indeed can it be well decided this we are sure that there is no more weighty part of any Ministers duty nor none like unto it then to Preach the Word of God about which the Pope with his Popelings have no minde to take pains Those that have been godly Bishops have exercised themselves diligently in the same 2. It condemns the lawless freedom of the whole Popish rabble from the Civil Magistrate which is wicked for though our Ministery be above Magistrates and all even Princes are to be subject thereunto and our duty is to discharge our duty in rebuking sin in all yet as we be Citizens so we are under the Magistrate and he hath power to punish faults in Ministers as well as of any other 2. That Ministers must not carry themselves proudly highly and disdainfully accounting of others as a company of Clowns and simple fellows but account them the people of God and such as they must care for serve and attend in all painfulness for the Salvation of their souls carrying themselves so lovingly and amiably as that the meanest may be bold in good sort to speak unto them Nor 3. Must a Minister rule them rigorously and with violence and subdue them with suits or strong hand God cannot away with such Shepherds Neither will any rule more Tyrannously over people then those that take least pains to seed them but they must win men by the Word If any be obstinate they must deal more roundly with them yet still after a Spiritual maner and no carnal kinde of violence which is not so fit for a Minister nor so like to do good if they be unbridled and unruly let the Magistrate deal with them A Minister must be kinde to those that have any good they that be not as he would have them yet must not be cast off but wait with patience shewing all good desire of winning them for though a Minister is over the people yet not so as that he may do with them what he list but as God requires So is the Father over the Children yet must not he provoke them to anger and Husbands are over their Wives yet must not they be bitter to them The Minister is over the people as a Shepherd over his sheep he must feed them catch them with his hook see what they ayl dress them binde their legs being unruly if they range out fetch them in if they come not at his whistle set his dog at them to scare them but he must not pend them up all the day and starve them break their legs or their backs worry them with his dog sell or change them away c. The Minister is over the people as the Nurse over the Childe committed to her namely to feed it tend it and take pains about it but not to hurt maim starve it 1. This rebukes the contrary in some Ministers who because they are over the people therefore like some yong Husbands that having married before they were wise misuse their wives because they be their heads carry themselves haughtily what are they but a company of Clowns Swains a company of simple fellows what are they They are those you are appointed to tend and such as you must give an account of to God such as may belong to God as well as you haply rather then you Members of Christ as dearly bought as you and Heirs of Heaven such as must put a Crown upon your head at the last day such as maintain you of their labors that you may attend their souls you must win them by the Word by publique and private perswasions by a good life and not by a strong hand by suing them at Law and contending with them 2. If Ministers must not Lord it over the people then much less people over them a Minister hath some colour they none To set light by him to check or controll him to insult over him use him at their pleasure because they have purses c. is wicked what is he will they say he is but a Minister a Parson a Priest c. what is he but a Minister Is that a disgrace to him Is that a base Calling Is there any more high and honorable what is he He is the man you must depend on for the means of your Salvation by whose Ministery you must be pulled our of the jaws of the Devil and power of sin and converted to God It s he that hath power to binde or loose you and as he doth so shall it be done in Heaven he hath power to open the door or shut it against you as he seeth your behavior To the good that be converted he is their Spiritual Father to whom they owe more then to their Natural Father of the one they had a being of the other a well-being of the one born into the world a man and a childe of wrath of the other born again into the Church a childe of grace To these also a Nurse to cherish them confirm strengthen and comfort them and an helper of their faith to the Kingdom of Heaven But for the wicked he hath power to shut them out as dogs from partaking the Childrens bread yea to deliver them up to Satan if they deserve it therefore say not who is he or what is he For he that despiseth them despiseth Christ himself Touch not my Prophets and do mine anointed no harm He hath rebuked Kings and the greatest for their sakes nay even the least as those Children that mocked the Prophet have not scap'd free yea to misuse them in body goods or name and offer them indignity is the ready means to provoke the Lord to wrath and indignation Over Gods heritage A reason against Lordly and Tyrannous dealing People be Gods Heritage The word signifies elsewhere a lot because Heritage used to be divided by lot The word is of the plural number whereby is meant particular Congregations over which God appointeth particular Ministers as being parts of the Heritage of God which is the whole Church of God in Heaven and Earth and every particular Congregation is a part of it and as a Farm or Manor committed to a Spiritual Husbandman to yield the Lord the fruit thereof The word here used the Papists apply onely to Ministers but improperly for the people also be the Lords lot portion and the rod of his inheritance though indeed Levi was Gods part in a special maner set aside for Gods service in his Temple yet then and now all Gods Church are his Heritage The people is the Lords Heritage He hath bought his Church at a dear rate he plants it waters it and hedgeth the same in 1. This rebuketh those Ministers that use them at their pleasure kill them sell them misuse them c. but they shall be countable to God for them as Jacob to Laban for those sheep that were lost or torn We must use them as
as well as man he both endured the infinite wrath of God and besides his person was of such infinite worth as gave such value to his sufferings as fully satisfied the justice of God 1. This confutes the Papists who make Christs sufferings imperfect two ways namely by teaching that we our selves must suffer the punishment of our sins hence are all their masses penances pilgrimages alms-deeds and charitable Works to take away the punishment of their sins after Baptism and by their renewing of Christs Sacrifice in the Mass which is as they say a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the sins of the quick and dead Their distinction of bloody and unbloody is but a shift 2. This is a wonderful comfort to all Gods children that our debt is so fully dischaarged that there 's nothing remaining for us to suffer Thus of the first The second concerneth the quality of the person which suffered He was that just one the Lamb of God which was undefiled and without spot conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin had he not been such a one he could not have been our Savior Though he was innocent yet were our sins imputed to him and though we have not suffered neither of our selves have Righteousness yet as verily as he had pain and sorrow we shall have mercy and Salvation through him what can be more comfortable Thus of the second The third concerneth the persons for whom he suffered The unjust not the Devil nor Reprobates but for the Elect which yet are by nature unjust and wretched servants of sin and children of wrath as well as others He hath suffered for them that be never so unjust provided they feel their misery and have course unto him for help 1. Then for them that be in great distress for their sins and think they be so many and so great that they cannot or shall not be forgiven let them be comforted Christ came to dye for the unjust to call sinners to repentance to seek and save that which was lost If being weary you will come unto him as he invite you you shall be refreshed Though their sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll Paul was a great sinner yet forgiven 2. Let such as bad as they be yet come to Christ and be truly humbled He came to save such as thou art as Mary Magdalene Zacheus the Jaylor and such others His mercy on them may put thee in hope and provoke thee to seek unto him Thus of the third The fourth Why he