our happinesse in heaven Non possumus peccare We cannot sin at all In a word Not to sin at all is the happinesse and holinesse of heaven Not to sin wilfully or presumptuously is the holinesse and happinesse on earth This then consider and apply for the conclusion of this comfortable priviledg That to be preserved from sin from the hurt and danger of sinne is a great priviledge and blessing He shall give his Angels charge over thee to uphold thee c. And this blessing and priviledg God promised Job 5. his faithfull servant and obedient child That he should not sin which is the greatest comfort the world can afford It is if considered the next priviledg to God and the highest priviledg of man of mortal man And when in a full sense man shall be taken from sin he shall be received to joy to fulness of joy and the more we empty of sin by repentance the more we are filled with joy which is found and felt here by the testimony of our own consciences which is the very beginning of heaven and of happinesse in this life The more holy the more happy Pray we then to God who is the only cleanser and purifyer of the heart our only sanctifier and pardoner of sin To make us so happy here as to be holy that is not to have our sin imputed For blessed is he whose iniquity is forgiven c. and so holy here that hereafter we may be eternally happy The second Priviledg He that is born of God doth overcome the world It is Saint Johns Doctrine too 1 John 2. The world is too base for their high-calling in Christ Jesus They are born from above and therefore should not mind things below The world God set and placed under mans feet to tread and trample upon not to set his heart upon God made the world for man and therefore he made man himself for a better thing then the world is for himself and his Kingdom and therefore the Church of Christ the mother of us all is described Rev. 12. 1. To be clothed with the sun and to have the moon under her feet and upon c. the meaning is she was cloathed with Christ the Sun that is with Christ the Sun of righteousness according to that saying of St Paul Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ Indeed he is indumentum ornamentum our garment and our glory She had the moon under her feet that is she had all earthly and worldly things under her which are compared to the moon for its waxing and waning changing decreasing and increasing for her continual variations and uncertainties she treads them all under her feet she makes light of them knowing that she is born frâ—m above and there is her inheritance she therefore regards not nor values earthly things in comparison of heavenly for he that is cloathed with the sun cares not for the light of the moon which hath all her light from the sun So he that hath God what need he care for the world he that dwels in the sun what need he care for any light from the moon which is Gods creature and made only for mans use and service God hath set all things under his feet as David saith Given him rule and authority over all the creatures He hath given the earth to the sons of men It was the observation of the Poet Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri Jussit erectos c. Whereas all other creatures were framed with dejected and cast-down countenances with faces hanging downwards he made man with an erect lofty and stately countenance that he might by the consideration of his feature and composition be put in mind of the end of his creation and as S. Paul saith Quae sursum sunt quaerere Seek those things which are above So that these Eagles Christians should not catch at flyes nor these Herculeses the offspring of God Sit at a distaff and do such drudgery and base services as the world and flesh like Omphale shall prescribe unto them The world I say God placed under mans feet that his head and heart should not be where his feet troad and trampled Since then the Creatures were all made for Mans use and delight for their encouragement to and in Gods service making them all constantly and willingly to serve Man that Man might so serve his Maker with cheerfulnesse and willingnesse Shall Man make himselfe so base so dishonour his high calling so degenerate as to make himselfe a slave to his slave a servant to his servants with cursed Cham whose curse it was to be a servant of servants Amare res suas plus quamse to love the Creature more than the Creator which is blessed for ever No marvaile then that God who is a jealous God and will not give his honour to another nor love affect or esteâ—me any thing in the world more than him or above him many times drops gall and bitternesse into our creature-comforts and imbitters our earthly blessings when he sees us dote too much upon them and place that contentment and satisfaction in them which we should place in him set them in his throne and make Idols and images of them falling downe to them and worshipping them as Israel did to the Calfe as the covetous man doth to his Gold calling it his god and the wedge of gold his confidence the amorous and lustfull man the Sampson to his Mistresse the proud man to himselfe and honour Beloved Christians the next way to lose any thing is to love it too well and ' Almighty God when he sees us set too deep an â—ffâ—ction and love upon any creature and prefer any earthly creature in our affections before him he either takes it quite away from us or else drops some bitternesse into it to make it disâ—â—stfull Let God therefore have the prime and principall the strength and constancy of our affections and let us love all other things with a subordinate and inferiour love and all he gives us to enjoy let