his conscience and his reason v. 16. he is one in whom sin dwells but the Spirit of God does not dwell for no good thing dwels in him v. 18. he is one who is brought into captivity to the law of sin he is a servant of uncleanness with his flesh and members serving the law of sin v. 25. Now if this be a state of regeneration I wonder what is or can be a state of reprobation for though this be the state of Nature yet it cannot be the state of one redeemed by the Spirit of Christ and therefore flatter not your selves any more that it is enough for you to have good desires and bad performances never think that any sin can reign in you and yet you be servants of God that sin can dwell in you and at the same time the Spirit of God can dwell in you too or that life and death can abide together The sum of affairs is this If ye live after the flesh ye shall dy but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live but not else upon any terms whatsoever My Text is one of the hard places of S. Paul which as S. Peter sayes the ignorant and the unstable wrest to their own damnation But because in this case the danger is so imminent and the deception would be so intolerable S. Paul immediately after this Chapter in which under his own person as was usual with him to do he describes the state of a natural man advanced no further than Moses Law and not redeemed by the blood of Christ or inlightned by the Spirit of God and taught by the wiser Lessons and Sermons of the Gospel immediately spends the next Chapter in opposing the Evangelical state to the Legal the Spiritual to the Carnal the Christian to the Natural and tells us plainly he that is redeemed by the blood of Christ is redeemed from the power of sin he that is Christs freed man is not a slave of sin not captive to the Devil at his will he that is in the flesh cannot please God but that every servant of Christ is freed from sin and is a servant of righteousness and redeemed from all his vain conversation for this is the end of Christs coming and cannot be in vain unless we make it so He came to bless us by turning every one of us from our iniquities Now concerning this besides the evidence of the thing itself that S. Paul does not speak these words of himself but by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under his own borrowed person he describes the state of a carnal unredeemed unregenerate person is expresly affirmed by S. Irenaeus and Origen by Tertullian and S. Basil by Theodoret and S. Chrysostom by S. Jerom and sometimes by S. Austin by S. Ambrose and S. Cyril by Macarius and Theophylact and is indeed that true sense and meaning of these words of S. Paul which words none can abuse or misunderstand but to the great prejudice of a holy life and the Patronage of all iniquity But for the stating of this great case of conscience I shall first in short describe to you what are the proper causes which place men and keep them in this state of a necessity of sinning and 2. I shall prove the absolute necessity of coming out of this condition and quitting all our sin 3. In what degree this is to be affected 4. By what Instruments this is to be done and all these being practical will of themselves be sufficient use to the Doctrines and need no other applicatory but a plain exhortation 1. What are the causes of this evil by which we are first placed and so long kept in a necessity of sinning so that we cannot do what good we would nor avoid the evil that we hate The first is the evil state of our Nature And indeed he that considers the dayly experiment of his own weak Nature the ignorance and inconstancy of his soul being like a sick mans legs or the knees of Infants reeling and unstable by disease or by infirmity and the perpetual leaven and germinations the thrustings forth and swelling of his senses running out like new wine into vapours and intoxicating activities will readily confess that though even in nature there may be many good inclinations to many instances of the Divine Commandments yet it can go no further than this velleity this desiring to do good but is not able And upon this account it is that Lactantius brings in the Pagan or natural man complaining Volo equidem non peccare sed vincor indutus enim sum carne fragili imbecillà This is very true and I adde only this caution There is not in the corruption of our nature so much as will save us harmless or make us excusable if we sin against God Natural corruption can make us criminal but not innocent for though by him that willingly abides in the state of mere nature sin cannot be avoided yet no man is in that state longer than he loves to be so for the Grace of God came to rescue us from this evil portion and is alwayes present to give us a new nature and create us over again and therefore though sin is made necessary to the natural man by his impotency and fond loves that is by his unregenerate nature yet in the whole constitution of affairs God hath more then made it up by his Grace if we will make use of it In pueris elucet spes plurimorum quae ubi emoritur aetate manifestum est non defecisse naturam sed curam said Quintilian We cannot tell what we are or what we think in our infancy and when we can know our thoughts we can easily observe that we have learned evil things by evil examples and the corrupt manners of an evil conversation ubi per socordiam vires tempus ingenium defluxêre naturae infirmitas accusatur that indeed is too true we grow lazy and wanton and we lose our time and abuse our parts and do ugly things and lay the fault wholly upon our natural infirmities but we must remember that by this time it is a state of Nature a state of flesh and blood which cannot enter into Heaven The natural man and the natural child are not the same thing in true Divinity The natural child indeed can do no good but the natural man cannot choose but do evil but it is because he will do so he is not born in the second birâ—h and renewed in the Baptism of the Spirit 2. We have brought our selves into an accidental necessity of sinning by the evil principles which are sucked in by great parts of mankind We are taught ways of going to Heaven without forsaking our sins of repentance without restitution of being in charity without hearty forgiveness and without love of believing our sins to be pardoned before they are mortified of trusting in Christs death without conformity to his life of
that he have remaining in him no habit of any sin whatsoever Our old man must be crucified the body of sin must be destroyed he must no longer serve sin sin shall not have the dominion over you All these are the Apostles words that is plainly as I have already declared you must not be at that pass that though ye would avoid sin ye cannot For he that is so is a most perfect slave and Christs freed man cannot be so Nay he that loves sin and delights in it hath no liberty indeed but he hath more shew of it than he that obeys it against his will Libertatis servaveris umbram Si quicquid jubeare velis He that loves to be in the place is a less prisoner than he that is confined against his will 2. He that commits any one sin by choice and deliberation is an enemy to God and is under the dominion of the flesh In the case of deliberate sins one act does give the denomination he is an Adulterer that so much as once foully breaks the holy Laws of Marriage He that offends in one is guilty of all saith S. James S. Peters Denial and Davids Adultery had passed on to a fatal issue if the mercy of God and a great repentance had not interceded But they did so no more and so God restored them to Grace and Pardon And in this sense are the words of S. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that does a sin is of the Devil and he that is born of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he does not commit a sin he chooses none he loves none he endures none talia quae non faciet bonae fidei spei Christianus they do no great sin and love no little one A sin chosen and deliberately done is as Tertullians expression is crimen devoratorium salutis it devours salvation For as there are some sins which can be done but once as a man can kill his Father but once or himself but once so in those things which can be repeated a perfect choice is equivalent to a habit it is the same in principle that a habit is in the product In short he is not a child of God that knowingly and deliberately chooses anything that God hates 3. Every Christian ought to attain to such a state of life as that he never sin not only by a long deliberation but also not by passion I do not say that he is not a good Christian who by passion is suddenly surpriz'd and falls into folly but this I say that no passion ought to make him choose a sin For let the sin enter by anger or by desire it is all one if the consent be gain'd It is an ill sign if a man though on the sudden consents to a base action Thus far every good man is tied not only to endeavour but to prevail against his Sin 4. There is one step more which if it be not actually effected it must at least be greatly endeavour'd and the event be left to God and that is that we strive for so great a dominion over our sins and lust as that we be not surpriz'd on a sudden This indeed is a work of time and it is well if it be ever done but it must alwayes be endeavoured But in this particular even good men are sometimes unprosperous S. Epiphanius and S. Chrysostom grew once into choler and they past too far and lost more then their argument they lost their reason and they lost their patience and Epiphanius wished that S. Chrysostom might not die a Bishop and he in a peevish exchange wished that Epiphanius might never return to his Bishoprick when they had forgotten their foolish anger God remembred it and said Amen to both their cursed speakings Nay there is yet a greater example of humane frailty S. Paul and Barnabas were very holy persons but once in a heat they were both to blame they were peevish and parted company This was not very much but God was so displeased even for this little Fly in their Box of Oyntment that their story sayes they never saw one anothers face again These earnest emissions and transportations of passion do sometime declare the weakness of good men but that even here we ought at least to endeavour to be more than Conquerors appears in this because God allows it not and by punishing such follies does manifest that he intends that we should get victory over our suddain passions as well as our natural lusts And so I have done with the third inquiry in what degree God expects our innocence and now I briefly come to the last particular which will make all the rest practicable I am now to tell you how all this can be effected and how we shall get free from the power and dominion of our sins 4. The first great instrument is Faith He that hath Faith like a grain of Mustard seed can remove mountains the mountains of sin shall fall flat at the feet of the Faithful man and shall be removed into the sea the Sea of Christs blood and penitential waters Faith overcometh the world saith S. John and walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh there are two of our enemies gone the world and the flesh by Faith and the Spirit by the Spirit of Faith and as for the Devil put on the shield of Faith and resist the Devil and he will flee from you saith the Apostle and the powers of sin seem insuperable to none but to them that have not Faith we do not believe that God intends we should do what he seems to require of us or else we think that though Gods grace abounds yet sin must superabound expresly against the saying of S. Paul or else we think that the evil spirit is stronger than the good Spirit of God Hear what S. John saith My little children ye are of God and have overcome the evil one for the Spirit that is in you is greater than that which is in the world Believest thou this If you do I shall tell you what may be the event of it When the father of the boy possessed with the Devil told his sad story to Christ he said Master if thou canst do any thing I pray help me Christ answered him If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth N. B. And therefore if you do believe this go to your prayers and go to your guards and go to your labour and try what God will do for you For whatsoever things ye desire when ye pray believe that ye shall receive them and ye shall have them Now consider Do not we every day pray in the Divine Hymn called Te Deum Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this day without sin And in the Collect at morning prayer and grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy
it is no wonder that it is said we are to be justified by works alwayes meaning not the works of the law that is works that are meritorious works that can challenge the reward works that need no mercy no repentance no humiliation and no appeal to grace and favour but alwayes meaning works that are an obedience to God by the measures of good will and a sincere endeavour and the faith of the Lord Jesus 3. But thus also it is in the word Justification For God is justified and wisdom is justified and man is justified and a sinner is not justified as long as he continues in sin and a sinner is justified when he repents and when he is pardoned and an innocent person is justified when he is declared to be no criminal and a righteous man is justified when he is saved and a weak Christian is justified when his imperfect services are accepted for the present and himself thrust forward to more grace and he that is justified may be justified more and every man that is justified to one purpose is not so to all and faith in divers senses gives justification in as many and therefore though to every sense of Faith there is not alwayes a degree of justification in any yet when the faith is such that justification is the product and correspondent as that Faith may be imperfect so the justification is but begun and either must proceed further or else as the faith will dy so the justification will come to nothing The like observation might be made concerning imputation and all the words used in this question but these may suffice till I pass to other particulars 4. Not only the word Faith but also charity and godliness and religion signifie sometimes particular graces and sometimes they suppose Universally and mean conjugations and Unions of graces as is evident to them that read the Scriptures with observation Now when justification is attributed to Faith or Salvation to godliness they are to be understood in the aggregate sense for that I may give but one instance of this when S. Paul speaks of faith as it is a particular grace and separate from the rest he also does separate it from all possibility of bringing us to Heaven Though I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains and have no charity I am nothing When Faith includes charity it will bring us to Heaven when it is alone when it is without charity it will do nothing at all 5. Neither can this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be salved by saying that though Faith alone does justifie yet when she does justifie she is not alone but good works must follow for this is said to no purpose 1. Because if we be justified by faith alone the work is done whether charity does follow or no and therefore that want of charity cannot hurt us 2. There can be no imaginable cause why charity and obedience should be at all necessary if the whole work can be done without it 3. If obedience and charity be not a condition of our Salvation than it is not necessary to follow faith but if it be it does as much as faith for that is but a part of the condition 4. If we can be sav'd without charity and keeping the Commandments what need we trouble our selves for them if we cannot be saved without them then either faith without them does not justifie or if it does we are never the better for we may be damned for all that justification The Consequent of the these observations is briefly this 1. That no man should fool himself by disputing about the Philosophy of Justification and what causality faith hath in it and whether it be the act of faith that justifies or the habit Whether faith as a good work