter between the two Camps or Tents whereof the Prophet speaks that is the Tabernacles of the Lord God of Hostes and the Tents of the ungodly Psalm the eighty fourth This enmity is within every one of us as Peter speaks Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage warre against the soul the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the eleventh verse We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickednesse Ephesians the sixth chapter therefore he saith The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual and mighty through God to overthrow strong holds the second epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter and the fourth verse And the thing that God aimeth at is that there be not only an enmity between these two Cities and Camps but that this enmity be perpetual and send at the least to the killing of sinne and to the vanquishing of Sathan So soon as this Sentence was given there was enmity between Cain the seed of the Serpent who was of the evil one the first epistle of John the third chapter and the twelfth verse and Abel who was spiritually be gotten by the Church of the seed of the world Genesis the fourth chapter Ismael and Isaac the one being born after the flesh the other after the spirit persecuted one another Galatians the fourth chapter He that was of the Serpents seed mocked and derided the seed of the woman Genesis the twenty first chapter and the ninth verse Jacob and Esau being divers seeds the one hated the other and vowed to kill the other Genesis the twenty seventh chapter and the fourty first verse Lastly This enmity was practised between the Church of God Apocalyps the twelfth chapter and the Synagogue of Sathan Apocalyps the nineteenth chapter Of these spiritual Combats the Scripture hath many examples and therefore it is called The book of the warres of the Lord Numbers the twenty first chapter and the fourteenth verse The Serpent deserved to have been utterly destroyed and God who calleth things that were not as if they were Romans the fourth chapter and the seventeenth verse was able to have destroyed him at least to have chained him up that he might not trouble his servants as he will at the last day Apocalyps the twentieth chapter and the tenth verse but the Councel of God in suffering him still to practise his malice against us is for our good that we should be still exercised and kept in a warre for as Christ saith What thanks is it Luke the sixth chapter and thirty second verse and what praise is it to obtain eternal life the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the twentieth verse unlesse in this life we doe somthing towards it The Apostle saith No man is crowned except he strive aright the second epistle to Timothy the second chapter and the fifth verse Therefore God hath appointed us an enemy that is the Devil whom we must continually fight with If we resist his allurements by pleasure and his terrors in oppressing us with crosses we shall at the length be crowned with the crown of life and then he will according to his promise tread down Sathan under our foot so that he shall not trouble us any more Romans the sixteenth chapter and the twentieth verse But in the mean time he is opposed against us by the wise Councel of God as an enemy that we should continually strive against him As this is a threatning to the Devil so it is a promise in respect of us and that a promise of grace to be shewed us that are of the seed or the woman without which grace we cannot strive with the Serpent nor once conceive any desire to resist him And therefore if we have any desire to resist the Devil and his temptations it is not of any natural power of our selves but the grace of Gods spirit working in us who saith I will put enmity between thy seed and the woman Whereupon whereas the Apostle saith that by reason of the continual rebellion that is between the flesh and the spirit we cannot doe that we would Galatians the fifth chapter and the seventeenth verse Augustine saith that yet we are bound to thank God that he gives us his spirit to stirre us up to the resisting of the flesh and the corrupt lusts thereof for hereby he perform his promise which he makes in this place And except we had the grace of his spirit it were impossible for us but that we should be at agreement with the flesh and like well of the temptations thereof for naturally we are given to make league with bell and death Isaiah the twenty ninth chapter and the fifteenth verse to be friends with our 〈◊〉 and worldly lusts which doe still solicite and perswade us to break Gods Commandement and Law And if by the special grace of God he work in us some dislike of our flesh and the corruption thereof for a time yet this is not perpetual and though it did continue perpetually yet it is not 〈◊〉 mortal and to the death for we never labour to kill sinne and to 〈◊〉 the old man utterly but all that
man Thus much for the framing of our Judgments Now of the practise which we will divide into the precedents before Marriage the duties in Marriage and the dissolution of Marriage Before our marriage must be deliberation First touching the precedents we are not to enter into it unadvisedly but with deliberation and to seek with Adam for a meet help which if we cannot finde then to commit our selves to God which we may gather out of Gods speeches who said faciamus and not siat And again Adam slept while she was framed by God Generall deliberation This deliberation is generall whether it be good to marry at all or else it is speciall whether it be good to marry such or such a person For the first God seeth it is not good for man to be alone Good is not taken there as I told you heretofore for opposite to evill but to inconvenient and the good of convenience is gathered by the circumstance against both the extremes the one is the forbidding to marry 1 Tim. 4. 3. The other extreme is for that they saw the daughters of men to be fair they took Wives according to their own lust and liking chap. 6. 2. The one of the circumstances is grounded upon the person the other upon the time for as it is in the Preacher 3. 5. there is a time to embraee and a time to be farre off from embracing I suppose saith Paul 1. Cor. 7. 26. it is good to be single for the present necessitie in time of affliction Yet in Malachi 2. 14. the Prophet calleth the wife uxor faederis the wife of thy covenant from whom at no time thou must goe to cleave to another but as thou must continue in obedience to God during thy life Psalm 146. 2. so thou must cleave to thy wife so long as you both shall live It is not trouble that must break the bond of marriage It is not age nor sickness must part them Rebekah when Isaac was old provided meat for him such as he loved she forsook not Isaac in his age Genesis 27. 9. and in sickness Amnon knew Tamar would visit him and cherish him the 2. of Sam. 13. 6. nothing may part them but for Fornication and Adulterie At touching the circumstance of the persons there are some that cannot be married saith Christ Matthew 19. 12. for some faith he are chaste from their Mothers bellie who are say the Fathers borne chaste by some incurable disease and are unable to marrie and there be some that be made chaste by men such as are gelded and cut and some are chaste which have made themselves chaste for the Kingdome of Heaven that is to whom God hath given thgift of continencie and 〈◊〉 as Paul expoundeth it 1 Cor. 7. 7. yet as Paul speaketh in the 28. verse If thou take a wife thou sennest not If a Virgin marrie she sinneth not such as are married have trouble in the flesh as wordly cares of their Children and of their Families they are troublea with a prick in the flesh Adams cleaving to Eve must be a way and means to cleave the faster unto God to cleave unto the Lord without separation as it is in 1 Cor. 7. 35. Now there are two spirits which would withdraw us from this conjunction the one is of the world the world and the cares thereof the other of Fornication There be those that seek their own and regard not that is Christs Philip. 2. 21. And the spirit of fornication will not suffer them to know the Lord Osee 5. 4. And lest that man should be exalted over much there was given to man a prick in the flesh 2 Cor. 12. 7. So that as Paul saith 1 Cor. 7. 38. He that giveth his daughter in marriage doth well but he that giveth her not to marriage doth better for that through mans 〈◊〉 not by gods institution Marriage bringeth cares and troubles So that St. Pauls bonum It is not good to touch a Woman and Moses bonum here It is not good for Man to be alone in regard of divers 〈◊〉 may both take place and by good deliberation If I can 〈◊〉 it is good to be alone If I cannot to avoid fornication it is good to 〈◊〉 But if we doe conclude with Moses It is not good to be alone it is good to marrie We must then not resolve to be as a dog as it is in Deut. 23. 18. God commandeth not to bring the hire of a whore nor the price of a dog that is an Whoremonger into the house of the Lord. We must resolve to follow Adams example who had but one wife not of wicked Lamech who took two wives chap. 4. 19. and brought in Polygamic first who brake the institution of Paradise that they two should be one flesh And if any might have had Polygamie Adam might above any But yet God took out of Adam but one rib brought unto Adam but one Eve that they two might be one flesh and better and more holy was it to have one than manie wives Two wives are an impediment to unitie it breedeth much dissention in the house and disquiet to the husband as I shewed you in the example of Hannah and Peninnah the two wives of Elkanah 1 Sam. 1. 7. and it breedeth dissention between the seed 〈◊〉 them two there was not only dissention between Sarah and Agar but even that Ismael the Childe of the Bond-woman could not agree with Isaac the son of the Free-woman but mocked him chap. 21. 9. The particular deliberation Now touching our particular deliberation 〈◊〉 we must have but one to consider what persons are meer and what 〈◊〉 meet this is for our choice and our refusall First we are to seek a meet match and if we cannot finde such an one then we are to pray for one at the hands of God not to say I will make to may self a meet help not to perswade in himself to be any such abilitie but recommending our selves to God to fall asleep with Adam that is to lodge up our own senses and affections not to follow the example of those in chap. 6. 2. who seeing the daughters of men to be fair took them wives of all they liked not such as God appointed for such wives shall be as snares to their husbands Saul he gave his daughter Micholl to deceive David 1 Sam. 18. 21. Adam the father of Mankinde and Abraham the Father of the Faithfull recommended themselves to God in this matter as in chap. 24. 12. the servant of Abraham that went to finde a wife for Isaac prayed God to send him good successe And in the 63. verse Isaac was at prayer in the field when he beheld his wife comming with Camels In the 27. chap. 20. when Isaac asked his 〈◊〉 How he had found him meate so quickly Jacob answered because the Lord thy God brought it to my hand And if we trust in the Lord he will bring a
