be likewise said of the worke of our adoption and of the loue of God in making vs his children This is the Lords worke and it is maruellous in our eies This circumstance noted by this word is to bee ioined with the former word Behold the more to prouoke vs to long after the knowledge of the excellencie of the children of God especially after that knowledge that is by experience sense taste and feeling as it were of the excellencie thereof For no man so well knoweth this excellencie or can so well speake or write thereof as he that is partaker of it and findeth the sweetnesse of it in himselfe For this is that white stone promised to them that ouercome wherein is a new name written which no man knoweth sauing he that receiueth it Reu. 2. 17. The rather is this to bee ioined with the former word to make vs more desirous of getting this title and the more carefull to keepe it being gotten yea to carry our selues according vnto it All men doe gaze vpon the honourable titles of the world and are in great admiration of them but no man almost doth once looke after this yea euery man almost in respect of the contempt wherein this name is with the world afterward to be spoken of in handling this obiection is afraid to be called or knowen by this name As many of the chiefe Rulers that beleeued in Christ for feare notwithstanding of the Pharises durst not professe him Ioh. 12. 42. so many hearing so much as often times they do of the dignity of Gods children haue some desire and could be content to bee the children of God but fearing the world and the great men in the world especially such as to whom they doe specially belong are loth to be seene to haue any minde or affection that way But of these more afterward Thus much of the second word in this text preparing vs to thinke the more highly of the dignity of the children of God heere spoken of The third word is Loue. Behold what loue This word setteth foorth the fountaine or principall cause of making vs the children of God to be the loue of God So it is said to bee the cause why God sent or gaue his onely sonne for vs Ioh. 3. 16. and. 1. Ioh. 4. 9. wherof we shall heare more afterward If the loue of God be the fountaine of sending his sonne then also it is of our making or adopting to bee the children of God For whence is it that we are made the children of God Is it not by Iesus Christ It cannot bee denied and it shall afterward bee more plentifully prooued Heerein the Lord differeth from men for men cannot properly bee said to beget children of Note loue There may be and is in men a desire of children but there cannot properly be a loue of children till children bee begotten and borne For how can men loue them that haue no being at all in nature But God is said to loue vs and in loue of vs to make vs his children or to beget vs againe to himselfe and so his loue towards vs is before we are borne againe or begotten againe vnto him As this loue of God was before the action of our regeneration so it continueth euer after Gods loue is vnchangeable As Christ is the same yesterday to day and for euer Heb. 13. 8. so is God in his loue towards them whom he loueth yea there is not only no change in him but also with him there is no variablenesse nor shadow of turning Iames 1. 17. But being to speake of this loue againe afterward this in this place shall be sufficient thereof The fourth word heere to be obserued is the Father As the former word setteth foorth the originall cause of our being the children of God so this setteth foorth the authour thereof and the subject of that loue before spoken of and that to be not onely God barely considered in his diuine essence but as he is inuested with the title of a Father To speake more plainly The loue before spoken of whereby wee are made the children of God doth not come from God as he is God only but as he is a Father and that first of all as he is the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ And therefore when the Apostle Peter speaketh of this matter euen of our regeneration he saith not only Blessed be God but hee saith further euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which of his abundant or rich mercy hath begotten vs againe 1. Pet. 1. 