suffered for sins for our sins to take them away for they onely are our wo our sins caused all Christs sorrow and his sorrow is our happiness Thus of the fourth The fifth To what end he suffered that he might bring us to God Ever since Adams fall we are gone from God and born strangers nay enemies to God and therefore further and and further off from God and are gone to the Devil indeed Now Christ by his death reconciles us to God and him to us and makes a blessed peace so as we may look up to him as to our Father and come into his presence with comfort He also gives us grace by his holy Spirit to be renewed sanctified and so to do works pleasing unto God and when we dye brings our souls to God as afterwards possesseth both body and soul of Heaven 1. Then how infinitely are we bound to God how welcome should Christ Jesus be to us all One would think all should flock unto him for as none are with God but such as came by him so neither shall there be All that mourn for their sins come to him believe in him and obey him he will bring them to God such as continue in their enmity against God shall for ever be separated from him Many hope to go to God that were never reconciled to him through Christ nor sought after it but it s as possible for a dog for the Devil to enter into Heaven as for us without being reconciled to God by faith in Christ Is it not lamentable that Christ should have so few that enquire and search after him nay that reject him being offered again and again 2. How welcome faithful Ministers should be to the world The worst hurt we wish you is but to bring you to God we are appointed Christs instruments herein we must Preach him and perswade you to embrace and believe in him by whom you may be brought unto God we have a worthy task and work and so must not either be idle or by false teaching and wicked living drive you from Christ but be faithful that your Salvation may be our Crown yet of all persons and kindes of people the world thinks we may be best spared and are unto most of all others most unwelcome But not alone Ministers but even every private man must help men to God as much as he can They that by vile counsel bad example or otherwise drive men from him are not Christs but the Devils instruments and Factors Thus of Christs sufferings Being put to death in the flesh This clause concerneth his death as the following his resurrection He was put to death concerning his Humane nature for as for his Godhead it could not dye and he was quickned and raised again by his Divinity and Godhead By flesh is meant his whole Humane Nature as in the following By Spirit his Divine Nature Our Savior suffered not onely in body and soul things intollerable but he also dyed gave up the ghost as all the Evangelists set down and other Scriptures testifie as they also that speak of Christs blood of his offering himself a Sacrifice for our sins of his bearing our sins on his Body on the Tree and the like This was prefigured of all the Sacrifices of the Old Law The Prophets also foretold that he should be slain Neither could it have been otherwise or otherwise he been a Savior for us for our sins deserved death and God had pronounced that death should be the reward thereof This his death was voluntary accursed as we had deserved it for our sins and for a common good Which meets with that wicked opinion of the Jews that neither think it voluntary nor that it is a propitiatory Sacrifice for sin as it is indeed and wherein our happiness lyeth and without which we must all have perished for ever The benefits ensuing to us hereby are divers 1. We are delivered hereby from all kindes of evil from the first and second death and all forerunners of both and from our sins the cause of all It s the blood of Christ that cleanseth all our sins So from all Spiritual enemies See Luke 1. 71 74. Col. 2. 15. Heb. 2. 14. 1 John 3. 8. So from the second death Rom.
to the glory of God which is the end of our life and ought to be the end of all our actions Abominable idolatries This is a sin aginst the first Table forbid in the first and second Commandments though most in the second It s either inward or outward and its either the worshiping of false gods or the true God in a false maner both which are most detestable and abominable before God and therefore to be hated of us in a deadly maner as that which is the flat breach of the marriage Covenant between God and his people It s a turning our heart from God a forgetting yea a forsaking of God a setting up another in his stead who will have no partners Hereunto we are naturally prone as may be seen throughout all ages even those that know the true God in some sort set up something before him to worship him in and by Hereof the Israelites were wonderfully guilty though they had many strict charges against it yet they were wofully carried away with the Idolatries of the Heathen sometimes they did worship the very gods of the Heathens as Baalim and Ashtaroth c. and at the best they used to worship God in Images as in the golden Calf that Aaron made and in the two Calves at Dan and Bethel for those the Prophets did vehemently reprove them and threaten Gods judgements against them which accordingly were inflicted on them as appears this day and if when they lived in their own Land they were so tainted with idolatry what were they now having so long conversed with those prophane Heathens This therefore the Apostle warns them now to leave and abandon as having already continued too long therein and having repented thereof he would not have them go back thereto any more I shall speak a little here of the Idolatry of the Heathens of the Idolatry of the Papists and of the Idolatry of our own people all which are either in worshiping a false god or the true God in a false maner For the worshiping of false gods so did the Heathens who worshiped the Sun Moon and the hoast of Heaven yea any thing what soever and according to their countries were their gods nay they had their city and countrey gods and houshold gods There was no end of their abominations having this in their heart that there was a God and not knowing him they worshipped any thing which the Lord doth deride and whereat he is angry for he will not give his glory to another nor his praise to graven Images O what cause have we to bless the name of God that have the light of the Word whereas most throughout all ages have been ignorant thereof and so worshipped they know not what and worshipped not onely in vain without any profit but to the dishonor of the true God and their own condemnation Neither is this the sin of Heathens alone to worship false gods but even of the Papists who have the Word for their Rule whose sin therefore is greater then the Heathens they worship the breaden god they bow down to it and call it their Maker what difference is then between them as those fell a Tree and with some part make a fire with some bake and of some make a god and worship it so these sow Corn reap it and grinde it and of some part thereof make bread for themselves and theirs and of another they make a god which they worship they also worship the Cross and Reliques of Saints they also worship the Virgin Mary calling on her oftner then on God so they worship Saints and Angels their Pictures also be common whereunto they give Divine worship they dedicate Altars Offerings Temples Priests and Days to them which are proper to God onely yea they make the Pope that Man of Sin a god not onely calling him so but ascribing that to him which is proper to God as To make Laws to binde the Conscience to open and shut Heaven Hell and Purgatory as they say to forgive sins to adde and take from the Scriptures c. O horrible What King will endure his Royalty to be given to another If Angels and Saints were to appear to us as they were wont formerly we ought not otherwise to worship them but with civil worship the excellency of the Creature doth not change the kinde of worship but onely the measure but now seeing they appear not to us we owe them no worship at all but onely to reverence them and thank God for them and imitate them in what we can The Angel would not suffer John to worship him and the Apostles Peter Paul and Barnabas refused also that to â—ob God of his due For worshipping the true God in a false maner it is either inward or outward Inward as when we conceive in our minde otherwise of God then he is and hath revealed himself as to conceive of God without consideration of the three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost as do the Turks and Jews and they amongst our selves which conceive that God is onely merciful and not just so to conceive of Christ as God onely or man