promulgated wee shall finde it that it is onely to the elect vessels of mercy and to the children of Gods free love whereas to the reprobate men and Angels there is neither promise nor hope of pardon left For their judgement is sealed and their condemnation sleepes not Againe as to Jesus Christ the mediator of the new covenant a free pardon hee obtained not he paid the utmost farthing that was requisite for the satisfaction of the justice of God onely to man and the elect amongst the sonnes of men hath God voluntarily and freely forgiven the burthen and the debt of sinne And I call this a voluntary and free forgivenesse for three respects In respect of God the Father in respect of God the Sonne and in respect of God the Holy Ghost For I say first in respect of God the Father for hee who said In the day that thou shalt eate thou shalt surely die said also the seed of the woman shall tread downe the head of the serpent And againe God so loved the world that hee sent his owne Sonne to the death of the Crosse that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have eternall life It is free also in respect of God the Sonne for hee as willingly and freely assented to the great worke of mans redemption howsoever the way was sharpe and thorny as the Father was willing in his eternall wisedome to propose it And therefore it is written of him that he laid his life down and tooke it up againe hee laid it downe for none could take it from him and hee tooke it up againe for it was impossible that hee could bee holden of the sorrows of the grave Lastly the pardon and remission of our sinnes is free in respect of God the Holy Ghost for willingly and freely without any merit on our part he commeth downe and dwelleth in our soules illuminates our understanding rectifieth our will sanctifieth our affections makes intercession for us with sighs and groanes that cannot be expressed and keepes us by the power of his grace through faith to eternall salvation for it is written Because wee are sonnes God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father And againe because wee of our selves know neither how to pray nor what to pray the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us with sighs that cannot bee expressed And also it is written That as hee hath begotten us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the death to an inheritance which is immortall and undefiled that withers not away but is reserved for us in the heavens So also he keeps us by the power of the Spirit through faith to eternall salvation Vse Now having thus cleared the meaning of the word it rests that wee make use of it for our instructions and the uses that arise from it are two the one serveth for rebuke the other for comfort the rebuke falleth on the Church of Rome the comfort shall returne to us and to every soule in whom the grace of God dwelleth The rebuke that ariseth to the Church of Rome is this in these words wee are commanded to crave pardon for our debts in the plurall number and indefinitely now wee know this to bee true that those Propositions which are indefinite are universall in correspondence Whilst then wee crave pardon and forgivenesse of our debts wee universally begge mercy and pardon for all our sinnes for both originall and actuall sins For our sinnes of infirmity and our sins of presumption for sinfull omissions and commissions for the sinfull thoughts of our heart and words of our mouth and actions of our conversation Now in respect of all these wee have need to draw neere unto God and to say Forgive What meane those Doctors of the Romish Church to teach that there is a sort of sinne which in it selfe and of it selfe is veniall and that some onely are mortall but it is cleare out of the word of God that there is not any sin which is not mortall for every sinne is a breach of the law and every sinne and transgression shall receive a just recompence of reward Hee that sinneth without the law shall perish without the law and hee that sinneth under the law shall bee judged by the law and againe The wages of sinne is death I graunt indeed if wee looke to that excellent price that was given for our sinnes no sinnes are mortall for such is the worth and excellencie of that blood of Jesus which speaketh better things then the blood of Abell that whosoever shall have part in it shall stand without spot or blemish before the presence of the glory of God with joy and whosoever shall have but a drop of it to sprinkle on the posts of the doore of his soule the destroying Angell shall not come neere him but though his sinnes were as red as scarlet yet by vertue of his blood they shall bee as white as snow But on the other part if thou shalt looke upon thy sinne in its owne nature and because of thy esteeme and account of it it seeme veniall to thee wilt thou therefore say that it is veniall in it selfe O foole that thou art thou deceives thy owne soule The smallest coyne and the basest bullion that beareth the Kings stampe on it is as currant as the richest and purest gold that is seaven times tryed in the fire and to counterfeit that coyne is as reall treason as hee that either adulterates or falsifies the purest coyne It is so with us in our debts to God the meanest offence wee can commit is as culpable of judgement as those that are of greater nature for wee must not judge of our sinnes according to the quantity number or quality but chiefly according to the person and Majestie against whom they are committed Is not hee as great a theefe that robs the cottage