3. God was alwaies the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ in the distinction of persons in the diuine essence and so Iesus Christ as the second person in the Deitie was alwaies the sonne of the Father euen before all times so that there neuer was any time when the one of these two persons was not the Father and the other the Sonne Secondly this loue heere spoken of commeth from God not only as he is the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ but also as by Iesus Christ he is our Father To speake this also a little more plainly the Apostle heere speaking of himselfe and of them to whom he did write not only as the people of God nor as the workes of God but as the children of God it was therefore the more sit that hee should describe God by such a title as was most answerable to that respect wherein he speaketh of himselfe the writer and of them to whom he did write These being as they were the children of God it was more answerable to the word children that he should say Behold what loue the Father hath giuen vnto vs then Behold what loue God hath giuen vnto vs. For the word God doth more fitly answer to the word creatures or people and the word Father is a plain correlatiue to the word children Now although euer sithence the creation and sithence the first time that there were any elect and beleeuing men God was alwares their Father yet as God was not so knowen to bee the father of our Lord Iesus Christ in the old Testament and before the mearnation and manifestation of Christ in the fleth as â—â—thence so God also Note did not so plainly open and manifest himselfe to be the father of the elect as he hath done sithence the time of the Gospell And therefore wee finde this title Father ostener attributed vnto God in respect of Christ and of the elect in the new Testament then in the old In the old Testament he is most called and made knowen by the name of The God of Abraham the God of Izaak and the God of Iaacob but in the new Testament he maketh himselfe knowen by the name of The Father of our Lord Ieâ—us Christ and of them that by faith are made members of Christ and flesh of his flesh euen one bodie with him As the grace of God which bringeth saluation vnto all men is said especially to
elders of the Iewes vnto our Sauiour in behalfe of his sicke seruant Luc. 7. 3. was it not to doe the more honour to our Sauiour If the sending of such honourable messengers were some honour to them to whom they were sent what shall we thinke of Gods sending his owne sonne to vs and for vs to make vs his children Doth not God thereby greatly honor vs verely it cannot be denied sith the sending of Christ was more then if he had sent all the Angels in heauen For Christ is made so much more excellent then the Angels by how much more he hath obtained a more excellent name then they Heb. 1. 4. This is so much the more because God sent not his sonne in glory and to liue here in glory but in basenesse and in forme of a seruant cloathed with our base nature yet purged from all corruption as soone as it was separated in the wombe of the Virgin to be that which afterward it was and so to liue a while in pouerty in shame and in all contempt and at the last to be put to the most shamefull death of the crosse as though he had been a worme and no man or as though he had been the vilest man that had before come into the world Were it not a very great honor to a poore yea to a trayterous subiect being somewhere in captiuity bondage and great misery if his Prince should abase his only sonne and send him disguised in base apparell and to vndergoe much pouerty and other hardnesse with shame also and contempt for a time for the redeeming the said subiect and to bring him home to the Court of the Prince there to eat meat with the Prince his sonne and to be accounted as a companion of his How great then is this honour that God hath done vnto vs in sending his own sonne and in exposing him to many yea to all indignities to redeeme vs that we might receiue the adoption of sonnes Before I proceed any further let me here insert another principall cause of our regeneration viz. the mercy of God This may seeme to be all one with the loue of God before handled And indeed it is so like thereunto that it is often confounded therewith so that the word loue is often taken for mercy and mercy is often taken for loue when there is speech of the dealing of God with men especially in the matter of election calling and saluation This may be obserued in diuers places before alledged and therefore I stand not vpon it But although there be great similitude betwixt them yet Note they are also to be distinguished For first of all both are in God towards man but both cannot be in man towards God Loue may be and must be in man towards God but it is very absurd to say that a man may shew mercy vnto God Againe the loue of God hath respect vnto vs as being only the creatures of God euen base creatures such as were altogether vnworthy so great honour of being made the children of God But the mercy of God hath respect and relation vnto vs not only as we are creatures base and vnworthy of the foresayd loue but also as we were miserable especially polluted with infinit 〈◊〉 yea dead in all sinnes and trespasses more then vnworthy of his fauour euen such as had deserued his euerlasting displeasure and indignation as hauing been traitors and rebells against him in the highest degree Furthermore the loue of God is in order before the sending or giuing of Christ being the cause both of our election and also of sending or giuing Christ Iesus as hath beene shewed touching election out of Ephes 1. 