him yet neverthelesse he seemed to want nothing when he could comfort himselfe in the Lord his God Godlinesse is great gaine but how with contentment that is there is such a sufficiency with contentment of heart as if a man had the things he wants So then here is the thing that you may be intire in respect of all gracious habits necessary to the beeing of a Christian that you may have that inward store and supply of comfort that may support your hearts in all outward wants Thus you have the meaning of the words The parts are two An exhortation to duty An argument to enforce that exhortation The duty whereto they are exhorted is that they should bee perfect in Patience let Patience have her perfect worke The Argument whereby they are perswaded to this duty is that they may be intire and wanting nothing that they may have all that is necessary to a Chaistian We will observe two Conclusions hence which we shall follow at this time The first is this That Patience is necessarie to the perfection of a Christian. Or A Christian is not perfect without patience The second is this That every Christian should strive for a perfection of degrees of Patience Or that a Christian must labour to attaine the highest degree and perfection in Patience These two Conclusions we will handle apart in the Explication and proofe and joyne them together in the application and use For the first then that A Christian is not perfect without patience Our Saviour exhorting his Disciples to patience in the fifth of Matth. because they should meet with many enemies and injuries in the world he concludeth bee perfect saith he as your heavenly father is perfect What perfection speakes he of here Such a perfection such a worke of Grace as might inable them to carry themselves as became them in the middest of those many enemies and opposites they should meet withall I will not stand upon this I will endevour to make it appeare to you First it may appeare thus There is a twofold perfection of a Christian There is a perfection of parts and a perfection of degrees A child is a perfect man in respect of parts but not in respect of degrees because it is not come to that measure of strength for that age is not capable of it which a man hath Now there is a necessitie that there should bee a perfection of parts First the perfection of parts in a Christian is but the making up of all those graces which are necessarie to a Christian and without which he cannot obey God nor walke according to the rule All these are necessarie Now Patience is one of those parts one of those habits of grace with which every renewed soule is indowed and without which a man is not truly sanctified without which a man expresseth himselfe not to be regenerate And for this observe what the Apostle Peter saith Adde moreover to your faith vertue to vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience to patience godlinesse to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse to brotherly kindnesse love What is the reason of of it If these things bee in you and abound you shall neither be idle nor unfruitfull in the worke of the Lord. As if hee should say you will bee idle and unfruitfull professors unlesse that these graces bee in you and abound in you Now what are the Graces you shall see the necessitie of every one of them The Apostle exhorteth beleevers there to the giving all diligence to the making their calling and election sure to make it certaine to themselves that they are effectually called But might some say there are many graces necessary to a Christian but there is one principall which we call the radicall and maine grace of all Faith I but saith the Apostle there are many others necessary besides that as you must have faith towards God so you must also carry your selves so as may adorne your profession amongst men therefore adde vertue to faith But they might say vertue that is that that guideth a man in all Morralls in all the course of his life and conversation You shall have many provocations to sinne therefore adde to vertue temperance But we have many discouragements to good therefore adde to temperance Patience But what though you should have both temperance and Patience these are but morall vertues Therefore adde to Patience godlinesse that you may in all things you doe ayme at God and approve your selves to him But when we have carried our selves in a holy manner according to the rule and word of God yet neverthelesse there are many Christians that require offices of love from us and what shall wee doe to these Therefore adde to godlinesse brotherly kindnesse But then againe beside that conversation we have with beleevers theâ—…e are many men in the world that expect certaine duties from us Therefore adde to that Love that extendeth to all men according to their necessities So you see how the Apostle takes all graces as it were into severall parcels and sheweth how they cannot bee without one parcell of grace they cannot goe through the course of Christianitie except they have every thing they cannot carry themselves toward God without faith they cannot adorne their profession without vertue they cannot escape temptations without temperance neither can they be encouraged against discouragements without patience Therefore he bringeth patience in amongst the rest as a necessary part and dutie of a Christian without which hee cannot goe through the worke of Christianitie and religion Againe in the second place as it appeareth by the parts of a Christian and Christianity that a man cannot be perfect without Patience so it appeareth by another argument and that is this A Christian cannot be perfect without that without which hee cannot keepe that grace he hath Looke what ever grace is in the soule a man cannot keepe it without Patience By Patience possesse your soules The soule which is the seate and subject of Grace cannot it selfe be kept without Patience therefore neither can any grace be kept in the soule without Patience because as the riches and treasures in a Castle cannot be kept when the walls are beaten downe so those treasures of grace in the heart of man cannot be kept when once patience which is as the wall of the soule that keepes it from the batterie of tentations from the enemie that would steale them away while men sleepe I say unlesse these walls these supporting graces specially this of Patience be in the soule it cannot stand intire For indeed let impatience once into the soule and you let in all sinne with it impatience is a destroying of all grace a pulling downe of the wall Nay what is sinne indeed but impatience in a sense What is pride but the impatience of humilitie What is uncleannesse but the impatience of chastitie What is drunkennesse but the impatience of