of the poore as hee that robs the Palace of the Prince yes surely and greater for the Prinâ—e hath wherewithall to repaire his losse but the poore hath not Tell mee I pray you is there any sinne in the world smaller then the point of a thorne no surely yet the meanest thorne that was in the crowne of Christ drew blood of him The thornes that were in that crown were thy sinnes it was thy sinnes that drew blood of him and peirced his heart while there came blood and water out of it gushing and yet vaine man that thou art thou wilt say they are veniall how canst thou call that veniall and of no weight which was rated at so great a value as the sufferings of the Sonne of God the least drop of whose blood was of more worth then all the worme-eaten children of men on the earth Looke never therefore O man upon â—hy sinne in the judgement and with the eyes of nature that is but a false prospective and deceiving glasse looke on it as it lay on the backe
on our travels all should bee in vaine For wee may eate and not be satisfied wee may cover our makednesse and not be warme wee may sow much and reape little we may earne wages and put them in a bottomlesse bagge except hee open his hand and fill us with his blessing for then and no otherwise are wee satisfied And thirdly whilst wee begged of God the meanes of our satisfaction so also wee begged them of him in a moderate manner and measure not to give us over-little lest wee should for want steale and Gods name should bee dishonoured by our practice Nor yet over-much lest by reason of our plenty wee should waxe wanton forget the rocke from whence wee were hewen and so in our presumptions perish say Who is the Lord Now having begged these things in that Petition this Petition is duely conjoyned unto it by this particle of conjunction And for since it is certaine that man is a weake and fraile creature in the day of his want ready to runne an ill course and in the day of his prosperity ready to grow proud and mis-know God there can nothing bee better said then Lead us not into temptation that is to say since Sathan is ready at all times in all places and by all occasions to tempt us to sinne Lord watch thou over us by thy grace and good spirit that in the day of our want wee sinne not against thee by despaire and in the day of our wealth and abundance wee sinne not against thee by presumption but learne in whatsoever state wee bee therewith to be content for naked wee came into the world and naked we shall returne againe Again by the same cōjunctive particle And this Petition is duly tyed to that wherein wee begged of God the remission and pardon of our sinnes and that for three severall causes or respects first to teach us to avoid security Secondly to teach us the truth of Gods covenant and thirdly to teach us to submit our selves to the condition of the covenant It teacheth us to beware of security for after the remission of sinne temptation followeth and hee is a great foole who having once gotten the victory over sinne cries to himselfe a perpetuall and permanent peace yes furely for the estate of the servant is not above his master Whilst Sathan dealt with our head Christ Jesus in tempting him though hee mightily declared himselfe to bee the Sonne of God by resisting and repelling his temptations yet in the end it is said that Sathan left him but for a season If then this hath beene the lot and portion of the head what shall become of us that are members If hee dealt so with the greene tree what shall become of us who are withered branches And finally if this hath beene the portion of him who was the cedar of Lebanon what shall become of us who are poore bushes of Isop at the foot of the wall No no O man deceive not thy selfe and after the foile of a sinne over which it may please God in his mercy to give thee victory and peace of conscience in the blood of Jesus dost thou thinke that Sathan can bee so cowardly that after one foile hee dare no more to assault thee No be sure of this so long as the strong man keepes the hold all things are in peace but if with Iacob thou shalt labour to returne to the land of thy nativity Laban shall pursue thee and unlesse the God of thy fathers make his fall upon him hee will not onely kill thee but also the mother upon the young ones For though for a while hee seeme to leave his habitation yet if thou do not watch over the house of thy soule hee shall returne and bring with him seaven other spirits worse then himselfe and the last estate of thy soule shall be worse then the first Secondly it serves to teach us the truth of Gods covenant under which we have not onely cause of joy and spirituall rejoycing but also reason to serve the Lord in feare and walke before him in trembling For the covenant of mercy that God maketh with man in the blood of Christ hath two parts the first carryeth a promise of the remission of our sinnes the second a promise that hee will write his law in our hearts Now this is that new covenant which God promiseth to make with us under the Gospell of which the Apostle Paul writing to the Hebrews tells us that the tenor thereof is not formed according to the tenor of a carnall commandement but according to the power and law of an endlesse life For to what use I pray you shall the remission of our by-gone sinnes serve us if when we are once washed and cleansed wee shall straight with the dogge returne to our vomit or with the sowe to the puddle of our transgressions againe It is well added by the wisedome of God for mans instruction to say no sooner Forgive