unto all Ro. 10.12 This may humble us this may comfort us this may unite us 1. This may humble us for God makes no difference of us in the best things let not us therefore be proud of our difference in the worst things God will have differences and degrees in his Church militant for orders sake for he is the God of order not of confusion yea in his triumphant Church too no doubt degrees of glory For one Starre differeth from another Star in glory so is the resurrection of the dead 1 Cor. 15. Let not then this order make disorder presuming in superiors murmuring in inferiors there it cannot be because of their fulnesse for every one is filled alike because he is fulfilled their filling is alike though their measures differ And here it should not be because of our emptinesse we are alike empty of grace by nature till God affords us severall degrees of filling And if we will boast of worldly fullnesse how little cause have we to be proud of it when as here we see the stream of grace runs alike to all sorts and degrees 2. This also may comfort us that this stream runeth unto all for therefore it cannot fail to us neither can we fail to it It cannot fail to us by length or largenesse of running the spring is the same how many soever do drink of the stream we cannot faile to it by our high or low being for it finds out all estates it runs unto all Despair not therefore on Gods part his Fountain cannot be drawn dry despair not on thine own part for whosoever thou art thou art not debarred the stream of grace this comfort aboundeth whatsoever faileth all sorts partake of grace it runneth unto all All we have received 3. Thirdly this may unite us why God doth equall us in the best things his grace runneth unto all what stronger bond can there be of union Have we not all one Father why do we transgresse every one against his brother Mal. 2.10 Endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace there is one body and one spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all Eph. 4.3 And so much of the second generall part of the text viz. the stream All we have received The third and last generall part is the bankes And grace for grace Every Fountain hath a stream every stream hath its banks therefore the Evangelist here sheweth not onely the Fountain from whence and the stream how but also bankes and bounds how farre forth and in what measure grace doth flow And grace for grace Some will have it taken prorata portione that there is a proportion of grace in us answerable to that in Christ Namely that he imparteth to his Church every of his graces because Christ is the head and the Church is the body and caput in membra redundat between the head and the body there is communion of influence and can be no stoppage And so grace for grace is that we have a grace in us for every grace grace that is in Christ and so that we also have our fulnesse answerable to his And so indeed the Church is called his body the fullnesse of him that filleth all in all Eph. 1.23 So that then this is true being truly taken and rightly understood the banks observed our measure kept Christ communicateth unto us whatsoever he hath even grace for grace his fulnesse becomes ours And that is not onely by way of imputation he is made unto us wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 but by the way of influence and participation because as he is even so are we in this world 1 Jo. 4.17 But his fulnesse is ours onely according to our measures proportionable to our capacity In us it is plenitudo sufficiens sufficient to every man for his own salvation The just shall live by his faith Heb. 2.4 by this that is his own faith But in him it is plenitudo superabundans fullnesse abounding to others salvation the precious oyntment upon our Aarons our high priests head runneth down to his beard and to the skirts of his clothing to all his parts and members In us it is plenitudo vafis vessell-fullnesse we have this treasure in earthen vessells 2 Cor. 4. but in him it is plenitudo fontis fountain-fullnesse They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters Jer. 2.13 In us it is plenitudo comparata compared-fullnesse respective to each subject or continent My grace is sufficient for thee 2 Cor. 12 9. But in him it is plenitudo absoluta absolute fullnesse without all respect or measure for God giveth not the spirit by measure to him Jo. 3.34 In a word there is plenitudo apta plenitudo aequa plenitudo superfluens an apt an equall and an overflowing fulnesse 1. An apt fulnesse as when a house or Town or Country is said to be full of people meaning well filled aptly or competently full So the house of Baal was said to be full from one end to the other 2 Kings 10. and yet Jehu bad his 80. men go in and slay them It was full then and yet there was room for 80. more Such is our fulnesse here in this life we are aptly and competently filled with grace so much as may suffice us but so as there is stil room for more more may come in for we must still grow in grace 2 Pet 3. And multiply graces faith vertue knowledge temperance patience godlinesse brotherly kindnesse love 2 Pet 1. And this is like the Israelites gathering of Manna in the desert of sin He that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack every man gathered according to his eating Exo. 16. God gave them their portion competent for naturall life and so he doth give us our portion competent to each for spirituall life none of the elect hath too much none too little but every one sufficient just enough to serve his turn 2. There is plenitudo aequa an equall fulnesse as when a vessell is so top-full that there is nihil vacuum no part of it is empty no room for more So were the waterpots filled up to the brim Jo. 2. so full that they could hold no more And this is proper to the Saints in Heaven In thy presence is the fulnesse of joy Ps 16. they are top full and have no more room for grace their measure is fulfilled 3. Thirdly there is plenitudo superfluens an overflowing fulnesse such was that of the widowes pot of oyle that never ceased running so long as there were any empty vessells to receive it And this is Christs fountain the stream wherof floweth unto all Of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace So thâ—n we receive grace for grace with Christ an answerablenesse of his graces proportion of his fulnesse how to our