or faith as an instrument Whether Faith as it is Obedience or faith as it is an access to Christ Whether as a hand or as a heart Whether by its own innate vertue or by efficacy of the object Whether as a sign or as a thing signified Whether by introduction or by perfection Whether in the first beginnings or in its last and best productions Whether by inherent worthiness or adventitious imputation Vberiùs ista quaeso c. that I may use the words of Cicero haec enim spinosiora priùs ut confiteor me cogunt quam ut assentiar These things are knotty and too intricate to do any good they may amuse us but never instruct us and they have already made men careless and confident disputative and troublesom proud and uncharitable but neither wiser nor better Let us therefore leave these weak wayes of troubling our selves or others and directly look to the Theology of it the direct duty the end of Faith and the work of Faith the conditions and the instruments of our Salvation the just foundation of our hopes how our faith can destroy our sin and how it can unite us unto God how by it we can be made Partakers of Christs death and imitators of his life For since it is evident by the premises that this article is not to be determined or relyed upon by arguing from words of many significations we must walk by a clearer light by such plain sayings and Dogmatical Propositions of Scripture which evidently teach us our duty and place our hopes upon that which cannot deceive us that is which require Obedience which call upon us to glorifie God and to do good to men and to keep all Gods Commandments with diligence and sincerity For since the end of our faith is that we may be Disciples and Servants of the Lord Jesus advancing his Kingdom here and partaking of it hereafter since we are commanded to believe what Christ taught that it may appear as reasonable as it is necessary to do what he hath commanded since Faith and works are in order one to the other it is impossible that Evangelical Faith and Evangelical works should be opposed one to the other in the effecting of our Salvation So that as it is to no purpose for Christians to dispute whether we are justified by Faith or the works of the law that is the Covenant of works without the help of Faith and the auxiliaries and allowances of mercy on Gods part and repentance on ours because no Christian can pretend to this so it is perfectly foolish to dispute whether Christians are to be justified by Faith or the works of the Gospel for I shall make it appear that they are both the same thing No man disparages faith but he that sayes Faith does not work righteousness for he that sayes so sayes indeed it cannot justifie for he sayes that faith is alone it is faith only and the words of my Text are plain you see saith S. James that is it is evident to your sense it is as clear as an ocular demonstration that a man is justified by works and not by Faith only My Text hath it in these two
at the eternal supper of the Lamb. And ever remember this that beastly pleasures and lying lips and a deceitful tongue and a heart that sendeth forth proud things are no good dispositions to a blessed Resurrection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not good that in the body we live a life of Dissolution for that 's no good harmony with that purpose of glory which God designs the body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said Phocyllides for we hope that from our beds of darkness we shall rise into Regions of light and shall become like unto God They shall partake of a Resurrection to life and what this can infer is very obvious For if it be so hard to believe a Resurrection from one death let us not be dead in trespasses and sins for a Resurrection from two deaths will be harder to be believ'd and harder to be effected But if any of you have lost the life of Grace and so forfeited all your title to a life of Glory betake your selves to an early and an entire piety that when by this first Resurrection you have made this way plain before your face you may with confidence expect a happy Resurrection from your graves For if it be possible that the spirit when it is dead in sin can arise to a life of righteousness much more it is easie to suppose that the body after death is capable of being restor'd again And this is a consequent of S. Pauls argument If when ye were enemies ye were reconciled by his death much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life plainly declaring that it is a harder and more wonderful thing for a wicked man to become the friend of God then for one that is so to be carried up to heaven and partake of his glory The first Resurrection is certainly the greater miracle But he that hath risen once may rise again and this is as sure as that he that dies once may die again and die for ever But he who partakes of the death of Christ by Mortification and of his Resurrection by holiness of life and a holy Faith shall according to the expression of the Prophet Isaiah Enter into his chamber of death when Nature and Gods decree shall shut the doors upon him and there he shall be hidden for a little moment But then shall they that dwell in dust awake and sing with Christs dead body shall they arise all shall rise but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits then they that are Christs at his coming Amen I have now done with my Meditation of the Resurrection but we have a new and a sadder subject to consider It is glorious and brave when a Christian contemplates those glories which stand at the foot of the Account of all God's Servants but when we consider that before all or any thing of this happens every Christian must twice exuere hominem put off the Old man and then lie down in dust and the dishonours of the Grave it is Vinum Myrrhatum there is Myrrhe put into our Wine it is wholsom but it will allay all our pleasures of that glorious expectation But no man can escape it After that the Great Cyrus had rul'd long in a mighty Empire yet there came a Message from Heaven not so sad it may be yet as decretory as the Hand-writing on the wall that arrested his Successor Darius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prepare thy self O Cyrus and then go unto the Gods he laid aside his Tiar and his beauteous Diadem and cover'd his face with a cloth and in a single Linen laid his honour'd head in a poor humble Grave and none of us all can avoid this sentence For if Wit and Learning great Fame and great Experience if wise Notices of things and an honourable Fortune if Courage and Skill if Prelacy and an honourable Age if any thing that could give Greatness and Immunity to a wise and prudent man could have been put in bar against a sad day and have gone for good plea this sad Scene of Sorrows had not been the entertainment of this Assembly But tell me where are those great Masters who while they liv'd flourish'd in their studies Jam eorum praebendas alii possident nescio utrum de iis cogitant Other men have got their Prebends and their Dignities and who knows whether ever they remember them or no While they liv'd they seem'd nothing when they are dead every man for a while speaks of them what they please and afterwards they are as if they had not been But the piety of the Christian Church hath made some little provision towards an artificial Immortality for brave and worthy persons and the Friendships which our dead contracted while they were alive require us to continue a fair memory as long as we can but they expire in monethly minds or at most in a faint and declining Anniversary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And we have great reason so to do in this present sad accident of the death of our late most Reverend Primate whose death the Church of Ireland hath very great reason to deplore and we have great obligation to remember his very many worthy Deeds done for this poor afflicted and despised Church S. Paul made an excellent Funeral Oration as it were instituting a Feast of All Saints Who all died having obtained a good report and that excellent Preacher in the 11. chap. of the Hebrews made a Sermon