so presse and urge upon such termes of necessity and inforcement that a man having accidentally omitted any one of thē beginneth instantly to doubt whether he bee called or no as if the certainty of his calling depended upon these observations And then will it not bee high time for us to demonstrate and insist upon the doctrine of Christian liberty to make you know how far you are free which freedome I told you was more generall and agreed to all that were called Christians or more particular and onely belonged unto them who were Christians Of which freedome we are now to intreate And indeed were there not this liberty what where the former freedome but a milder bondage for what comfort could it yeeld to any mans soule that hee was not under the Ceremonies if hee were under the curse of the Law or what great matter is it that indifferent things cannot binde my conscience if it be subject to Gods wrath for the breach of things which are not indifferent for the violation of his Law The true Christian then the man after Gods heart hee that is borne of GOD is not onely free from the Ceremonies of the old Law but from all lawes of indifferent things to binde the conscience but also from the morall law it selfe This seemeth strange Is hee that alone amongst mankinde strives to keep the law free from the Law are other men damned for not observing it is it in his choice whether he will observe it or no Nay is he who is the only obedient the onely superstitious one for hee is superstitious who bindes himselfe where he is free and the true Christian bindes himselfe to the performance of the Law to which you say hee is not obliged wee must understand therefore how he is free to wit from the rigour from the curse but not from the observation of the Law There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus Rom. 8. 1. Whosoever is in Christ Jesus is so free from the Law that it shal not condemne him Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3 13. we shall not bee that which Christ for our sakes was hee was a curse therefore shall not wee bee accursed but be freed from that which he indured In a word The Law is not made for a righteous man 1 Tim. 1. 9. Which cannot be understood as the words sound for no man can bee righteous but by conforming himselfe to a law which conformity is his righteousnesse so that it is so farre from truth that a Law is not made for the righteous that it is principally made for him that by obeying it hee may prove his righteousnesse they must necessarily then be understood of some respect in consideration of which he is not under that Law and that is onely the penalty annexed the just that is under the obedience is not under the penalty of the Law neither is he under the rigid command of it that is hee is not bound to it in its strictnesse in so much that God will not impute disobedience to him though hee hath not so accurately observed it as the letter seemeth to exact for Christ hee pardons their failings and Christ hee esteemeth of them as if they had not failed at all And as they are free from the curse so are they free from the cause of the curse their liberty extends no lesse to a freedome from sinne than from punishment Sinne shall not have dominion over you for yee are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6. 14. where the Apostle from the first inferres a second freedome because wee are not under the curse of the Law therefore neither are wee under the dominion of sinne sinne is in us but it hath no command in us we are free not from its existence but from its tyranny As a meeke man is not without choler but hee over-ruleth it so the true Christian man hath sinne but it is in fetters hee is freed from it that it shall not raigne hee shall be freed from it that it shall not bee in him And this if it bee rightly considered is a more glorious freedome than the former more glorious more happy more desirable to bee free from sinne rather than misery Divers men doe not esteeme it so miserable to bee in bondage as to bee in bondage to such an one Oh you shall heare divers say I care not whom I serve so it bee not that Master Pharaoh can pray that he may bee ridde of that death only Ieremy doth not care whither he be carried so it be not to the house of Ionathā the Scribe he had rather be under any torturer than under him If thē these might have the happines though not to be freed from al misery yet frō that frō w ch they would chuse to be freed would they not esteeme themselves fortunate men And this is the case of the truly faithfull they had infinitely rather be free from sinne than from punishment and it is Gods mercy that they are freed from sinne freed from it that if they cannot root it out of them yet it shall take no deepe roote in them and even that scantling which it is not Gods pleasure as yet to take out of them it is his pleasure not to see Hee seeth no iniquity in Iacob not because there is none to bee seene but because hee will take no notice of that which is Thus when hee pryeth into the least circumstances of the sinnes of the wicked and sealeth those in a bag ready to be opened at the last day for their eternall confusion hee will not so much as see them of his servants for Blessed is the man whose sins are covered Or if he see them it is that hee may no more see them it is as Micah speaketh Chap. 7. 19. To subdue them and cast them into the depthes of the Sea as if he thought he could execute no fitter judgment than to drown them which would damne us than to cast them into the Seas waters which would plunge us into hell fire And it is observable that we first read hee will subdue our sinnes and then that hee will cast them into the depths of the Sea to shew that our sinnes are terrible monsters are furious wild beasts they require even an Omnipotent arme to subdue them which consideration of their power cannot chuse but aggravate our happines that wee are free from them But amongst all these freedomes wee doe not finde that wee are free from the obligation of the Law that we are not bound to keepe the commandement The faithfull is freed from the condemnation not from the observation and he that doth not strive to observe it is not free from the condēnation of it neither Seneca hath well said Non est libertas nihil pati That is not liberty to bee under nothing that is arrogance and not liberty To all such as