us our sinnes then straight way to subjoyne And lead us not into temptation for by this meanes wee get the covenant of God made sure and perfect to us whilst hee first sealeth in us the oblituration of the old hand writing of sinne that was against us and in the next roome writeth his law in our hearts and captivateth our affections to his obedience Lastly by the addition of this Petition to the immediately former we were taught to serve the Lord in feare for if this be our misery that our enemies are watchfull and malicious omitting no occasion of snares and temptations that can entrap and if this bee our infirmity and weaknesse that of our selves wee cannot stand one moment in the grace received why should wee not serve the Lord in feare and rejoyce before him in all trembling For as this is the comforr of comforts for a Christian to heare this said to him Sonne bee of good comfort thy sinnes bee forgiven thee So let this bee the square by which hee ruleth and squareth his future obedience Sinne no more lest a worse thing befall thee Thus having cleared to you the dependence of this Petition with that Give us this day our daily bread and with that also Forgive us our sinnes It resteth now that wee consider the words of the Petition it selfe and first those which are deprecatory and then those that are supplicatory First Lead us not into temptation and then But deliver us from evill Lead us not into temptation For the better understanding of the words wee must remember that they are metaphoricall and propounded unto us by way of a figurative translation for in them God teacheth his Church to put up her supplications to God Now wee must understand that although the Church bee but one in her selfe as her God head and husband is one yet is shee alwayes proposed to us under the shadow of two severall considerations For sometimes shee is considered as in heaven and sometimes as shee is on earth that part
I must then tell you in so farre as it concerneth man it is of two sorts or rather considered by man in two divers manners First as it is hidde and couched up in Gods owne bosome And secondly as it is revealed to us either by his Vivâ voce or by his written word In the first sense it is called Gods secret will In the second it is called his manifest and revealed will Of the first to wit Gods hidden and secret will it is that which Paul saith O deepnesse c. Rom. 11. How unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Of the second it is said Not he who cryeth Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of God but hee who knoweth the will of my Father and doth it And of both conjunctly it is said by Moses that secret things belong to the Lord Things revealed to us and to our children that we may do them First then of the first point It may bee enquired if in this Petition we do or should pray for his secret will I answeare No for his secret will shall come to passe For hee dwells in heaven and according to the secret pleasure and counsell of his will all things in time and after time shall be moderated Is it not lawfull then in any condition to meddle with the hidden and secret counsell of God Yea surely providing it bee with modesty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. For first wee may enquire why it is so called 2. What is our duty in respect of it 3. And how farre it can have any fellowship with the evill that is in the world and with the sinfull actions of men Why is it so called I answere for two causes First because it is hidden from man who cannot reach to it untill God reveale it For no man knoweth the Father but the Sonne and hee to whom the Sonne revealeth him Secondly because when it is revealed man cannot comprehend it except hee be enabled from above For the reasons of Gods secret wayes exceeds humane capacity And the more that humane reason looketh on it the lesse it understandeth Why God loved Iacob and hated Esau Why he rejected Saul for one fault and forgave David many and why he condemned Iudas for selling of him and spared Peter that did forsweare him Enquire the reason hereof at man hee cannot give it you yea God hath revealed it I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and whom I will I harden And now as man could not give this reason untill God revealed it So now when God hath revealed it man cannot comprehend it For nature would say that it was injustice in God of two men equally evill by nature to choose the one and forsake the other Thus Gods will is called secret first because man knoweth it not and secondly because hee cannot comprehend it 2. What is our duty in respect of this will I answere it is our duty not to search into it too deeply Nam nonest curiose investiganda sed religiose adoranda whether God in his secret counsell hath ordained thee to be poore or rich high or low whether thou shalt die of a lent or a fervid Ague Since it is Gods secret counsell it is not fit thou shouldest enquire it Stoope under the abstruse and hidden secrecy thereof But to enquire of it ere God reveale it is but a torment before the time and sure I am it shall never be laid to thy charge in the day of Judgement how farre thou hast searched into the secret counsell of God But how farre thou hast obeyed the revealed will of God Thirdly concerning the secret will of God it may bee enquired since there is so much evill in the world how farre and in what sort God by his secret will concurreth and hath cooperation with the same for men looking on the evills that are in the world and finding them so frequent