nineteenth They that live in ease are weary of it Salomon in the first of the Kings the eleventh chapter and the fourth verse died in his age Abraham in the twenty fifth of Genesis and the eighth yeelded the spirit and died a good age Death is a resting from Labour and from sinne and death is not only a resting from labour but from sinne also Paul in the seventh to the Romans and the twenty fourth desireth to be delivered from the body of sinne which he calleth the body of death The holy Fathers on that place but this difference that the Martyrs desire to die that they might not sinne the Malefactors because they have sinned A delaying of the punishment The other part of the delay is the chiefest which is the consideration that there is an exemption of death from the best part of man a qualifying of the punishment A bodily punishment for the soul and body both offended but the body only is punished the soul mans better part is free that is not touched He saith not here thou shalt die the death but thou shalt return to dust for as it is in the third of the Preacher and the twentieth all 〈◊〉 of the dust and all shall return to dust It is the body only that returneth to dust but the soul returneth to God that gave it Mans heavenly part shall be free from this sentence The Soul immortall the head of man his soul which is neerest God shall be safe though his heel be bruised The earthly part shall return to that it was but the heavenly 〈…〉 still the immortality If Christ be in us the body is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life for righteousness sake the eighth of the Romans and the tenth This then giveth comfort in death that though the body die the soul shall live for ever This gave comfort to Adam that he had thus well escaped Hevah the Mother of the living that in the very next verse he calleth his Wife with joy Hevah which is the Mother not of the dead but of the living for Hevah is mater viventium In the twentieth of Luke the thirty seventh and thirty eighth verses The Lord is Deus viventium The Lord is called the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacob yet is he not the God of the dead but of the living for all live unto him yet then the Patriarchs were dead but though the Grave had their body God had their soul the Patriarchs died their soul lives the third of Exodus the sixth to be compared with the former place for after death they were not dead but removed to another state of life God will bring his again from the depth of the Sea Psalme the sixty eight and the twenty second The first death so the godly shall suffer the first death Revelations the twenty first and the eighth expoundeth that place But the wicked and the accursed shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death The second death the first death is the death of all the first death only is the death of Saints but the second death is the death of sinners Davids soul is delivered from the sword Psalme the twenty second and the twenty first but death seedeth 〈◊〉 upon the wicked as sheep feed upon a Common and as their life was without repentance so their death shall be without end the godly wish for death to rest from their labours the wicked wish for death that live in torment which is great Revelations 9. 6. The gates of death are mentioned in the Psalmes and in the seventh of the Proverbs and the twenty seventh Penetralia mortis the Chambers of death The wicked live not only in the Gates in the Courts in the Chambers of death but even in the Dungeon of death in the twenty third Psalme and the fourth verse and in the seventh of the Romans the twenty fourth are to be delayed in the one is mention of umbra mortis in the other corpus mortis they are to be delayed with the 9. of Marke the 1. where it is said that some there are that shall not taste of death till they have seen the Kingdome of God come with power So that the first death takes hold of the gody but the second death toucheth them not For they that be faithfull unto death shall be crowned with a crown of life Revel 2. 10. and in the 11. verse the godly that overcome shall not be hurt of the second death Isaiah 26. 19. Death naturall and eternall they are subject to the naturall death but free from the eternall death This is their comfort in the first death to have deliverie from the second death Resurrection By the resurrection of the dead to life is a second return for by the first return the body returneth from dust to dust but the second is from dust to glorie Return which is a return not of the soul but of the body also according to that of Job This body of flesh shall be covered with immortalitie and according to that of Hosea the 13. Chapter and the 14. verse The godly shall be redeemed from the power of the grave and death and according to that place of the Prophecie Christ will be the death of death it self but most plain of all is that of the 1. of the Revelations the 18. spoken of Christ That he is alive but was dead but now he is alive for evermore and he hath the keyes of hell and of death This then doth alay and qualifie the bitterness of this sentence The use hereof is diverse to learn Hence now may we gather use to our selves in these five things 1. Humility The first is though it be bitter yet it is wholsome the first use is taken out of pulvis es Learn hence unde es from whence thou art thou art but of a clod be not proud thou treadest upon that thou art made let that put thee in minde of humilitie boast not of thy honour for thy honour is in the dust There is nothing in the grave whither thou goest Preacher 9. 11. Quid ergo attollis cervicem in pulverem reversuram this is a means to learn humility learn of your selves what you are and then be humble Austin saith that the time will come to give an account to God of thy doings remember thy own frailty and be not proud for God knoweth whereof we be made he remembreth we are but dust Psal. 103. 14. 2. To regard things of this life as dust The second use is out of pulvis in pulverem dust to dust We must remember whither we are to goe we are now dust but sub alienâ formâ in the likeness of flesh but we shall be dust in the likeness of dust it self our flesh of dust shall be turned into dust and according to that of
there is faith to bee taken so out of this name is a worke of charitie to comfort us and Eve her selfe that was dejected and miserably plunged in sorrow by seeing shee had cast downe her selfe and all mankinde by her sin making her by her new name partaker of Gods love and charity this Charitie is not conteined in Eve alone but continued in her posteri ie unto the end of the world Abraham had great comfort the twelfth chapter and the third verse that omnes gentes all the Nations of the earth in him should bee blessed the eighteenth of the same chapter and the eighteenth verse and the two and twentith chap er and the eighteenth verse but this promise of all blessednesse was that in her omnes viventes all living should bee blessed for all that have beene all that are and all that shall bee are partakers of this promise for it reacheth from Eve to the end of the world In the first name Isha shee is the mother of nature of them that live and then die but by this name shee is the mother of Grace of them that though they are dead yet shall live for ever by the one the mother of mankinde by the other of the Church Job in his tenth chapter and twelfth verse saith vitam gratiam tribuisti mihi which life is the life of God eternally Therefore Adam by this name did comfort himselfe his wife and all others in their miseries in that wee must bee not only the seede of nature by her first name but the seede of Eve of Grace of the Promise and of Hope and so children of the Church of the holy seede to obtain the life of God eternall And lastly according to that of the second of Malachy Wee shall bee partakers of the Covenant of Peace and Life Fecitque Jehova Deus Adamo uxori ejus tunicas pelliceas quibus vestivit eos Gen. 3. 21. Dec. 7. 1598. THIS verse is as it were the opening of Gods warehouse and giving thence his liverie and aparrell wherein is mercy and favor even in judgement for after the Sentence God promiseth life and here giveth aparrell so that as Abacuck speaketh this commendeth Gods mercy in his anger as there was a mercy precedent in the Promise so here is a mercy subsequent in this provision and God mingleth mercy with judgement and joyneth Provision with punishment according to that of the seventy eighth Psalme and the twenty ninth verse this favour God vouchsafeth before hee ends his Sentence hee giveth hope of life everlasting and here addeth aparrell as the signe of his favor for all the care of this world is for foode and the back but seeke the kingdom of God and these things shall bee ministred unto you the sixt of Matthew and the three and thirtith verse Five parts of this verse This verse doth offer in it self five parts as they lie in order The first is the persons of Adam and his Wife The second is that God made The third is aparrel The fourth is of Skins The fift is that therewith they were arayed Out of each of these there is a double consideration of good use To begin then in order 1. Out of the persons of Adam and Eve we learn that though they were sinners yet God gave them his providence and provision The Sun shineth on the good and on the bad the rain falleth on the just and the unjust the fifth of Maithew and the fourty fifth he is kinde nnto the unkinde in the sixth of Luke and the thirty fift If God then give not over the wicked much more he will not leave the faithfull Secondly he extendeth his providence not only to sinners but even to the bodies of sinners which is shewed in his providence before for the bellie and here for the back both these are expressed in the tenth of Deuteronomy and the eighteenth Food and rayment is all we should desire in this world the first to Timothy the sixt and the eighth yea Gods providence goeth further than for the bellie and back for by it all the hairs of the head are numbred the tenth of Matthew and the thirtieth his providence watcheth over the soul and the body over the wicked then much more the good 2. God made The second point is God made he arraied the Heavens with starres and the Earth with grass and here he arraied Man with skins Here let us not search into the curiosity of the Jewes how God made them and what skins they were It is said in the holy Scriptures that God builded an house it is not meant that he was a Carpenter and here it is to be understood not that God was their Taylor but that God gave them power to kill beasts and capacity to make and shape apparrell he was not the Workman himself In the seventh verse before they made themselves Breeches of figge-leaves to cover their nakedness they were for no use nor continuance they were but vain God must teach them and direct them their clothing Mans reason without God hath a shew of wisedome but is without understanding the second to the Colossians and the twenty third In the first of Samaell 15. 