he do but thirst he shall be welcome how unworthy soever he may be in other respects Dabit desideranti gratiam qui dat gratiam desiderii He will give grace to the thirsty who enables them to thirst after grace Christ is far from turning such persons away yea but for such he would have no customers in the world his commodities must lie by him dead for want of vent seeing others will not take them off but leave them still upon his hand as things in which they see no need have no esteem of This let all men know for certain that such as thirst so as to come come so as to buy buy so as to eat will never have cause to repent of their bargain I have somewhere read of a great Commander who being extremely tormented with thirst sold himself and his Army into enemies hands for a draught of cold water which when he had drunk he repented and said Oh quantum ob quantillum How very little is that for which I have parted with so very much Beleevers may take up the like words but in a far different sense O how much grace how much happiness have I got for a little thirsting a little trusting in Jesus Christ § 5. A third from the freeness of communication amply declared in this clause Come buy wine and milk without money and without price In the place hitherto insisted upon the word money occurs thrice twice in the first verse and once in the second but not in the same signification In the first it is clearly interpreted by price and signifies merit They are said to have no money who being conscious to themselves of their having nothing of their own to answer divine justice with to fetch them in pardon peace and righteousness wholly disclaim all self-sufficiency and come unto Christ as to one that expects not to receive but to be received looks for little or nothing from us but that we be nothing in our selves desirous to have all from him and to partake of his fulness grace for grace In the second it is expounded by labour and denotes industry Men are said to spend money for that which they lay out their pains about Money answers all saith the Preacher The Heathens have a proverb Eccles 10. 19. Dâ—i laboribus omâ—ia vendunt which ascribes as much to labour We say not with them that God sells his benefits to us for our pains but this we acknowledge he giveth them so as to require our industry about them Yet is not this any prejudice to the freeness of his grace or any contradiction to that clause Buy without money and without price because our labour can no way merit his blessings As when a Schoolmaster teacheth a boy gratis the youth cannot possibly attain to learning unless he be industrious and take pains at his book but it doth not therefore cease to be free on the teachers part because the learners pains are required So it is here Yet some in all ages have been so vain as to dream of bringing their money with them whenever they come I mean that which if not in it self yet in their opinion seems to deserve what they come for So the Pharisees of old and the Papists of late Insomuch as Cornelius à lapide in his comment Emptio est dispositio liberi arbitrii upon this very place which maketh altogether for the contrary doctrine countenanceth the popish tenents of free-will and merit of congruity Emitur pretio non condigno sed congruo So Elephants they say are wont before they drink to bemud the water which if it were suffered to remain clear would discover their deformity to them § 6. I proceed to the Expostulation contained in the next words Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Words applicable both to worldlings and to such beleevers as have not yet got clear of the world First to worldlings who manifestly spend not their money onely but their souls for that which is not bread In the Lords prayer Bread is put for all necessaries and used in the Lords supper to signifie the absolute necessity of receiving Christ by whom spiritual life is supported as the natural life is by bread Now the accommodations doted upon by men of the world and often purchased with the loss of salvation are justly said not to be bread because they are neither absolutely necessary to be had nor able to support such as enjoy them A mans life saith our Saviour consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Luke 12. 15. Wealth indeed is an accessory good but no necessary blessing None are made really happy by it though Latinists use the same word Beatus to signifie both rich and blessed A Christian may be happy without it really happy yea and really wealthy too for he is abundantly rich that possesseth Assatim dives est qui cum Christo pauper Christ in the midst of poverty and doth not make treasure his God as the servants of Mammon do but God his treasure § 7. Furthermore as the expression there is They spend their labour for that which satisfieth not A late Jesuite Cornel. à lapide Comment in Isa 55. 2. tells us a story of a feast made in Germany by a certain Magician for Noble men who whilest they sate at table with him received good content and fared to their thinking very deliciously but when they departed found themselves hungry as if they had eaten nothing at all which indeed was their case if the Jesuites relation of the magicians art and fact may be credited Such entertainment doth this present world afford its principal guests They are not fed with satisfying substances but with deluding shadows rather Surely every man walketh in Psal 39. 6. a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain David speaks it of such as heap up riches of whom also Solomon saith The rich mans wealth is his strong city and Prov. 18. 11. as an high wall in his own conceit A strong city in his conceit but indeed a castle in the air One that applies the scaling ladders of Scripture and reason to such walls may easily climb so high as to reach and pull down those ensignes of vanity which makes such a flourish on the battlements thereof Sooner shall men gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles then finde that a fountain of all good to any soul the love whereof Paul hath branded for the root of all 1 Tim. 6. 9. 10. evil It drowns in perdition how can it then crown with happiness Oh that ever so rich an heir as the soul of man should run away with so servile a thing as money is or give the least consent to a match so far below her birth and breeding § 8. Let authority be added to wealth and great honours to great revenues yet will
conscientiam have none conscious of thy crime so long as thou hast a conscience that is But that thou wilt say is part of thy self True wherefore I add God is by of whom the Apostle emphatically saith If our 1 John 3. 20. heart condemn us God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things Conscience we are wont to say is a thousand witnesses and let it be withall considered that God is as a thousand consciences both for intimacy of presence and perspicacity in discerning It is worth observing how the mention of Gods immensity is brought in by the Prophet in that forecited place of Jeremy where the whole verse runs thus Can any hide himself in secret places Jerem. 23. 24. that I shall not see him saith the Lord Do not I fill heaven and earth saith the Lord Our most secret sins are in reference to God no more secret in regard of his Omnipresence then if committed in the most open light Witness that in Moses his prayer Thou hast set our iniquities before thee our secret Psal 90. 8. sins in the light of thy countenance Jacob once said of Bethel God was once in this Genes 28. 16. place and I knew it not How fearfull is it Let every place be a Bethel to thee O watchfull Christian a place of fear and in some sence an house of God be it market or shop or field be sure the Lord is in that place not present onely but looking on nor onely looking but weighing and pondering whatsoever thou doest there in all the circumstances and aggravations thereof as Solomon testifies The waies of man Prov. 5. 21. are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings § 4. Having alreadie made improvement of the several branches let me now for a conclusion draw certain Corollaries from the greatness of God in general in number five First Let him be greatly praised for this by all mankinde 'T is the Psalmists inference Great is the Lord and greatly Psal 145. 3. to be praised The world is wont to commend greatness both in persons and things Great Princes have had Panegyrical Orations made in their praise as Trajan by Plinie great cities as Grand Cair great monuments as the Colossus are greatly extol'd by writers and travellers How much more should the great God whom the Prophet accordingly magnifies saying Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the ballance Isai 40. 14 15 16 17. behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering All nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less then nothing and vanity The drop of a bucket is nothing to the whole ocean nor the dust of the ballance to the whole earth no more is the whole earth with all the inhabitants of it to God In so much as if he were to be sacrificed to proportionably to his greatness all the beasts in Lebanon would not suffice for a burnt-offering nor all the wood thereof for a fire nor all men in the world for a priest to offer it § 5. Secondly Let him be greatly confided in by all his people That of St. John 1 John 4 4. Ye are of God little children and greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world should be made use of by the Saints as a precious receipt against the most deadly poison that can at any time be administred to them The Church indeed is very often put upon renewing Jehosaphats complaint and crying out We have no might against this great company perhaps both of 2 Chro. 20. 12. wicked men and wicked spirits that comes against us neither know we what to do But so long as she can add as he there doth Our eyes are upon thee Tit. 2. 13. this contemplation of her great God and Saviour may support her against the fear of them all The divel is mighty I confess it said Luther but he will never be Almighty as my God and Saviour Esto diabolus magnipotens nunquam erit omnipotens is upon these grounds a believing Christian living up to his principles may well say Shew me a danger greater then my God a Destroyer greater then my Saviour I will then fear it and him Till then pardon me if I do not let my confidence go what though Jacob be small as the Prophet speaks By whom shall Jacob arise Amos 7. 5. for he is small Yet arise he shall in spight of opposition and that because Jacobs God is great Thirdly Let the world learn to seek after interest in him Many saith Solomon Many seek the rulers favour And Prov. 29. 26. reason good because he is able to protect the persons and reward the services of his followers Behold here a Ruler indeed whose favour was never sought in vain if sought in time Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici expertus metuit Horat. one that can protect from hell and bestow heaven yea that which is the heaven of heaven the fruition of himself Being great with great men is a thing much affected by some although in experience it often becomes not a burden onely but a mischief whereas the love and favour of the great God and our Saviour alwaies proves shall I say beneficial that 's too little it proves and that alwaies beatificall Fourthly Let such as have obtained interest from him look for great things from him To Baruch it was once said Seekest Jerem. 45. 5. thou great things for thy self seek them not because he sought them in the creatures but if we seek them from and in the great Creator we may lawfully seek great things neither shall our doing so be attended with disappointment For open thy mouth wide saith Psal 81. 10. the Lord and I will fill it We are wont either not to open our mouthes at all or not wide enough and therefore it is that most of us continue so empty Ye have not because ye ask not James 4. 〈◊〉 so the Apostle let me say ye ask perhaps and yet have but little because ye do not expect much O Consider as Samuel once bespake the men of Israel how great things God hath already done for 1 Sam. 12. 24. you that so your experiments may be your encouragement to expect yet greater remembring that of our blessed Saviour to Nathaniel Believest thou thou shalt see greater things then these John 1. 50. He in whom ye trust O believers is a great God and loves to do all things like himself Wherefore look for great things from him great assistances great enlargements great deliverances yea the forgiving of great sins and the obtaining of great salvation § 7. Fifthly Let such as have received great things from God maintain a certain greatness of spirit sutable to