onely and not as God and man in one person The Papists though in word they profess either yet in deed they deny both and so make an idol and no true Christ of him Outward as when men worship God in Images Stocks Sones Pictures of gold silver stone graved or painted or howsoever This is flatly forbid in the 2d Commandment as also in divers other places To make a Picture of God like an Oldman or of Christ like a Man hanging on a Cross what lyes be they Be these like God not so like as a Flie is or as a Flie is to a King Ob. But God so appeared in Daniel A. What then it followeth not we may so picture him especially seeing he hath forbid it Is the picture of a man like Christ His Godhead is the chiefest part of him how picture they that O they do it in a good meaning but our intention is not the rule of Gods Worship but his own will As for their shift that they worship not the Image but God in the Image it s indeed a meer shift that will not serve their turn so said some of the Heathens so said the Israelites assuredly God is displeased with both Let us therefore detest Popery as being abominable before God let us never be drawn to their Religion for it s to renounce God and quite break the Covenant Joyn not at any time with Papists in their Idol-service bow not the knee to Baal come out from among them and touch no unclean thing let neither Fear Covetousness or wanton curiosity to see new fangles draw you aside for ye cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of Devils Have no Society with them for marriage Joram and Ahaziah were bad for that they married into Ahabs stock
which went before both knew and saw Christ as Abraham though afar off So that here the Fathers are not excluded but he was manifest for us that we might have a fuller sight of him then the fathers their light was but dim in comparison of ours How much then are we bound to God and ought we not to have more knowledge and faith and shew more tokens of thankfulness then they But alas though we have the Gospel and Sacraments so clearly never did iniquity more abound Thus do we reward the Lord for his kindeness Who by him do believe in God He saith They believed how came he to know that he hoped so and in charity so judged of them as who willingly gave themselves to the profession of Christian Religion and for the same did undergo persecution Therefore I say he hoped the more confidently of them even as we may do of such Assemblies as these on the week days a man may hope better of them then of those which come by commandment as others of Custom not Conscience especially considering the discouragements they meet withal and their constancy notwithstanding A man cannot but think they should come for Conscience and expect better things at their hands then others which I desire you would be careful to declare well at home in your places and several dealings not onely to Gods glory your own comfort and winning on of others but stopping up the mouthes of the worst that are ready to pry into and speak all evil of the forwarder sort of professors By him We cannot believe in God but by the Son For 1. The Father dwelleth in the light that none can attain unto How then shall we come to him of our selves we being so poor and weak and he of so infinite Majesty As in the Summer we cannot directly look upon the Sun shining in his full strength but may view it in a pail of Water so must we see the Father in the Son who is the image of the Father and the ingraven form of his person 2. God is infinitely just and we extreamly wicked he a consuming fire and we stubble How then can we come to him believe in him or take comfort but onely in and by the Lord Jesus our Mediator who by his death hath made satisfaction to his Father and covered us with his righteousness He is the Way the Truth and the Life none cometh to the Father but by him By him we have boldness and access with confidence Its life eternal to know the onely true God but how shall that be done onely by Jesus Christ He therefore that would believe in God and have comfort thereupon must first know and believe in Christ Jesus even know him to be for natures and offices as he is God and man and believe in him as the onely Savior who reconcileth us to the Father 1. Therefore Jews and Turks believe not in God because they believe not in Christ and know him not 2. All are Hereticks that deny any of Christs natures or offices for we must believe him to be such as the Word declares him to be 3. The Papists which in effect deny his Humane Nature by standing for Transubstantiation and his offices Priestly by their Masses Satisfactions Joynt-intercessions his Prophetical by their own Traditions his Kingly by making the Pope head of the Church making Laws to binde the Conscience to forgive sins save damn c. Therefore they cannot truly believe in God and therefore it stands them in hand to know Christ aright and then to believe in him 4. This condemneth a number of ignorant creatures among us which will come to God but how by their good meanings good prayers good serving of God civil life and the like as others which seem better taught by their repenting and crying God mercy Oh this goes for current and in the mean time take no thought how his justice should be satisfied These may cry their hearts out to God and finde no mercy they must bring Christ their Surety in their hand and plead mercy for his sake and his satisfaction Such as were stung by the Fiery-Serpents could not be otherwise healed but by looking up upon the Brazen-Serpent neither we otherwise accepted of God then through Christ Humble thou therefore thy self confess thy sins judge thy self know Christ and plead his satisfaction That raised him up from the dead and gave him glory The Father is here said to have raised up Christ and yet the Son saith of himself That he laid down his life and took it to him again A. Whatsoever the Father did herein the same did the Son and the Holy Ghost The work is common to all Here I might speak 1. Of our Saviors Resurrection and shew how carefully all the Evangelists have recorded it with the witnesses thereof and how all the Apostles in their Sermons stood upon it and how the Devil and the Jews endeavored to hinder it and what great benefits ensue unto us hereby 2. Of his Ascension after forty days being on earth and how he changed his place and vanished not and how though absent in his Humanity he is ever present by his Spirit and how he is most highly advanced and how his Godhead was not thus advanced it was impossible nor his manhood by it self had such a name and such glory due to it but that the person of Christ God and man was advanced and how now he makes intercession and hath prepared a place for us but of these I have spoken at large on the Creed That your faith and hope might be in God Every one that believeth in Christ that these things belong to him may boldly believe and hope in God for all good for this life and that which is to come look for a full discharge of all sins for power to rise to a new life for a glorious resurrection look also on God with boldness by the intercession of Christ and be assured of expect and wait for an entrance into the same glory our Head is entred into Verse 22. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfained love of the brethren see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently A Good life is an inseparable companion of Faith and Hope God having bestowed upon them the former the Apostle would not have them to be wanting in the latter Generally he exhorts to Sanctification vers 14. then particularly first to renounce their lusts ibid. then to embrace the contrary Holiness vers 15 16. This he divides into two parts 1. The fear of God which contains all parts of Piety towards God vers 17 18 19 20 21. 2. Love to our brethren which comprehendeth all the Duties we owe to them These two are knit in a comely order not to be sundred In this verse we have an Exhortation to true and