15. Saul in his own conceit thought he had done well to save the best of the Sheep and Oxen. That apparrel that Adam made was cold and could not hold 3. Coats The third is Clothes or Coats in the originall tongue it is expressed that which is to cover and to defend Before Adam in Paradise had a care to have a Cover ad honestatem for shame there is a Commandement against the uncovering of shame in the eighteenth of Leviticus and the sixth which Paul in the first to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter and the twenty third verse calleth our uncomely parts Sem and Japhet will cover shame though wicked Cham will discover it The bruitish Savages respect not their nakedness The Sect of the Cynicks and the Adamites were shameless of their shame in the sixth of the Revelations shame must not be seen Adam by the light only of reason covered his shame that so this covering might be Velam verecundiae a Vail of shame fastness We must beware that we change not our clothing in vexillum superbiae to be the standard of pride at the first it was ordained for a covering for lust we must not then make it a provocation for 〈◊〉 it is made by God to suppress lust we must not then make it as a procurer of sensuality Such is the attire of an enticing Woman in the seventh of the Proverbs and the nineth St. Jerome upon this place saith that it is opposite unto this use or first institution of apparrel to make it nidum luxuriae a nest for lasciviousness The second reason why God made them apparrel was for defence both of the cold of Winter and the heat of Summer to save them from the weather St. Paul in the second to the
it was seemly to cover his shame for to cover a starre or the Sunne is a blemish to either a Rose or a Lilie are best uncovered in their proper natures and so Adams nakedness in his innocencie was best without apparel The just man shall shine like the Sunne in the Kingdome of his father the thirteenth of Matthew the fourty third verse The second regard out of this covering or clothing is That the birds are covered with their own feathers the beasts with their haire and wooll but man must die for nakednesse unlesse he hath his cloathing from others Thirdly Goe to the brute beasts and wear their skinnes and by looking on them learn that if thou hadst been obedient thou hadst not need of such clothing and repeat that of the fourty ninth Psalm the twentieth verse Man was in honour and understood it not and now he is become like beasts that perish Lastly From the beasts being slain To put him in minde that though he may preserve his bodie for a while yet in the end in pulverem revertêris though these must die to feed and cloath thee yet in the end thou must die thy self These penitentiall meditations may be taken from this modell of apparell The nakedness of the soul. Now touching the nakednesse of the soul and the covering thereof spiritually hereto may be applied that of the sixteenth of Ezekiel the seventh verse Jerusalem was naked and barren but thou hast got thee excellent garments we are wretched poor and naked the third of the Revelations the seventeenth verse then this nakednesse which is of the soul it must be covered it is that whereto that of the sixteenth of the Revelations the fifteenth verse hath relation Blessed is he that keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and men see his filthinesse And God through his mercie covereth our sinne and it must be covered with a covering of skinne the brutish affection must be covered with morall virtues the brutish affection of anger of the Lion must be covered with patience the brutish affection of 〈◊〉 of the Goat must be clothed with chastity the pride the skinne of the Lamb of God which was the 〈◊〉 of the Serpent with the humilitie of the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world the thirteenth of the Revelations the eighth verse must be thy cloathing and we put on Christ by Baptism the third to the Galathians the twenty seventh Jacob was clothed with skinnes which did represent this If then we goe to the soul it is to be clothed analogically with the bodie the nakednesie thereof is to be clothed by faith with Christ Jesus the Lamb of God Et dixit Jehova Deus Ecce homo estne sicut unus ex nobis cognoscendo bonum malum nunc igitur videndum ne extendens manum suam accipiat etiam de fructu arboris vitae ut comedat victurus in seculum Gen. 3. 22. Januar. 14. 1598. IN the former verses of the Sentence I told you their several uses and that in the last of them was matter for penitentiall meditation The execution of the Sentence I told you was laid in these three last verses This verse containeth a deliberation or a resolution of what God should doe and it is as it were the writ for execution In the two next verses is conteined the execution it self God hereby seemeth so respective of them that he is so unwilling to execute upon them yet is he carefull of his truth for he said at the first restraint in the seventeenth verse of the former chapter Thou shalt die the death if thou eat the forbidden fruit and that God hath said must be performed for his words are not bruta fulmina and therefore that all may concur in his Sentence was imposed on him a painfull life and that it may be more painfull he is here deprived of Paradise and likewise the corruption of life was appointed him which in him and his posterite we see daily verefied that dust returneth to dust and here it is made more manifest by the taking away of the tree of life This verse divideth it self into two general parts the one in these words Behold the Man is become as one of us to know good and evill the other in that which remaineth For the first part I agree fully with the opinion of the ancient fathers which are the most wise and the most learned that these words the man is become as one of us c. is no Ironie but as one of them saith very well est vox magni fragoris it is a voice of great thunder wherein is written the misery that Adam is in as Christ at his death had a superscription whereby was expressed wherefore he suff red Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judeorum or as Malefactors have written in Papers on their heads wherefore they are punished So these words are a publishing wherefore they are thus used because they would become as God knowing good and evill that they and others may know the cause of their fall that as it is in the twenty ninth of Deuteronomie the twenty fourth verse If any shall aske wherefore hath the Lord done thus They shall answer because they have broken the 〈◊〉 of the Lord their God because they went and served other Gods and worshipped them even Gods which they knew not And here because Adam obeyed the Serpent whom he knew not and disobeyed God whom he knew because he would be as God and know good and evil he tasted the deserved punishment of Gods wrath The form of the words Now for the matter conteined herein the ancient Fathers doe gather hence Matter of faith first matter of faith quasi unus ex nobis Adam is like one of us hereby is taken a certain apprehension of the Trinity to refute the Jews that God speaketh not as Princes doe and like Emperors We charge you It is our pleasure c. that though he be one that speaketh yet he useth the plurall number but this doth resute them for what Prince or Monarch saith Like one of us to shew the unity of Godhead and trinity of persons he said not like unto Angells but like one of us In which words he sheweth both a remembrance or token of the unity and the Trinity in the fourth of John the twenty third verse the person of the Father in the twenty seventh verse there following the person of the Sonne saith I am he So that in one is the Godhead in us is the persons So much of the character Ironie Secondly It may seem God speaketh this as an Ironie in a scorning sort for surely it cannot be spoken directly for he is not become like God that knoweth all things but rather like the brute beast without understanding he is become by his disobedience liker the Serpent that seduced him than God that made him Sarcasmus Some take them as Ironicall or which is more as a Sarcasmus or
a condemning of his action because it is a foolish thing to doe that which hath no good reason to be rendred to warrant the doing of it Therefore God divideth the sense into two parts either the reason must be in God or in Abel in God for favouring him or in Abel because favoured of God Now God in the former part hath acquitted himself saying If thou dost well shalt not thou be accepted for behold I am just and will regard thy well doing therefore thou hast no cause to be grieved for that Or else thou shalt be rewarded according to justice and that in bounty and liberality which is by ancient Fathers grounded upon the words of God to Abraham Fear not for I will be thine exceeding great reward Genesis the fifteenth chapter and the first verse that is If thou dost well thou shalt be 〈◊〉 be rewarded for it but if thou dost not well thou hast no cause to be grieved neither for as I am just and will talk with thee one day thou shalt hear of it so yet my justice is full of mercy I intend not presenly to take thee by the throat but give thee space to repent 〈◊〉 shall but lye at thy dore so that not only Gods justice 〈◊〉 herein but his mercy is exceeding great and mixed with justice If God took order that after his sinne committed Cain should 〈◊〉 by and by come to judgement but should have time first to 〈◊〉 himself of it this is matter of comfort that no man should despair by and by when he hath sinned far that God is a 〈…〉 God and would not the death of sinner and therefore giveth him time to repent This sheweth that God gave him no cause of grief There remains that the grief must be conceived against Abel because God so much respected him but so the sense is as if God should say Cain art thou grieved for Abels good and fearest he should grow insolent by the favour I have shewed him and so he should despise and thou shouldst be vile in his eyes If Abel have offended thee why his desire shall be subject to thee but that is no cause why thou shouldst be grieved for he being the Child of grace doth not affect any such manner of superiority as thou fearest but is as modest and as humble as he was before and so thou hast no reason of impatiencie against him And not only that first but this second that God shewed plainly that it is his will that in and by the sin committed no man should lose any priviledge which of right is due to him and which before hee had and every motion in a Superior to sinne doth not discharge him of his authority Which is contrary to that false opinion and censure of them which thinke that even Princes themselves after sinne committed lose all their prerogative and supremacy of government which they had before and that their Subjects are not bound to doe their service any longer to them but that ever after their allegiance shall cease which is false and contrary to all reason and not Gods