for it overspreadeth all the world there is depth for it extendeth from heaven to earth But with what line or plumet shall we measure or take these dimensions hear Saint Paul Eph. 3.18 when he had prayed for the Ephesians that they might be able to comprehend what is the bredth and length and depth and height he addeth as the sum of all what And to know the love of Christ so that there is no measure of Gods love but his love no cause rule or reason of his will but his will He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy Rom. 9.15 he loved Israel onely because he loved them Deut. 7.7 Talke not then of universall grace or power of will in all men to repent and believe to begin to hold and to break at their pleasure Talk not of inherent grace of our own which doth gratum facere that our own righteousnesse doth make us accepted and hath part in the work of our justification Away with all such conceipts for we see here the current of grace runns as it were within it self It is grace in beginning and grace in proceeding and grace in concluding Gods will and work still and not our own It begins no small measure the seed of the word the first fruits of the spirit but at length pro ripis littorae pulsat It becomes an unmeasurable Sea which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can enter into the heart of man Wherefore let us resolve here to set up our rest saying with David This shall be my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have a delight therein Ps 132. And seeing we cannot search or measure this fountain this stream these banks for the love of Christ passeth knowledge Eph. 3.19 Aristoteles non capit Euripum Euripus capiet Aristotelem let us cast our selves wholly into it seeing in following this stream of grace we are come to the Sea of glory now in our meditation let us rest and dwell therein constantly by our contemplation untill our souls be loosed from these bonds of flesh be carried with full wind and tide into the full fruition and eternall possession thereof Which the Lord grant to us all c. Finis Tract 5. Trino-uni gloria THere is a sermon set forth in print upon this same last text Jo. 1.16 preached by that learned and reverend Divine Mr. Dr. Preston which Sermon God knowes I never saw or heard of till long after this was finished Neither am I any whit the more asham'd of this notwithstanding in some few things we have met and hit on the same or very like notes or touches W.G. Three SERMONS here set forth in one continued Tract or discourse upon Act. 2. ver 1 2.3 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from Heaven c. WHatsoever is difficult and hard to be understood and apprehended the same is more hard to be expressed and uttered For the apprehension of things is the soules immediate work she doth it her self therefore therein she is more full and free But the expression of things is her secondary and mediate work wrought by Organs Instruments and meanes therefore therein she must needs be more scant and weak Tusc quest li 1. Therefore Cicero a free and fluent speaker saith Fieri ante potest ut recte quis sentiat id quod sentit polite eloqui non possit A quick apprehension may be weak in expression Now there is not any thing no not the things that are most common and familiar to us that do not yeeld some difficulty and hardnesse to be understood and more to be uttered Thine owne things and such as are grown up with thee canst thou not know saith the Angell to Esdras concerning the wind and the fire and the day 2 Esd 4.10 For even in the creature the Creator hath so involved himselfe that we cannot look readily upon those visible things but our eyes must needs be dazeled with his invisibility And if the Sun-beams be so resplendent what eye then can behold the body of the Sun it self If the nature of the creature be so unsearchable how shall wee be able to think of him who is the Creator of all And if to think be so transcendent how much more to speak rightly of him is it impossible Wherefore Cornelius Mussus calleth it Concio in ser 2. Pent. Antiquum à maximis theologis celebratum adagium an old and common adage amongst the greatest Divines what De deo dicere verum periculosum To speak truth of God is a dangerous thing And if this be true indefinitely taken and in generall how much more specially and in particular Namely concerning his personality And if of the Trinity absolutely it may astonish us to think or speak how much more respectively of this third person For if that mystery of Father and Son be so ineffable and above relation that the Prophet saith Who shall declare this generation Is 53.8 Notwithstanding wee have the words begetting and being begotten to help to expresse it doth not the being of the Holy Ghost seeme more incomprehensible seeing neither to be made created nor begotten belongeth unto him but to proceed It may so seem but in it self it cannot so be For we may say there are three who are incomprehensible the Father the Son the Holy Ghost but not three incomprehensibles but one incomprehensible therefore not different in degree We may not through our infirmity tax God of infirmity to make him subject to magis minus as if one person were greater or lesse then another for they are Coeternall together and Coequal Be it so then In themselves they are and must be one and yet unto us I may presume with reverence to say this revelation of the third person is the speciall revelation This feast continued after Christ 1 Cor. 16.8 Act. 20.16 at least suffered and morals survive Ceremonies and this feast of Pentecost the speciall feast of the Church First it it is the speciall reveration For wee could not be able to behold that ilustrious mystery of the Trinity but by the inlightning help of this third person That is the body of the Son this the speciall beam to guide us thereunto Or rather If I may dare so to spaek for fearfull ye see it is to speak herein the speciall mean or medium through which we may look thereon I say especiall not in regard of God in whom there is no difference but in respect of us to whom his works do differ Especially then to us the revelation of the Trinity is perfected in and by this third person the Holy Ghost First in him for without him there were not a Trinity God in revealing him hath fully revealed himself The Father was revealed by the Creation the Son by the Incarnation but till this fulnesse of time came God to us was not