and fearefull and withall comparing them with the omnipotence of God against whose will nothing can bee done and not being able to solve this riddle have either with the Libertine cast over the cause of their iniquities upon God and made God the Author of sinne Or else fearing to speake blasphemously of God they have with the Manicheans invented two chiefe and prime causes of all things one of good another of evil both equally supreme and absolute in their kinde which is altogether false for God is only the supreme and absolute good but Sathan is not an absolute evill But for cleering of this question a little understand and know The evill is two-fold An evill of sinne and an evill of punishment and this is Tertullians distinction writing against Marcian lib. 2. cap. 180. Concerning the evill which we call the evill of punishment there is no question for it is not a true evill in it selfe it is but thought so of us for the punishment of sinne though it seemes evill to the offender yet it is no evill in it selfe for it is a good of justice The question is only concerning the evill of sin and how farre God communicates with it not being the author thereof nor tainted himselfe therewith This question is so much the more remarkable by how much Scripture seems to give way to it For it was a sinne in Pharaoh to harden his heart Yet Scripture saith that God willed it and that hee did it It was a sinne in Sathan to be a lying spirit in the mouthes of Achabs Prophets Yet Scripture shewes us that God willed it It was a sinne in Sathan to vexe Iob unjustly and yet Scripture sheweth that God willed it And it is a sinne in man to stoppe his eare against the truth and to beleeve a lie and yet Scripture sheweth that God willeth it For solving of this doubt there is a very good answere given by our Divines to this question whilest they say that wee must distinguish the action of the sinner from the sinne that is in the action And they make God the author of the action but not of the viciosity and evill that is in the action And this they cleere by the examples of the Sunne the Earth and the word of God This I grant is good but not sufficient But wouldest thou know O man how God willeth sinne and over-ruleth sinne and yet is free from sinne Then thou must know that sinne and the way of sinne hath a beginning a progresse and also an end God hath a will working on sinne and over-ruling sinne in all these three respects For shall we looke to sinne in the beginning thereof Gods will hath beene two wayes exercised First by way of inhibition in giving a law against it forbidding sinne in the thoughts of the heart in the words of the mouth and in the actions of the conversation By way of permission leaving a lawlesse man to a lawlesse way For it is a righteous thing with God when man knowing him to be God will not glorifie him as
the soule from the body for a time till God reunite them both in glory The Spirituall debt is that which man oweth to the God of nature and it is twofold either the debt of obedience or the debt of punishment The debt of obedience is the debt of righteousnesse Rom. 8.12 The debt of punishment is called the second death to the which man is bound for satisfaction of the justice of God in case of not performing and paying of the debt of righteousnesse The debt of righteousnesse is truly and properly called debt The debt of punishment is but figuratively and improperly so called and that for two causes first in respect of the antecedent and next in respect of the consequent In respect of the antecedent righteousnesse which we should have obeyed and in respect of the consequent punishment which is due to him that disobeies as it is written Tribulation and anguish shall bee c. There remaineth a third debt that man oweth and it is mixed for it is partly religious and partly civill Religious when according to the prescript of the word of God wee give reverence to whom wee owe reverence feare to whom we owe feare and love to whom wee owe love civill when wee render to every man that which wee have borrowed remembring that it is a blessing to owe nothing unto any man and the curse of the wicked that he borroweth and payeth not againe Psal 87. LECT 15. And forgive us our debts IN the end of our last Sermon wee looked on the words of the Petition it selfe wherein wee found foure things considerable First what wee are by nature sinners and debters to God whereof wee have spoken in our last Sermon Now it remaines that wee go forward to consider the other three parts and first of the pardon of our sinne Forgive In handling of which word I purpose not with Salmeron the Jesuite to dispute concerning the propriety of the word and to search whether it had beene better to have said remitte then as it is here dimitte I will onely according to the received approved custome of the Church speake of the word as it implyeth a pardon free remission of our sins which are our spirituall debts For never did man speake in so naturall a dialect as this is for all the other conditions displayed the condition and temper of his faith this the condition of his nature these implyed the good he hoped for this demonstrates the present misery body of death under which hee lyeth sigheth and groaneth desiring to be eased and to speake truly what can bee more acceptable unto God then the confession of sinne and the suit of pardon Did not our Redeemer in the dayes of his flesh call upon all them that were weary and ladened to come to him that hee might give them ease of their burthen rest to their