intent and will here For as in the chapter before after Adam had sinned yet Eve was still subject to him so the same God saith and ratifieth here that Cain though he had thus sinned both against God and his brother yet being the elder and first born and so before Abel so there should be a superiority and dominion that he should still retain by nature And it is Gods assertion that that superiority should be reteined still and that Abel should not seek to be his Superior neither did he That was the prerogative which Cain had before Abel as the elder But to yeeld this obedience hath been the continuall practise of all the Saints and Children of God King Saul was a wicked man yet David rebelled not against him because he knew him to be the Lords annointed so the Prophet Jeremy saith of Nebuchadnezar a wicked King that he will visite the Nation and Kingdome that will not serve him the twenty seventh chapter of Jeremiah and the ninth verse and for the new Testament both Paul and Peter confess the same Paul in the first to Timothy the second chapter and the second verse and Peter in the first epistle of Peter the second chapter and the fourteenth verse doe will that duty and allegiance be given to the higher powers not only if they be good but though they be Tyrants and wicked Princes that fear not God And it is it that God saith by Job Job the thirty fourth chapter and the thirtieth verse that by him the Hypocrite reigneth that is for their sinnes God will send wicked Princes and Cain shall bear rule over Abel God doth not only alledg that thus it was but thus he would have it This Government thus by God established in the beginning was by David Jeremy Paul Peter Job and all the rest of the Patriarchs and Saints of God confessed and allowed So that if we regard Abel either in respect of himself or his demeanour towards Cain or we respect Gods goodness herein no just cause can be of grief neither was it Gods will that Abel should resist neither doth he any such thing and so indeed there was no just cause why Cain should fear it or be grieved And this may suffice for the first which I will shut up with this Caveat of instruction 〈◊〉 Our own sinne of malice and envy is cause of our grief that for as much as the grief of malice and envy cannot be 〈◊〉 from God who is just nor from Abel who is mild and modest then it remains that it came from Cain himself whom God repeats four times together in the words of this Text thou and thee and so he must return to his own heart and remember how his own sinne is cause of his grief as God himself speaketh by Isaiah the fourty sixth chapter and the eighth verse Remember thus and be ashamed bring it again to minde you transgressors Note And for the new Testament Luke the fifteenth chapter the prodigall Sonne when he came to himself confessed his own unworthiness and said Father I have sinned which is another main point of Divinity established from the beginning that as God saith Hosea the fifteenth and the ninth perditio tua ex te Israel salus autem ex me so our well doing or ill doing is cause of our regarding or destruction so saith James no man is tempted of God for God cannot be tempted of ill neither doth he tempt any man but every one is tempted of his own concupiscence James the first chapter and the thirteenth verse So that from the first we have this Doctrine that if God be judged he is innocent and if Abel there is no fault in him and to come to Cain he is in all the fault But now if we come about and say it is not meant of the person but of the things that is
fair day after a storm For in the eight former verses there hath not been any mention made of God or godliness but marriage upon marriage murther upon murther vaunting of finne past and to come deriding of God and his holy word as if he were a person that favoured wicked men and not contenting himself with the punishment which God inflicted but a devising a new kinde of revenge as we see in Lamech who not contented with the punishment which God appointed for murtherers that is seven times would challenge to himself seventy times seven times Now at last we come to a verse that hath the mention and name of God and of a good man of whom a succession of good men should be raised And it was fit that the Man of God Moses should keep this order because the faith of Adam and Eve might quail and they might think God not true of his promise in regard of that which they saw For as for the threatning which God denounced against Cain wee see it is not performed but Cain and his posteritie in stead of being plagued for his wickednesse grow to be great men rich Grasyers such as have all things that tend either to delight or defense As for Adams promise which was That the seed of the woman should bruise the Serpents head it fell out clean contrary for we see to what a great number the spawne of the Serpent was grown when as there was none of the Womans seed And whereas God promised the Womans seed should bruise the head of the Serpent wee see the spawne of the Serpent 〈◊〉 the head of the Womans seed For Abel who was the Womans seed is slain by Cain who was of the Serpents seed which falls out many times in the world The promise made to Noah was That Cham should be a servant Genesis the ninth chapter and yet we see it fell out clean contrary for Genesis the tenth chapter 〈◊〉 who was of Chams race was the first Emperour upon earth And in the new Testament the people of God when Christ was born were in that state that Herod an Edomite was become their King Matthew the seoond chapter That wee may see that as the Prophet speakes in the one hundred and ninteenth Rsalm and the hundred twenty sixt verse Then it is time for God to lay to his hand when mankinde looking into his word and seeing that it is not fulfilled which God hath spoken doe decay in faith that he may shew himself a true God and able to accomplish that which he doth either promise or threaten that so the faith that was yet left upon earth might revive and take breath again The verse it self consisteth of two parts First Adams knowledge of his Wife Secondly The nativity of Seth. For the first Not to say any thing of the term which Moses useth which is Adams knowledge for that we have handled it heretofore we will consider the word iterum which gives us plainly to know that for a great while Adam gave over that Act being stricken and amazed with this consideration that one brother should kill another that is in bewailing Abel that was 〈◊〉 and Cain that was cut off from the Church Adam and Eve were in this state of minde that they were as it were dead seeing their first Ofspring sped so unhappily that the one was slain bodily the other was under the sentence of death both of body and soul when I say they considered that they should either beget children to be murthered which was Abels case or else to be cast into hell in respect of Cain it made them say with Rebecca Genesis the twenty fift chapter and the twenty second verse si mihi sic futurum est quia necesse est parere for these considerations they had clean given over Out of which example of Adam and Eve we learn to conform ourselves to crosses and heavy accidents as God layeth upon us that is to forbear and give over matters of pleasure when God calls us to mourning for it is a thing agreeable to Gods will If when the Lord God of hosts shall call to weeping and mourning there be nothing but joy and 〈◊〉 slaying of Oxen c. the Lord himself sayeth that is a sinne which shall not be pardoned or purged with any sacrifice till they die Isaiah the twenty second chapter and the twelfth verse It is that which Christ teacheth Matthew the ninth chapter and the fifteenth verse When the Bridegrome shall be taken away then shall they mourn and fast that is when either he shall be taken from us or when men shall drive him from them by their sinnes then there is cause of mourning and sorrow Therefore we see albeit it was Gods will that Aaron and his Children should eat the offerings of the Children of Israel yet he refused to eat them in regard of the Judgments of God upon Nadab and Abihu his Sonnes saying Thou knowest such and such things have come to me this day and if I had eaten the sin-offering 〈◊〉 it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 chapter and the ninteenth verse Therefore David mourned so for the death of Abner that he said God doe so to me and more if I eat bread or 〈◊〉 else till the Sun be down in the second of Samuel the third chapter and the thirty fift verse But hence there appears another thing unto us which is that 〈◊〉 and earthly sorrow in a naturall man is a thing stronger than any worldly pleasure that in regard of the naturall man there is more strength in grief than in pleasure or joy for if a man have 〈◊〉 in never so much pleasure all 〈◊〉 life yet if he come to a little sickness it takes away all remembrance of his former pleasure And this is a means to make a man think of such an estate Wherein he may have that pleasure and joy which shall not be taken from him as Christ speaketh John the sixteenth chapter and the twenty second verse Now when Adam had relieved himself with this cogitation that as the Prophet speaks Psalm the eighty ninth God hath not made all men for nought it made him to return whereupon there followed by Gods blessing not only a seed but a chosen and holy seed that is Seth. Concerning whom first we will speak of his birth wherein we have this to observe that those Children whom God gives to Parents upon a plentifull contrition and repentance doe usually prove men excellent in all spirituall graces The first example hereof is Seth who is not only the foundation of the Church but of mankinde for since the flood all the Sons of men are called the Children of Seth. It is also shewed in Joseph whom God gave to Rachel having opened her wombe which before was shut up so as she was barren Genesis the thirtieth chapter and the twenty second verse It also appeared in Hannah who having bewailed her own