their flourishing condition in reference to thriving of children Our sons say they are as plants grown up in their youth not wishing they might as we reade it but boasting they were our daughters as Exerc. 1. corner-stones polished after the similitude of a palace To plenty of provision Our garners are full affording all manner of store To increase and usefulness of cattel Our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets Our oxen are strong to labour To peace and tranquillity of estate There is no breaking in nor going out no complaining in our streets Hereupon they applaud themselves and as placing their happines in such outward accommodations say as it is in the former part of verse the fifteenth Happy is the people that are in such a case Beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt Which sense is extremely favoured not onely by the vulgar Latine inserting Dixerunt but also by the Septuagint who render it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both concur ring to have it read They pronounced the people blessed that were in such a case Then come in the last words according to this interpretation as the Psalmists resolution in the point by way of Epanorthosis or in express contradiction rather to so gross a mistake yea blessed are the people which have the Lord for their God § 2. There is one centre in which the desires of all men meet however distanced in the circumference One port for which they are all bound although imbarked in severall vessels and affecting different winds to sail by That centre and port is Blessedness which may admit of this description It is the acquiescence of rational appetites in an object so full of reall and durable goodness as to be able fully to satisfie all their longings The question debated in Ecclesiastes is whether any thing under the sun be such an object The Preacher resolves it in the negative by reason of that universal vanity which overspreads the whole creation Therefore it is that the eye Eccles 1. 8. as he telleth us is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing because these two senses of discipline when they have given their utmost intelligence cannot present the soul of man with any created accommodations perfectly good without defect and perpetually good without decay Solomon was one that had both men and money at command to assist him in making difficult and costly experiments a wise heart able to dive into natures secrets a peaceable reign in which he met with nothing to take him off from the work or disturb him in it strong inclinations and constant endeavours to finde out the utmost of what could possibly be discovered in any creature yet he it is that concludes upon triall not upon hear-say or conjecture Vanity of vanities Eccles 1. 1. saith Coheleth vanity of vanities all is vanity § 3. Coheleth which is the style he gives himself in that Book comes from a root that signifies to collect and gather and though it be of a feminine termination is for want of a common gender in the Hebrew tongue as other words of the like form capable enough of a masculine construction To him it may be thought agreeable upon four different notions each whereof contributeth much validity to what he testifies First as a Preacher who having gathered sundry arguments to convince the sons of men of the insufficiency of all things below God himself to render them happy in that Discourse speaks as to a Congregation whereas in the Proverbs he had spoken as to one man frequently using this compellation My son So Hierom and Cajetan Secondly as a writer who had collected into a Synopsis all the opinions of those who had been taken for wise men by their severall followers concerning happiness confuting such as vvere erroneous So Grotius Thirdly as a Student who had gathered much wisdome by observation and experience which he there gives demonstration of So Broughton Lastly as a Penitent who having by his gross idolatry and other sins fallen from communion vvith the people of God and being desirous to have his return stand upon record and to testifie his repentance in that book for the Churches satisfaction gathers together many experiments of his own personal folly and makes an humble confession of them whereupon he was restored and again gathered into the bosome of the Church So Cartwright and Junius The witness vve see is beyond exception § 4. In his Testimony Vanity of vanities vanity of vanities all is vanity the Assertion is repeated as in Pharaohs dream to shew its certaintie and the term of vanity doubled partly to manifest the transcendency thereof as the most holy place was styled The Holy of Holies and the most eminent Canticle The Song of Songs and partly to note the multiplicity as Scripture calleth that the Heaven of Heavens which being highest contains many heavens within its circumference For there is in the creatures a threefold transcendent vanity as may appear in that they are First so unprofitable as to be hurtfull withall Upon this the Preacher seems to have had a speciall eye because after All is vanity he subjoyns immediately What profit hath a man of all his Eccles 1. 3. labour which he hath taken under the sun He hath done nothing but filled his hands as it were with air who hath been toyling all his days to replenish his chests with wealth And what profit Eccles 5. 16. hath he that hath laboured for the wind Just so much and no more then that Emperour got who having run Septimius Severus through various and great employments made this open acknowledgement Omnia sui sed nihil prosuit I have been all things but it hath advantaged me nothing at all Neither are they simply unprofitable but this sore evil did Solomon see under the sun namely Riches kept for the owners thereof to Eccles 5. 13. their hurt They often prove prejudiciall to the outward man exposing it to danger Who ever robbed a poor beggar or begged a poor fool more often to the inward whence that of Agur Give me not riches but feed me with Prov. 30. 8 9. food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord As if abundance made way for Atheisme in those that know not how to manage it Plenty betrays many souls to slavery Which made the good Emperour Maximilian second of that name when a mass of treasure was brought in refused to have it hoarded up professing himself A keeper of men not of Hominum â—on opum mihi demandata est custodia quibus si semel capiar illico è Rege servus futurus sum Beyerlinck Apophtheg Christian pag. 210. money and fearing lest by falling into love therewith he should cease to be a Sovereign Lord and become a servant to the mammon of unrighteousness § 5. Secondly so deceitfull as to frustrate expectation when mens hopes
Christ his Divinity shining as fire his Humanity darkening as a cloud yet but one person As that pillar departed not from them by day or by night all the while they travelled in the wilderness So whilest the Churches pilgrimage lasts in this world the safe conduct of Christ by his Spirit and Ordinances shall be continued But as at their entrance into Canaan a type of heaven the pillar is thought to have been removed because not mentioned in the sequele of the story and because when Israel passed over Jordan we reade not of the pillar but the Ark going before them So when the Church shall arrive at heaven her resting place the mediatory conduct of Christ is to cease and the Ordinances which are here of use to disappear § 2. Mean while this infallible counsel of God hath been most effectually administred by the Prophets and Apostles especially by Christ himself whose words were such as led directly to everlasting bliss Insomuch as when Jesus said to the twelve will John 6. 67 68. ye also go away Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go Thou hast the words of eternal life As if he had said Go whither we will to other teachers we shall be sure not to meet with words of eternal life any where else Such are proper to Christs school taught onely by himself and his under-officers whereof one hath left this profession upon record That which we have 1 John 1. 3. seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ So the Disciple whom Jesus loved in his first epistle Another this I take you to record this day Act. 20. 26 27. that I am pure from the bloud of all men for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God So Paul in his valedictory speech to the Elders of Ephesus Which he could not have said had not the doctrine he preached among them been sufficient to have led all his hearers to the fruition of God in Christ and therein to complete happiness That by the counsel of God he intended to decipher Christian Religion is manifest because that was the sum of all his ministery as we finde him declaring elsewhere Having obtained help of Act. 2â— 22 27. God I continue unto this day witnessing both to small and great saying none other things then those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come That Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead c. § 3. Counsel it is and therefore styled sometimes mystery and that a great one Without controversie great is 1 Tim. 3. 16. the mystery of godliness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Religion as others render it meaning the Christian an epitome whereof followeth God manifest in the flesh and 1 Cor. 2. 6 7. sometimes wisdome and that not among punies and novices who see not into the depth of things but among them that are perfect Sometimes The wisdome of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Maâ—t Expos fidei God in a mystery even the hidden wisdome which God ordained before the world unto our glory Which made an ancient writer affirm that the mysteries of our Religion are above the reach of our understanding above the discourse of humane reason above all that any creature can comprehend Yea it will be found the Counsel of God himself and not of man if we do but consider a few of its materials viz. principles above the reach of mans wit A resurrection of the dead a mysticall union of all beleevers among themselves and to their head A Trinity of persons in one Essence two Natures in one person God reconciled to men by the bloud men to God by the spirit of Christ with others of the like elevation Doctrines contrary to the bent of mans will As that of original sin which represents him to himself as a childe of wrath worthy before he see the light of being cast into outer darkness And that of self-deniall which taketh him off from confidence in his own abilities whereas proud Nature challengeth a self-sufficiency and will hardly be content with less Lastly Promises and threatnings beyond the line of humane motives and dissuasives exhibiting to the sons of men not temporal rewards and punishments onely but the gift of eternal life and the vengeance of eternal fire Things which not any of the most knowing Law-givers and Princes of this world did or could hold forth till the onely wise God was pleased to reveal and urge them in the sacred authentick records of Christianity § 4. Now Christian Religion promotes our guidance to the fruition we treat of these two ways viz. by discovering God in Christ and by uniting to him the former it performeth as Christian the latter as Religion First as Christian it discovers God in Christ which other Religions do not No man hath seen God at any time the onely begotten Son which is in the bosome of the John 1. 