5. 6. and touching the sending of Christ out of Ioh. 3. 16. But the mercy of God is only in Christ Iesus and for Christ Iesus his sake as afterward shall appeare Whereas it is said that we are elected in Christ that is not to be vnderstood simply of election itselfe but rather of the ends whereto we are elected viz. adoption and saluation To speake simply of election itselfe it was meerly of the free loue of God and the efficient cause thereof was only in God himselfe And so God hauing eternally decreed our saluation did also at the same instant decree the meanes of our saluation namely the giuing of his only sonne to be made man for vs. We were first in order elected to be saued and then Christ was appointed and at the same instant destinated to be the person by whom we should be saued Therefore as Peter saith that the Iewes had put Christ to death by the determinate counsell and foreknowledge of God Acts 2. 23. so he calleth Christ alambe vnspotted c. ordained before the foundations of the world 1. Pet. 1. 20. Notwithstanding this priority of decreeing our saluation before the sending of Christ was decreed must be vnderstood of a priority in order in the nature of things not of a priority in time For both being eternall and before all times to wit the decree for sauing vs and the decree for sending Christ to worke out that saluation for vs one could not bee before an other in time For in things eternall there can be neither priority or posteriority in time Thus then we see a plaine distinction betwixt the loue of God and the mercy of God either in our election or in the worke of regeneration or in any other thing That the mercy of God was one of the principall mouing causes of our regeneration viz. which moued God to worke this worke in vs it is manifest also by the testimony of Peter For he in his first Epistle and Chapter hauing after his Apostolicall maner saluted the Christians to whom he wrote maketh this entrance into the rest of the Epistle saying Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ who according to his abundant or rich mercy hath begotten vs againe c. 1. Pet. 1. 3. Is it not in these words plaine that the Apostle doth make the mercy of God a principall cause first mouing God to beget vs againe So the Apostle Paul in the worke of our saluation ioineth together the mercy of God and the washing of the new birth Tit. 3. 5. So also particularly speaking of his owne conuersion from blaspheming and from persecuting and oppressing of the Church to the true feare of God and loue of his Saints he attributeth the same to the mercy of God saying I was a blasphemer and a persecuter and an oppressor but I was receiued to mercy or I found mercy By the mercy of God here I vnderstand the pity and compassion that God tooke vpon vs beholding vs in our miserable state by nature being blind deafe dumb lame sicke dead c. as hath been said and so his bowels of compassion being moued towards vs and neuer ceasing to worke as it were in him till by the worke of our regeneration he had released and discharged vs from
our foresaid miserable state and condition I might speake in this place of the mercy of God in forgiuing our sinnes but because I shall speake afterward of the forgiuenesse of sinnes amongst the benefits belonging to the children of God by their communion with God therefore I will spare all speech thereof here In the meane time that God hath shewed such mercy vnto men as to make them his children it cannot but adde somthing to their dignity For as it is a great preferment to be beloued of God he being the King of kings so it is no lesse matter for such miserable yea rebellious and traiterous creatures as we were to find such mercy with God as not only to be pardoned of all our sinnes but also to be made his children yea this is the greater matter because it is a speciall testimony of the loue of God before handled For if he had not loued vs full dearely he would neuer haue shewed such compassion vpon vs. CHAP. VI. Of Christ Iesus being one of the principall causes of and agent in our adoption of the great price hee hath giuen for it of the worke also of the holy ghost therein and of the true nobility of all Gods children by the ioynt working of all the three persons in their adoption TO returne a little backe and to consider a little more of Christ Iesus as one of the principallest agents in our regeneration all before spoken of the fathers sending of him is so much the more because himselfe also came voluntarily and of his owne accord euen freely offering himselfe to be so sent because he saw that no burnt offrings or other sacrifices would be sufficient for our saluation or adoption and regeneration Psalm 40. 5. 6. 