thinke Christ hath freed them to doe what they please as if he had no other thing to do thā to suffer the most bitter pains of death that men might bee securely wicked I must tell that to them the Law is in as full force as it was in the very first minute to the Israelites as if the Inke remained yet fresh upon the hand-writing that is against them Divines observe that God punisheth more severely the faults committed against his than against himselfe and therefore hee was silent at Pauls blasphemies but Christ himselfe must appeare and strike him to the ground when hee maketh havock of the Church So likewise where Elies sonnes seized upon their part of the offering before they had burnt the fat unto the Lord which by the law they were bound to doe the Lord scarce takes notice of it besides the bare relating of it but when by taking away the portion of the people they kept them from frequenting the Tabernacle and so hindered their spirituall good it is presently said That the sinne of the young men was very great before the Lord for men abhorred the offering of the Lord 1 Sam. 2. 17. as if had they not made men to abhorre the offering God would not have esteemed their sin so great as for it to abhorre them This sheweth us that God doth principally take order for his Childrens injuries but i◠doth not shew that hee neglects his owne that hee will free them from the punishment who have freed themselves from the observation of his law Nay such men should know that they are the principall of the wicked they are the principall of the wicked who in Scripture are termed The sonnes of Belial these despisers of the law are the sonnes of Belial For to omit the other derivations which Divines doe fancy of that word as it commeth of two Hebrew words which signifie either without light or without profit or lastly without ascent whith all agree very fitly unto them they are the children of darknesse their actions are nowise spirituall profitable either to themselves or others and lastly they shall never dwell in Gods holy hill into which none can come but hee that ascends Heaven is not scituate in a descent or a levell To omit these as Prettinesses without much solidity the true etymology of the word is Without a yoak Those are the true sons of Belial who would be without a yoake and who would bee without a yoake but they who would bee without a Law Whomsoever then wee shall see to goe forward in whoredome drunkennesse swearing covetousnesse malice schisme or any such notorious offence wee may conclude that hee would bee free from the yoake that hee is a sonne of Belial And thus all unrepentant sinners are whence the Prophet saith They were haughty and committed abomination against mee Ezech. 16. 50. Iunius reades it Exaltarunt se They exalted themselves as if none could commit abomination who was not first proud and haughty who had not first exalted themselves which no man can doe under a yoake under that he will be humbled not exalted But let them looke to it in time God punisheth all sinners but heeresists the proud onely as who should say Though many did offēd him besides yet it was but timorously none durst fight hand to hand with him but the proud only they put God to his defence to resist but though he resist them they shall never be able to resist him When the day of the Lord of hosts shall bee upon every one that is proud lofty Esay hath a pretty strange speech The earth saith he shall be removed like a Cottage and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it Esa. 24. 20. The transgression is heavy upon the earth what then Therefore it shall be removed but one would think Therefore rather it shall stand still that which lyeth heavy upon a thing hinders it from being removed Oh the strange power of sinne that by making a thing waighty maketh it the more moveable for whose sake the earth which stands stil must be removed and removed by a waight As those then should suddenly repent who are yet under so should they alwayes triumph rejoyce in the Lord who are free from the curse of the law and yet oftentimes none so dejected as they especially when the Devill doth thus assault them Whosoever doth not exactly performe every the least circumstance of the Law is subject to eternal dānation thou hast not exactly performed every circumstance thou hast beene sometimes unadvisedly angry rash words have escaped the prison of thy mouth thy heart hath beene a denne of corruption and thou hast againe and againe done that evil against w ch thou hast vowed as if thou hadst repēted of thy repentance what thē remaines for thee but the blacknesse of darknesse to be cast into that fire which was as well prepared for thee as for the devill and his angels This is Sathans sophistrie but yet his major is untrue and his minor although it bee true doth not inferre his conclusion It is true Whosoever doth not exactly perform the Law c. is subject to the eternall punishment but it is legally true and thou art not under the Law but under Grace thou canst not deny but that in many things thou hast offended but thou must answer that CHRIST in whom thou art offended never The summe is this the Devill hath nothing to doe with thee if thou art free from the Law and if thou art in Christ thou art free Neither let any man thinke that I would sooth him in his bad courses that I would say The soule shall live which God hath said shall not live and so that I would onely pitch him a smoother Cawsey unto hell no you may remember I affirmed that they who shall bee free from punishment must be free from the dominion of sinne if then that have dominion over thee and it hath if thou obeyest it in the lusts thereof this comfort doth not at all concerne thee a corrosive is fitter for thee than a cordiall but to those dejected soules who after all their indeavor finde not the cōfort of godlinesse who have the gift but not the joy of beleeving and therefore doe doubt of the gift because they doe not feele the joy to those who runne after Gods commandements and will not lie still though they fall to these I proclaime that they are free frō the laws curse therefore heires of heavens blessing one confirmation of which they enjoy from hence if they doe not use their liberty as a Cloake c. which is the first restraint of S. Peters grant Where wee shall consider 1. What maliciousnesse is 2. What it is to use our liberty as a cloake of maliciousnes 3. That wee must not so use it Maliciousnesse in the latitude of the word may either be taken for that vice which is opposite to charity and termed malice or for sinnes in