of their Commemoration For since good men while they are alive have their conversation in Heaven when they are in Heaven 't is also fit that they should in their good names live upon Earth And as their great Examples are an excellent Sermon to the living and the praising them when Envy and Flattery can have no Interest to interpose as it is the best and most vigorous Sermon and Incentive to great things so to conceal what good God hath wrought by them is great unthankfulness to God and to good men When Dorcas died the Apostle came to see the dead Corps and the friends of the deceased expressed their grief and their love by shewing the Coats that she whilest she lived wrought with her own hands She was a good Needle-woman and a good Huswife and did good to Mankind in her little way and that it self ought not to be forgotten and the Apostle himself was not displeased with their little Sermons and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the women made upon that sad interview But if we may have the same liberty to record the worthy things of this our most venerable Father and Brother and if there remains no more of that Envy which usually obscures the splendour of living Hero's if you can with your charitable though weeping eyes behold the great gifts of God with which he adorned this great Prelate aâ—d not object the failings of Humanity to the participation of the
the proportions of Holinesse and when all Books are read and all Arguments examined and all Authorities alledged nothing can be found to be true that is unholy Give your selves to reading to exhortation and to Doctrine saith St. Paul Read all good Books you can but exhortation unto good life is the best Instrument and the best teacher of true Doctrine of that which is according to Godlinesse And let me tell you this The great learning of the Fathers was more owing to their piety then to their skill more to God then to themselves and to this purpose is that excellent ejaculation of St. Chrysostome with which I will conclude O blessed and happy men whose names are in the Book of life from whom the Devils fled and Heretics did feare them who by Holinesse have stopp'd the mouthes of them that spake perverse things But I like David will cry out Where are thy loving-kindnesses which have been ever of old Where is the blessed Quire of Bishops and Doctors who shined like lights in the World and contained the Word of Life Dulce est meminisse their very memory is pleasant Where is that Evodias the sweet savour of the Church the successor and imitator of the holy Apostles where is Ignatius in whom God dwelt where is St. Dionysius the Areopagite that Bird of Paradise that celestial Eagle where is Hippolytus that good man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that gentle sweet person where is great St. Basil a man almost equall to the Apostles where is Athanasius rich in vertue where is Gregory Nyssen that great Divine and Ephrem the great Syrian that stirred up the sluggish and awakened the sleepers and comforted the afflicted and brought the yong men to discipline the Looking-glasse of the religious the Captain of the Penitents the destruction of Heresies the receptacle of Graces and the habitation of the holy Ghost These were the men that prevailed against Error because they lived according to Truth and whoever shall oppose you and the truth you walk by may better be confuted by your lives then by your disputations Let your adversaries have no evil thing to say of you and then you will best silence them For all Heresies and false Doctrines are but like Myron's counterfeit Cow it deceived none but Beasts and these can cozen none but the wicked and the negligent them that love a lye and live according to it But if ye become burning and shining lights if ye do not detaine the truth in unrighteousnesse if ye walk in light and live in the Spirit your Doctrines will be true and that Truth will prevaile But if ye live wickedly and scandalously every little Schismatick shall put you to shame and draw Disciples after him and abuse your flocks and feed them with Colocynths and Hemlock and place Heresie in the Chaires appointed for your Religion I pray God give you all grace to follow this Wisdom to study this Learning to labour for the understanding of Godlinesse so your time and your studies your persons and your labours will be holy and useful sanctified and blessed beneficiall to men and pleasing unto God through him who is the wisdom of the Father who is made to all that love him Wisdom and Righteousnesse and Sanctification and Redemption To whom with the Father c. FINIS Imprimatur M. FRANCK S.T.D. R sso in X to P. ac D no. D. GILB Archiep. Cant. à Sacris Dom. Sept. 21. 1663. A SERMON Preached in Christs-Church Dublin July 16. 1663. AT THE FUNERAL Of the most Reverend Father in God JOHN Late Lord Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland WITH A succinct Narrative of his whole Life The third Edition enlarged By the Right Reverend Father in God JEREMY Lord Bishop of Down and Connor LONDON Printed by J. G. for Richard Royston Bookseller to the Kings most Excellent Majesty 1663. 1 Cor. 15.23 But every Man in his own order Christ the first fruits afterward they that are Christ's at his coming THe Condition of Man in this world is so limited and depressed so relative and imperfect that the best things he does he does weakly and the best things he hath are imperfections in their very constitution I need not tell how little it is that we know the greatest indication of this is That we can never tell how many things we know not and we may soon span our own Knowledge but our Ignorance we can never fathom Our very Will in which Mankind pretends to be most noble and imperial is a direct state of imperfection and our very liberty of Chusing good and evil is permitted to us not to make us proud but to make us humble for it supposes weakness of Reason and weakness of Love For if we understood all the degrees of Amability in the Service of God or if we had such love to God as he deserves and so perfect a conviction as were fit for his Services we could no more Deliberate For Liberty of Will is like the motion of a Magnetick Needle toward the North full of trembling and uncertainty till it were fixed in the beloved Point it wavers as long as it is free and is at rest when it can chuse no more And truly what is the hope of Man It is indeed the resurrection of the Soul in this world from sorrow and her saddest pressures and like the Twilight to the Day and the Harbinger of joy but still it is but a conjugation of Infirmities and proclaims our present calamity onely because it is uneasie here it thrusts us forwards toward the light and glories of the Resurrection For as a Worm creeping with her belly on the ground with her portion and share of Adam's curse lifts up its head to partake a little of the blessings of the air and opens the junctures of her imperfect body and curles her little rings into knots and combinations drawing up her tail to a neighbourhood of the heads pleasure and motion but still it must return to abide the fate of its own nature and dwell and sleep upon the dust So are the hopes of a mortal Man he opens his eyes and looks upon fine things at distance and shuts them again with weakness because they are too glorious to behold and the Man rejoyces because he hopes fine things are staying for him but his heart akes because he knows there are a thousand wayes to fail and miss of those glories though he hopes yet he enjoys not he longs but he possesses not and must be content with his portion of dust and being a worm and no Man must lie down in this portion before he can receive the end of his hopes the Salvation of his Soul in the resurrection of the dead For as Death is the end of our lives so is the Resurrection the end of our hopes and as we die daily so we daily hope but Death which is the end of our life is the enlargement of our Spirits from hope to