7. When Christ also was come in the flesh and saw and felt what it was that the Father had sent him for and he was come for did he any waies shrinke or shew that hee repented of his former forwardnes Nothing so but he did most willingly proceed and go through with that which the Father had decreed he should performe and which himselfe had taken vpon him to doe in our behalfe viz. not only to accomplish and fulfill all righteousnesse Mat. 3. 15. which actiuely was to be accomplished and fulfilled by him but also to suffer both pouerty reproch contempt and all other indignities wrongs and iniuries with men and euen the wrath of God his father the torments of hell and the sorrowes of the life to come in his soule as well as in his body and in his body as well as in soule we hauing deserued all these things euen such paines and pangs as would haue broken the backe and very heart strings of all the Angels in heauen Notwithstanding all that he suffered onely whiles he liued in the earth long before his last passion Ioh. 12. â—7 and the very night before his said passion in the garden when he praied thrice that if it were possible that cup might passe from him and when his sweat was like drops of blood trickling downe to the ground Luk 22. 41. c. and in his last passion it selfe crying with a strong cry and bitter as it is said of Mordecai Ester 4. 1. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth. 27. 46. Yea so willing did Christ suffer all before spoken and ten times more then can be spoken that albeit till his time appointed was come he did sometime auoid the rage and fury of his enemies yet for all that he did often sharply reprooue his very friends that either gaue him any counsell to the contrarie Mar. 8. 33. Ioh. 11. 8. 9. or that did any thing for to haue rescued him against his enemies that put him to death Mat. 26. 53. His threefold praier before mentioned in shew to the contrary was not so indeed because it was but conditionall and shewed the greater extremity of his passion For after the said Note praier he did not only rebuke Peter for going about to rescue him as was said by smiting off the high Priests seruants eare neither did he onely heale him whom Peter had so maimed the better to shew that he neither had pleasure in Peters rashnesse neither had any spleen against the said high Priests seruant that had come out with other to apprehend him but he did further also tell him that if he would he could by his prayer to his father haue obtained more then twelue legions of Angels to take him from them Who then had laid their hands vpon him Mat. 26. 53. Doth not this most plainly testifie that he did all most willingly Doubtlesse it doth For otherwise he could as easily haue auoided yea and confounded all the company though comming foorth with swords and stanes to take him as by telling them that he was the man they sought for he made them to goe backward and to fall to the ground Ioh. 18. 6. By these things therfore that God so loued vs that to make vs his children he sent his owne sonne and that in forme of a seruant yea and worse then a seruant vnto wretched men not for doing any thing as Paul for biddeth vs to be the seruants of men 1 Cor. 7. 23. but for suffering any thing at their hands And that the sonne himselfe did also this most willingly and cheerfully without any constraint doth it not manifestly appeare that the adoption of the children is much graced and honored Yea certainly the more is that their adoption to be the children of God graced and honored by all things before spoken of because as Christ was therefore sent and did therefore come and being come did also willingly vndergoe and suffer all so also he did effect that which was so the end of his sending comming and suffering For so it is said of him not of the father that as many as receiued him to them he gaue prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God or to be the children of God euen to them that beleeued in his name Ioh. 1. 12. And so although it be said in one respect that he is not ashamed to call vs brethren Heb. 2. 11. yet both in the same place vers 10. in another respect he is insinuated also to be our father in that it is said that he brought many children vnto glory and also he is expresly intituled by the name of Euerlasting father Isaâ— 9. 6. Moreouer by these things thus written it is most apparant that Christ hath not onely made vs the children of God but also that he hath paid full deerely for our said adoption Therefore it is said that we are bought with a price 1. Cor. 6. 20. and 7. 23. and this price was not any corruptible thing as siluer or goâ—d but his owne most pretious blood 1. Pet. 1. 18. 19. and by the blood of Christ are ment all those his dreadfull sufferings before mentioned If God had sent all the Angels of heauen and they had taken our nature vpon