soules Whilst therefore hee shall see us acknowledge our burthen confesse our debt shall we not be welcome to him O know this O man for thy cōfort the sheepheard never rejoyced more in the recovery of his lost sheepe nor the woman of her lost penny nor the father of his lost sonne then God is well pleased and glad of thy returne to him ready to forgive thee thy debt if in humility thou canst but acknowledge it for it is written Blessed is the man that confesseth his sinne and forsakes it but hee that hideth his transgression shall not prosper Well then seeing wee have in the first word confessed our burthen and debt let us now come to the second and consider our desire of pardon and release Forgive Debts are released and forgiven two manner of wayes either freely by pardoning the debtor or else legally by exacting the debt and so acquitting it Againe this legall release and acquitting of debt is two wayes first when the debt is paid by the true debtor Secondly when it is satisfied not by the true debter but by him who became suerty for him to this effect it is that Iustin telleth us Inst l. 3. tit 30. Tollitur omnis obligatio solutione ejus quod debetur non tamen interest quis solvat utrum is qui debet an vero alius pro eo Now shall we looke on mans sinne as it maketh him Gods debtor and enquire how it is forgiven I answer O man thy sinne is forgiven thee both ingenuously and legally Ingenuously because freely and voluntarily Legally because thy debt is paid though not by thy selfe yet by thy suerty Jesus Christ who hath done all suffered all and paid all that it be hooved thee to doe to suffer and to pay for the satisfaction of the justice of God hee did it for thee and thou hast done it in him But that this may be the more cleare and the termes of our pardon may bee the more distinctly known let us consider the debt of sinne as it is severally imposed upon three severall sorts of persons to wit the reprobate Angels and men on the elect amongst the sonnes of men and on the Sonne of God for the lost sons of men Now according to the diversity of the imputation of this debt so is the release and pardon thereof diversly and severally graunted the reprobate Angels and Sonnes of men have the debt and burthen of sinne imputed to them but the pardon and release of sinne neither doth nor ever shall appertaine unto them for with them the Lord doth and shall deale in the severity of his justice for ever for they shall bee cast in prison where they cannot come out till they have paid the uttermost farthing And because they cannot pay they shall not be forgiven The elect sonnes of men who are chosen vessels of mercy and appertaine to the covenant of grace by vertue of their election had the debt of their sins imputed to them when as they were borne dead in their sinnes and trespasses and were strangers by nature from the life of God as well as the children of wrath but now blessed bee God through Jesus Christ our Lord the release and pardon of our sinnes for that which was impossible to the law in so far as it was weak because of the flesh God sending his owne Sonne in the similitude of sinfull man and that for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the law might bee fulfilled in us who walke not after the law but after the spirit Lastly the Sonne of God had the debt and burthen of of sinne imposed upon him not of his owne sinne for hee that knew not sinne was made sinne for us And with him God hath dealt with such rigour of his justice that hee came from Bosra with red garments hee hath trodden the wine-presse of the Father alone and in the anguish and bitternesse of his sorrow cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee If wee shall looke to the persons to whom this release and pardon of sinne is promised and
of Jesus and as the weight thereof pressed the Sonne of God downe to the grave and then if thou dare come and call sinne veniall I hope thou wilt not when it turned the moisture of Davids body to the drought of summer when it made Ezechiah chatter like a swallow and mourne like a dove when it made Iob that hee could not swallow his spitle was there any word of a veniall nature in sinne no no no such thing The Saints of God have not known this dialect nor spoken in this Idiom it is but the voice of him that is dead in sinne and trespasses The Lord learne us to see our sinnes aright and then surely wee shall confesse that our sinnes are not veniall but mortall Secondly as this serveth for the rebuke of our neighbour Church in Rome so it serves also for our comfort and consolation whom God hath delivered from the yoke of that bondage and the night of that darknesse for tell mee O man what greater consolation can come to the soule of the Christian burthened with the weight of sinne then to say thy sinnes are forgiven thee but such is the force of these words Forgive us our debts for as in the word of debt he sheweth the weight of our misery so here in the words of forgivenesse hee sheweth us the riches of his mercy Was it not I pray you a great worke a work passing the capacity of man when God created the world he made all things of nothing whē nature telleth us that of nothing nothing can bee was it not a great worke to call for light out of the midst of darknesse and by the power of a naked word to make a glorious splendor of light shine out of the midnight of darknes Finally was it not a great worke to animate a peece of clay and by blowing on the dust of the earth to make it a living soule All of these were great indeed as workes of