certainty from uncertain fears to certain expectations from the death of the body to the life of the soul that is to partake of the light and life of Christ to rise to life as he did for his Resurrection is the beginning of ours He died for us alone not for himself but he rose again for himself and us too So that if he did rise so shall we the Resurrection shall be universal good and bad all shall rise but not altogether First Christ then we that are Christs and yet there is a third Resurrection though not spoken of here but thus it shall be The dead in Christ shall rise first that is next to Christ and after them the wicked shall rise to condemnation So that you see here is the summe of affairs treated of in my Text Not whether it be lawful to eat a Tortoise or a Mushrome or to tread with the foot bare upon the ground within the Octaves of Easter It is not here inquired whether Angels be material or immaterial or whether the dwellings of dead Infants be within the Air or in the regions of the Earth the inquiry here is whether we are to be Christians or no whether we are to live good lives or no or whether it be permitted to us to live with Lust or Covetousness acted with all the daughters of rapine and ambition whether there be any such thing as sin any judicatory for Consciences any rewards of Piety any difference of Good and Bad any rewards after this life This is the design of these words by proper interpretation for if Men shall die like Dogs and sheep they will certainly live like Wolves and Foxes but he that believes the Article of the Resurrection hath entertained the greatest Demonstration in the world That nothing can make us happy but the Knowledge of God and Conformity to the life and death of the holy Jesus Here therefore are the great Hinges of all Religion 1. Christ is already risen from the dead 2. We also shall rise in Gods time and our order Christ is the first fruits But there shall be a full harvest of the Resurrection and all shall rise My Text speaks onely of the Resurrection of the just of them that belong to Christ explicitely I say of these and therefore directly of Resurrection to life eternal But because he also sayes there shall be an order for every man and yet every man does not belong to Christ therefore indirectly also he implies the more universal Resurrection unto judgment But this shall be the last thing that shall be done for according to the Proverb of the Jews Michael flies but with one wing and Gabriel with two God is quick in sending Angels of peace and they flye apace but the messengers of wrath come slowly God is more hasty to glorifie his servants then to condemn the wicked And therefore in the story of Dives and Lazarus we find that the beggar died first the good man Lazarus was first taken away from his misery to his comfort and afterwards the rich man died and as the good many times die first so all of them rise first as if it were a matter of haste And as the mothers breasts swell and shoot and long to give food to her babe so Gods bowels did yearn over his banish'd children and he longs to cause them to eat and drink in his Kingdom And at last the wicked shall rise unto condemnation for that must be done too every man in his own order first Christ then Christs servants and at last Christs enemies The first of these is the great ground of our faith the second is the consummation of all our hopes the first is the foundation of God that stands sure the second is that superstructure that shall never perish by the first we believe in God unto righteousness by the second we live in God unto salvation But the third for that also is true must be consider'd is the great affrightment of all them that live ungodly But in the whole Christs Resurrection and ours is the Α and Ω of a Christian that as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to day and the same for ever so may we in Christ become in the morrow of the Resurrection the same or better then yesterday in our natural life the same body and the same soul tied together in the same essential union with this onely difference that not Nature but Grace and Glory with an Hermetick seal give us a new signature whereby we shall no more be changed but like unto Christ our head we shall become the same for ever Of these I shall discourse in order 1. That Christ who is the first fruits is the first in this order he is already risen from the dead 2. We shall all take our turns we shall all die and as sure as death we shall all rise again And 3. This very order is effective of the thing it self That Christ is first risen is the demonstration and certainty of ours for because there is an order in this oeconomy the first in the kind is the measure of the rest If Christ be the first fruits we are the whole vintage and we shall all die in the order of Nature and shall rise again in the order of Christ They that are Christ's and are found so at his coming shall partake of his resurrection But Christ first then they that are Christ's that 's the order 1. Christ is the first fruits he is already risen from the dead For he alone could not be held by death Free among the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Death was Sins eldest daughter and the Grave-clothes were her first mantle but Christ was conquerour over both and came to take that away and to disarm this This was a glory fit for the head of mankind but it was too great and too good to be easily believ'd by incredulous and weak-hearted Man It was at first doubted of by all that were concerned but they that saw it had no reason to doubt any longer But what 's that to us who saw it not Yes very much Valde dubitatum est ab illis ne dubitaretur à nobis saith S. Augustine They doubted very much that by their confirmation we might be established and doubt no more Mary Magdalene saw him first and she ran with joy and said she had seen the Lord and that he was risen from the dead but they believed her not After that divers women together saw him and they told it but had no thanks for their pains and obtain'd no credit among the Disciples The two Disciples that went to Emaus saw him talk'd with him eat with him and they ran and told it they told true but nobody believ'd them Then S. Peter saw him but he was not yet got into the Chair of the Catholick Church they did not think him iâ—fallible and so they believ'd him not at all Five times in
under the arms of all the Enemies of the Roman greatness This is a less wonder than the former for admonetur omnis aetas jam fieri posse quod aliquando factum est If it was done once it may be done again for since it could never have been done but by a power that is infinite that infinite must also be eternal and indeficient By the same Almighty power which restor'd life to the dead body of our living Lord we may all be restor'd to a new life in the Resurrection of the dead When Man was not what power what causes made him to be whatsoever it was it did then as great a work as to raise his body to the same being again and because we know not the method of Natures secret changes and how we can be fashioned beneath in secreto terrae and cannot handle and discern the possibilities and seminal powers in the ashes of dissolved bones must our ignorance in Philosophy be put in balance against the Articles of Religion the hopes of Mankind the Faith of Nations and the truth of God and are our Opinions of the power of God so low that our understanding must be his measure and he shall be confessed to do nothing unless it be made plain in our Philosophy Certainly we have a low Opinion of God unless we believe he can do more things then we can understand But let us hear S. Paul's demonstration If the Corn dies and lives again if it layes its body down suffers alteration dissolution and death but at the spring rises again in the verdure of a leaf in the fulness of the ear in the kidneys of wheat if it proceeds from little to great from nakedness to ornament from emptiness to plenty from unity to multitude from death to life be a Sadducee no more shame not thy understanding and reproch not the weakness of thy Faith by thinking that Corn can be restor'd to life and Man cannot especially since in every creature the obediential capacity is infinite and cannot admit degrees for every Creature