18. Father he hath declared him So the Evangelist or as others think the Baptist All things are of God who hath reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 18 19. us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given unto us the ministery of reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ c. So the Apostle The poor Pagan knoweth neither God nor Christ but ignorantly turneth the truth of God into a lie worshipping creatures and in stead of Christ is directed by his Theology to the service of a middle sort of divine powers called Daemons and See M. Mede his Apostasie of the latter times pag. 9 10 sequent looked at as Mediatours between the celestial Sovereign Gods whom the Gentiles worship and mortal men The modern Jew acknowledgeth the true God of his fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob but owneth not Jesus the son of Mary for the true Christ yea disowneth him so far as not onely to expect another Messias but if writers deceive us not to blaspheme and curse him and his followers The deluded Mahometan confesseth one God the Creatour of heaven and earth yea conceiveth so well of the Lord Jesus as not to suffer any Jew to take up the profession of a Musulman till he have first renounced his enmity against Christ yet will neither acknowledge his satisfaction upon which our salvation is founded nor his Divinity by vertue whereof that satisfaction is meritorious Whereas the true and pious Christian is by his Religion taught to say with Paul in direct opposition to all the three forementioned sects We 1 Cor. 8. v. 4 5 6. know that an Idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one For though there be that are called Gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be Gods many and Lords many yet to us there is but one God the Father of whom
Quae omnia saptens servabit tanquam legibus jussa non tanquam Diis grata Sic adorabimus ut meminerimus cultum magis ad morem quà m ad rem pertinere c. August De Civit. Dei lib. 6. cap. 10. will keep them all as things commanded by our laws not as things acceptable to the Gods for custome rather then conscience sake Thereby shewing as Austine observeth that he himself misliked what he practised and did not approve his own adoration What else was this but mock-worship And although it must be granted that some of them were more serious in that way of superstition which the Gentiles Theology prescribed yet was not their worship in Truth for being destitute of Christ who is the way the truth and the life they John 14. 6. Psal 51. 6. wanted that Truth in the inward parts required by God in all holy services The Pelagians indeed were of opinion that those vertues which appeared in heathen Philosophers and others of eminent note for morality though they had not received the knowledge of Christ were true graces But if Austin may be credited this above all their Hoc est unde vos maximè Christiana detestatur Ecclesia Contr. Julian pelag lib. 4. cap. 3. corrupt tenents was that for which the Christian Church did most abominate them their doctrine Yea Paul whom we are bound to beleeve in the fourth Chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians is thought to have concluded the contrary we finde there the life of the Gentiles Ephes 4. vers 17. 18. 21. 24. clearly opposed to the life of God which they saith he were alienated from as also to the truth as it is in Jesus and to that true holiness or holiness of truth wherewith every spiritual worshipper is endued And so far is the Apostle in that place from excepting their philosophers that as Grotius thinks he aims especially at them because his phrase in the seventeenth verse That ye Vide Grotium in Ephes 4. 17. in Rom. 1. vers 21 22. walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minde is fully parallel with that in his epistle to the Romanes They became vain in their imaginations which is certainly meant of their philosophers for it follows professing themselves to be wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the name whereby that sort of men were commonly known witness the seven wise men of Greece before Pythagoras invented that other of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lovers of wisdome as more modest § 4. The second grand direction about the manner of worship is that it be performed in the name and through the mediation of Jesus Christ who saith of himself I am the way No man Joh. 14. 6. comes to the Father but by me And of whom Paul saith Whatsoever ye do in Coloss 3. 17. word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus whereupon Luther was bold to Quicquid oratur docetur vivitur extra Christum est idololatria coram Deo peccatum Luther tom 3. edit Jenens p. 300. assert That all the prayings teachings and actings of men are out of Christ idolatry and sin in the sight of God Now although the first direction were not altogether unknown to some of the Gentiles as may be gathered from sundry passages in their writings cited by Grotius in his notes upon John the fourth at the four and twentieth verse and by Doctour Meric Casaubon in his second book De cultu the third chapter yet of this second they had no knowledge at all for it is not a lesson to be learned in Natures school The heavens indeed and so the earth with all the creatures in them both declare the glory of God in himself but the glory of God in the face of Christ as mediatour is not declared by any of them Insomuch as Paul tells the Ephesians that while they Ephes 2. 11 12. were Gentiles they were at that time without Christ although Ephesus then was full of Philosophers and eminent scholars witness the proverb of Ephesian letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 19. 19. and that story in the Acts which mentions the burning of books there to the value of fifty thousand pieces of silver by such as were taken off from the study of curious arts upon their conversion to the faith As for Jews and Mahometans the former we know have espoused long since another Messias and the latter set up that impostour Mahomet for their mediatour § 5. Now the argument built upon the foundation of these premised considerations stands thus No religion or doctrine can bring us to the fruition of God but such as instructs us how to worship him aright No religion or doctrine but Christianity teacheth the right worship of God Therefore none but it can bring us to enjoy him The proposition is bottomed upon that necessary connexion which is between the fruition of God and his adoration he being wont to communicate himself in or after acts of worship according to these and the like places He that hath Joh. 14. 21. my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him Behold I stand at Rev. 3. 20. the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me The Assumption hath been already cleared But if further proof be needfull I shall add one argument more So far is the light of nature from making a full discovery of what belongs to divine worship that the wisest Philosophers in their morall tractates have not onely been silent as to faith in Christ and repentance from dead works and such other eminent duties of religion but commended to their readers some habits and actions for vertues and duties which in Scripture are represented as vices and sins For example Aristotle one of Natures high priests in his Ethicks one of the choicest pieces of morality extant maketh a vertue of Eutrapelia which Paul under that very term prohibits as a thing inconvenient for Christians Neither filthiness nor Ephes 5. 4. foolish talking nor Eutrapelia Jesting which are not convenient So also Nemesis that is grief and indignation at the prosperity of unworthy men is by him reckoned among such affections as are near of kin to vertues but condemned at large by David in Psalm the thirty seven and by Solomon in the Proverbs saying Fret not thy self because of evil Prov. 24. 19. men neither be thou envious at the wicked Another of his vertues is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magnanimity which he describeth to be the judging of a mans self worthy of great things when he is so Whereas our Saviour directeth us even when we have Luke 17. 10. done all things that are commanded us yet to say we are unprofitable
servants He would have such a person a despiser 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and contemner of others which is plainly Pharisaical thinks all that savoureth of humility unworthy of his magnanimous man whereas Solomon telleth us It is better to be of an humble Prov. 16. 19. spirit with the lowly then to divide the spoil with the proud Yea he alloweth him in case of contumely to speak evil of his adversaries whereas our Saviours rule is Bless them that curse you pray for them Matth. 5. 44. that despitefully use you EXERCITATION 3. Oracles of God vocal or written Books of Scripture so called in five respects viz In regard of their declaring and foretelling their being consulted prized and preserved § 1. IN the epistle to the Hebrews these two phrases The first principles Hebr. 5. 12. and 6. 1. of the oracles of God And the principles of the doctrine of Christ import one and the same thing implying also that Scripture Records are the onely Store-house and Conservatory of Christian Religion I shall therefore from hence take occasion to shew That books of Scripture are oracles of God why they are so called and wherein they excell other oracles For the first There were two sorts of Oracles belonging to God vocal and written The vocal were those answers he gave from between the Cherubims on the top of 1 Kings 6. often and Chapt. 8. 6. the Mercy-seat which covered the Ark by reason whereof the Holy of Holies where that Ark stood was styled the Oracle The written are the two tables Exerc. 3. of the Law called by Stephen the lively Acts 7. 37. oracles and the Canonical books of Scripture as well those of the old Testament of which Paul speaketh when he declareth it as the great priviledge of the Jews that to them were committed the Rom. 3. 2. oracles of God as those of the New to which Peter is like to have had a peculiar respect in that saying of his If 1 Pet. 4. 11. any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Especially if his meaning be to admonish such as speak in congregations publick teachers or as another Apostle styleth them Ministers 2 Cor. 3. 6. of the new Testament that they be carefull to deliver Scripture-truths in Scripture-words New-Testamentmatter in New-Testament-language taking the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that text for a note not of similitude but of identity as when it is said We beheld his John 1. 14. glory the glory as of the onely begotten of the Father it is not meant of a glory like his but the very same So let him speak as the Oracles of God that is the self-same things which Vid. Gerhard Coment in 1 Pet. 4. pag. 631 634. God hath spoken in his word § 2. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby heathen writers had been wont to express their oracles chiefly such are were uttered in prose while such as were delivered in verse went under the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was enfranchised by the holy Ghost and applied to the books of Scripture to intimate as I conceive that these books were to be of like use to Christians as those oracles had been to Infidels whereof take a five-fold account I. Those declared to heathen men the will of their Idols whence also they had their names of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and oracula from orare quod inerat illis Deorum oratio as Tully giveth the etymologie because they contained what the Gods spake and delivered to be their minde The Scriptures in like manner contain the minde of Jehovah Somewhat of his nature we may learn from the creatures but should have known little or nothing of his will had not canonical Scripture revealed it We use to call a mans Testament his last will because in it he makes a final declaration of what he would have his executours do He that would exactly know the will of God must look into his two Testaments there he shall finde it fully expressed and no where else § 3. II. Those foretold future events which made them to be so much frequented by such as thirsted after knowledge of things to come These reade every one his destiny and acquaint him aforehand with what he may or may not infallibly expect according to his present and future qualifications Not to mention prophesies in the New testament whereof the principal magazine is the Apocalypse the old contains very many predictions beyond the activity of humane foresight For although such effects as depend upon natural causes which are uniform in their workings may be foretold by a skilfull naturalist and a wise Statesman observing the present constitution of a government may prognosticate what events are like to ensue upon those counsels and courses which he sees taken yet the quickest eye upon earth cannot foresee such future contingents as have their dependance upon the mere free-will of persons yet unborn and whereunto when they are born not common principles but heroick impulses must incline them Whereas in the Scriptures we meet with the names of Josiah and Cyrus and with their performances long before they had a being We finde old Jacob foretelling the respective fates of all his children and of their posterity Isaiah speaking of Jesus Christ as if he had written an history rather then a prophesie And Daniel who lived under the fitst describing the severall revolutions under all the other Monarchies as if he had seen them with his eyes § 4. III. Those gave advice in doubtfull cases and were in all undertakings of moment consulted with by devout Heathens who as Strabo testifies Lib. 16. in descript Judaeae in their chief affairs of state relied more upon the answers of their oracles then upon humane pollicies These were Davids delight and his counsellours Psal 119. 24. as we use to advise with those friends whom we take most pleasure in He had many wise men about him but in all their meetings for advice the word of God was still of the Quorum and nothing to be concluded of in the result without its consent Scripture must not onely be heard in all our debates but when any thing comes to be voted always have a negative voice Concerning Achitophels advice it was said what he counselled in those days was as if a man had enquired at the Oracle of God 2 Sam. 16. last which words being as it is well said by Peter Martyr Comparatio non aequiparatio a comparison onely not a parallel sufficiently intimate that all the Oracles of God are to be consulted and also that their counsel is to be rested in I shall therefore be bold to say to him that reads whoever he be as Jehoshaphat once did to Ahab Enquire I pray thee 2 Chron. 18. 4. of the word of the Lord to day As Paul to his Colossians Let the
Micah 7. 18. mercy mercy pleaseth him as much as ever any sin did thee What though thy rebellion hath been long continued The Psalm 103. 17. mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him Yea what though to former guilt thou hast added back-sliding and relapses to rebellion yet remember that in Jeremiah Return Jerem. 〈◊〉 22. ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings together with that in the last of Hosea where Israel had no sooner said In thee the fatherless findeth mercy but it followeth immediately I will heal Hos 14. 3 4. their back-slidings I will love them freely But lest any should surfet on these sweet meats take we heed § 5. Secondly Of abusing mercy by presumption Mercie improved openeth to us the surest refuge Mercy abused brings upon us the sorest vengeance It would be considered that there is one kinde of presumers whom mercy it self is resolved to have no mercy on so long as they continue such to wit those that dare expect it notwithstanding their resolution to go on in their impenitence and ignorance of God For thus saith the God of heaven concerning him Who blesseth himself in his heart saying I Deut. 29. 19 20 21. shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to add drunkenness to thirst The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven and shall separate him unto evil And again It is a people of no Isa 27. 11. understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour Such shall at length finde to their costs that the Justice of God as well as his Mercy endures for ever And that as nothing is more calm then a smooth more raging then a tempestuous sea nothing more cold then lead when it is taken out of the mine nor more scalding when it is heated nothing blunter then iron yet when it is whetted nothing more sharp So none more mercifull then God but if his patience be turned to fury by our provocations none more terrible Because I have purged thee saith the Lord and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee I the Lord have spoken Ezâ—k 24. 13 14. it and I will do it I will not go back neither will I spare neither will I repent c. Wo and again wo to them all against whom mercy it self shall rise up in judgement Look as the power of God though infinite receives limitations from his will He could have made millions of worlds would make but one In like manner his infinite mercy is also limited by his will and his word the interpreter of his will plainly telleth us that as Physicians begin with preparatives so he begets fear in their hearts whom he intendeth mercy to Look as a father pittieth his his children so the Lord pittieth them that Psal 103. 13 17 18. fear him The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him to such as keep his Covenant and to those that remember his commandments to do them Not they that presume but that fear not such as break but as keep his Covenant not those that forget but that remember his Commandments to do them or at least whose earnest desires and endeavours are that way bent may expect and shall Exerc. 2. receive mercy from him They shall finde by sweet experience the infallible truth of what Mr Peacock once said Mr R. Boltons Instructions pag. 87. upon his recovery out of a deep and long desertion viz. That the sea is not more full of water nor the sun of light then the Lord is of mercy EXERCITATION 2. Grace what From it spring Election Redemption Vocation Sanctification and Salvation A Caveat not to receive it in vain It purgeth and cheereth Glosses upon Titus 2. 11 12. and 2 Thess 2. 26 17. The exaltation of free grace exhorted to Long-suffering not exercised towards evil Angels but towards men of all sorts It leadeth to repentance is valued by God and must not be sleighted by us A dreadfull example of goodness despised § 1. A Second branch of Gods goodness is Grace which relates to unworthiness as the former did to misery God is mercifull to the ill-deserving Gratious to the undeserving So far are we from being able to merit so much as the crumbs which fall from his table that even temporal favours are all from grace Noah was preserved in the deluge Why because He found Gen. 6. 8. grace in the eyes of the Lord. Jacob was enriched and had enough How came it to pass Because God said he to Esau Gen. 33. 11. hath dealt graciously with me But beside that common favour which all share in more or less there is a more special grace which the Psalmist prayeth for Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people O visit me with Psal 106. 5. thy salvation § 2. This third is drawn throughout the whole web of salvation and there is not a round in the ladder to heaven which doth not give every one that steppeth upon it just occasion of crying Grace Grace Did the Lord elect thee to life and glory when so many were passed by What reason can be given of this but free grace Paul styleth it the election of grace in his Rom. 11. 5. epistle to the Romanes and telleth his Ephesians that God had chosen them in Ephes 1. 4 5 6. Christ before the foundation of the world according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glorie of his Ibid. vers 7. grace Hast thou obtained redemption through the bloud of Jesus That also saith he there flows from the riches of his grace Hath the Lord effectually called thee Bow down thine head and adore free grace as the cause thereof For he saveth and calleth us 2 Tim. 1. 9. saith the same holy Apostle with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace So in the Acts when a great number beleeved and were turned to Christianity Barnabas saw the grace of Act. 11. 21. 23. God shining forth in their conversion Hast thou received any abilities tending either to thine own sanctification or to the edification of others Do the like upon this occasion too as Paul did saying By the grace of God I am what 1 Cor. 15. 10 I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly then they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me In a word dost
far greater the holy Angels those favourites in the Court of heaven are all ministring spirits Hebr. 1. 14. sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation A task which they perform without grudging although in themselves more noble creatures then we are both out of love to their younger brethren of whom they have a most tender care and out of obedience to God their Father and ours Psal 91. 11. Mittis Unigenitum immittis Spiritum nè quid vacet in coelestibus ab opere solicituelinis Angelos mittis in ministerium who hath given them charge so to do as it is in the Psalm He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways Lay this to the former as Bernard did and we shall see the whole heaven at work for our preservation God the Father sending his Son to redeem us the Fathet and Son sending their Spirit to guide us the Father Son and Spirit sending their Angels to minister for us O taste and see that the Lord is good bountifully good § 3. Fourthly Large provisions in the way We consist of body and soul he provideth plentifully for both giving 1. Tim. 6. 17. us richly all things to enjoy as one Apostle phraseth it yea as another giving unto Jam. 1. 5. all men liberally and not upbraiding Whereas ordinary benefactours by reason of their stinted abilities give either but a few things or to a few persons onely or if to many but sparingly and are besides apt to corrupt and blemish their good turns by casting them in the Authores pereunt garrulitate sui Martial receivers teeth and making their boast continually of them all these are here removed from God whilest he is said to give unto all men and that liberally yea and so as not to upbraid although whatever men receive yea whatever they are sin excepted be wholly his That of the Psalmist is very emphatical and well deserveth our consideration The earth is the Lords Psal 24. 1. and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein The house wherein a man dwelleth may be his landlords but the furniture his own Here we are told that not the earth onely but the fulness of it is the Lords Both house and furniture may be anothers but he that inhabiteth it his own man Here they that dwell therein are the Lords the inhabitants themselves as the room and the stuff To which agreeth that of St Paul ye are not your own 1 Cor. 6. 19. and that of an ancient writer cited by Heinsius Our very being is none of Nostrum non est quod sumus multò minùs quod habemus ours much less the things we have in possession As for spiritual provisions his people use not to be scanted in them Another particular reckoned up by Nehemiah when he set himself to celebrate the acts of divine bounty towards Israel◠was the institution of Ordinances Thou camest down also saith Nehem. 9. 13. 14. he speaking to God upon mount Sinai and spakest with them from heaven and gavest them right judgements and true laws good statutes and commandements and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath One way whereby great Princes are wont to manifest their royal bounty is the making of great feasts as Ahasuerus and Solomon did we may safely allude to the Prophets expression though the place have another meaning and say of the Church in that respect In this mountain doth the Lord of hosts make Isai 25. 