creation but as it was said behold a greater then Salomon is here so is there here in the matter of our redēption a worke greater then all these for loe he made not all things of nothing but of that which is worse then nothing sinne for sinne is nothing but a privation Hee brought light out of darknes but here a greater light out of a greater darknesse for when wee sate in darknesse and in the shadow of death hee made a great light to arise unto us for in his light hee made us to see light hee animated our clay and breathed the breath of life in our nostrels being dead in sinnes and trespasses hee quickned and begot us to the hope of immortality finally here is that worke passing in excellence and eminent above all humane admiration that wee being his debtors for tenne thousand talents not having one farthing to pay him hee hath freely forgiven us all our debt to the admiration both of man and Angels when the Angels who fell have not obtained a way of reconciliation hee hath found out for poore man a way of peace insomuch that what man could not pay hee hath freely fully and finally released requiring nothing of man but that hee should in sincerity say Forgive and it shall bee forgiven him Now what more could hee doe to thee O man or what lesse could he require of thee What more could hee do to thee then lay downe his life for thee and what lesse could hee require of thee then that in true sorrow forthy sinne and in full assurance of his mercy thou shouldst come unto him and say Forgive mee that so thou maist be forgiven The word in it selfe is so full of comfort I cannot as yet passe by it There is another place in Scripture that lookes so like to this place like Hippocrates two twinnes they are borne together they live together and dye together The place is the 12. of Matthew Come to mee all yee that are weary and laden and I will ease you There as the Saviour and Redeemer of the world and the true Physitian of soules that are sicke hee desires him that is spiritually sicke to come to him and he promiseth to ease him and give him rest but upon a condition that hee feele his sore and acknowledge his burthen Now it is remarkable that hee first promiseth ease and then rest first ease from the cōmanding power of sin next rest frō the condemning power of sin It is even so here that the spirituall Physition of our sick wearied soules leadeth us to bee sensible of our soule that by sinne wee are made Gods debtors and lyable to his judgements In the next place the cure of this our disease is given for wee shall no sooner confesse and acknowledge our sinnes to him but hee shall forgive it But you will say to mee what is this that hee forgives mee I answer looke to the place of Scripture immediately before cited see there what he promiseth to ease thee of as also all these things he here promiseth to forgive thee hee promiseth there to ease thee of all thy burthen of sinne of the law of affliction Of sinne for the burthen of it is as a talent of lead Zach. 5.6 And David saith it is a burthen too heavy for him to beare Of the law for it is a yoake which neither wee nor our fathers nor our forefathers were able to beare Act. 15. Of affliction for it is a weighty crosse and hee that follows Jesus Christ must take it up and follow him daily Of sinne while he not knowing sinne was made sin for us Of the Law whilst hee was made of a woman and made under the law Of affliction not by taking all afflictions from us but by sanctifying them unto us both in their nature and their end Their nature whilst hee maketh them testimonies of our adoption their end whilst he by them keepes us to eternall life for as the lyon that killed the Prophet kept still his dead body so afflictions may well kill the naturall man yet they do keepe the life of God in our soules Now know then for your comfort that what there hee promised to ease us of here hee promiseth to forgive and to forgive is more then to ease for a Physitian will ease his patient for a while of a hard binding which afterward he will binde againe And a master will ease his servant of the taske of captivity and slavery but afterwards hee will imprison him And finally a beast will be eased of his burthen for a while but afterwards it will be imposed and laid upon him but such is the great and rich depth of the mercy of our God what hee easeth us of that hee forgiveth us for while hee giveth pardon to man and speakes peace to his soule he pardoneth not as man pardoneth neither giveth he peace as man giveth peace My peace I give you my peace I leave with you not as the world giveth peace give I
will not suffer mee to paint them out to the life yea I know how many large volumes have beene published already on this subject by worthy and learned men only by the by as it were and in so farre as the vvords here shall offer us occasion I will point at them and from their weake considerations speake some words of comfort and instruction to your soules It is certaine that the chiefe and arch enemy of mans salvation is Sathan the devill who hath beene a lyer to man and a murtherer of man from the beginning But because he is a spirit therefore invisible that man cannot know him whilst hee fights with him he suborneth two souldiers against man the world from without man the flesh the lusts thereof within man that man having fightings within terrors without may fall and never rise againe But that I may make you senfible of these his assaults and temptations know that whilst I speak of the world I do not understand this great and majesticke