children there is but one amongst them all accounted the heire But the children of God though they be many euen as the starres of heauen and the sand by the seashore Gen. 15. 5. and 22. 17. yet they are all heires Yea whereas great men hauing both sonnes and daughters diuide their inheritance for the most part onely amongst their sonnes though also of many sonnes they make but one heire and doe but giue portions of mony to their daughters here the daughters of God shall be heires as well as the sonnes of God The reason of this community of inheritance of all the children of God is from the like communion betwixt Christ himselfe and them The children of men are all and euery one children in themselues they are not children by the eldest or by the heire but the children of God are not children in themselues but only in Christ as before hath been shewed in whom all are one both male and female Galat. 3. 28. There is yet another difference viz. that whereas the children of men do inherit only when their parents die by whom their inheritance commeth vnto them sometimes the Father somtimes the mother all the children of God do inherit their father God himselfe liuing with them for euer Againe whereas somtimes the children of men may indeed be all said to be heires yet the inheritances of them are distinguished one from another the eldest hauing his inheritance by himselfe and euery one of the other hauing his seuerall inheritance the eldest being somtimes heire to all the freeland and the yongest to all the copy hold c. But the children of God are all heires of one and the same inheritance yea they are heires as I sayd annexed with Christ Iesus the only sonne of God by nature Euen by him are they heires through adoption in him of the same inheritance whereof he is heire in which respect their inheritance is called the kingdome of Christ and of God Ephes 5. 5. Neither can it be otherwise sith before we heard they are made one with Christ and in Christ c. This is a great dignity This is a wonderfull prerogatiue and such as is the perfection of all other and wherein all the former or the most of them doe cease Yea this is such that the very Angels of heauen are said as it were to put forth their necks and in some sort to stretch out themselues to behold it 1. Pet. 1. 12. It is much that before we heard that many of Christs titles are communicated to the children of God but this is much more namely that the inheritance of Christ euen the kingdome of God in heauen is theirs For herein especially doth that their kingly dignity before handled consist as before hath been shewed This inheritance was typically fore-signified and shadowed out to the Israelites by the land of Canaan and therefore it is called by this name of an inheritance which properly signifieth a diuision made by lot So is the future condition of Gods children called that it might the better appeare to haue been before represented by the land of Canaan which according to the commandement of God Numb 26. 55. and 33. 54. was indeed by Lot diuided when the Israelites came to the possession of it Iosh 14. 2. c. So would the Lord haue that land to be diuided that the bestowing therof vpon the Israelites might be imputed only to Gods goodnesse not to any merit or worthinesse of their own For The lot being wholly disposed according to the pleasure of the Lord Pro. 16. 33. what merit can there be imagined for any thing that falleth thereby So the Lord would much more teach them that if the type were without respect of any worthinesse in them much more the kingdom of heauen shadowed out by the type was to be imputed to the only free and gratious gift of God Rom. 6. 23. where the word translated the gift of God signifieth the free gift of God or a gift of the free grace of God This doth not a little amplifie and increase the dignity of the children of God The greater gifts that a Prince giueth freely vnto any subiect the more doth such a Prince honor such a subiect How great a grace then and dignity is this for the children of God to be heires of the kingdom of God only by the grace and free gift of God without any price giuen for it without any merit desert and worthinesse of it As the Apostle Peter doth appropriate this inheritance onelie to them Whom God the Father of his rich mercie hath begotten againe 1. Pet. 1. 3. 4. so doth our Sauiour by one sentence twice with great vehemency repeated to Nicodemus Verely verely I say vnto thee except a man bee borne againe he cannot see the kingdome of God and the second time Verely verely I say vnto thee except a man be borne of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of God Ioh. 3. 3. and 5. And againe our Sauiour saith not Feare not little flocke it is the Fathers pleasure to giue a kingdome but he putteth in the Pronowns your and you saying It is your Fathers will to Note giue you a kingdome Luke 12. 