hell at the first He suffers the Vessels of wrath with patience Thus though there had been no sin in the World God might justly have appointed most men to Damnation and cast them away also for his glory but now God doth not cast any man away but for his own willing falling away and sin for he made man Righteous but now sin comes in and for this is every one condemned that is condemned Besides is God cruel to them He never makes their finger ake till they have deserved Hell never condmns man or woman till they have deserved it a thousand times and in the mean time ceaseth not to bestow manifold blessings on them But as it were tyranny in a King to appoint many of his Subjects to punishment upon his will so were it in God said a Papist It s a most unequal comparison they be not the Kings creatures though his Subjects committed to him to rule not as he will but as God commands but God hath power because they be his creatures As if a Potter having made many pots commits them to a servant to be looked to if he burst any of them at his peril he doth it because they be not his own but if the owner should break any who shall blame him But its partiality in God and respect of persons to take some and refuse others being all equally guilty and in estate without difference Not so respect of persons is when many being in one case one is preferr'd For what for something in their own person as a Judge having two Malefactors equally guilty executes the one and spares the other because he is his Kinsman Countreyman c. But a Prince hath two Traytors equally deserving death and he without respect but because he will pardons one and cuts off the other as it may be Pharaoh did by his Butler and Baker or a man hath two Debtors and without respect he requires it all of the one and forgives all to the other Who shall let a man so to do This is no respect of persons But if a man be to adopt a Childe out of five or six and chooseth one because he is Witty Fair Proper c. this is respect of persons but so it is not in the Lord for he respects nothing in them that he elected nor in the other but because he would Thus of the third The fourth is this That The Lord hath done this unchangeably Those that are ordained to destruction cannot possibly be saved as it is not possible for the elect to be deceived The foundation of the Lord remaineth sure His decrees are as himself without alteration for if it should be otherwise it must needs be either that he seeth further now and so wanted wisdom or that he is inconstant whereof to think but a thought were blasphemous or else that he were over-ruled by some power which he could not resist which were as horrible Balaam could say That God was not like man that he should lye or repent It seemeth to us sometimes as though God did change as in Nineveh and Hezekiah but it s not so for though he concealed it the threatnings were conditional His secret will is ever the same firm and fast and no contradiction between it and his revealed will though there may seem so to be yet not so as if Gods decree put a necessity upon man of offending for as Adam so every man sins willingly without constraint and yet necessarily Gods decree bindes to a necessity of condemnation but mans sin comes in of his own will O the infinite and unsearchable wisdom and righteousness of God! Seeing they whom God hath ordained to destruction can never be saved who yet may be enlightened go far and have many gifts and outward benefits we should never be quiet nor sleep good sleep till we can prove we are no Reprobates O it s a most fearful state able to make the heart ake yea the thought of it to torment a man therefore we must labor to know we are not such Hence is that of the Apostle Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates Know ye not if you have not Christ in you by Faith ye are Reprobates and would be content to be so or so counted Nay can you be content till you know you are otherwise Therefore shake off and be sure to be rid of all the marks of Reprobates Namely 1. Ignorance whether enforced for want of means or affected for knowledge is the ground of faith and other graces Therefore its condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness Christ is known of his and knoweth them again 2. Unbelief Whosoever believeth not is condemned already Through this were the Israelites excluded out of Canaan and perished and through this were they broke off As many as are ordained to eternal life believe 3. Disobedience to the Word to such shall Christ say one day Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity 4. To stumble at Christ and at the Word upon occasion pickt as we see in this Text. So Apostacy impenitent living in any known sin especially after much warning and means hatred of Gods servants hardness of heart security and the like Now is it not fearful that men can go on and are not troubled about this that they can carry their black marks about them and yet be merry O fearful and desperate mirth If one should be condemned to be hang'd drawn and quartered and had an iron hang'd on him as a mark of it and were let go up and down for a few days if he were merry and jocund what would we say yet thus doth the world O awaken your selves Doth not this concern you O come out of your ignorane and unbelief and never give over till you get something that a Reprobate never had cannot have I tell you they may go far and have so gone therefore look well about you A number have not gone so far as a number of Reprobates in Knowledge Utterance Profession hearing the Word with joy reverence to the Preachers thereof Reformation in many things c. who yet think well of themselves O fearful that men can be so wretchless in so weighty a matter Awaken your selves I beseech you and know one thing is needful as the Apostle Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power do that which is good So if thou wouldest not be afraid of reprobation live godly for such cannot be Reprobates Faith true and particular and Sanctification throughout make a man a Christian this an Hyprocrite hath not So an humble and contrite heart a vehement longing after Christ an high prizing of him a vehement desire to turn to God in all things these an Hypocrite
them betimes then we prevent evil actions The worst action was at first a thought which if it had then been resisted and cast out would not have proved so deadly as we now finde by woful experience for want of this sin grows from one degree to another till it be ripe If we thus resist and cast them out though they be our sins God will not impute them but pardon them in Christ and this may comfort us but yet because it were best not to be troubled with them or commit them at all we should even long to be with God when having laid down our bodies we shall be wholly freed from them But in the mean time let us thank God in Christ Jesus and say It s not I but sin that dwelleth in me when we do to the uttermost of our power prevent them and those we cannot yet we resist earnestly The world make little account of thoughts but let them flie out and the heart range whither it will whether on the Lords day or at other times when duties are performed and no marvel for they make no conscience either of their words or actions even on the Lords-day But they shall one day be called before a Judge that knows them all and made them without them who will condemn them for them Which fight against the soul The first Reason and that of greatest force that which fighteth against our principal part we had need resist manfully but thus do fleshly lusts for 1. They hinder the good thoughts we should have in stead of them and so make us do duties untowardly 2. They egge and entice us to evil and steal away our hearts from God and his obedience as an Adulterer enticeth and draweth a mans wife out of her husbands company so do these draw us from God and so pollute our souls which made the Apostle to complain That they rebelled against the law of his minde and led him captive he was yoked and made to do the evil he would not and so on the contrary 3. They fight against the peace of our Consciences for these make us guilty and so hinder our quiet for as well-doing breeds peace so evil-doings disquiet 4. They seek indeed the ruine and destruction of the soul for the wages of the least of these is death These not resisted or not repented of will surely cause damnation and these in themselves deserve no less 1. How ought we then to watch against these with all diligence as they keep watch that be besieged by Enemies 2. Take away from them all means of nourishment and starve them as besiegers do by their besieged adversaries 3. Mortifie them all we can else they will destroy us If we live after the flesh we shall dye It will not spare us we therefore must not spare it we must admit of no reconciliation no ransom this is holy and lawful revenge But contrarily there are not a few Christians 1. Which do not watch against their lusts and thoughts but let them come and go at their pleasure and take little or no notice of them or not as though they sought their destruction nay how few once regard their thoughts especially such as have no consent How many come and go and no account taken of them 2. Which rather minister matâ—er to their lusts for their nourishment as to their pride to anger to wandring thoughts by letting their eyes and ears be at liberty 3. Which