is the fountain of joy and life Therefore howsoever we labour in this life to lay up treasure for our outward maintenance yet we must chiefly take care for the life to come and lay up for our souls a good foundation the first 〈◊〉 to Timothie the sixt chapter but the following of the good things of this life doth hinder us from this care We are like the Israelites that cared not for the promised bread because they had the flesh pots in Egypts so as they could be content to have turned thither So it was with the two tribes and half who for that they had convenient pasture for their Cattel on the other side of Jordan cared not for travelling into the land of Canaan Numbers the thirty fift chapter Another hindrance is the labor and trouble that must be suffered for the purchasing of eternal life We have a spiritual sluggishnesse like the sloathfull person whom Salomon speaketh of He would fain have had bread but was loth to labour for it It was cold and there was a Lyon in the way Proverbs the twenty second chapter So the great trouble and danger that must be born doth keep us from seeking the bread of eternall life as the Israelites said The Land is a good Land but the People are many and strong Numbers the thirteenth chapter and so had no lust to seek to enter into the land of Canaan So we confesse that eternall life is the better but we have so many comforts in this life and finde it so troublesome to attain to the other life that we leave off all care for it and content our selves with our 〈◊〉 state The trouble and danger that stayeth us from seeking life eternal is that which the Scripture setteth out All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution the second epistle to Timothy the third chapter By many tribulations we must enter into the kingdome of Heaven Acts the fourteenth chapter And the way is narrow and the gate streight that leadeth to life Luke the thirteenth chapter To take away the first hindrance the holy Ghost sheweth that there is a better life and greater joyes reserved in the life to come The eye hath not seen the eare hath not heard the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter And that the other should not hinder us he saith All the afflictions in this life are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed Romans the eight chapter In both which places we see God would kindle in us a desire of eternal life As there is a life that endureth so there is a meat for it We know the body needs bread therefore we seek for bread for it so must we seek for the food of the soul. The joy of the body must be a memorial to stirre us up to provide food for the soul. Fourthly This food we doe not seek We are so intangled in the pleasures of this life that we think not of eternall life the pleasures of this life while we enjoy them doe quench the care of the life to come But being once past they are as nothing and we are never the better for them though we desire eternall life yet we perswade our selves we shall have it without feeking the food for it We think it necessary to seek bread for the body but not for the soul though we doe think it necessary yet we neglect it and deny in our works that we think it needfull We doe not labour for it as we are here commanded The sluggard would fain have bread but shall want it because he labours not for it in temporal things as riches honour preferment a great deal will not content men But in Religion and matters spiritual they are of Agrippaes minde aliquantulum persuades Acts the twenty fourth chapter great store of worldly goods is nothing but a few good works are sufficient If we sow to the spirit in never so little measure we think we have done a great deal but if we sow never so much to the flesh upon apparel and vanity all is too little if we spend all the six dayes about our own profit yet it is not enough but we will encroach upon the Sabbath therefore the people ask When will the Sabbath be ended Amos the eighth chapter But if we spend but one day in the week or one hour in Gods service it is tedious to them We take part with Martha and as for Mary that was occupied about Gods worship we think not so well of her though Christ testifie of her that she chose the better part Luke the tenth chapter If we vouchsafe once in seven dayes to come unto Gods house yet it shall be late before we come and we think it long till we be gone Operemini non cibo qui perit sed cibo illi qui permanet in vitam aeternam quem filius hominis c. John 6. 27. Novemb. 19. 1598. AFter the four points of accusation before handled now follow two more for direction First That we must seek for the bread of life that endureth rather than for that which perisheth Secondly That we must seek for it of the sonne of Man whom God the father hath therefore sealed that he should give us the bread of life In the first part we have two parts to observe First That we must labour for this meat Secondly We must labour for it more than for the other When Christ saith labour he means not that they should only desire it It is a good thing to desire the bread of life as they desire it Da nobis semper panem hunc John the sixt chapter and the thirty fourth verse Those sodain flashings that arise are not to be despised for they are the seed of greater virtues God begins with a little seed of Godlinesse and proceeds till he have wrought men to some perfection Zacheus at the first did but only desire to see Christ but from this little seed proceeded great fruit of Justice and mercie towards the poor so that he not only restored but gave to the poor Luke the nineteenth chapter Therefore the seed of repentance and faith if it be never so little is not to be rejected if it be but as the grain of mustard seed He that doth not quench the smoaking flax though it doe not flame Matthew the twelfth chapter will not despise the least desire of Gods grace but that we should not content our selves only to desire the bread of life he wills us not only to desire but to labour for it It is not enough to long and desire for the bread of life but we must labour and take pains for it The desire of the sloathfull shall slay him Proverbs the twenty fourth chapter The sloathfull would fain have bread to sustain life but he saith There is a Lyon in the way Proverbs the twenty second chapter he is afraid of labour and danger but we must not refuse to take
any pains nor fear any danger to obtein the bread that endureth for ever In other things of this life we doe not only desire that which seemeth good to us but we seek for it till we have it So the Prophet speaks Cupiunt rapiunt Michah the second chapter and the second verse So we must not only desire the Kingdome of God but must violently seek after it for The Kingdome of God suffereth violence Matthew the eleventh chapter Secondly this word labor is opposed to seeking for Christ saith here Matthew the sixt chapter Seek the Kingdome of God but labor for the meat that endureth This labor is that work of God which is ascribed to faith John the sixt chapter by which we labor for the bread of life we must use an excessive kinde of labor in this work of God for that to labor for the bread of life is no bodily labor and therefore we must work for it earnestly for cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord negligently Jeremiah the fourty eight chapter Therefore when Christ pronounceth them blessed that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse he commands us not only to seek and desire it in our hearts but to hunger for it as we doe for the food of our bodies Matthew the fifth chapter and as he commands us to doe so so he hath left us his example for as it becomes him to fulfill all righteousnesse so he protesteth that it was his meat and drink to doe the will of him that sent him John the fourth chapter so did Mary earnestly labor for the meat that perisheth not when she was sitting at the feet of Jesus for though her sister called upon her to help her yet nothing could draw her from this spirituall labor Luke the tenth chapter and the fourty second verse So did the people labor that pressed to hear Christ Luke the eighth chapter they laid violence to the Kingdome of God as also they that hearing Paul preach would needs have him preach the same thing again to them and for that end came together in great companies to hear the next Sabbath Acts the thirteenth chapter If we thus seek the bread of life striving and wrastling with God in our praiers as Jacob did with the Angell then we doe indeed labor for it as Christ willeth us to doe The second sense of laboring is that we must labor for this bread more than for the other and not at all for the other in comparison of this All grant that we must labor for the bread of life but not for it more than for that which nourisheth this life we must observe in what manner we ought to labour as well as that we are to labour for the excessive desire of this life makes us defective in the desire of the life to come The desire of this life is not oppofice but subordinate to the desires of the life to come But we must desire this life so farre as it may further us to the other life Some doe make this life the end of all their desires and doe heap up wrath to themselves against the day of wrath 〈◊〉 the second chapter But the care and indeavor of the Saints of God is that in this life they may lay up for themselves a good 〈◊〉 for the life to come the first epistle to 〈◊〉 the sixt chapter Men are bound to be carefull to make honest provision for this life and not to be idle and burdensome to the earth For when Christ willeth us not to be carefull for this life yet from the example of birds we may learn that we must not be negligent for they are made to flie as it is in the Provarbs And so we are by Gods appointment to provide for our maintenance in this life Matthew the sixt chapter When Christ saith We shall give account for every idle word he means we shall be called to account That we have not spoken the good words that we ought Matthew the twelfth chapter The Apostle 〈◊〉 him 〈◊〉 stote to steal no more but to labour Ephesians the fourth chapter and the twenty eighth verse The reason is that for want of labouring in some honest calling for our outward maintenance we shall fall to poverty and Poverty will make us steal and use unlawfull means Proverbs the thirty chapter Though a man were able to live without labouring yet remembring Gods sentence that we 〈◊〉 eat in the sweat of our faces we shall say 〈◊〉 tram Domini 〈◊〉 the seventh chapter and the ninth verse And that made the Apostle say That if any will not labour let him not eate the second epistle to the 〈◊〉 and the third chapter And the blessed man shall 〈◊〉 of the labour of his hands Psalme one hundred twenty eighth Thus we are to provide for this life But if comparison be made we are to labour more for the life to come and for the food that belongeth to the maintenance of it It were a thing hard enough for us if Christ should command us to labour for the heavenly food as we doe for the earthly but yet it is necessary that as the soul is more excellent than the body so we should be more carefull to maintain the life of the soul than of the body The excellency of the soul made the learned Philosophers to 〈◊〉 from many bodily pleasures which otherwise they could not have forborn but that they knew the life and felicity of the soul is 〈◊〉 better than all the profits and pleasures of this life Of the good things of this life Christ saith What shall it profit a man to 〈◊〉 the whole world and lose his own 〈◊〉 Matthew the sixteenth chapter So we are to seek the good of the next life rather than of this Touching our defence from bodily miseries Christ saith 〈◊〉 not him that 〈◊〉 kill the body and not the soul but he that can kill 〈…〉 Matthew the tenth chapter that is if he that 〈◊〉 not a due care to provide for the soul rather than for the body Some use the soul is if it were to serve the body whereas the body ought to serve it But seeing our body is Corpus mortis Romans the seventh chapter because either it shall be destroyed by death or while it liveth is under the dominion of death Romans the sixt chapter Therefore whatsoever care is bestowed upon the body shall perish with it for they that sow to the flesh as it is corruptible shall reap corruption but as the spirit is immortal so they that sow to it shal reap immortality and life ever lasting Galatians the sixt chapter The good estate of the body will not make the soul the better but rather the worse but the souls estate being provided for the body shall be farre the better If we seek Gods Kingdom first then that care will cause all other things to be added Matthew the sixt chapter If our conversation be in Heaven it shall cause our