32. Where the words your Father haue also relation onely to them that are his children and which may call God their Father Therefore also they that are so borne againe are called by our Sauiour the children of the kingdome Matt. 13. 38. As it is high treason for any man to say that hee is heire apparant to an earthly king if he be not of the blood royall so and much more is it high treason against the king of heauen and earth for any man to boast that hee hopeth for the kingdome of heauen which is not of the blood royall that I may so speake of God himselfe that is which by regeneration is none of Gods children As in the time of Ezra after the returne of the people from captiuitie some that would haue beene priests sought their writings of the generalogies and could not be found and were therefore put from the priesthood or rather they were kept from it Ezra 2. 62. So whosoeuer they be that would haue this inheritance if by searching and examining their euidences by the word of God they shall not find themselues to bee new borne of God they shall be sure to be kept from the kingdome of God This inheritance is Crowne-land euen such as is annexed to Christs owne crowne and cannot bee alienated from it no not by lease or for any tearme of yeeres therefore none can haue it but such as are members of Christ and made one with Christ As it is said that God cannot lie Tit. 1. 2. so it may be said that neither God nor Christ can giue this inheritance to any but onely to them that beeing incorporated into Christ and so made members of Christ are also the children and heires of God When the
like which the mention of these and diligent reading will bring to thy vnderstanding He that doth these things viz. which walketh vprightly worketh righteousnesse speaketh the truth in his heart slandereth not with his tongue neither doth euill to his neighbor nor receiueth a falsereport that contemneth a vile person but honoureth them that feare God and keepeth his couenant though it be to his owne hinderance and giueth not his money vnto vsury nor taketh reward against the innocent euen this man shall dwell in the Lords tabernacle and rest in his holy mountaine and shall neuer be remoued Psal 15. 1 c. and 24 3. c. They that trust in the Lord shall be or are as mount Zion which cannot bee remooued but remaineth for euer Psalm 125. 1. Whosoeuer heareth of mee saith our Sauiour himselfe these words and doeth the same viz. not perfectly for that is not possible in this life but vprightly which therfore is placed before Note all the particulars following in Psal 15. 2. I will liken him to awise man which hath built his house vpon a rocke and the raine fell and the flouds came and the windes blew and beat vpon that house and it fell not for it was grounded on a rocke Mat. 7. 24. 25. I say vnto thee thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my Church and the gates of hell shall not ouercome it Mat. 16. 18. All that the Father hath giuen vnto me shall come vnto me and he that commeth I cast not away Ioh. 6. 37. This is the Fathers will that sent me that of all that the Father hath giuen vnto me I should lose nothing but should raise it vp againe at the last day vers 39. Marie hath chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her Luk 0 42. If ye do these things ye shall neuer fall 2. Pet. 1 10. This world passeth away and the lusts thereof but he that fulfilleth the will of God that is which endeauoureth sincerely to do it as before was shewed abideth euer 1. Ioh. 2. 17. This shall suffice for expresse scriptures Many other the like there are but I leaue them to the obseruation of the diligent reader Touching other arguments First the immutable constancy of God confirmeth the certainty of the inheritance of Gods children God is not as man that he shold lie neither as the Sonne of man that he should repent hath he said and shall he not doe it and hath he spoken and shall he not accomplish it Num. 23. 19. 1. Sam. 15. 29. My counsell shall stand and I will doe whatsoeuer I will c. I haue purposed and I will doe it Isai 46. 10. 11. Whom he loueth he loueth to the end Ioh. 13. 1. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance Rom. 11. 29. God is faithfull 2. Thes 3. 3. With God is no variablenesse nor shadow of turning Iames 1. 17. He is faithfull that hath promised Heb. 10. 23. Secondly in respect of Gods promise in respect of Gods â—ath in respect of the earnest and pledge of Gods spirit giuen vnto vs to seale vs to the day of redemption in respect of the great price that Christ hath giuen and God the father hath receiued for this inheritance for vs all that are Gods children in respect of Christs former prayer for it Ioh. 17. 20. which God the father alwaies heareth Ioh. 11. 22. and 42. and in respect also of his daily intercession in the behalfe for vs at the right hand of God Rom. 8. 