do not mortifie them nay bear with them and speak favorably of them and not as if they were deadly Enemies Oh people little think of the danger of these lusts else they would otherwise do If any lie in wait to hurt us in our bodies we watch to resist them and its wisdom or if any come to rob us we cry out Oh he seeks to rob me and get away my goods or if one should sue us for part of our Land What a stir and opposition do we make What a madness is it then that these which fight against our souls we suffer to go in and out at their pleasure without any check entertaining them rather as friends then enemies If one should strike at our leg we would fence it if we could but if he drive at our head then much more If one would thrust us into the arm we would avoyd all we can but if he go about to stab us at the heart then much more so should we most of all for our souls These lusts pretend friendship but they are Enemies fighting Enemies an Host as the word imports against our souls O let us be wiser and deal with them as deadly Enemies O our fault herein If some come and tell us this night some be pointed to rob us or there is one lies in our field armed threatning to kill us as we come that way O I thank you good Neighbor say we that you would tell me I shall love you while I live but if any come and tell us of a Lust Pride Covetousness Hastiness that is in us he had need behave himself wisely in the doing of it that shall have any thanks for his labor nay not one of many but will take it ill and snuff and think the worse of him O what folly is this to bear with such deadly foes 4. If these inward lusts fight against the soul if these ill thoughts yea the least of them be enemies to the soul and must be resisted What then do the ugly sins and abominable speeches and actions of the wicked These wound and pierce the soul most deeply their Oaths Cursing Drunkenness Prophanation of the Sabbath Whoredom Oppression Lying gash the soul most fearfully and kill it at last eternally What mad people then be most of the World which love and live in the practise of these thus murthering their own souls As the man that was possessed of a Devil broke all fetters so do these kept among the graves so do these in Alehouses cut himself with sharp stones so do these with ugly sins If a man seek to make away himself stab himself or cut his own throat we say He is beside himself its time to binde him when the World therefore gash themselves and stab themselves with their vile sins are they not mad yea so much more then the others as the soul is better then the body As strangers and pilgrims The second Reason Hereby are meant such as are out of their own house out of their own Nation which he speaks not because they were out of Canaan and dispersed in other countreys in that sence he called them Strangers in the former Chapter not in a worldly but in a Spiritualsence namely in respect of the Kingdom of Heaven which was their Countrey and from which wandring here in this world they were absent Hence Note that All Gods Servants and Believers are Pilgrims here in this world This is not their Countrey They
we know no Reason we should be subject to them He answereth you are free indeed I confess Christ hath purchased and that dearly a happy and blessed freedom for you but this as every other good thing may be abused and stretched beyond the reach thereof as you do this for it s not such a freedom as sets you at liberty to do what you list or to shake off Government and live at your pleasure and which is not to be used as a cloak of naughtiness and carnal liberty but you must use it as those that be freed from sin and the Devil but not from God and your obedience to him but to be his servants and so to obey him as in all things so in this amongst the rest even in obeying Magistracy which is one of his Commandments Here three things are considerable 1. The liberty of Christians As free 2. The abuse of Christian liberty not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness 3. The right use of it but as the servants of God all needful to be known that in a right maner we may use our Christian liberty to the glory of God our own good and the benefit of our brethren As free Freedom presupposeth bondage By nature we are all bound till we be freed through Christ. 1. We are all guilty of Adams sin born in Original sin infinitely defiled with actual rebellions whereby we stand under the wrath and curse of God and all evils in this world and that which is to come for ever There is no curse in all the Scripture threatned or executed or any other that God hath in his infinite store-house whereunto we are not lyable and daily subject God is just and no whit of this can be called back a fearful condition 2. We are all the very vassals of Satan and slaves of sin taken prisoners of him in the fall and we have no power of Soul nor part of body but are all fast bound to his will our understanding darkness it self our will altogether averse and rebellious to that that is good carried forcibly to all evil as are also our affections and other parts The Devil holds us as a Captain doth his Castle naturally he rules in our hearts at his pleasure till through Christ we be delivered out of this power of darkness He is the strong man that keeps the house till a stronger then he comes which is Christ alone We have no power to think a good thought to stir a finger in any good though about the matter of our Salvation Our wisdom is enmity against God All our thoughts are onely evil continually It s as impossible for a natural man to do any good as for a bramble to bear grapes or figs nay which is worse and makes up our bondage we cannot see we be in this case believe when we be told it desire to come out of it as being weary thereof nay we delight in it think it the onely liberty spend body goods name soul and all in the service of it the basest master and most cruel the basest work and most woful wages and this yet is worst that we like of it and liberty being offered we loath it No vassal among the Turks that hath been there never so long but yet retains a free minde he would be gone if he might or could tell how but such are not we we have no desire from Satan or sin our bondage being thus made known unto us we are a little the fitter to listen to the freedom here spoken of we being in this most woful bondage God of his infinite mercy found out a way a strange way to free us and that was by Jesus Christ who hath procured our liberty and makes us free This is called Christian liberty because it s purchased by Christ for Christians namely Believers and no others Its a Spiritual and holy freedom not Civil such as the Jews looked for even great advancement in an earthly Kingdom or the Anabaptists dream of which shake off Magistracy nor Carnal such as that of the Libertines which live as they list in all silthiness and procured it is by Christ alone no other could do it It stands in these four things 1. Through Christ we are freed from the wrath and curse of God and all the punishment of our sins here and hereafter and this he hath done by his precious blood having redeemed us and became also a curse for us He was arraigned before a worldly Judge that we might not be arraigned before the Judge of the whole world He was condemned that we might be absolved He dyed that we might live He hath become our surety and so freed us from the wrath and justice of God and his payment was most royal because he was God and by his Resurrection he declared that it was full and perfect So that now to all that believe in him there is no condemnation It hath nothing to do with them for though God be just and will have it once paid yet not unjust to require it twice 2. We are freed from the service of Sin and the Devil which he hath done by the vertue of his Word and holy Spirit working faith in our hearts So Regenerating and Sanctifying us washing us in his blood enlightening our understandings renewing our wills reforming our affections and whole man working a quite change from that was before an hatred of the sin that before was onely loved a love to the good that before was not regarded yea of all sin and of all good with some power to resist and overcome the one and perform the other so that though Satan tempt us yet shall he not have us at command as before though our heart and flesh lust after evil yet the Spirit resisteth it and provoketh to good and sin reigneth in us no longer Thus were Zacheus the Jaylor and Mary Magdalene quite altered from that they were before So among our selves through Gods goodness they that understood nothing to purpose are now enlightened and ashamed of themselves in respect of their former conversation hate their sins and old companions and are turned to love God and to delight in his Word Saints Prayer good Duties have tongues that cannot now speak for their liyes as before but are ready to speak gracious words which before they could not and where before they were lame to any good now they are active and can finde their legs now to carry them to goodness but we are only thus freed in part we cannot do what we would as we would and oftentimes also we do also what we would not yet shall we draw vertue from God by his Spirit in the daily use of the Word Sacraments and Prayer to be more and more freed therefrom till at last we shall attain the same even perfect freedom in glory for ever 3. We are freed from the rigor