between them If ye love me saith Christ keep my commandements John the fifteenth chapter And the Preacher Seek for the mysterie of faith as in a pure conscience the first epistle of Timothy and the third chapter For they that put away a good conscience make shipwrack of faith the first epistle of Timos thie the first chapter and the nineteenth verse The Gentils did know God but did not glorifie him as God They knew the truth but did detinere veritatem in injustitiâ Romans the first chapter As they held knowledge so they should not withhold it from others but should have made manifest the same that others might have known God which because they did not God gave them over to be darkned in their understanding We must manifest our knowledge by doing some good works for he that hath knowledge and is not carefull to be fruitfull in the knowledge of Christ is in the half way to be blinded for when men receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved God will send them the efficacie of error that they may beleeve lies the second epistle to the Thessalonians the second chapter and the eleventh verse This knowledge is but a shew of knowledge and not the power of it If any man think he knoweth any thing he knoweth nothing as he ought to know it the second epistle to the Corintbians the eighth chapter and the seventh verse This knowledge is like that which John Baptist speaketh of Matthew the third chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Think not to say with your selves c. rest not in this knowledge The rule of true knowledge is when it is accompanied with holinesse of life as he speaks If any man love God he is known of him the first epistle to the Corinthians the eighth chapter and the third verse The virtue that openeth mens eyes to make them see is wisdome So he that hath no care of virtue is not wise for the fear of God is wisdome and to depart from evill is understanding Job the twenty eighth chapter And to fear God is the beginning of wisdome Proverbs the first chapter The Art of sowing is of pollicy so is buying and selling But the Kingdom of God is likened to the traffique of a Merchant man and to the sowing of seed Matthew the thirteenth chapter To teach us that to our knowledge we must ad spiritual wisdom without which we are blinde and ignorant He that is blinde nescit quò vadit John the twelfth chapter He considers not how he lives whether he be in the way that leadeth to life or to death he knows not what shall come to him after this life Incedit tanquam Bos He goeth as an Oxe to the slaughter Proverbs the seventh chapter But he that to knowledge adds godlinesse and holinesse of life he knoweth whither he goeth That it shall goe well with him at the last Ecclesiastes the eighth chapter and the twelfth verse So saith the Prophet Marke the righteous and thou shalt see his end is peace at the last Psalme the thirty seventh and the thirty seventh verse Secondly He is not only blinde but cannot see a farre off Two things are said to be a farre off things Spiritual and eternall and he that hath not these Christia virtues cannot see a farre off neither in things spiritual nor eternall For the first The favour of the world makes a man commit many sinnes but the favour of God keeps him from sinne Worldly pleasures make a man commit many sinnes but the pleasure of the life to come and the joyes of the holy Ghost make a man forbear sinne Secondly For things eternall the evill estate of the wicked is very bad be his temporal estate never so good therefore they are to consider what God will doe in the end thereof Quod fiat in fine Jeremiah the fift chapter and the thirty first verse The least pleasure that the wicked have in this life brings poenas inferni And howsoever Godly men be subject to miseries in this life yet their eternal estate is most happy I know that it shall goe well with them at the last Isaiah the third chapter and the tenth verse He hath forgotten that he was purged Wherein we are to consider First How true this is There are so many perswasions arising from the benefit of the purging of our sinnes that it is confest that he hath forgotten that he was purged that is not carefull to obtain these virtues First That God passeth over the time of our former ignorance Acts the seventeenth chapter Admonishesh us now to repentance That it is enough that we have spent the time past of our life the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter The consideration of this should make us to become holy The Prophet saith When thou hast enlarged my heart I will runne the way of thy commandements Psalme the hundred nineteenth But what doth enlarge our hearts so much as that all our former sinnes are washed away in the blood of Christ That now we shall runne the way and race of holinesse not in the spirit of fear but of adoption Romans the eighth chapter Not as servants but as children in obedience to God our father we need not to fear the curse of the Law which Christ hath delivered us from Galatians the third chapter Only we may look for temporal plagues if we sinne against God Psalm the eighty ninth Secondly If we consider how we are purged the which would perswade us hereunto that is Not by corruptible things as silver and gold but with the blood of Christ the first epistle of Peter the second chapter But with the blood of Christ not a prophane and common blood Hebrews the tenth chapter but a pretious blood Thirdly If we consider the end of our purging which is not to continue in sin but as Christ saith I will refresh you that you may take my yoke upon you and be obedient unto me Matthew the eleventh chapter The father purgeth the branches that they may bring forth more fruit John the fifteenth chapter And Christ gave himself for us that he might purge us to be zealous of good works Titus the second chapter and the fourteenth verse Whereby we see it is true That he which hath not care of holinesse hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sinnes Secondly We are to consider how evill a thing it is to forget the purging of our former sinnes which we shall perceive if we consider what a benefit it is to have them cleansed When Gods benefits upon us are fresh they somwhat affect us for a time but we presently forget them And we are sorie for our sinnes while they are fresh and newly committed and feel the plague of God upon us so that we can say with David I have sinned and done wickealy in the second of Samuel and the twenty fourth chapter but the remembrance of them soon departeth away But howsoever we forget them yet
and the eighteenth chapter The King is to goe out and in before the People the first book of Samuel and the eighth chapter So the people will follow the King if he be good they will tread in his steps When Jothan reigned the people were good But when Achan came they turned with him to Idolatrie So it fell out with Ezechiah and the people with Manasse and his people with Amon and his people Joshuah and his people Nobile mutatur semper cum principe vulgus So that God is more exalted when he inclines the hearts of Kings to follow Christ and to cleave to the Church When the Kings offer bountifully to the 〈◊〉 as David did then will his people but if he withdraw his liberality they will draw away too Hereupon Christ when the Greeks desired to see him said The hour is come that the sonne of man must be glorified John the twelfth chapter The other two wayes are as a reason Because the shields of the earth are the Lords his name is exalted This was the reason that moved Constantine he saw God had a power to protect and give victory and therefore imbraced the Christian Religion God saith to Abraham I am thy shield Genesis the fifteenth chapter And of him David saith He is a sheild to them that trust in him Psalm the thirty third Constantine saw in Heaven the signes of the Crosse on which was written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this thou shalt overcome wherein God shews them that he 〈◊〉 power to defend and give victory therein is his name exalted When they fee that they will take hold with the Jews and say God is with them Zachery the eight chapter The other way is because God is exalted therefore he will defend the earth as with a shield This is a motive to make men become religious and when they are so then followeth defense and safetie which is the effect of magnifying Gods name When we take the shield of faith and beleeve in God Ephesians the fift chapter Then he will compasse us with his faith as with a shield Psalm the fift chapter His faithfulnesse and truth shall be with us and in his name shall his horne be exalted Psalm the eighty ninth Therefore Moses having exalted the name of God in Horeb because they were delivered and built an Altar called The Lord is my banner Exodus the seventeenth chapter and the fifteenth verse The name of the Lord is a strong Tower Proverbs the eighteenth chapter The Church is like the Tower of David which had many shields Canticles the fourth chapter To signifie that because the Church doth exalt and magnifie the name of God therefore he doth defend it by a thousand means And therefore the Apostle saith That godlinesse hath the promise of this life as well as of the life to come the first epistle to Timothy the fourth chapter So that whether way soever we take it it teacheth us That love is the end of the Commandement out of a pure heart and good conscience and faith unfeigned the first epistle to Timothie the first chapter It doth teach us to walk in the simplenesse of the faith of our Father Abraham and to doe his works John the eighth chapter It teacheth us to exalt and magnifie Gods name for exaltatio nominis Domini 〈…〉 Et inutilem servum ejicite in tenebras illas extimas illic erit fletus stridor dentium Matt. 25. 30. Jan. 16. 