34. it standeth not onely vpon the mercie of God to make this their inheritance certaine but also vpon his righteousnesse 2. Thes 1. 7. Heb. 6. 10. Thirdly the children of God all and euery one are the members of Christs body as before hath beene shewed As therefore it is impossible for any power to take away any member of Christs glorified body in heauen so is it impossible for any power to take away any member of his mysticall body in earth The souldiers that brake the bones of the two theeues that were crucified with Christ could not for their liues break the bones of Christ because it was written Not a bone of him shall bee broken Iohn 19. 33. 36. Could not a bone of his naturall body be broken by the malice and violence of all his aduersaries armed with the power of hell it selfe and that because the Scriptures had said in one place that a bone of him should not bee broken How then shall it bee possible for any member of his mysticall body coupled together by the eternall and all powerfull spirit to be altogether taken away and depriued of that inheritance which God hath prepared for it especially sith the Scripture hath not in one place but in many places said that not one of them shall perish I might adde many other arguments for further confirmation of this certainty but because the next verse of my text offereth fit occasion to speake againe thereof therefore in the meane time I will content my selfe with these This notwithstanding I may further adde for the better amplification of the dignity of Gods children by this certainty of their inheritance viz. that thereby in pouerty they are made content in abundance they are sober and wary in the enmity of other against them they are couragious and magnanimous and in afflictions they are cheerfull and comfortable By all hitherto said of this inheritance who seeth not the exceeding dignity and most honorable condition of the children of God On the contrary as the state of the children of God is the better by their freedome from the condemnation beforespoken of although they should neuer come to this great inheritance so the state of all naturall and wicked men is the more base the more vile the more wofull and the more fearefull because though it were possible they should not be so condemned as before we heard they shall be yet they shall haue no part of this inheritance but shall be vtterly cast out and excluded Genes 21. 10. Reuel 22. 15. to whom it shall be said whatsoeuer they shall plead for themselues from their great workes of prophecying in Christs name and casting out diuels in his name c. I neuer knew you Depart from me ye that worke iniquity Mat. 7. 22. 23. and 25. 12. Thus much of this inheritance and of the benefits of the children of God in the life to come CHAP. XXVII Of the peace of conscience in the children of God ALthough I haue heretofore spoken of diuers singular benefits of the children of God both for this life and the life to come yet there remaineth one more of great price and excellency without which all the former spoken of for this life or for the life to come enjoyed in this life are of lesse reckoning This is peace of conscience accompanied with exceeding ioy of this the Apostle speaketh as of a fruit of forgiuenesse of sinnes and iustification
him in his owne person and in that glory where unto now he is aduanced Ioh. 17. 24. Father I will that they which thou hast giuen me be with me euen where I am that they may behold my glorie viz. the glory of his mercie grace and goodnes more then euer before they had done as well as the glorie of his person and iustice The wicked and reprobate shall behold the glory of his persoÌ„ and heare and feele the glory of his iustice that is his glorious iustice not to their comfort but to their woe and no otherwise then as malefactors behold the faces of the Iudges and all their solemnity wherein they sit at our assises heare there sentences and finally so shall they see and heare these things that they shall wish as we haue heard the hilles and mountaines to fall vpon them to hide them from his presence But the children of God shall behold him as their Sauiour to their vnspeakeable ioy and comfort Yea how great their ioy and comfort shall be by this sight appeareth by that delight that men take in the sight of mortall Princes by that desire and ioy that many had to see Christ in his basenes the wise men Mat. 2. the shepheards and Simeon Luc. 2. Zacheus Luk. 19. and the Grecians Ioh. 12. as also by that before spoken in Chap. 26. of Peter Iames and Iohn being so rauished with the sight of the glorious transfiguration of Christ in the mouÌ„taine that forgetting themselues to haue beene then clothed with their naturall mortall and vile bodies they could haue beene contented and did indeed desire to haue dwelt there for euer If all these tooke such delight in these sights how comfortable how sweete how pleasant how ioyfull shall this sight of Christ Iesus be thus to see him not as sometime hee was in his basenes but as now he is in his glory In respect of this sight all the sight that wee haue here is not so much as the sight of the blindman when Christ had begunne so to open his eies that he said bee did see men walke like trees Mark 8. 