of the Moral Law and the uttermost extremity of it which of the unbeliever is exacted but on the behalf of Believers is taken away by Christ so that though in them there be many wants yet God in Christ Jesus will accept the will for the deed he will accept of their hearts and of the truth of their actions pardoning their infirmities Hence it is that now they flee not from the Law as a cruel Tyrant but come thereto as to a Schoolmaster to instruct them in Gods will 4. We are freed from the Ceremonial Law whereof the Sacraments Sacrifices Rites Purifyings c. were meer shadows till the body came So from bondage in all things indifferent as meats drinks days and the like which were rudiments serving for the minority of the Church There is now no indifferent thing we are bound in for Religions sake or from which we are to abstain for conscience sake much more are we freed from all mens Traditions which serve not to binde the conscience wherewith notwithstanding the Church of Rome endeavoreth to hold people in base and deadly bondage as the Scribes and Pharisees of old and that for Conscience and Religions sake The Kingdom of God is not meat nor drink neither if we eat are we the more acceptable or if we eat not the less 1. This is a wonderful consolation to every Christian whoso can prove themselves Believers they are the onely happy persons in the world they onely are free Art thou such a one be of good comfort there 's no condemnation to thee though thou hast been stung with sin yet seeing thou hast had grace to look up to Christ Jesus thou art cured Christ hath dyed for thee thou shalt not perish but have life everlasting Who shall lay any thing to thy charge Christ hath paid thy debt to the uttermost farthing when therefore the conscience of thy sin troubles thee with the danger thereof and the Devil pursueth thee with temptations O then look up to thy Surety stick to him he hath perfectly discharged thee Though there be a Hell wide and large and the burning thereof as it were fire and much wood which the breath of the Lord as a River of Brimstone doth kindle and wherein thou hast deserved to have thy portion yet there thou shalt not come Christ hath given a discharge for every one that believeth in him Thou art humbled the Spirit of God beareth witness to thine that thou art Gods and thou findest in thy self the fruits of faith be of good comfort God can as soon deny himself as that thou shalt perish O what cause have we to thank God for Christ Jesus and all the means whereby we came to faith and to be Christians we can have no curse in this world crosses for good are no curses death shall do us no hurt yea turn to our especial good Art thou a Believer then art thou no longer the Servant of sin to be at the command and follow it in the lusts thereof though thou canst not do as thou wouldest yet having thine understanding enlightened thy will and affections reformed and thine heart changed c. thou hast a blessed freedom a pledge indeed of that perfect freedom thou shalt have in Heaven yet labor every day to be more freed from the bondage of thy corruption and set at liberty to serve God And is it not a wonderful comfort that we may offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ and that we are enabled in some measure to do the will of God and that with delight and that our works though imperfect and done in weakness yet being done in Truth are accepted of God who hath compassion on us as a father on his son He that is indeed a true Believer is the onely free person in the world so free as nothing can make him otherwise let him be bound with sickness with poverty with imprisonment let him be tyed hand and foot let him be chained about the neck to a prison wall c. yet is he free free from sin and damnation free from the bondage of the Devil is a conqueror over temptations hath a free minde to serve God and even then with Paul and Silas and the three children can sing and laud his name O praise God for this walk thankfully and joyfully love the word and search it where these blessed prerogatives and priviledges be enrolled It s a great fault we rejoyce no more herein especially considering the price that our freedom cost 2. For them that cannot prove themselves Believers O let them labor to have a part in this freedom Rome had great priviledges therefore many sought and that with great sums to be free of it When the Jews were freed from Hamans conspiracy and had the Kings favor many become Jews O so me thinks many should desire to become Christians that they may partake of this freedom which is more to be desired then the whole world Till you be freed by Christ you are in woful bondage When the Son shall make you free then shall you be free indeed till which time you are bound indeed and that in a fearful maner the curse of God follows you whithersoever you go or ride you go not over a stile but you may break your neck get up on your horses but you may receive some deadly blows to send you to Hell take tools in your hands but you may mischief your selves thereby you may be swallowed up as Korah drowned as Pharaoh burnt with fire from Heaven as Nadab and Abihu eat up with worms as Herod Being unbelievers you have no warrant to the contrary every minute you hang over the pit of Hell for whom it gapeth You are also slaves of the Devil at his command and do base work for a woful master whose wages will be accordingly But this the world will not believe they dream not of Spiritual bondage neither consider that their hearts are fast locked in unbelief were they sensible hereof they would seek by all means to be rid of the same they would be afraid even to sleep this night lest Hell should catch them ere they awoke lest their souls should be fetched from them being in this condition O never be quiet till you know your selves freed by Christ to this end humble your selves confess your deadly bondage bewail it to God cry for pardon rest not till you receive a gracious answer never leave waiting on God in his Word and craving his Spirit till he change your hearts and make you free whence will spring peace of Conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost What are Riches Wit Civility yea the gifts of Knowledge Utterance and hearing of the Word with joy and the like without this This is to be known by Faith especially But how do most content themselves to hold the hope of Heaven by sleight conceits of their own rather then seek by sound
good we must endeavor to live under the Ministery of the Word where we may know the will of God and be thereby directed unto Salvation This condemneth the most unmerciful hard-heartedness of the world that have no pity on themselves for their Spiritual miseries nay will not take knowledge of them but hate those that would help them out of them or knowing them yet are content either to abide in the same without any regard or bless themselves in their condition as if either it were not so bad as it is or they might come out of it when they would Would we not pity our selves if we were blinde lame naked diseased in our bodies Such are we in soul but where 's our pity Who would live in a place where there were no bread or in a Town besieged by Enemies wherein there were no Watchmen to give warning but not a few live where there are neither Preaching nor Preachers As Peter bade Christ favor himself so may we bid these pity themselves O consider of the worth of your souls and of the misery wherein they now are and if not now prevented hereafter shall be How do we take on if our finger be but a little burnt with a Candle Should we not therefore stand in fear of the everlasting burning in Hell Who will pity you if you pity not your own souls or who will commit unto you their souls to be cared for that have no pity of your own If God cast you into eternal torments without pity yet you must needs blame your selves as those who had no pity of your selves O pity your selves though it be