1598. THE sentence which passed upon the unprofitable servant had two branches First A sentence of deprivation Taking the talent from him Secondly A sentence of translation and giving it to him that hath ten talents Now the talent being taken away The servant himself is cast into utter darknesse These two parts of his punishment are by good order joyned together not only that the talent should be taken away but that punishment should be laid upon his person that not only the tree should be cut down and be deprived of all power to fructifie but to be cast into the fire Luke the thirteenth chapter the wastfull servant must not only lose his office but must give an account of his Stewardship Luke the sixteenth chapter It were well if he might only lose his talent and himself escape utinamperiret pecunia modo ne suo periret but it agreeth with Gods Justice that as the talent was lost through the negligence of the unprofitable servant so now the servant should perish for the honor of the talent And it stands with Gods wisdome so to punish the unprofitable servant for if the salt be unsavery it is good for nothing but to be cast out Matthew the fift chapter And when the tree brings no fruit troubles the ground it is fittest to be cut up Luke the thirteenth chapter that others may be planted in the room of it that will bear fruit Wherefore as when Saul had lost his spirit the Kingdom tarried not long with him after so if our talents be once taken away we may look that God will lay a punishment upon our persons If we fall from our first love Apocalyps the second chapter and use not our talents to Gods glory we may justly fear our persons But as God did first command Lot to goe out of Sodom before he destroyed the Citie it self so he will first take away the talent that it perish not and after the person shall be punished The punishments inflicted upon his person are reduced to two Being first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Touching the first he saith Cast out the unprofitable servant that hath done nothing to my glorie not servum peccatorē Luke the 〈◊〉 chapter nor the riotous servant that wasts his Masters goods but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him that doth no good with the talents committed to him sic sic in virido Luke the twenty third chapter If he shew such cruelty towards him that was only unprofitable and did no good how severely will he punish those that doe hurt with their talents that are riotous and mispend their whole talents Three things make his punishment grievous First That he is punished with a separation Secondly It is with a violent separation Thirdly This separation is with disgrace and shame For the place from which he is separated as the Apostle saith It doth not appear what we shall be the first epistle of John and the third chapter So it appears not to us what the place is whither we shall be gathered if we use Gods gifts as we ought But as he speaks of the person so of the place We know that it is an excellent place a place of such glory as the eye hath not seen the first epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter Such glory as all the afflictions of this life are not to be compared with it Romans the eighth chapter and therefore to be cast out from this place will be a heavy sentence The
the eighth chapter If we will come 〈◊〉 we must not be 〈◊〉 but diligent and watchfull We must use both attention Luke the twenty first chapter Take 〈◊〉 to your 〈◊〉 and contention Luke the thirteenth chapter Strive to enter Therefore the Prophet saith Psalm the thirty seventh Hope in the Lord and 〈◊〉 doing good there is both hope and diligence The Apostle saith We have great and 〈…〉 made us the second epistle of Peter the first chapter and the 〈◊〉 verse That is our hope but we must be diligent adding to our hope virtue to virtue knowledge and these if we be without we 〈…〉 of the promises which 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 the fift chapter That faith worketh by 〈◊〉 And he that hath this 〈…〉 himself the first epistle of John the third chapter and the third 〈◊〉 Job 〈◊〉 did perfectly hope was not negligent as he 〈◊〉 〈…〉 in eum Job the thirteenth chapter and the 〈◊〉 verse so he sheweth his carefulnesse Veritas omnia opera 〈◊〉 Job the ninth chapter Paul that said He was sure of the love of God Romans the eighth chapter doth not cease to be diligent lest he should be vexed first epistle to the Corinthians the ninth chapter The same Paul saith Philippians the third chapter and the tenth verse I forget that which is behinde and indeavor towards that which is before This is that which concludes this point i. seeing faith sheweth it is possible to attain to Heaven though it be hard we must use diligence which may make it a thing possible Not that we are sufficient of our selves as from our selves to think any good or to use any diligence to bring this to passe for all our sufficiencie is of God the second epistle to the Corintbians the third chapter And therefore the Apostle when he had said I labored more than they all correcteth himself yet not I but the grace of God within me the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter and the tenth verse He did not say before It was I that persecuted the Church but the sinne that dwelleth within me but ascribes that wholly to himself But if we doe any good thing we must wholly ascribe that to God who by his spirit doth give us grace and ability to doe it And therefore whosoever feel themselves to receive grace the second epistle to the Corinthians and the sixt chapter and be indued with virtue from above Luke the twenty fourth chapter they must take heed they be not wanting to that grace and heare it in vain but having grace from God we must labour to make that possible which faith sheweth to be possible Secondly They must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make it apparent there is a secret diligence but that which the Apostle requireth is an ostensive diligence For as James saith Ostende mihi fidem ex operibus James the second chapter and eighth verse So the Apostles meaning is I care not for the concealed diligence let me see it appear by your outward conversation For if the Heathen being indued with the light of Nature only did shew the work of the Law written in their hearts by doing moral virtues Romans the second chapter much more ought Christians that are indued with grace from above to shew forth this diligence that it may be visible to the world The Apostle shews there are two hopes Spes internae dulcedinis extremae operationis the one is concealed and inward the other is apparent and to be seen The inward hope bringeth this to passe That the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5. 5. and therefore is to be likened This hope doth likewise effect this That we have the spirit of God bearing witnesse to our spirits that we are the Chrildren of God Rom. 8. It is as it were absconditum Manna Apoc. the second chapter which doth inwardly feed our souls But howsoever this be good yet not without danger for as the Apostle sheweth there are that have been lightned with knowledge and have tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come and yet fall away Hebrews the sixt chapter and the fourth verse Therefore he calls not for this diligence but will have them make it evident which he expresseth in these words that it be the same diligence which is the third point Wherein he teacheth in what this demonstrative diligence standeth that is as the former verse sheweth in the work and labour of love and in ministring to the Saints that is the doing of works of charity makes the oftensive diligence Whereby he teacheth that this oftensive or demonstrative diligence is the touch stone of our hope as the Apostle saith The works of love are the touchstone of faith for true faith worketh by love Galatians the fift chapter This diligence cannot deceive us of which our Saviour Christ saith John the fift chapter They that have done good shall come forth into 〈◊〉 life and the comfortable sentence pronounced by the Judge at the 〈◊〉 day upon all those that have shewed forth this diligence in doing the works of mercy shall be Come ye blessed possesse the kingdome prepared for 〈◊〉 Matthew the twenty fift chapter It 〈◊〉 not to say to a brother or sister that is naked and destitute of daily food Depart in peace warm your selves fill your bellies but the inward compassion must shew it self outwardly by giving them those things which are needfull to the body James the second chapter and the fifteenth verse Therefore the Apostle Peter willeth them that are perswaded of the great and pretious promises that are made them not to stay there but make their election sure to them by this oftensive diligence that to their faith they add virtue to virtue knowledge which if they doe they shall never fail the second epistle of Peter the first chapter And the Apostle St. John saith Hereby we know that we are translated from death unto life because we love the brethren and that not in word and tongue only but in deed and truth the first epistle of John the third chapter and the fourteenth verse God to assure us of his mercifull promises in Christ is said not only to have sealed us but also to have given us the earnest of the spirit into our hearts the second epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter and the twenty second verse The concealed diligence is as the earnest which a man puts in his purse but the oftensive diligence is like to a seal which may be shewed to all men for as Christ witnesseth Our lights must so shine before all men that the wicked and ungodly by seeing our good works may take occasion to glorifie God and be converted Matthew the fift chapter If we use diligence and shew forth our diligence in doing those works of love we shall attain to hope and that not faint or
willingly will come as often as they may and not like those that swell with pride and say another time will serve as well as now as Davids servants said to Naball in the first book of Samuel the twenty fift chapter We come now in a good time for thou makest a feast and art in case to relieve us another time peradventure thou wilt not be so prepared So men ought to take the opportunity and to say in their selves Now is the time of the celebration of Gods mercy and loving kindnesse Now we receive Christ and therefore there is great hope that if we come he will receive us Now we celebrate the memory of his death when he was content to receive the thief that came unto him and therefore it is most likely that he will receive us if we come to him But if we come not now happily we shall not be received when we would It is Christs will That they which are given him of the Father be with him where he is and may behold his glory John the seventeenth chapter and the twenty fourth verse Therefore it stands us upon to come to Christ that he may receive us to be one with him in the life of grace and partakers with him in his Kingdom of glory Qui verò haec audierunt compuncti sunt corde dixerunt ad Petrum ac reliquos Apostolos Quid faciemus viri fratres Petrus autem ait ad eos Resipiscite c. Act. 2. 37. April 12. 