can be any thing under the power of God which cannot be less than infinite But we find no obscure foot-steps of this mystery even amongst the Heathens Pliny reports that Appion the Grammarian by the use of the plant 0siris call'd Homer from his grave and in Valerius Maximus we find that Aelius Tubero return'd to life when he was seated in his Funeral pile and in Plutarch that Soleus after three dayes burial did live and in Valerius that Aeris Pamphilius did so after ten dayes And it was so commonly believ'd that Glaucus who was choked in a vessel of honey did rise again that it grew to a Proverb Glaucus poto melle resurrexit Glaucus having tasted honey died and liv'd again I pretend not to believe these stories true but from these instances it may be concluded that they believ'd it possible that there should be a Resurrection from the dead and natural reason and their Philosophy did not wholly destroy their hopes and expectation to have a portion in this Article For God knowing that the great hopes of Man that the biggest endearment of Religion the sanction of private Justice the band of Piety and holy Courage does wholly derive from the Article of the Resurrection was pleased not onely to make it credible but easie and familiar to us and we so converse every night with the Image of death that every morning we find an argument of the Resurrection Sleep and Death have but one mother and they have one name in common Soles occidere redire possunt Nobis cum semel occidit lux brevis Nox est perpetua una dormienda Catul. Charnel-houses are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cemeteries or sleeping-places and they that die are fallen asleep and the Resurrection is but an awakening and standing up from sleep but in sleep our Senses are as fast bound by Nature as our Joynts are by the grave-clothes and unless an Angel of God awaken us every morning we must confess our selves as unable to converse with Men as we now are afraid to die and to converse with Spirits But however Death it self is no more it is but darkness and a shadow a rest and a forgetfulness What is there more in death what is there less in sleep For do we not see by experience that nothing of equal loudness does awaken us sooner then a Mans voice especially if he be call'd by name and thus also it shall be in the Resurrection We shall be awakened by the voice of a Man and he that call'd Lazarus by name from his grave shall also call us for although S. Paul affirms that the trumpet shall sound and there shall be the voice of an Archangel yet this is not a word of Nature but of Office and Ministry Christ himself is that Archangel and he shall descend with a mighty shout saith the Apostle and all that are in the grave shall hear his voice saith S. John So that we shall be awakened by the voice of a Man because we are onely fallen asleep by the decree of God and when the Cock and the Lark call us up to prayer and labour the first thing we see is an argument of our Resurrection from the dead And when we consider what the Greek Church reports That amongst them the bodies of those that die Excommunicate will not return to dust till the Censure be taken off we may with a little faith and reason believe that the same power that keeps them from their natural Dissolution can recall them to life and union I will not now insist upon the story of the Rising Bones seen every year in Egypt nor the pretences of the Chymists that they from the ashes of Flowers can re-produce from the same materials the same beauties i◠colour and figure for he that proves a certain Truth from an uncertain Argument is like him that wears a Wooden leg when he hath two sound legs already it hinders his going but helps him not The Truth of God stands not in need of such supporters Nature alone is a sufficient preacher Quae nunc herba fuit lignum jacet berba futura Aeriae nudantur aves cum penna vetusta Et nova subvestit reparatas pluma volucres Night and Day the Sun returning to the same point of East every change of Species in the same matter Generation and Corruption the Eagle renewing her youth and the Snake her skin the Silk-worm and the Swallows the care of posterity and the care of an immortal name Winter and Summer the Fall and Spring the Old Testament and the New the words of Job and the Visions of the Prophets the prayer of Ezekiel for the resurrection of the men of Ephraim and the return of Jonas from the Whales belly the histories of the Jews and the Narratives of Christians the Faith of Believers and the Philosophy of the reasonable all joyn in the verification of
this Mystery And amongst these heaps it is not of the least consideration that there was never any good man who having been taught this Article but if he serv'd God he also relied upon this If he believ'd God he believ'd this and therefore S. Paul sayes that they who were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they who had no hope meaning of the Resurrection were also Atheists and without God in the world And it is remarkable what S. Augustine observes That when the World saw the righteous Abel destroyed and that the murderer out-liv'd his crime and built up a numerous family and grew mighty upon Earth they neglected the Service of God upon that account till God in pity of their prejudice and foolish arguings took Enoch up to heaven to recover them from their impieties by shewing them that their bodies and souls should be rewarded for ever in an eternal union But Christ the first fruits is gone before and himself did promise that when himself was lifted up he would draw all men after him Every man in his own order first Christ then they that are Christ's at his coming And so I have done with the second Particular not Christ onely but we also shall rise in Gods time and our order But concerning this order I must speak a word or two not only for the fuller handling tâ—e Text but because it will be matter of application of what hath been already spoken of the Article of the Resurrection 3. First Christ and then we And we therefore because Christ is already risen But you must remember that the Resurrection and Exaltation of Christ was the reward of his perfect obedience and purest holiness and he calling us to an imitation of the same obedience and the same perfect holiness prepares a way for us to the same Resurrection If we by holiness become the Sons of God as Christ was we shall also as he was become the Sons of God in the Resurrection But upon no other terms So said our blessed Lord himself Ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon thrones judging the tribes of Israel For as it was with Christ the first fruits so it shall be with all Christians in their own order as with the Head so it shall be with the Members He was the Son of God by love and obedience and then became the Son of God by Resurrection from the dead to life Eternal and so shall we but we cannot be so in any other way To them that are Christ's and to none else shall this be given For we must know that God hath sent Christ into the World to be a great example and demonstration of the Oeconomy and Dispensation of Eternal life As God brought Christ to glory so he will bring us but by no other method He first obeyed the will of God and patiently suffered the will of God he died and rose again and entered into glory and so must we Thus Christ is made Via Veritas Vita the Way the Truth and the Life that is the true way to Eternal life He first trode this Wine-press and we must insist in the same steps or we shall never partake of this blessed Resurrection He was made the Son of God in a most glorious manner and we by him by his merit and by his grace and by his example but other then this there is no way of Salvation for us That 's the first and great effect of this glorious order 4. But there is one thing more in it yet Every Man in his own order First Christ and then Christ's But what shall become of them that are not Christ's why there is an order for them too First they that are Christ's and then they that are not his Blessed and holy is he that hath his part in the first resurrection There is a