with some pains to your bodies If your bodies do your souls a good turn as by bringing them to the Word being profited thereby they will requite them a thousand fold Pity towards others is either in respect of their souls or their bodies In respect of their souls It must be our care and labor to help them out of such miseries and bondage as they lie under Thus must Princes be careful of their subjects souls be unto them as nursing fathers and nursing mothers feed them guide them and with Asa Hezekiah Josiah Jehoshaphat c. provide that they may be instructed in their duties Thus must Magistrates of the people among whom they live encouraging the good and punishing the bad Thus Ministers as Watchmen tell people of any danger as Shepherds feed them and as guides lead them They must preach to the capacity of the meanest going in and out before them by an holy example Thus Patrons must have a care in bestowing their livings in pity of the peoples souls Thus Parents of their Children bringing them up in the narture and fear of the Lord Thus Husbands of their wives souls Masters of their Servants all of us each of others Help them that live in ignorance out of it in what you can bring home the impenitent comfort them that are afflicted yea we are even to pity those that are further off or dwell in other Countries who are yet without the knowledge of God and Christ as also to pity their souls who do not yet pity themselves What may not enduce us hereunto God is full of compassion and mercy Such an account made he of our souls as to save them he gave the blood of his own Son Christ Jesus so pitied us as he was content to abase himself to the state of man taking upon him the form of a Servant yea to undergo the ignominous death of the Cross O how he wept over Jerusalem How moved he was with pity when he saw the people scattered as Sheep wanting a shepherd and as he himself Preached most diligently so as the Doctor and Prophet of his Church he furnisht the same with able men as the twelve Apostles and seventy Disciples Adde hereunto that the soul is of more worth then the whole world and that if the soul be lost it must lie in unspeakable and endless torments and thither also will it draw the body This condemneth the unmercifulness of the world towards souls as of those which establish false Religion and binde their people thereto as Jeroboam who made the people sin such poyson and murther the soul So of ungodly Magistrates who hinder the preaching of the Word in what they can So of ignorant Heretical corrupt Teachers ravening Wolves such starve or poyson souls They cloath themselves with the fleece but care not for the flock So of wicked and unconscionable Patrons that for kindred favor or money put in such as God never called being no way fit for that weighty calling utterly unapt to teach having neither ability nor willingness thereto being such as seek their ease and pleasures So of wicked Fathers that buy livings for their Sons though never so unsufficient So of careless and ungodly Parents that have no care of the education of their Children providing for them food gay cloaths and great Portions but no good instruction If they were taken Captives of the Turk they will mourn but are no whit moved with pity though they be indeed Slaves unto Satan If but their finger ake they are grieved what should they then be seeing so many ugly sores of deadly sins running upon them So of Neighbors that little regard those they live by though ignorant impenitent c. they are not troubled at it shew little mercy this way So if any be afflicted in conscience few take the same to heart few do either regard or pity them Assuredly such as shew no mercy to the souls of others especially them that be under their charge shall have of God no mercy shewed on their souls but as it was said Eye for eye tooth for tooth so will he make them pay soul for soul their blood shall be required of them There shall be judgement without mercy to them that shew no mercy yea God will especially unconscionable and unmerciful Ministers not only in themselves and their goods so gotten but also in their children Contrarily to those that have pitied souls God will shew mercy Godly Kings and Magistrates with Jehoshaphat Hezekiah and Nehemiah God will bless and remember them in goodness Also godly painful and merciful Ministers shall both save themselves and them that hear them They shall shine as the Stars and receive an incorruptible Crown of glory Being careful in their places they are what effect soever their labors have a sweet savor to God The like may be said of Parents who are careful in their childrens education and of godly Neighbors which seek the good of their souls with whom they live God will requite it into their bosoms as having done a great work O let us be provoked to have more regard and pity of the miseries of souls then ever If we be careful of our own we will also be
the alarms either of mercies or judgements He sees not one step of the way to Heaven nor the danger he is in Though he wallow in the mire of foul sins that a good man will stop his nose at yet he smells nothing he cannot taste good and evil asunder but calls sweet sower The Word good Counsel good Company c. wherein Gods people take most delight are bitter to him Though the word hit him never so hard blows he feels not as neither though he wound his own conscience with never so foul sins And 2. As a man asleep loves not to be awaked so a natural man out of his sins and to be called upon to repent 3. As in sleep men dream of that they have not so a natural man dreams he is in a very good case hath faith repentance love c. when it s nothing so and when he awakes he confesseth it 4. As a man in sleep speaks some good words but knows not what and by and by is out so a natural man in good company will speak good words but hath no feeling of them and will again be quickly out of them 5. As a man before he sleeps gives direction that none awake him and turns from the one side to the other sleeping now on the one then on the other so a natural man will not be called upon to repentance having slept long enough on the one side in prodigality will haply turn on the other and lie as long in covetousness 6. As a man that hath been in a long deep sleep can hardly be awakened though it thunder though the winds be ready to blow down the house he hears nothing so it s hard to awaken any out of sin especially when they have lain long and lived therein no Preaching or calling on no Judgements of God though never so apparent can awake them from their security 7. As sleep is an image of the first death so is sleep in sin of the second Therefore we must endeavor for faith and set upon a good life we must learn to watch and keep us well while we be well To this end we must make use of the Trumpet of the Word daily sounding in our ears and take notice of Gods Judgements both on our selves and others What may not induce us hereunto Reasons are many 1. We are of the day and the light of the word shines in our faces It s enough for them in the night of Popery and where the word is not to sleep in sin he is a sluggard indeed that sleeps when the Sun shines his face Some of you have slept till nine a clok till high noon till three in the afternoon for shame awake 2. He that sleepeth in Harvest is the Son of confusion This is the plentiful harvest of the Gospel Now there is good to be done good gathering of faith knowledge repentance and such other graces 3. It s a shame to sleep when others be at work Many through Gods grace be awakened by the word and are busily working out their Salvation laboring for grace and using the means diligently and will you lie snorting in sin then will they be provided of necessaries when you will perish 4. It s a shame to sleep when all one's work lies to do but many among us have done just nothing of that that God hath set them here for nothing done towards their Salvation but all against it awake therefore ere night come when you cannot work 5. It were strange if a man should sleep when he were in great danger the house burning over their heads or in an hideous Tempest ready to be cast away but every natural man hangs as it were over the pit of Hell by a twined threed 6. It were strange if one should still sleep having many Messengers sent to awake him Some will say If any had called me I would have awaked with all my heart we are called by Sermon after Sermon by this Preacher that Preacher the other c. to whom the Lord will say Did not I send you and you to awake such a man c. you are now come under the means of awakening O that it might please God to bless his Word in piercing the ears of your soul to this end