1600. OUR Saviour Christ promised Peter Acts the fift chapter to make him a fisher of men and 〈◊〉 the thirteenth chapter That the 〈…〉 of Heaven is like a 〈…〉 which catcheth fish of all 〈…〉 The first casting forth of this act and 〈…〉 draught that Peter had is by 〈…〉 these verses And the draught which he made was 〈…〉 souls verse the fourty first If we 〈◊〉 of what 〈◊〉 They were 〈◊〉 souls of them that killed the Sonne of God and 〈…〉 the spirit of God whom they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈…〉 holy Ghost to 〈◊〉 verse the 〈…〉 These men are full of new 〈◊〉 Which when we advisedly consider it cannot but be matter First Of great comfort Teaching us that albeit we be great sinners as the Jews that put the sonne of God to death yet there is a quid faciemus what to doe that is a hope of remission of sinnes Secondly Of instruction touching the means That if we repent and be pricked in heart with the consideration of our sinnes as they were we shall attain this mercie which they received First St. Luke sets down the Sermon of Peter Secondly The sruit and effect of it As the Sermon it self propounds the death and Resurrection of Christ so in the effect that followed of it we see the means how we are made partakers of his death and Resurrection and that is set down in these two verses which contain a question and an answer In the question is to be observed First the cause of it that is the compunction of their hearts Secondly the cause of that compunction and that was the hearing of Peters Sermon Touching this effect which Peters Sermon wrought in the hearts of his hearers it is compuncti sunt corde Wherein note two things First the work it self Secondly the part wherein of the work it self it is said they were pricked Wherein first we are to observe That the first work of the spirit and operation of the word is compunction of heart howbeit the word being the word of glad tidings and comfort it is strange it should have any such operation but that Christ hath foretold the same John the sixteenth chapter When the comforter comes he shall reprove the world of sinne Now reproof is a thing that enters into the heart as Proverbs the twelfth chapter and the eighteenth verse There is that speaketh words like the prickings of a sword and as Christ gave warning before hand so now when the holy Ghost was given we see that Peters hearers are reproved and pricked in their consciences that they dealt so cruelly with Christ. As this 〈◊〉 the Elect of God so there is another spirit called by the same name of pricking 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romans the eleventh chapter and the eighth verse that is the spirit of slumber which shews it self upon those that shall not be saved Touching the manner of this operation we see it is not a tickling or itching but a pricking and that no light one but such as pearced deeply into their hearts and caused them to cry Whereby we see it is not the speaking of fair words saying with the false Prophets Jeremiah the twenty third chapter The Lord hath said ye shall have peace it is not that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romans the sixteenth chapter and the eighteenth verse that makes this effect but this speaking The part wherein this work was wrought was the heart as Luke the twenty fourth chapter they burned in their hearts and 〈◊〉 the second chapter and the fourteenth verse I will speak to their hearts So it was 〈◊〉 of the eares in the second 〈◊〉 to Timot hie the 〈◊〉 chapter or of the brain that they felt but a 〈◊〉 of the very 〈◊〉 and so should we be affected at the hearing of the word As 〈…〉 is pricked in the flesh is disquieted till he have remedy so should the consideration of our sinnes disquiet us and make us seek for cure This is our duty from their example and it is a good signe of distinction to shew us whether we be of the number of those that shall be saved whether of the good fish that shall be gathered together or the bad fish that shall be cast out Matthew the thirteenth chapter and the fourty eighth verse So if we pertain to God we shall feel this pricking at our hearts after we have heard the word The cause of this compunction is his auditis that is they had heard a speech of St. Peter which did disquiet them till they asked counsel of Peter and the rest The word of God of its own nature hath no such operation for the Patriarch Job saith Job the twenty third chapter It was agreeable to him as his appointedfood And David Psalm the nineteenth saith The Commanaements of the Lordrejoyceth the heart and is sweeter than the honey and the honey-combe But yet it hath this effect in regard that it meeteth with that which is an enemy to our Salvation that is sinne the deputy of 〈◊〉 as the word is Gods 〈◊〉 Without the Law sinne is dead but when the Commandement came sinne revived Romans the seventh chapter and the eighth verse for sinne is a sting the first epistle to the Corinthians the fifteenth chapter which lyeth dead so long as it is not reproved But when it is reproved by the commandement of God then it reviveth and stings the heart it makes men have a conscience of sinne Hebrews the tenth chapter and when sinne is
and sisters are they which hear the word and keep it this is to be shewed to the Church and for such which have one father and one elder brother Some forsake the fellowship Hebrews 10. they are filii hipostoles they withdraw themselves from the fraternity but towards such as continue in the faith let brotherly love continue Hebrews the thirteenth chapter and the first epistle of Peter the first chapter and the twenty second verse They that are faithfull are called a brotherhood the second epistle of Peter the fist chapter and therefore to them must this brotherly love be extended This love must be without hypocrisie not to say as James the second chapter If thy brother starve and thou say depart and be warm but minister not to him what faith and godlinesse is that So for Charity the first epistle of John the third chapter Love must not be in word and tongue but in deed and truth That is true charity when we doe good to the fraternity not that of the world or after the flesh but of the Church Concerning which you need not that I write for you are taught of God who said By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if you love one another John the eleventh chapter From hence he proceedeth to Charity exhorting us to shew love not only quia sunt but ut sunt As to the faithfull because they are brethren but to all men generally that they may be wonne to be of the Church We must love Inimicum in Deo inimicum propter Deum 〈◊〉 that is true love As he begun with Faith so he endeth with love which is the bond of perfection Colossians the third chapter and keeps in all the other virtues Jerusalem is an heap of stones but love is that makes it a compact building Ephesians the 〈◊〉 chapter As the Apostle here exhorts to love so in the 〈◊〉 epistle of Peter the fourth chapter Above all things have love Colossians the third chapter and the first epistle of Peter the fourth chapter and the eighth verse which covereth the multitude of sinnes Of all graces it is the more excellent the first epistle to the Corinthians the twelfth chapter It is greater than faith or hope the first epistle to the 〈◊〉 the third chapter and the thirteenth verse Touching the end fuga corruptionis and the partaking of the Divine nature are the two things we have looked unto in all the other virtues The cause of our corruption is amor corruptionis in the judgement and valuation but it is refined by charity Love is Charitas of dearenesse we set a great price of that which is most deare And so if we make greatest account of God we will love him above all things If we set our love on that which is most deare we shall eschue corruption Secondly The partaking of the Divine nature is to be like to him the first epistle of John the third chapter and love is the greatest representation of the divine nature In the other virtues we doe but dispose our souls to be partakers of it The Apostle saith Deus est Charitas the first epistle of John the fourth chapter If then we be possessed of love we shall be possessed of the Divine nature Love is it that makes us adherere Deum Psalm the seventy third Fides videt spes tendit but charity possesseth Love is called an 〈◊〉 the first epistle of John and the second chapter because as Kings were annointed so it makes us have a right unto Gods kingdome Fides per charitatem 〈◊〉 is that which must doe us good Galatians the fift chapter There it is the mid'st but here the end of all without the which all the other will doe no good It is as oyle to the Lamp Matthew the 25 without which the lamp gives no light The pretious faith is that which hath all these virtues and charity at the end Then is Christianity well taught when it is taught as a building standing on many parts Ephesians the second chapter or Armor Ephesians the sixt chapter as a tree Galatians the fift chapter as a body Ephesians the fourth chapter as a choiser harmony of musick as the Apostle here 〈◊〉 it out in the second epistle of Peter the first chapter and the fourth verse Nihil ad vos ô viatores omnes intuemini videte an sit dolor par dolori meo qui factus est mihi quam afficit Jehova moerore die aestus irae suae Lament 1. 12. THE words of a party in great 〈◊〉 and that two wayes First That he is in sorrow and pain such as none other ever felt Secondly That being in this extremity he is not regarded of any It is well known that it is a 〈◊〉 thing to 〈◊〉 and blood to be afflicted but so to be afflicted as no other that is a high degree of misery but that in this case there is none to have compassion that is as much as can be said Against the crosses that befall us in this life the ordinary comfort is the first epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter Nothing befalls us but is such as pertaineth to man but this was not any other mans case And whereas there is none so hard-hearted but will shew some relief at least pitie a man in distresse here was none touched with any compassion For the verse it self it is the Prophets speech in the person of the City of Jerusalem lamenting the miseries that happened at the death of Josiah but by the rule of reciprocation whereby that which is said of the members may be applyed to the head as was said to Saul by Christ why persecutest thou me where it was the Church that was persecuted Acts the ninth chapter it is otherwise to be expounded If any member then especially of them under the Law Quibus ad contingebunt in figuris the first epistle to the Corinthians the tenth chapter therefore Isaacs sacrifice Josephs selling by his brethren and Davids betraying who were particular members of the Church were types and figures of Christs being slain sold and betrayed If the eyes or hand or footsuffer the head also suffers with it much more may the sufferings of the whole body together be applyed to the head as Out of Egypt have I called my sonne that being a place of the deliverance of Israel Gods first borne Colossians the eleventh chapter is applyed to Christ Matthew the second chapter And according to this rule this verse is by the ancient Fathers applyed to the 〈◊〉 and sufferings of our Saviour Christ. Whether it be the Cities speech or any other whosoever it may well be the speech of Christ on the Cross that he was then in that great extremity which none ever indured the like and yet being without cause none vouchsafed to look at him That is the drift of the words and is set down first by way of complaint Have ye no regard Secondly by way of