6. unto all people a feast of fat things of wine on the lees of fat things full of marrow of wine on the lees well refined Good Sermons and Prayers are like well refined wines and as Christ himself is a Saviour full of merits so is his Gospel a doctrine full of promises his Supper a Sacrament full of mysteries his Sabbath a day full of opportunities all his Ordinances fat things full of marrow § 4. Fifthly Full satisfaction at our journeys end Now indeed as the natural so the spiritual eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the spiritual ear with hearing because we see but as through a 1 Cor. 13. 12. glass darkly not face to face and know but in part that of which we hear Then shall eye and ear have enough when we shall see God as he is and hear Christ 1 Joh. 3. 2. saying Come ye blessed of my Father inherit Matth. 25. 34. the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world Here although beleeving souls have fellowship with Sistitur appetitus in via satiatur in patria God in Christ sufficient to stay their stomachs as at a breakfast yet that degree of fruition is wanting which should satiate them fully as at a feast beyond that of Ordinances What shall there be enjoyed will replenish every chink of rational appetites the first Truth filling up our understandings and the chief Good our wills to the very brim Then shall that be to the utmost verified which David once said of regenerate persons They shall be abundantly Psal 36. 8. 9. satisfied with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures for with thee is the fountain of life in thy light shall we see light § 5. For improvement hereof As our Saviour once said Be ye mercifull so Be ye bountifull let me say as your father is bountifull St Paul having praised the Macedonians for their deep poverty abounding unto the riches of their liberality urgeth the grace and benignity of Christ as a principal motive to excite his Corinthians to a like exercise of bounty towards the poor Saints at Jerusalem For ye know saith 2 Cor. 8. 2 9. he the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be-rich More especially let us all learn from hence not to deal niggardly with God himself but to think no pains too great no expence too much no time too long that is spent in his service Not as the manner of some is who so manage the profession of religion as if their main care and study were how to serve him with most ease and to come off with the cheapest performances David Paul and Luther were men of another spirit The first as he delighted in the commemoration of divine bounty to him saying I will Psal 13. 6. sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me And again Return Psal 116. 7. unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee so he was no niggard in his returns but ever and anon enquiring what he should do to testifie his thankfulness What shall I Psal 116. 12. render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me And as providence offered occasion laying himself out for God witness that his resolution testified to
their own mercy § 2. Well may we therefore trust God with our posterity seeing he that hath shewed mercy to us keepeth mercy for them As that fountain of light the Sun is not weary with shining it giveth us light and keepeth light for our Antipodes so this fountain of mercy is never tired with communicating goodness to one generation after another Good parents in bad times are often troubled with great solicitude when they think what will become of their children after them Let such consider that they leave them in his hand who is a God keeping mercy for thousands as Luther did who had this passage in his last Will and Testament Lord God I thank thee for that thou hast Melch. Adam Vit. German Theol. p. 134. been pleased to make me a poor and indigent man upon earth I have neither house nor land nor money to leave behinde me Thou hast given me wife and children I restore them to thee Lord nourish teach and preserve them as thou hast hitherto done me O thou that art a Father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows Let them remember how much mercy is entailed upon the issue of beleevers by vertue of these and the like places He will bless them Psal 115. 13 14. that fear the Lord both small and great The Lord will increase you more and more both you and your children The just man walketh Prov. 20. 7. in his integrity his children are blessed after him And that Satan never can God never will cut off this entail unless either the children degenerate or the parents distrusting providence make use of some unlawfull means for their promotion In which case Wo to him saith the Prophet that coveteth an Hab. 2. 9 10 11. evil covetousness to his house that he might set his nest on high Thou hast consulted shame to thy house For the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it If Jeroboam out of design to secure the kingdome and settle the crown in his own line will take the practise of Idolatry as a means to this end This thing becomes sin unto the house of 1 King 13. 34. Jeroboam even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth No wonder then if when Gods own peculiar people begin to distrust him and by reason of unbelief take irregular courses for their advancement in the world this very thing prove an obstruction to that mercy which they and theirs might have otherwise been partakers of Such as would be sure to finde him a God shewing and keeping mercy unto Exod. 20. 6. thousands must be carefull to be found in the number of those that love him and keep his commandments as he himself informeth us in the Decalogue § 3. The seventh branch is forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Where the terms are multiplied to note the readiness of God to forgive our offences how many soever they be though transgression be added to iniquity and sin to transgression How great soever See Muis on Psal 51. 2. they be Pescha which signifieth rebellious as well as Chattaah which imports failings and of what kinde soever they be whether original viz. the crookednes perversnes of nature intimated in Avon the word used in that speech of David Behold I was shapen in iniquity or actuall expressed by the two other terms To help our understanding herein the Holy Ghost in Scripture is pleased to make use of sundry expressions very significant when he speaks of Gods pardoning sin viz. I. Taking it away as in that place of Hosea where the Church is directed to make her addresses on this wise Take Hos 14. 2. with you words and turn to the Lord say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips Not as if when iniquity is forgiven it were presently to be taken out of the memory but that which the Saints desire is to have it taken out of the conscience that their hearts may accuse them for it no more As a thorn in the hedge is a fence but an offence in the midst of a garden So sin in the memory may do well to keep us from relapsing but is a grievance in the conscience Which made Austin after assurance Quid retribuam Domino quòd recolit haec memoria mea anima mea non metuit inde August Confess lib. 2. c. 7. of forgiveness when he had made confession of his former aberrations bless God that he could now call them to minde without being affrighted at the consideration of them II. Casting of our sins behinde his back So in Hezekiahs song Thou hast in love to my soul saith he delivered it from the Isa 38. 17. pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behinde thy back This God doth with a purpose never to view them more Oculo vindice so as to take vengeance for them though Oculo judice he cannot but by reason of his Omniscience see and discern them All the while Davids sins were before his own face and he making a penitent confession of them as in the one and fiftieth Psalm I acknowledged Psalm 51. 3. my transgressions and my sin is ever before me they were cast behinde the back of God as the Prophet Nathan assured him saying The Lord hath put 2 Sam. 12. 13. away thy sin thou shalt not die III. Scattering them as a cloud or as a mist So the Geneva translation hath it in that cheering passage of Isaiah I have Isa 44. 22. put away thy transgressions like a cloud and thy sins as a mist Sin is that which interposeth it self between the soul and the light of Gods countenance But whether it be a slender mist or a thick cloud an infirmity or a rebellion the sun of righteousness eyed by faith can and will dispell it so as to make it vanish § 4. IV. Covering or hiding them So in the Psalm Blessed is he whose transgression Psalm 32. 1. is forgiven whose sin is covered Men never Si texit peccata Deus noluit advertere Si noluit advertere noluit animadvertere Si noluit animadvertere noluit punire August in loc punish hidden sins because the law taketh notice of none but such onely as come to light by breaking out in words or actions God is accordingly said to cover and hide those sins as it were out of his sight which he never intends to inflict punishment for V. Throwing them into the depth of the Sea Thus in Micha's Prophesie Who is Micah 7. 18 19. a God like unto thee that pardoneth c. He will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the Sea Alluding perhaps to what befell Pharaoh and his host in the red sea which drowned the greatest Egyptian Commanders as well as the meanest
Nehemiah For thy great mercies sake thou didst Nehem. 9. 31. not utterly consume them nor forsake them for thou art a gracious and mercifull God Secondly That all sorts of sinners are not so punished but onely or mainly such as are guilty of the most hainous provocations chiefly Idolaters and worshippers of false Gods For the second commandment which is the first place of Scripture wherein we meet with this expression hath it thus I the Lord thy God am a jealous God Deum odisse insacris literis peculiariter illi dicuntur qui falsos Deos colunt ita ut neget Maimonides alio sensu id loquendi genus reperiri Grotius in explicat decalogi visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me that is of them that manifest their hatred of me by committing spiritual adultery with Idols which as some affirm is the most proper and onely notion of that phrase throughout the Scripture Thirdly That it is seldome done but where children tread in their fathers steps and are guilty of the same sins with their progenitours Then no wonder if what we finde in Isaiahs prophesie be accomplished to the full Behold it is written before me I will not keep Isa 65. 