issue of this plea It is this that therefore now if ever now or never wee must seeke to see whether wee have these seeds of Grace in us yea or no Wee must get them and wee must set them and wee must see to them both that they come up and how they comeup and how they come on Now is the time when the speciall care must bee taken concerning these seeds of Grace If wee will beleeve wee must beleeve now for hereafter there will bee no time to beleeve any more If wee will bee children of Grace wee must bee it now for hereafter there will bee no space for Grace therefore sayth the Lord now while hee will bee found and hee will bee found of those that seeke him and seeke him now for now is the acceptable time now is the day of salvation when the date of this day when the day of this life of salvation is downe is past then there is no more seeking then there is no more finding therefore if thou wilt be faithfull bee it now if thou wilt bee fruitfull be it now now wee are the Sonnes of God as if hee should say if we bee not the Sonnes of God now we shall never be Is this so adde a further degree to this dutie in the next place and that is when you have gotten these seeds in you to examine prove your selves whether they be there not only so but whether they abide there not only so but whether they live there and not only so but whether they grow and live there they must not only be but they must continue there and abide and they must not only be and abide but they must be alive there and not dead and they must not only be alive but they must thrive too and not be idle for if these things be in you they will make you neither idle nor unfruitfull in the work of the Lord. Hast thou Faith be sure thou hast it and then shew me thy faith by the fruits of it shew me that it is not a dead faith that faith cannot save thee do not thinkit shall for Saint Iames explodeth it for a Jest that any Christian should thinke so Hast thou love looke thou hast it and let thy love abound let thy love be love unfeigned for as there is a worke of faith so there is a labour of love Hast thou hope let it bee stedfast entring into that within the vaile as an Anchor firme and stable so the Apostle saith Hast thou knowledge Looke it be saving knowledge sanctifying knowledge such as will savour and season all the rest of thy knowledge And let not thy knowledge be only so but let it bee growing too let it thrive and prosper get more to it or else thou dost not husband the businesse well thou must goe according to the phrase of the Holy Ghost in the Psalme from strength to strength as a good Souldier and Commander goeth from one watch-tower to another to see if all bee well Goe from strength to strength till thou appeare before God in Zion With this the Apostle Saint Peter concludeth his later Epistle but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ this is the dutie of a Christian. Wilt thou have Christ to bee the object either of thy faith or hope and wilt thou not grow then in these Non progredi est regredi Not to goe forward is to goe backward and not to grow the better is to grow the worse The contemplation of these two points should teach Christians a Christian sedulitie to kindle to keepe that grace that is in them and it should kill carnall securitie 1. A Christian sedulitie a care a strife an industrie an endevour to be Christians indeed to improve their talents Let every man in that calling whereto hee is called therein abide he must not give it out Is Archippus called to be a Minister then say to Archippus take heed to the ministrie that thou hast received that thou fulfill it and so it belongeth to every man else to performe the dutie and office of his place and not to goe backwards but to use diligence and endevour for the increasing of his gifts that he be not barren not unfruitfull in Gods Vineyard 2. It serveth on the other side to kill that carnall securitie that is in men It is a strange thing to conceive that Christians are growne to such securitie as they are that they should bee so supine and negligent in their services I say it is a lamentable case and I doe wonder the more that they should be taken with this kind of transgression when I consider that saying of a Father that there is securitie in no place there is no securitie in heaven nor in Paradise much lesse in the world in heaven the Angels fell in Paradise Adam fell in the world Iudas fell Iudas I hee fell from the institution of the best Schoole and Schoole-master that ever was in the world there is no manner of teacher comparable to him Therefore I say mixe with thy hope a certaine feare and bee so farre from a carnall presumption as that thou maintaine in thy selfe a holy feare of falling for it hath so come to passe that Saint Paul indeed was what he was not of a persecutor hee became an Apostle hope lies there-away but Iudas was what hee did not appeare to be and of an Apostle became an Apostate feare lies there-away And thou that hopest that of a persecutor thou maist turne an Apostle feare lest by falling away thou maist of an Apostle become an Apostate a persecutor I will not stand upon these things any longer I have passed three the fourth Conclusion is that Hope in this life is not only for the things of this life If in this life only wee have hope then are wee miserable as if hee should have said if in this life only for the present we had hope and that the end of all our hope and all our desire were fixed upon the present world then were we poore Christians most miserable for none in the world are more despised contemned scorned none more afflicted troubled grieved in their soules for their sinnes then they alwayes followed with outward fights with inward frights when other men enjoy the world at will so that the scope of this Scripture is to say that not for this life only have we hope in Christ that is the very meaning that the godly the faithfull the hopefull they have not their portion in this life Wee know when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved wee have a building made with God a house not made with hands eternall in the heavens whose builder and maker is the Lord so speakes the Apostle to the Corinths As for this life if we should lay the foundation of our hope here alas they might rue their miserable case that so doe they might