And be not half awaked and afterward when you be gone hence fall asleep again as a man in a deep sleep being called upon he begins to stir and lift up an eye and it may be his head from his pillow but hearing no more he lies down again and falls again as fast asleep as before let it not be so with us Some I doubt not begin to think with themselves about awaking and that it were good for them so to do but beware when you be gone hence you lay not your head down again but come and hear again and again till you be soundly awakened that you may not hereafter sleep any more if you be not awaked you must perish for ever A man would be loath to dye in his Natural sleep having gone well to bed and thinking of no such thing yet this cannot hurt a good man but to dye in the Spiritual sleep is damnable And I beseech you yong men and women be awakened betimes defer no longer the longer the worse Come to a man newly gone to bed ye may easily awake him come an hour after more hardly but come at midnight and then though you call and shout you can scarce awake him Sleep not till your middle age you can hardly be awaked then but if till your old age with exceeding difficulty if at all But of this also I have spoken before Because your adversary the Devil as a roaring Lyon walketh about seeking whom he may devour A Reason of the forementioned Exhortation By yielding thereto we shall take away advantage from the Devil who else will draw us into manifold temptations He is here described by all things that make a dangerous Enemy as Malice called therefore Our adversary the Devil Strength called therefore A Lyon A roaring Lyon Subtilty That he walketh about seeketh by all ways and means as by violence and craft to draw us into evil Diligence That he walketh about c. His malice is exceeding against God and man especially Gods people and against all goodness It hath been so from the beginning from his fall he was filled with malice against God laboring by all means that no reasonable creature might praise him on earth His envy also against mankinde continueth he is still a most deadly enemy against all goodness and means thereof against good persons good duties good meetings the Word Sacraments Prayer Fasting c. laboring to hinder these and the good success of them as the good Angels are filled with love and zeal to God and goodness rejoycing at the conversion of a sinner so is the Devil on the contrary yea his malice is deadly nothing will content him but our
got that they left it would encrease their torment to see they were such fools Therefore to be excessively careful is neither good for our selves nor our children we must follow our calling and be thrifty and go as far as we may lawfully and no further We must give our children good education and if we can do that by good means all duties discharged then there 's great hope of Gods blessing and if they fear God it shall be blessed and that shall be sufficient and if they fear not God the more we leave them it s the worse and the more hurt they will do how happy would it have been for many a youth if he had been left at a trade hard at work c. he should not have run into many sins that his abundance hath led him into If we leave them the poors part the Ministers part c. God will rifle in their pack and have so many quarrels against them so that a little by lawful means gotten shall do them more good then a great heap of Lambs grease when the heat of Gods wrath begins to beat upon it A mans house cannot be established by iniquity In all these respects let us take heed of distrustful and excessive care O how sweetly might a Christian live if he would follow his Calling diligently and thriftily and go no further but leave the rest to God Thus might we be freed from a world nay rather an Hell of cares that now distract us and make us unfit for good For he careth for you A main Reason we may spare all our care any more then the lawful use of the means for why if God care for us we are well enough He is infinite in power therefore nothing impossible to him nothing can hinder him He is infinite in love and mercy therefore ready enough to do us good so in wisdom therefore knows what we need and is good for us It s not so with the children of any earthly Parents for they sometimes would care and do for them and cannot some can and will not some both can and would if they knew but through distance of place and such like lets they know not their state Now that God doth care for his appears for he chose us before the Foundation of the world In Adam He created us happy and fully furnished us with all things needful for us In our own Creation he gave us our shape in our mothers womb and kept us that we were not stifled So in our birth infancy wanton youth and wilde time when we cared not for him nor our selves he provided for us as ever since by his Spiritual goodness He hath provided us a peaceable Land Magistrates to rule us Ministers to teach us given us his Son revealed in the Gospel He chose us ere we were therefore will not forsake us being his gave us his Son therefore with him will give us all good things called us of his own free grace without our desire and will he not fulfil his good works now we desire it above all things he gave us life therefore wil give us food and raiment for the preservation thereof He gave us those without our either care help or pains and will he not give us the lesser with our pains He feeds the fowls of the air and clothes the Lillies of the field and are not we much better then they and can use means more then they 1. For so many of us as know God to be our God and Father let us rest our selves on this promise and help our selves against this world of cares which through the want of faith doth so much distract us O the state of Gods Children is a safe happy state if they knew it which through faith they might 2. For the world no marvel though they caâ—k and use all unlawful means seeing they have no Father to care for them and are poor Orphans If a poor fatherless boy should run up and down toil and moil and be careful to please every body every one would say Alas it s a fatherless childe c. but if a rich mans Son should so do and whine and drudge and pilfer geting into one bodies cupboard and stealing a loaf into anothers cellar and stealing drink into anothers field and stealing his hedges would not every one cry out on such a one and would it not be an horrible disgrace both to the Son and Father So it is with the godly and ungodly about these worldly things c. Verse 8. Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring Lyon walking about seeketh whom he may devour HEre follow two other most necessary Exhortations the one to sobriety the other to watchfulnes and that from the danger that else we must needs fall into by reason of a most dangerous adversary that seeks by all subtilty and diligence our destruction fitly are these joyned together that before this for as a drunken man cannot hold open his eyes so cannot an intemperate man in these things keep a Spiritual watch Be sober Sobriety is a moderation and right use of our lawful liberties which are given us of God not to be used as we will but as may stand with these three main ends the glory of God our own good and the Salvation of our Brethren Our lawful liberties are meat drink apparel recreation mirth use of marriage and riches all which may be reduced to these two heads namely Pleasure and Profit But of this heretofore Be vigilant He means not of the bodily sleep that 's not prohibited so it be in fit time the night not the day so it be in fit place our Chambers not the Church in fit measure to enable us the more for the duties of our Calling but of the sleep of the soul for there be many that be awake in body rising early and go late to bed which yet are in a spiritual sleep in respect of their souls fast asleep in their sins and lie snorting in deep security of sin Watchfulness is a diligent and continual looking to our selves that both in thought word and deed we may resist evil and do the good we ought This is the work onely of a good Christian who being awakened out of his sins hath obtained the pardon of them and assurance thereof and therefore hath set his heart to lead a godly life and to please God in all things It s requisite then that a man be awakened before he can watch as we bid not a man fast asleep look to this or that but first to wake and then look to it we bid not a man that is down run but first to get up on his feet and then run By nature we are asleep in sin yea dead therein For 1. As in the bodily sleep all the sences are bound up So in the Spiritual a natural man hears not the voice of God hears not