6 7. silence but will recompense even recompense into their bosome your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together saith the Lord which have burnt incense upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon the hills therefore will I measure their former work into their bosome Fourthly that it is never done but with mercifull intentions namely to restrain men from sin upon this ground because their children whom they affect so dearly are like to smart for it He is a truly miserable heir that inheriteth his fathers sins with his lands the one will quickly eat out all and more then all the comfort he can expect from the other Now there is scarce any penalty more grievous in Chrysostomes opinion then for a man to see misery brought upon his offspring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost homil 29. ad Gen. 9. and that for his sake § 6. Rulers should imitate God herein by not dealing against malefactours to the utmost of rigour but exercising clemency in their corrections not writing all their laws in bloud as Draco of old is said to have done not dismembring where a plaister will suffice nor applying scorpions where a rod will serve the turn Humanity is a manlike cruelty a diabolical principle In wrath God always remembereth mercy so should they of whom it is written I have said ye are Gods The sword of his justice is always furbished with the oyl of loving kindness so should theirs Our Queen Elizabeth is reported to have professed That next to the Scriptures Dr Hackwel on Psal 101. p. 28. she knew no book which had done her so much good as the often reading of Seneca's treatise De clementia § 7. To shut up this so long discourse with a review of Moses his example touched upon before in the third paragraph Look as some kinde of artificers after long poring upon a piece of black work finding a dimness in their sight are wont to take an emerald or some other green thing by the verdure whereof their eyes may be refreshed and their spirits cheered so beleevers when puzled dulled with the consideration of sad events should for their spiritual relief make use of this glorious proclamation made by God himself concerning his goodness and the several branches thereof which are all cheering to faith Moses did so in the fourteenth of Numbers The spies were then newly returned with their dismal report the people fallen into their two epidemical diseases rebelling and murmuring excepting onely Caleb and Joshua Hereupon God being highly provoked threatneth to disinherit them vers 12. to kill them all as one man vers 15. It was now time for Moses who loved them as his own soul to bestir himself to become their advocate and beg pardon on their behalf as he doth in the 17 18 and 19 verses grounding his plea upon two topicks the former Gods power in these words I beseech thee let the power of my Lord be great Let it be that is be manifested and appear to be great But what hath power to do with pardon Much every way Forgiveness is an act of potency as well as of clemency We know that in all Civil states pardoning such as the law hath sentenced is a prerogative belonging to the Supreme Power His second topick is Gods truth engaging him to make good what had formerly been proclaimed by himself concerning his goodness in Moses his hearing To an active beleever such as Moses approved himself in his whole course every revelation of God is like a clear and distinct voice uttered in an arched vault which resoundeth again and again God hath Psal 62. 11. spoken once saith David twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God Accordingly Moses as he heard this admirable discovery of divine goodness when the Lord first uttered it on mount Sinai so now he heareth it over again and upon this signal occasion maketh a due improvement of it by founding his plea for Israel upon it According as thou hast spoken saying The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and transgression c. EXERCITATION 6. Job 11. 7 8 9. expounded of divine Greatness Three reasons of that Exposition with the resolution of a question about it The height of Gods universal unaccountable omnipotent Sovereignty proved and improved § 1. ZOphar in Job being about as I now am to set forth the greatness of God premiseth this interrogation Canst thou by searching finde out God Job 11. 7. to implie the truth of what is elsewhere clearly expressed by the Prophet Exerc. 6. David Great is the Lord and greatly Psal 145. 3. to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable It could not otherwise be His. For as one saith well Non esset Deus magnus si non esset major captu nostro Such is the shallowness of mans understanding that God should not be really great if he were not greater then our capacities The description he maketh thereof followeth in these words It is as high as Job 11. 8 9. heaen what canst thou do deeper then hell what canst thou know The measure thereof is longer then the earth and broader then the Jea Where by height Zophar seemeth to understand the Omnipotent Sovereignty by depth the omniscient wisdome by length the everlasting duration by breadth the omnipresent immensitie of God The grounds of this interpretation are chiefly three First the dimensions here enumerated are those whereby we are wont to estimate the greatness of things and I finde all the forementioned Attributes spoken of as branches of divine greatness in other places Omnipotent Sovereignty Great is the Lord and of Psal 147. 5. great power Omniscient
over the creatures But every man since the fall is a slave born a servant to divers lusts and pleasures Neither is there any way for getting out of this estate but getting into Christ who restoreth all such as close with him to a spiritual Sovereignty Making them kings to God and his father Rev. 1. 6. and upholding them with his royall Spirit as some reade that in the Psalm Till then Psal 51. 12. what are whole Nations of men but to speak in the Prophets language as the drops of a bucket which in their fall Isa 40. 15. are so licked up by the dust of the earth as they are no more discernable or as the small dust of the ballance which is of no moment at all towards turning of the beam one way or other And if Nations be so inconsiderable what shall we say of particular persons I will suppose a mighty Prince but an unbeleever styled your Highness or your Majesty at every word and be bold to present him upon this occasion with Zophars interrogatory What canst thou do When God leaveth thee to thy self how impotent are thy best abilities as to the things of a better world Seeing they are such as no natural man can either receive for they are foolishness to him and must be spiritually 1 Cor. 2. 14. discerned or close with when they are discovered for the carnal minde is Rom. 8. 7. enmity against God it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be May these and the like considerations work so kindly upon us as Canutus his not being able to set bounds to the ocean did upon him It is an history worth the remembring This Canutus Cambden Britannia out of H. Huntington was one of the ancient kings of England who really to refute the flatterers by whom he was told that all things were at his command caused his royall Pavilion to be set upon the sands when the tide was coming in then said to the sea Thou belongest to my dominion and this earth which my throne standeth upon is mine I charge thee therefore not to flow in upon my ground nor to wet the feet of thy Sovereign Lord. But in vain for the tide kept its course and came up to his feet without doing him any reverence Whereupon he removed further off and said Be it known to all men in the world that the power of Princes is but a vain empty thing and that none fully deserveth the name of a Sovereign Lord but he at whose beck heaven and earth yield their obedience who can say to the sea hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud waves be staid It is also reported that after this he never put on his crown more O that all the sons of men would accordingly learn from this branch of divine greatness never to boast more of their own abilities but to throw down all their crowns at the feet of Christ who though omnipotence be incommunicable leaveth upon such as receive him by faith some impressions and footsteps of it For whereas divine Almightiness standeth in two things especially to wit in Gods being able to do all things that are regularly possible and his not being able to do any sinfull thing there are some prints of both upon Christians I can do all things saith Philip. 4. 13. St Paul through Christ that strengtheneth me And whosoever is born of God 1 John 3. 9. saith St John cannot sin because he is born of God EXERCITATION 7. Exerc. 7. The depth of divine Omniscience seen in discerning the deep things of man yea of Satan yea of God Our Nescience discovered and acknowledged The longitude of Gods perfection stated Eternitie proper to him Not assumed by or ascribed to men without blasphemy § 1. THe second dimension is the depth of Gods Omniscience which appears in that he is able to found and fadome the deepest things whether of man or of Satan or of the Divine essence and will First There are deep things of men Their words are deep and again The Prov. 18. 4. words of a mans mouth are as deep waters Their hearts and counsels much more Both the inward thoughts of every one of them and the heart is deep So David of Psal 64. 6. the churches enemies Counsel in the Prov. 20. 5. heart of man is like a deep water So Solomon of wise sages who are therefore compared by a learned writer to coffers with double bottoms which when others look into being opened they see not all they hold on the suddain Sr. Walter Ralegh's hist book 5. p. 359. and at once But these are no depths to God to whom David said There is not a word in my tongue but lo O Lord Psal 139. 4. thou knowest it altogether And elsewhere The Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth Chron. 28. 9. all the imaginations of the thoughts Neither is it the least act of Gods goodness to mankinde that he is pleased to reserve the searching of hearts to himself as part of his own prerogative royal because if men were able to dive into one anothers thoughts there would be no quiet in the world no peaceable living one by another in regard of that hidden hypocrisie and malice which lurks in the most § 2. Secondly Deep things of Satan spoken of in the Revelation As many as have not this doctrine and which have not Revel 2. 24. known the depths of Satan as they speak Seducers are wont to boast of their mysterious tenents and to speak of them as great depths not to be fadomed by common christians Christ in that Epistle of his to the church of Thyatira makes use of their own term Depths as they speak but so as to brand them for Depths of Satan fetch'd from hell whereas they perhaps held them forth as new truths glorious lights and revelations from above Thus popery is a mystery but a mystery of iniquity as Paul styleth it and Socinianisme a depth but a Depth of Satan There is not a serpentine winding or turning in any of those corrupt opinions which pester and poyson the Church of Christ at this day but God seeth and knoweth it how hard soever it be for his servants to discover and refute To these may be added all those other hellish designs which go under other names in the Scripture as The wiles of the divel and his devices Ephes 6. 11. 2 Cor. 2. 11. all which dark secrets are not in the dark to divine understanding And he that now sees them all will one day reckon with Satan for them yea and sink him so much the deeper into hell by how much his depths have done more mischief upon earth I say into hell where he shall have those agents and factours by whom he now carrieth on his cursed work for his cursed companions to eternitie according to that in the Apocalyps The divel that