first and a second Resurrection even after this life The dead in Christ shall rise first Now blessed are they that have their portion here for upon these the second death shall have no power As for the recalling the wicked from their graves it is no otherwise in the sense of the Spirit to be called a Resurrection then taking a Criminal from the Prison to the Bar is a giving of liberty When poor Attilius Aviola had been seized on by an Apoplexy his friends supposing him dead carried him to his Funeral pile but when the fire began to approch and the heat to warm the body he reviv'd and seeing himself incircled with Funeral flames call'd out aloud to his friends to rescue not the dead but the living Aviola from that horrid burning But it could not be He onely was râ—stor'd from his sickness to fall into death and from his dull disease to a sharp and intolerable torment Just so shall the wicked live again they shall receive their souls that they may be a portion for Devils they shall receive their bodies that they may feel the everlasting burning they shall see Christ that they may look on him whom they have pierced and they shall hear the voice of God passing upon them the intolerable sentence they shall come from their graves that they may go into hell and live again that they may die for ever So have we seen a poor condemned Criminal the weight of whose sorrows sitting heavily upon his soul hath benummed him into a deep sleep till he hath forgotten his grones and laid aside his deep sighings but on a sudden comes the messenger of death and unbinds the Poppy garland scatters the heavy cloud that incircled his miserable head and makes him return to acts of life that he may quickly descend into death and be no more So is every sinner that lies down in shame and makes his grave with the wicked he shall indeed rise again and be called upon by the voice of the Archangel but then he shall descend into sorrows greater then the reason and the patience of a man weeping and shrieking louder then the grones of the miserable children in the Valley of Hinnon These indeed are sad stories but true as the voice of God and the Sermons of the holy Jesus They are Gods words and Gods decrees and I wish that all who profess the belief of these would consider sadly what they mean If ye believe the Article of the Resurrection then you know that in your body you shall receive what you did in the body whether it be good or bad It matters not now very much whether our bodies be beauteous or deformed for if we glorifie God in our bodies God shall make our bodies glorious It matters not much whether we live in ease and pleasure or eat nothing but bitter herbs the body that lies in dust and ashes that goes stooping and feeble that lodges at the foot of the Cross and dwells in discipline shall be feasted
their souls our Primate had so great a Veneration to his memory that he purpos'd if he had liv'd to have restor'd his Monument in Dundalke which Time or Impiety or Unthankfulness had either omitted or destroyed So great a lover he was of all true and inherent worth that he lov'd it in the very memory of the dead and to have such great Examples transmitted to the intuition and imitation of posterity At his coming to the Primacy he knew he should at first espy little besides the Ruines of Discipline a Harvest of Thorns and Heresies prevailing in the hearts of the People the Churches possess'd by Wolves and Intruders Mens hearts greatly estranged from true Religion and therefore he set himself to weed the fields of the Church he treated the Adversaries sometimes sweetly sometimes he confuted them learnedly sometimes he rebuk'd them sharply He visited his Charges diligently and in his own person not by Proxies and instrumental Deputations Quaerens non nostra sed nos quae sunt Jesu Christi he design'd nothing that we knew of but the Redintegration of Religion the Honour of God and the King the Restoring of collapsed Discipline and the Renovation of Faith and the Service of God in the Churches And still he was indefatigable and even as the last scene of his life intended to undertake a a Regal Visitation Quid enim vultis me otiosum à Domino comprehendi said one he was not willing that God should take him unimployed But good man he felt his Tabernacle ready to fall in pieces and could go no further for God would have no more work done by that hand he therefore espying this put his house in order and had lately visited his Diocese and done what he then could to put his Charge in order for he had a good while since receiv'd the sentence of death within himself and knew he was shortly to render an account of his stewardship he therefore upon a brisk alarm of death which God sent him the last January made his Will in which besides the prudence and presence of spirit manifested in making just and wise settlement of his Estate and provisions for his Descendants at midnight and in the trouble of his sickness and circumstances of addressing death still kept a special sentiment and made confession of Gods admirable mercies and gave thanks that God had permitted him to live to see the blessed Restauration of His Majesty and the Church of England confess'd his Faith to be the same as ever gave praises to God that he was born and bred up in this Religion and prayed to God and hop'd he should die in the Communion of this Church which he declar'd to be the most pure and Apostolical Church in the whole world He prayed to God to pardon his frailties and infirmities relied upon the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus Christ and with a singular sweetness resign'd up his soul into the hands of his Redeemer But God who is the great Choragus and Master of the Scenes of Life and Death was not pleas'd then to draw the Curtains there was an Epilogue to his Life yet to be acted and spoken He return'd to actions and life and went on in the methods of the same procedure as before was desirous still to establish the affairs of the Church complain'd of some disorders which he purpos'd to redress girt himself to the work but though his spirit was willing yet his flesh was weak and as the Apostles in the Vespers of Christs Passion so he in the Eve of his own Dissolution was heavy not to sleep but heavy unto death and look'd for the last warning which seiz'd on him in the midst of business and though it was sudden yet it could not be unexpected or unprovided by surprize and therefore could be no other then that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Augustus us'd to wish unto himself a civil and well-natur'd death without the amazement of troublesom circumstances or the great cracks of a falling house or the convulsions of impatience Seneca tells that Bassus Aufidius was wont to say Sperare se nullum dolorem esse in illo extremo anhelitu si tamen esset habere aliquantum in ipsa brevitate solatii He hop'd that the pains of the last Dissolution were little or none or if they were it was full of comfort that they could be but short It happened so to this excellent Man his Passive Fortitude had been abundantly tried before and therefore there was the less need of it now his active Graces had been abundantly demonstrated by the great and good things he did therefore his last scene was not so laborious but God call'd him away something after the manner of Moses which the Jews express by Osculum oris Dei The Kiss of Gods mouth that is a death indeed foresignified but gentle and serene and without temptation To summe up all He was a wise Prelate a learned Doctor a just Man a true Friend a great Benefactour to others a thankful Beneficiary where he was oblig'd himself He was a faithful Servant to his Masters a Loyal Subjest to the King a zelous Assertor of his Religion against Popery on one side and Fanaticism on the other The practice of his Religion was not so much in Forms and exteriour Ministries though he was a great observer of all the publick Rites and Ministries of the Church as it was in doing good for others He was like Myson whom the Scythian Anarchasis so greatly prais'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he govern'd