frame of the world composed of these foure elements fire aire earth and water for by these man is not tempted all and every one of these Sathan hath imployed to punish man for sin but by none of these hath hee at any time tempted man for sinne But by the world I understand the children of disobedience and wicked ones that are in the vvorld and that not simply or absolutely as they are flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones but conditionally and as they are either cloathed with prosperity and wealth or else as they are stripped naked in the day of their want and misery And that the wicked of the world are called of God the world it is cleare out of that prayer of our Saviour Christ whilst hee saith I pray not for the world but for those whom thou hast given mee out of the world Now these as they stand either invested or cloathed with prosperity or stripped naked with calamity and want do prove a stumbling blocke and snare or temptation to the children of God For in the day of their prosperity by their carnall joy wherewith they are overjoyed in their pleasures by their carnall security whereby they cry peace to themselves when God mindeth them no peace and by their proud trampling upon the weake and despising of them that want what do they but invite us to runne with them in the excesse of their riot and by their temporall felicities labour to draw away if it were possible the very elect of God from the search and purchase of that felicity which is immortall and undefiled Againe in the day of their adversity what do they but cry to us with Iobs wife Curse God and die With Iehoram I will wait no longer on the Lords leisure And with Israel in the wildernesse Would God wee had dyed by the flesh pots of Egypt But brethren vvith these things let us not be moved let neither the prosperity of the vvicked draw thee to a carnall rejoycing or love of the vvorld for the prosperity of the vvicked is but like cracking of thornes under a pot nor let the calamity of the godly vvho suffer justly for their sinnes dravv thee to apostacie and back-sliding from the faith for it is better to suffer affliction with the children of God then to enjoy the perishing pleasures of sinne for a season Heb. 11. And it is more honourable for us to imbrace the Crosse of Jesus Christ then all the treasures of a corrupt and perishing Egypt Againe Sathan in the second place hireth our flesh to fight against us and here by the word flesh I do not understand this body of ours alone which is composed of flesh blood but also that naturall corruption which we have drawne from the loynes of our first parents who have infected us both soule and body and dwelling in us fighteth desperately and maliciously against us This corruption the Scripture expresseth by many names and titles as The old man The old Adam The naturall man The law of our members and The lusts of the flesh which fight against the soule Thus wee see that the flesh is also our enemy and so much the more odious by how much it is traiterous For of it wee may say what David said in Psalm 41. My familiar friend whom I trusted and hee that lay in my bosome and did eate bread with mee hath lifted up his heele against mee To this Iudas who betrayeth us wee may justly say It were good for thee thou hadst never bin borne To this Dalilah wee may say If thou hadst not plowed with my heyfer thou couldst not have read my riddle To this wife of Iob wee may say Thou speakest like a foolish woman And lastly to this unadvised counseller wee may justly say Get thee behinde mee Sathan for thou knowest not the things that are of God but the things that are of man Now wouldst thou know O man why thou shouldst so encounter thy flesh I answer because it is thy deadly enemy and that in three respects In respect of malice of power and policy In respect of malice for it is written In mee that is in my flesh there dwelieth no good Rom. 7.18 Now that wherein there is no good must of necessity bee exceedingly malicious and fully replenished with evill Tucaro saith a Father cunctis virtutibus denudata es ideo diceris caro a carendo quia cares omni bono And would you have a true anatomy of the flesh looke to St Paul Rom. 3. Her eyes are full of adultery her throat an open sepulcher her mouth the mouth of deceit the poyson of aspes is under her lips her feet are swift to shed blood destruction and calamity are in her wayes and the way of the Lord shee hath not knowne Secondly the flesh is a powerfull enemy both in respect of the unregenerate and also in respect of the regenerate In the unregenerate it is a mighty King in the regenerate it is a cruell tyrant In the unregenerate I say it is a mighty king for as a King in his kingdome swayes the scepter enacteth lawes forceth obedience and subdueth rebells So is it in the unregenerate man sinne beareth dominion giveth a law to the members and leadeth all the affections captive to disobedience And from this it is that the Apostle exhorteth us not to suffer sinne to raigne in our mortall bodies And as the flesh is a King in the unregenerate so in the regenerate it is a cruell tyrant for howsoever by the grace of God in Jesus Christ wee are set free from the law of Sinne and of death yet so long as wee dwell in the body it dwelleth in us and both tormenteth us with the torture of a wounded conscience for sinne past with continuall molestation to sinne in time to come So that the best of Gods Saints have deeply sighed and groaned under the yoke and bondage thereof David could say I dwell too long in