imbraceth his body and spurneth his feet No no but Quicquid propter Deum fit aequaliter fit Hee that serves God aright serves him with an equall mind and saith with the Psalmist I have respect unto all thy Commandements Ps 119.6 and resolves with Saint James that he who faileth in one point of the Law is guilty of all But in their later falshood ye may behold and wonder that they should be precisest in smallest matters O but there was great skill and cunning in that for thereby they stayed the world from looking after their greatest businesses For it could not be easily imagined or suspected that they who were so conscionable as to tyth herbes yea the basest and vilest of their herbs would be unconscionable in the greatest matters of judgement and mercie that they which did strain at a gnat could possibly swallow a Cammell Let the discovery of this evill be enough of it self to make us not to learn it but to loath it to learn that of Christ This ought ye to have done and not to have left the other undone The greatest duties are first to be respected and the least after not to be neglected 4. Lastly their righteousnesse was vainglorious Yea this was that whereof all their other services did relish and whereby their imperfections were as it were perfected and made up For why was their righteousnesse verball why formall why partiall but for vainglory sake And if this sauce sowreth the best service as indeed it doth how tart then did it make their services which were every one so harsh in themselves and how fulsome a messe did they make being all put together Yea in their vain-glory wee may observe which indeed is naturall to all pride not onely the advancing of themselves but the abasing of other This I say is prides propertie for every ascent is by pressing or treading somewhat down This no doubt the Pharisees were guilty of else Christ would never have taxed and charged them with such a boasting as Lu. 18. to set them forth speaking so proudly to the contempt and condemning of all others I am not as other men are Whereupon Saint Augustine De ver Dom. ser 36. Diceret saltem sicut multi homines Quid est caeteri homines nisi omnes praeter ipsum He might have said not as many men but now he saith not as other men what is it but that he condemneth all men And that not in a few or light things but many and great Extortioners Unjust Adulterers Yea he is not content with indefinite or generall speaking but dares touch upon particular saying Or even as this Publican Whereupon again Saint Augustine Insulat non exultat Hom. 44. Hee doth but insult upon his fellowes hee doth not rightly rejoice in himself There is a holy rising of the soul a rising by humility as the Eagle is said to rise highest out the lowest Valley So the virgin mothers rising was My soul doth magnifie the Lord saith she and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour for he hath regarded the low linesse of his hand mayden but the Pharisees rising was both presumptuous and contemptible to rise by trampling on the necks and crowns of others Thus yee see how still they dip their soules in a double die of sinne breaking the rule of faith which saith Christ came into the World to save sinners of whom I am chief 1 Tim. 1.15 And breaking And breaking the rule of of faith which willeth that every man esteem another better then himself Phil. 2.3 Acquitting where they should condemne I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Rem 7.18 and condemning where they should acquit Charity thinketh not evill believeth all things hopeth all things 1 Cor. 13. Beware therefore as of double sin in every kind for in one sin shalt thou not be unpunished so especially of this swelling and trampling pride For every one that exalteth himself shall be brought low and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted Finis Serm. sive tract 6. Trino-uni gloria Per me Gulielmum Gaium Two SERMONS upon Ps 8.4 The former of them for a Funerall farewell to the late Honorable the Conutesse of Manchester preached in my place in Manchester house in Canon Row Westminster in a Right Honoable presence Ian. 8. 1653. Text. Psa 8.4 What is man that thou art mindfull of him IT is a naturall thing to naturall men to affect knowledge therefore our first parents in Paradise could not be content with all the trees in the Garden but they must needs have a tast of the tree of Knowledge though God himself had forgiven them But it is a supernaturall thing to regenerate men to affect the Knowledge of themselves Therefore though the heathen men had that excellent saying among them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know thy self Yet they had it as from the Oracle of Apollo and they held it for no humane but for a Divine precept Therefore also when Adam forgetting himselfe desired that high Knowledge which was forbidden him God himself came and told him his own and what he was Dust thou art and dust thou shalt return Upbraiding his pride and condemning his folly that he would presume to desire so high Knowledge which was too wonderfull and excellent for him and in the mean time neglect that Knowledge which was more proper and sutable to him namely the knowledge of himself Indeed Saint Paul saith Knowledge puffeth up 1 Cor. 8.1 but no doubt hee meaneth outward Knowledge of things without us which is called Scientia as for the knowledge of our self which is rather to be called Conscientia if it be right and true it can not puffe us up it will rather beat us down and humble us For he that knoweth himself knoweth that he is a creature therefore that he hath a creature that he is not of himself nor by himself nor for himself but that his creation is from God his preservation by God and his whole being in God And so the knowledge of a mans self brings him to the knowledge of God So that as Saint John saith of Love 1. Joh. 4.2 How can he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen love God whom he hath not seen So may I say of Knowledge How can hee that knoweth not himself whom he hath seen know God whom he hath not seen Hugo lib. 3. de Anima Frustra cordis oculum erigit ad Deum qui nondum idoneus est ad videndum seipsum Hee doth in vain lift up his eyes to see God who is not yet fitted to see himself Chrys Est primum hominis sapientiam affectantis contemplare quod ipse sit It is the chief property of a man that affecteth wisdome to contemplate what himself is Wherefore this holy Prophet David was very carefull in seeking for this knowledge and very diligent in searching the state and condition of himself And howsoever no doubt he studied