24. Our sight here touching this obiect thereof is no better then the sight of Isaak Iacob and Eli when they were old and when their eies were so dimme that they tooke as we say hob for nob one for another yea that they could not discerne any man but either by his speech or by asking who he was What shall I say more Touching this sight let vs remember what the Queene of Sheba said of the report she had heard of Salomons wisdome in her owne Country and of that which she found by her owne experience For when she had seene all Salomons wisedome and the house that bee had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his seruants and the order of his Ministers and their apparell and his drinking vessels and his burnt offerings that hee offered in the house of the Lord shee was greatly astonied and said vnto the King It was a true word that I heard in my owne Land of thy sayings and of thy wisdome Howbeit I beleeued not this report till I came and had seene it with mine eies But loe the one halfe was not told me c. 1. King 10 45. 6. 7. In like sort it may bee said of this sight and of all the rest of our future state aâ—d condition which we shall enioy when we shall at his appearing be made like vnto him and see him as he is For flesh and blood doth not beleeue neither can beleeue that that is said in the written word of these things yea hee that hath the most faith doth hardly beleeue all that is written at least though hee beleeue at sometimes yet at other times this faith is much exercised with doubts especially for applying these things to himselfe yet all is most true that we heare in this land of our pilgrimage of these things of our likenes vnto Christ and of our seeing him as he is but loe the one halfe of them is not told vs neither in the Scriptures because indeed we are not capable thereof neither much lesse by our ministers not onely because of the negligence of many but also because of want of vnderstanding in the most yea euen in the best concerning these things For if Paul concerning these things as well as concerning other mysteries could say of himselfe as well as of other wee know in part and see through a glasse darkely And againe Now I know in part how much more alasse may we poore and silly ministers in respect of him make the like confession of our seeing and knowing these high and future mysteries but in part O Christian readers let these things comfort vs in all our troubles In the mids of our afflictions let vs so consider of these things that as Peter speaketh of those to whom hee did write so we may feele our hearts to leape for ioy within vs so the word doth signify and to reioice with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious 1. Pet. 1. 6. 8. When the virgin newly conceiued with Christ visited her cousin Elizabeth the wife of Zachariah about 6 moneths gone with Iohn Baptist it is said that the babe viz. Iohn Baptist did leap or spring in the wombe of Elizabeth at the salutation of the virgine Luk. 1. 41. and 44. As that babe by the secret worke of Gods spirit did so leape and spring at the salutation of the virgine so newly conceiued with Christ afterward to bee borne in the forme of â seruant yet a redeemer of the elect so and much more let our hearts leape and skippe as it were in vs so often as we heare of this last warning of Christ in glory for perfecting of the whole worke of mans redemptions and of this our seeing him as he is Yea let vs the more reioice because this sight is not for a day or for a yeere or sor many yeers but for euer and euer As this world passeth away so also doth euery lust thereof euen the lust of the eies as well as the lust of any other member 1. Ioh. 2. 17. yea much sooner But this sight now spoken of is an euerlasting sight Lest vs therefore account of all worldly sights in respect of this but as of toies and bables more fit for children then for men yea for fooles then for them that are wise and of any vnderstanding Thus much of the confirmation of our former future likenes vnto Christ by this our seeing him as he is CHAP. XXXVI Of euery mans purging himselfe in whom there is the former hope THe words remaining are these Euery one that hath this hope in him purgeth himselfe as he is pure This as I said is an effect of our knowledge of our future likenesse vnto Christ viz. that euery one that so certainly hopeth for those things purgeth himselfe illustrated by the patterne according to which euery one that hath the