elsewhere We are bound to give thanks alwaies to God for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God 2 Thes 2. 13. hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth Here we finde not onely Sanctification in general but faith which is the flower of holiness derived from Election The same Apostle stiles it The faith of Gods elect Tit. 1. 1. And St. Luke in the Acts speaking of the success which St. Pauls preaching had among the Gentiles saith expresly As many as were ordained to eternall life beleeved Acts 13. 48. A Text which the soundest divines look at as a most pregnant place to prove a causal influence of Divine Predestination upon the work of saving faith Others I know there are and they not a few nor inconsiderable who have strongly endeavoured to turn the edge and strength of this place another way by rendering the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not as we do Ordained but Disposed or well-affected to eternal life Unto whose corrupt Gloss I oppose the following considerations First If it were to be so read then all that heard the Apostles Sermon there recorded even all and every one without exception should have beleeved seeing there is not a man in the world and therefore none in that congregation who was not disposed and well-affected to the reward of eternal life the will of man being necessarily carried to the desire of blessedness which none are so bruitish as not to affect for that unto which these are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not conversion but life eternal Secondly Disposedness in their sense doth not alwaies precede faith nor faith alwaies follow it When Saul was in the full career of his persecuting madness against the Saints what disposedness was there in him unto conversion unless fury be a disposition to faith yet then did he first believe In that young man who came to our Saviour of whom it is testified That he was not far from the kingdome of God which of their dispositions was wanting yet he went away sorrowfull and believed not Thirdly Faith it self is the first saving disposition that any man hath because it first laies hold upon Christ and of life by him in so much as none is formally disposed to eternal life till he have believed Fourthly St. Luke doth no where use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either in his Gospel or in the Acts for disposedness but for ordination and constitution divers times therefore our reading here As many as were ordained to eternal life is to be retained § 8. But learned Grotius will by no means allow of this interpretation They saith he who apply this Text to Predestination Nihil vident see nothing at all Yet by his favour a man that saw as far into the Mysteries of Divinity as also into the idioms of the Greek tongue as Grotius himself be it spoken without disparagement to his great learning Chrysostom I mean applys it so in his Commentary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Hom. 30. in Act. Apost upon the place And his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is expounded Erasmus translates Praefiniti à Deo Predestinated of God Three things are alleadged by Grotius for overthrowing of this sense but all in vain His first plea is that 't is not usual for all of a city a congregation that are predestinated to believe at one and the same time therefore that which we assert is not like to be the meaning here For answer I acknowledge it is not usual no more is it to have three thousand inhabitants of one city brought in to God on one day But what if God willing to glorifie his Gospel and the power of converting Grace as he called three thousand Jews in one day by Peters Ministry Acts the second so here by St. Pauls at his first solemn undertaking to preach unto the Gentiles Acts the 13. were pleased to work upon as many in that congregation as did belong to the election of grace shall any man dare to prescribe and plead custome to the contrary His second Argument runs thus All that truely believe are not Predestinated unto life Therefore that for which we contend is not to be thought a proper sense Answer This reason is founded upon a grand mistake viz. That faith is common to all whether elect or non-elect although Paul stile it the Faith of Gods elect as before and Christ tels the Jews Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep John 10. 26. He argues in the third place from St. Lukes unacquaintedness with the secrets of God It was not in his power to tell who of that company were elected who not therefore by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he must not be conceived to have understood such as were in that sense ordained to eternal life I answer Although the pen-man did not the inditer viz. the Holy Ghost did exactly know whose names were written in the book of life and whose were not Now he it was that in the history of the Acts suggested and dedicated to his secretary both matter and words § 9. The second product of election is happiness hereafter Accordingly the objects of this Decree are those whom God hath not appointed unto wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus 1 Thes 5. 9. Christ Salvation is that which they are said to be chosen to and that wherein their names are written called The 2 Thes 2. 13. book of life For as in military affairs Phil. 4. 3. Commanders have their Muster-rolls wherein are contained the names of all the souldiers whom they have listed whence the phrase of Conscribere milites and in Common-wealths there are Registries kept wherein are recorded the names of such as are chosen to offices of trust and other preferments whence the title of Patres conscripti ascribed to the Senators of Rome So the Scripture condescending to our capacities and speaking of God after the manner of men attributeth to him a book of life wherein it supposeth a legible writing and Registring the names of all those persons whom he hath irreversibly predestinated to life everlasting I say irreversibly for if that of Stoicks be true In sapientum decretis nulla est litura In the decrees of wise men there will be no blotting and blurring how much more may it be asserted concerning those eternal Decrees of the onely wise God If it became Pilate to say What I have written I have written it would certainly mis-become the great John 19. 22. God to blot so much as one name out of the Lambs book of life written by himself before the world was We may take it for granted that this book will not admit of any Deleatur or of any See my Tactica Sacra lib. 3. cap. 2. §. 9 10 11. sequent Expurgatorie Index whatever
wrath verses 22 23. What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory Where I desire to have it punctually observed that the vessels of wrath are onely said to be fitted to destruction without naming by whom God Satan or themselves whereas on the other side God himself Electio non est causâ— tantum salutis sed oâ—nium corum quae causae rationem habent ad saluteâ— Râ—probatio vâ—rò neque damnationis â—eque peâ—â—ati quod meretur dann ationem est propâ—iè causa sed antecedens tantum Ames meduâ— l. 1. c. 25. thes 40. is expresly said to have prepared his chosen vessels of mercy unto glory Which was purposely done as I humbly conceive to intimate a remarkable difference between election and preterition in that Election is a proper cause not onely of salvation it self but of all the graces which have any causal tendency thereunto and therefore God is said to prepare his elect to glory Whereas negative reprobation is no proper cause either of damnation it self or of the sin that bringeth it but an antecedent onely wherefore the Non-elect are indeed said to be fitted to that destruction which their sins in the conclusion bring upon them but not by God I call it a remarkable difference because where it is once rightly apprehended and truly beleeved it sufficeth to stop the mouth of one of those greatest calumnies and odiums which are usually cast upon our doctrine of predestination viz. that God made sundry of his creatures on purpose to damn them a thing which the rhetorick of our adversaries is wont to blow up to the highest pitch of aggravation But is as soon blown away by such as can tell them in the words of the Excellent Dr Davenant B. Daven Aniâ—adveâ—s on Gods lâ—ve to mankinde pag. 89. It is true that the elect are severally created to the end intent that they may be glorified together with their head Christ Jesus But for the Non-elect we cannot truly say that they are created to the end they may be tormented with the Devil and his Angels For we may then say God maketh such a thing for such an end when he giveth the thing a nature and qualities fitted for such an end e. gr that he made the sun to enlighten the world because he filled it with lightsomeness Now no man is created by God with a nature and quality fitting him to damnation Yea neither in the state of his innocency nor in the state of the fall and his corruption doth he receive any thing from God which is a proper and fit means of bringing him to his damnation And therefore damnation is not the end of any mans creation § 4. We have seen our Apostle propounding the doctrine of predestination in this his discourse see how he prosecutes the same more ways then one I. By producing certain instances The persons he instanceth in if not as solemn examples yet as types and figures are at least of election Isaac and Jacob of reprobation Ismael and Esau It is the grand priviledge of Gods elect to have his covenant established with them in special manner The Messias saith the Angel in Daniel was cut off Dan. 9. 26 27. but not for himself And he shall confirm the Covenant with many The word is Larabbim with those excellent ones by whom Piscator understandeth the elect those Many whom God's righteous servant is said to justifie Isaiah 53. 11. where we meet with the same word If so who more fit to figure out them then our father Isaac concerning whom the Lord said to Abraham I will establish Gen. 17. 19. my Covenant with him for an everlasting Covenant and with his seed after him Again the style of all those who are written in heaven that is of the Elect is Hebr. 12. 23. the generall Assembly and Church of the 〈◊〉 stborn If so who more fit to typifie them then Jacob a man of all others most famous for procuring a primogeniture in an extraordinary way As for reprobation the obiects whereof are castaways well might Ismael stand for a figure of them because of him Sarah said unto her husband Cast out Gen. 21. 10 12. this bond-woman and her son for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with my son even with Isaac And her word was ratified by God himself saying to Abraham In all that Sarah hath said unto thee hearken unto her voice for in Isaac shall thy â—eed be called As also Esau who here falleth under two sad characters One of Gods hatred then which nothing more dreadfull Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated verse 13. the other of servitude verse 12. The elder shall serve the younger Concerning which Mr Ainsworth hath these words Servitude came in with a curse and figureth reprobation Ainsworth on Gen. 25. 23. Gen. 9. 25. John 8. 34 35. Gal. 4. 30 31. Therefore from hence the Prophet teacheth that God loved Jacob and hated Esau and the Apostle gathereth the doctrine of election and reprobation Romanes 9. 10 11 12 13. So he § 5. The main exception which our adversaries hitherto have been wont to take at this and the like expositions ariseth thus Jacob and Esau are considerable in a double capacity the one Personal as they were this and that individual member of mankinde the other Patriarchal as they were heads of several Nations Jacob of the Israelites Esau of the Edomites or Idumeans They suppose we cannot safely apply the oracle delivered to Rebecca unto their persons seeing Malachy long since expounded it of their posterity in these words Was not Esau Jacobs brother saith Malach. 1. 2. 3. the Lord yet I loved Jacob and I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness c. My conceptions concerning this matter which as I would not impose upon any far be such presumption from me so I would have no Reader contemn till he have considered them are as followeth According to their double capacity the answer of God to Rebecca about them seemeth to have had a double aspect One to their posterity regarding temporal things especially of which Malachy speaketh another to their persons eying chiefly their spiritual concernments and of that Paul treats in Romanes 9. as the context importeth Nor can this be wondered at by such as consider how usuall it hath been with God as to discover himself by degrees witness that in Deuteronomy The Lord came from Sinai Deut. 33. 2. and rose up from Seir unto them he shined forth from mount Paran so to reserve more spiritual discoveries for Gospel-times § 6. Whereas it is further objected that the Elders serving the Younger was never verified in the