Judgement The one An expectation with desire and with an earnest longing the expectation of the faithfull of a Lord of a gracious Redeemer nay of a loving Husband Therefore every faithfull soule cannot but waite upon him As a faithfull servant that hath done his worke longeth for his Masters comming home that hee may give an account of his faithfulnesse and may bee acceptable ◅o his Master for his faithfull service that hee hath done in his absence that hee may expect his Masters remuneration But there is annother expectation of Christ to come that is not with desire but with horrour and dread and feare out of guiltinesse of conscience This is the expectation of a Malefactor in the Jayle he wayteth and lookes for the comming of the Judge to passe sentence on him and so to bee dragged to execution thus wicked men expect Christ thus wicked Angells expect him But the expectation of the godly is an expectation with love and desire an expectatiō not of a severe Judge but of a loving husband of a faithfull Master that hath promised a recompense to the service of beleevers even the least and lowest if it bee the gift of a cup of cold water in his name Therefore ye must take knowledge of the expectation here meant This I say is proper to beleevers Let us see the truth of the Doctrine in the Reason of it why every faithfull soule must needs long and desire the second comming of Christ. First because it is a part of Christs gracious promise which the faith of the soule leaneth on The proper object of faith is the promise of the Gospell this yee may see in the Text Christ had promised to come Amen even so here is the reason of this desire because his promise goeth before it The faithfull soule apprehendeth every other inferiour promise and every lesse promise much more this maine promise the very knot of all the very complement of all faith must needs expect and claspe fast hold upon this promise and give assent and acclamation to it as in the word Amen even so come as thou hast sayd and promised Many promises to this purpose hath our Lord and Saviour Christ pronounced for the stirring up of our faith and affection as namely that in the 14 of Saint Iohns Gospell toward the beginning where hee comforteth his Disciples in his absence If I goe I will come againe And so in Acts 1. 11. As yee see him ascend with your bodily eyes in his Person and flesh so yee shall see him descend But wee need not goe far for promises for immediately before the words and two verses besides in this Chapter the 7. and 12. Behold I come shortly This is the property of every godly man having the promise of the comming to leane upon it and to desire the accomplishment of the promise In the old Testament they had the promise of the first comming of Christ that they earnestly desired as Iacob Gen. 49. Lord I have wayted for thy salvation and Abraham saw Christs day afarre off and rejoyced And in the New Testament wee read of Anna and Zacharias and Elizabeth and the faithfull that waited for the consolation of Israel they waited for the accomplishment of this promise the comming of Christ in the flesh his first comming Shall they waite and earnestly desire the first comming of the Sonne of God in humilitie and humanitie and basenesse and shall not we earnestly expect his second comming in glory to manifest not only his glory but our glory shall not wee expect that comming of his wherein we shall be married to himselfe and whereby we shall be tooke up to himselfe Thus yee see the promise of Christ is one ground yea and a principall ground of this expectation of the faithfull The second Reason is drawne from the Union and conjunction betweene Christ and the faithfull soule That is in the Text too the Bride saith Come Now there is a neere union and conjunction in this same conjunction of Mariage amongst men wherein the love must needs be imperfect and but a-drop of that Ocean and wherein the love of the parties must needs be finfull yet notwithstanding wee see how vehement it is In the absence of one another the one longeth and pineth after the other and one partie enjoyeth not himselfe without the other Much more ought it to be so here in this heavenly contract betweene Christ and his faithfull Spouse should not here the Spouse bee sicke of love as the Spouse professeth of her selfe in the second of Canticles This vehement desire must needs arise out of the neerenesse and undevidednesse of that conjunction that is betweene Christ and a Christian There is little love where there is little desire of the thing beloved when it is absent Why doth the member of the Bodie desire immediate conjunction with the head but because it knows that the separation from the head is the death of the member So it is in this neere conjunction betweene Christ the head and his members the Church they must needs desire immediate and inseparable conjunction with the head because the separation from the head must be the death of the members That is the second Reason The third Reason of the Point is this because the Saints of God they know that the accomplishment of the full happinesse of the Church of God and likewise of themselves that are members of the Church it consisteth in this in Christ his second comming againe to judgement therefore they doe earnestly desire it and affect it and say Amen even so Come because I say they know this is the comming that perfects the Church of God perfects their glory in the state of happinesse which the Church and every member thereof doth expect they know that that is the time which shall be the Revelation of the sonnes of God who are here obscure and shall be till that day come They know well that all the graces and perfections that the child of God can attaine to in this imperfection all is but the first fruits all is but a tast and therefore they cannot possibly but lift up their heads and raise up their hearts to the expectation of that day wherein these first fruits shall bee perfected with full measure shaken together and running over whereas there shall be an absolute freedome from all sinne and from all the appurtenances of it an absolute perfection not of grace only but of glory which is the highest grace They shall be one with the head this is that which makes them looke for it Heb. 9. 28. the place I named before it is said Christ shall appeare to save them that waite for him Hee shall bring a full horne of salvation he shall perfect the salvation of the Saints till that day there is no perfection in the salvation of the Saints No though they goe to heaven yet before that day there is no perfect salvation because their bodyes are not joyned to