imperet omnibus all must have the choice of him who is to have the rule of all But this we shall have a better occasion to discusse when we come to the first reason of our submission which is for the Lord. 3. Then the Magistrate may be termed an humane Creature because he is ordained for the benefit of humane creatures nothing doth better agree with man than a good Magistrate and yet because I shall speake of this in my second reason of submission to wit the end why the Magistrate was given I shall say but little to it in this place onely this that if the Magistrate be for our good this can be no small motive to our submission In the Fable the Horse quarrels with the Hart who being too hard for him he desireth the assistance of the man the man promiseth if he will let him ride him in brief the Hart yeilds to subjection so he may have defence he will suffer the man to ride him rather than his enemy to overcome him Nay in the History the Campani having many factions amongst themselves and powerfull enemies of their neighbours the Samnites willingly offered themselves up to be servants to the State of Rome so that the Romans would protect them from the Samnites so their enemy might not prevaile they would be content with what Magistrate soever and they were so in love with this humane Creature that they would sell their liberty for it How then can we disapprove what they so generally liked of How should we thinke our selves reasonable men if we did not affect this humane Creature And thus much for the word as wee reade it in the Greek Come we now to our English ORDINANCE which I told you might be taken for law from henceforth inforce that as we are obedient to the Prince So we must be to his law likewise to every Governour and to every law But before we handle that doe not we all cōclude that All good things come from God and that Lawes are amongst the numbers of good things Doe not we know that they are onely inferences and deductions determinations as it were of the Law of nature and is not the Law of nature immediately from God for instance that a murtherer should be put to death is the Law of nature but that he should bee put to this death is an humane Constitution God saith Let him die but the King Hang him Are lawes from God and yet shall we dishonor them as an invention of man are they a divine and shall we terme them but an Humane Ordinance Surely all good Lawes even of men are Divine and Humane Divine in their Principles Humane in their Conclusions God saith That the thing shall be done and man So. And that determination of mans may be termed an humane Ordinance as the Magistrate himselfe is called an humane Ordinance not so much because man made it as because it is made for the good of men To a good Law therefore it is required that the Efficient should have Power and the Matter Goodnesse at least no ill in it If the Lawgiver hath authority if the matter of the Law be good or at least not evill it hath all the Conditions required to an Humane Ordinance and to such we must obey The Ancients did shadow a Law under the figure of a Crowne because as a Crowne compassed and kept in what was under it so should the Law likewise and therefore S. Hierome expounds that Pythagorean Rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we ought not to violate the crowne after this manner we ought not to teare or violate the Lawes but keep them in their full vigor And for this reason likewise they are compared to hedges because as the hedge defends and incloseth so likewise doth the Law it defends from violence of others it incloseth and keepes us in lest we should violate others it is a strong hedge And therefore well was it termed by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it gave every one his due defence to him that wanted it and punishment to those who deserved it If all this will not move thee to submit to it yet consider it is an humane Ordinance and to that God hath commanded thee to submit But what if it be bad you will say what if it command mee to blaspheme my God prostitute my wife or with those wicked Barbarians after certaine yeares in case they lived too long to become the Executioner of mine owne Father Shall I submit then No surely for I exhort thee to submit onely to a law but these are no Lawes but authorized impieties but transgressions with a priviledge Mihi lex esse non videtur quod non justa fuerit saith S. Austine in his Opinion what was not just could be no Law and nothing can be more unjust than these tyrannicall Injunctions In breif I commend the Obedience performed unto Humane I detest that which is done to devilish Ordinances Take a reason out of the Text. Wee must so obey the Governours those that are sent that at the same time we must not disobey the King the Supreme solikewise we must submit our selves to the Lawes of the King of the Supreme but never when they contradict the knowne Commands of God who hath sent them But in case they are not contrary to Gods Lawes we must submit and that to their Ecclesiasticall Lawes likewise The greatest Enemy of the Churches government can in disgrace say no more than this that her Canons are but an Humane Ordinance and yet we bring an infallible demonstration of the necessity of our Obedience to those Lawes even because they are an Humane Ordinance The text saith Submit yee unto every ordinance of man How justly are they then to be reprehended who although they make conscience of other Lawes doe securely contemne and deride these insomuch that they who breake them are termed good men whosoever stands up in the defence of them and would by reason first and in case that prevaileth not by punishment bring them to their observation are said to be Persecutors of goodnesse and of good men A strange delusion of the Devill that whom S. Peter calleth presumptuous self-willed because they speak evill of dignities 2. Pet. 2. 10. they for the same reason should count the onely godly I was informed by one that before my comming hither here was flourishing Holinesse as if since there were no holinesse at least that it was decaied by my fault Now I appeale to your Consciences whether I have not as my Text led mee exhorted you to all vertues of the first and second Table and I am not guilty how I have any way hindered Holinesse unlesse it hath been by opposing Religious disobedience What their Holinesse was before my comming and whether Flourishing or but a Flourish I judge not God will but if it were no other Holinesse than that which I oppose they must give mee leave to call it