all things that stretcheth sorth the heavens alone that spreadeth abroad the earth by my self Yea so necessary was the confession of this truth with the utmost hazard to distinguish God from Idols that to the end the Jews who were then captives in Babylon might not be wholly to seek for a profession of their faith they had this verse in the Hebrew Bible written then and so still in Chaldee letters Thus shall ye say unto them The Gods that have not made the heavens and the earth even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens Jerem. 10. 11. ' E◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. de Monarthia Dei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Trismegistus Not unsutable whereunto is that of Pythagoras long since cited by Justin Martyr Whosoever would from henceâ—orth challenge any Diety to himself must be able to shew such a world as this and to say in truth This is of my making and that of Trismegist an heathen too in one of his books There are mainly three to be considered God the World and Man the world made for man and man for God § 2. But we have a more sure word of Prophesie and to that let us take heed It will shew us First How we Christians by faith understand that the Hebr. 11. 3. worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear Well might a Gilb. Voetius Disput Theol. part 1 p. 881. late writer conclude his Discourse of Creation with this Epiphonema Quantum est quod nescimus The truth is it is but little that we can learn from Philosophers even concerning Creation it self the onely Article of the Creed which they speak fully too unacquainted with Scripture Which made Maximilian the first to say that the Audiâ—ndi sunt Ethâ—ici non â—anquam Philomeâ—e sed tanquam Ranae Apud Voetium ibid. pag. 680. Ethnicks were to be heard not as singing Nightingales but as croaking frogs And two great Physicians betake themselves to the study of Scripture for understanding the secrets of Nature One Sennertus who findeth much fault with those who perverted the text of Moses and interpreted him out of heathen writers ausu infelici saith he non tolerando by an unhappy and intolerable undertaking The other Vallesius Huic lectioni consecrari senectutem statui in his philosophari c. Vallosius who in the Preface to his Sacra Philosophia telleth us that whereas he had in the former part of his life commented upon all Aristotles Acromasticks and many pieces both of Hippocrates and Galen he was resolved to devote the remainder of his days to the study of the holy Scriptures and to seek his Philosophy out of them for time to come By faith we understand A Christian firmly beleeves those truths concerning the time and manner of the worlds creation because he hath Scripture testimony for them That the worlds were framed speaking after the Jewish mode though there be indeed but one world in the plurall number for the Hebrews then were wont to mention a threeâ—old viz. an inferiour a middle and a superiour world as Camero Cameron Myrothec pag. 288. telleth us Framed by the word of God saith this place When Solomon was to build a magnificent Temple he needed many workmen and they many tools Not so God who did all without any coadjutour any instrument by the sole word of his command By the word of Psaâ— 33. 6. the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth Let Psal 148. 5. them praiâ—e the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created Art can work if Nature first afford it some complete matter Let an artificer have a stone he can make a statue otherwise not Nature can work if there be a principle to work upon though incomplete Let there be seed it can produce a plant let there be spawn a fish But to work without praeexistent matter Dr Jacksons Commentary on the Creed 2d part chap. 6. § 4. pag. 64. so as to bring forth the first plant without seed the first fish without a spawn yea the first principles of these and all things else out of nothing by his sole word is proper to God So that things which are seen as it followeth here were not made of things which do appear That Rule Ex nihilo nihil fit holds in natura constituta now that God hath set nature in a course of working by secondary causes enabled to produce effects like themselves but in natura constituenda it was otherwise when God wrought by his word of command and is therefore called Elohim by Moses two and thirty times in his history of creation as Mercer observeth The Schoolmen for the most part express that which is here called Things that do not appear by the term Nothing either simply Nothing or No such thing as it appeared to be at first yet when they speak of Non-ens they take not the word materially as if mear Nothing were the matter of which any Being were framed but Terminatively as the term from which the Creatour moved For example the Angels they say and the souls of men together with the Essential forms of natural bodies were not then educed ex potentia materiae as they are since in the ordinary course of generation by Vâ—ssii Thes p. 12. particular agents but induced in materiam by God himself the universal cause and had an immediate Production by the Creatour whereas some other things as the Sun Mans body had a mediate creation as being produced ex non-ente tali from such things as of themselves could not have caused such effects but by virtue of Gods creative word B. Hall contemplat of creation Doctor Hall hath given us the true notion of this in a compendious saying of his God made something out of nothing and of that something all things So as if all things be run to their first Original they will be found to come up out of the womb of Nothing from whence nothing but Almightiness could have fetch 't them § 3. That although the creatures be now subject to vanity yet the goodness of God did shine forth in their first production and is still abundantly manifested in them The creature saith Paul speaking of its present state Rom. 9. 21. was made subject to vanity Whatsoever thing had any being of it self and was not for ever but did receive a being in time and that from God is a creature saith Daneus well thereby excluding the Divinity of Christ which was Creatura est res omnis quae neque à sciâ—sa est neque semper fuit sed ut aliquando à Deo producta est Daneus Physic Christ in p. 59. from everlasting as the Angels were not but produced by God in time and sins of all sorts because though God be
his fancy and hit upon nothing the second did the same He then expected the youngest should go directly to the Crowned bed but he prayed the Emperour that he might be permitted to lie with one of his brothers and by this means not any of the three took the way of the Empire which was so easie to be had that it was not above a pace distant Anastasius much amazed well saw God would transfer the Diadem from his race as he did afterward to Justine Who can read and consider such examples without saying as he did Ludit in humanis Divina potentia rebus That is Divine power often dares Desport it self in mens affairs Remember Daniels four beasts and the seven heads of that beast in the Apocalyps conceived by interpreters to resemble the seven forms of Government which Rome was to undergo sucsessively from a Common-wealth to Kings from Kings to Consuls from Consuls to Dictatours thence to Decemvirs thence to Tribunes of the people thence to Emperours thence to Popes Reflect upon this Nation of ours which hath been governed at first by Britains then Saxons then Danes then Normanes one while in the way of an Heptarchy another while of a Monarchy and now of a Republick and if thou canst refuse to crie out O the depth § 4. III. Military such as belong to the managing of Wars It is not for nothing that God is so often styled Lord of hosts in the Old Testament We finde him so called no less then one hundred and thirty times in two of the Prophets Esaias and Jeremy Because in ordering of Martial affairs he in a manner doth all Captains and superiour Officers may and do consult but God determines They throw the dice he appoints the chance they set their men as it pleaseth them he in the issue plays the game as it pleaseth him Hear David in that Psalm of his which he made in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul speaking of his own experiments and celebrating God as assisting him both in the field and at sieges By thee I have run through a troop and by my God have I leaped over a wall giving him Psal 18. 29. strength activity skill It is God that girdeth me with strength He maketh my feet like hindes feet He teacheth my hands Verse 32 33 34. to war so that a bowe of steel is broken by mine arms Yea success and victory Thou hast girded me with strength to the Verse 39. 40. battel thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me In the New Testament we seldome or never meet with that title That which comes nearest it is Lord God Almighty and this occurs twice in the Revelation when mention is made of the victories which it pleaseth God to give to the Reformed Churches against Anti-Christ and his adherents once in these words We give thanks O Lord Rev. 9. 17. God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned And again in these Great and marvelous 15 3. are thy works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy waies Thou King of Saints IV. Moral such as belong to good manners or in more Gospel terms To living soberly righteously and godly in Tit. 〈◊〉 12. this present world The two former I well know are pretended to by men unregenerate yea by heathens Socrates they say lived so soberly as not to be discomposed by any outward emergency to shew himself alwaies the same man Fabritius so righteously as that it was commonly said of him To turn the Sun out of its course would be found more easie then to turn him from the way of justice But for godliness which is the third it were hard if any should pretend to that without strong impressions from God in Christ yet the Pelagians of old did asserting those virtues which appeared in Moral men who had not received Christ Jesus the Lord nor known what it was to walk in him for true graces for which very fault as S. Austin tels us above all others the Christian Church August contr Julian Pelag. l 4. ◠3. did most detest them yea a Christian Minister of late hath in print dared to collect from that saying of Paul All men have not faith an implication J. G. Preface to the Reader before Red. Redeemed fol. 6. à fine That men who act and quit themselves according to the true principles of that reason which God hath planted in them cannot but believe and be partakers in the precious faith of the Gospel But we have been taught and must teach that it is not in the power of any inferiour creature so to improve it's faculties as to raise up it self to a superiour rank No tree can make it self a beast no beast a man no man a Saint by the Omnis insidelium vita peccatum est nihil est bonum sine summo bono ubi enim deest agnitio aeternae incommutabilis voluntatis falsa virtus est in optimis moribus Prosper sent 106. bare improvement of his reason whence he comes to be a man Moral principles prove to such as relie upon them and seek no further Mortal principles We believe that of Prosper The whole life of an unbeliever is sin Neither is there any thing good where the chief good is wanting but false virtue in the midst of the best manners V. Ecclesiastical such as belong to the Church and the legitimate members of it In that Song of Loves Psal 45. 9. Upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in gold of Ophir is meant the Church Look as an indulgent Prince besides the common affection he bears and protection he gives to all his subjects hath a peculiar respect to and converse with his Princess so there is a peculiar providence of God toward his Church the handling whereof at large I refer to the next Exercitation EXERCITATION 2. Exerc. 2. Deuteron 11. 12. opened Gods care over the Church proved from the provision he makes for inferiour creatures From Israels conduct From the experiments and acknowledgements of saints in all ages Experiments of the Virgin Mary Rochellers Musculus acknowledgements of Jacob David Psalmist Austin and Ursin From Gods causing things and acts of all sorts to cooperate unto the good of the saints Isaiah 27. 2 3. explained The Church preserved from in and by dangers § 1. OUr third proposition is That divine Providence is seen more especially in such affairs as concern the Church and the members thereof In order to the clearing whereof I intend to insist upon two places of Scripture The first is that in Deuteronomy 11. 12. Where Moses describing the land of Canaan saith of it thus A land which the Lord thy