his family well he gave to all their due of maintenance and duty he did great benefit to mankind he had the fate of the Apostle S. Paul he pass'd through evil report and good report as a deceiver and yet true He was a man of great business and great resort Semper aliquis in Cydonis domo as the Corinthian said There was alwayes somebody in Cydon's house He was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he divided his life into labour and his book he took care of his Churches when he was alive and even after his death having left 500 l. for the Repair of his Cathedral of Armagh and S. Peters Church in Drogheda He was an excellent Scholar and rarely well accomplish'd first instructed to great excellency by natural parts and then consummated by study and experience Melanchthon was us'd to say that himself was a Logician Pomeranus a Grammarian Justus Jonas an Orator but that Luther was all these It was greatly true of him that the single perfections which make many men eminent were united in this Primate and maâ—e him illustrious At at Quintilium perpetuus sopor Urget cui pudor justitiae soror Incorrupta fides nudaque veritas Quando ullum invenient parem It will be hard to find his Equal in all things Fortasse tanquam Phoenix anno quingentesimo nascitur that I may use the words of Seneca nec est mirum ex intervallo
the sinner Let the business of your Sermons be to preach holy Life Obedience Peace Love among neighbours hearty love to live as the old Christians did and the new should to do hurt to no man to do good to every man For in these things the honour of God consists and the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Press those Grâ—ces most that do most good and make the least noise such as giving privately and forgiving publickly and prescribe the grace of Charity by all the measures of it which are given by the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. For this grace is not finished by good words nor yet by good works but it is a great building and many materials go to the structure of it It is worth your study for it is the fulfilling of the Commandements Because it is impossible that Charity should live unless the lust of the tongue be mortified let every Minister in his charge be frequent and severe against slanderers detractors and backbiters for the Crime of backbiting is the poyson of Charity and yet so common that it is pass'd into a Proverb After a good dinner let us sit down and backbite our neighbours Let every Minister be careful to observe and vehement in reproving those faults of his Parishioners of which the Lawes cannot or do not take cognizance such as are many degrees of intemperate drinkings gluttony riotous living expences above their ability pride bragging lying in ordinary conversation covetousness peevishness and hasty anger and such like For the Word of God searches deeper then the Laws of men and many things will be hard to prove by the measures of Courts which are easie enough to be observed by the watchful and diligent eye and ear of the Guide of Souls In your Sermons to the people often speak of the four last things of Death and Judgement Heaven and Hell of the Life and Death of Jesus Christ of Gods Mercy to repenting sinners and his Severity against the impenitent of the formable Examples of Gods anger pour'd forth upon Rebels Sacrilegious oppressors of Widows and Orphanes and all persons guilty of crying Sins These are useful safe and profitable but never run into Extravagancies and Curiosities nor trouble your selves or them with mysterious Secrets for there is more laid before you than you can understand and the whole duty of man is To fear God and keep his commandements Speak but very little of the secret and high things of God but as much as you can of the lowness and humility of Christ. Be not hasty in pronouncing damnation against any man or party in a matter of disputation It is enough that you reprove an Errour but what shall be the sentence against it at the day of Judgement thou knowest not and therefore pray for the erring person and reprove him but leave the sentence to his Judge Let your Sermons teach the duty of all states of men to whom you speak and particularly take care of Servants and Hirelings Merchants and Tradesmen that they be not unskilful nor unadmonished in their respective duties and in all things speak usefully and affectionately for by this means you will provide for all mens needs both for them that sin by reason of their little understanding and them that sin because they have evil dull or depraved affections In your Sermons and Discourses of Religion use primitive known and accustomed words and affect not new Phantastical or Schismatical terms Let the Sunday Festival be called the Lords day and pretend no fears from the common use of words amongst Christians For they that make a business of the worâ—s of common use and reform Religion by introducing a new word intend to make a change but no amendment they spend themselves in trifles like the barren turf that sends forth no medicinable herbs but store of Mushromes and they give a demonstration that they are either impertinent people or else of a querulous nature and that they are ready to disturb the Church if they could find occasion Let every Minister in his charge as much as he can endeavour to destroy all popular errors and evil principles taken up by his people or others with whom they converse especially those that directly oppose the indispensable necessity of a holy life let him endeavour to understand in what true and useful sense Christs active obedience is imputed to us let him make his people fear the deferring of their Repentance and putting it off to their death-bed let him explicate the nature of Faith so that it be an active and quickning principle of Charity let him as much as he may take from them all confidencies that slacken their obedience and diligence let him teach them to impute all their sins to their own follies and evil choice and so build them up in a most holy faith to a holy life ever remembring that in all ages it hath been the greatest artifice of Satan to hinder the increase of Christs Kingdome by destroying those things in which it does consist viz. Peace and Righteousness Holiness and Mortification Every Minister ought to be careful that he never expound Scriptures in publick contrary to the known sense of the Catholick Church and particularly of the Churches of England and Ireland nor introduce any Doctrine against any of the four first General Councils for these as they are measures of truth so also of necessity that is as they are safe so they are sufficient and besides what is taught by these no matter of belief is necessary to salvation Let no Preacher bring before the people in his Sermons or Discourses the Arguments of great and dangerous Heresies though with a purpose to confute them for they will much easier retain the Objection than understand the Answer Let not the Preacher make an Article of Faith to be a matter of dispute but teach it with plainness and simplicity and confirm it with easie arguments and plain words of Scripture but without objection let them be taught to believe but not to argue lest if the arguments meet with a scrupulous person it rather shake the foundation by curious inquiry than establish it by arguments too hard Let the Preacher be careful that in his Sermons he use no light immodest or ridiculous expressions but what is wise grave usefull and for edification that when the Preacher brings truth and gravity the people may attend with fear and reverence Let no Preacher envy any man that hath a greater audience or more fame in Preaching than himself let him not detract from him or lessen his reputation directly or indirectly for he that cannot be even with his brother but by pulling him down is but a dwarf still and no man is the better for making his brother worse In all things desire that Christ's Kingdom may be advanc'd and rejoice that he is served whoever be the Minister that if you cannot have the fame of a great Preacher yet you may have the reward of being a good man but it