us love for the givers sake as his gifts and blessings and so we cannot erre in our love Let us love other things with a subordinate affection to him and with a willing resignation of them to his Divine will and pleasure to his disposall But the onely measure of loving God is to love him without measure we cannot love God too much Secondly Remember thy self O Man whence thou art the place whither thou aimest and tendest Thy face is towards Jerusalem let not Babylon have thy heart For wilt thou which art borne for a better inheritance which shalt one day feed of the food of Angels which shalt sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of God wilt thou so far disgrace and debase thy selfe thy Father Friends and Country as to spend they self and lay out thy self upon earthly and transitory things Lay out thy labour for that which is not bread
dirt and clay which will quickly fail them and lay their honour in the dust Though they have golden beginnings and prosperous and succesfull proceedings long and strong continuance yet these great bodies are mortall too they goe the same way as small ones doe onely they make a greater noise in their rise and fall They have their beginning and ending their infancy youth and age as those great Monarchies had prefigured in that great Image For God sets them their bounds as he doth to the sea which they cannot pass and saith to them as to that Hitherto shalt thou come and no further here will I stop thy proud waves But in this new Birth this Birth from above of which my Text treats we are begotten from above by a Father to an Inheritance immortall and undefiled which fades not away and to a Kingdom which cannot be shaken as all worldly Kingdomes are 6. In the 12. verse the Apostle shews the happy and blessed Ver. 12. condition of affliction patiently born they terminate and end in happyness In much suffâ—rance is ease and the Cross leads to the Crown Affliction and Blessedness do often meet in the same person an afflicted man is a blessed man if he despise not the chastening and correction of the Lord but patiently and willingly welcome it with the words of Jerem. It is my sorrow and I will bear it Blessed is the man c. The 13 14 15 16 verses set forth unto us the true Father of a false child The child is sin the father with some is in some controversis For as notorious and common Strumpets doe some times lay their Bastards at the Church door so there are some prophane and Atheistical persons which lay their sin and iniquity at heaven gates and would make God the author of sin Which the Apostle takes away in the four former mentioned verses Let no man when he is tempted say I am tempted of God for God tempts no man to evill neither is tempted But every man is tempted c. God is no wayes to be thought the Parent of such a base brat For as Fulgentius surely Deus non potest esse illius author cujus est ultor God cannot be the author of that which he is the revenger To make a hell and to cast into that hell stands not with the Nature Wisdome and Mercy of God This false and erroneous opinion the Apostle takes away in the 16 verse Erre not dear brethren We should be dear to one another though divided Dear and Brethren in affection though divided in opinion For It is a good and joyfull thing for c. But howsoever Psal 13 3. you erre in other things let not this damnable error so far possess you as to make God the author of sin Mistake not so far as to say Because God concurs in sin the action of sin he hath any hand in the evill of it Nor say If God would not have me sin why doth he not hinder me The action indeed is Gods because in him we live move and have our being But Acts 14. the evill of the action that is Sathans and our own The devill is the father and sin his own no other mother then our own lusts Indeed nothing is so truly ours as our sin which is evident enough by our cockering of it and our indulgence over it and by our lothness to part with it we dandle it and hug it and feed and foster it and cry with the Harlot Ne dividatur Let it not be divided let that live though said she although it be an eye-sore to God and a plague-sore to the soul and if we kill not sin in us then sin in us will kill us Yet many men will part from their souls rather than their sin How comes it else to pass that Hell hath so many souls if their sin was not dearer to them than their souls Man is the active author God the permitter and sufferer of sin God sustaines the motion of the will man he defiles and pollutes the act of willing God conforms and agrees to the action men to the pravity and deformity of the action As darknesse necessarily follows when the Sun withdraws his light and yet the Sun is not the cause of the darknesse but the absence of the light so when God withdraws his grace sin follows but not as an effect the cause but as a consequent to the Antecedent Therefore erre not my dear brethren God is so far from being the author of sin that he is the fountain and August originall of all graces and virtues Verse 17. Every good c. Nostra bona sunt Dei dona Our goods are from his goodness they are the enumerations and rayes of that Sun of Righteousness Then comes in the Text for from whence doth every good and perfect gift proceed but from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good will and pleasure of God which â—s the fountain and original of all Graces and goodness This is the Inference and Coherence of the words wherein if I have been too tedious and intrenched upon your patience If I have made too long and large an entry or porch to so small a house pardon my boldness my intent was to bring in my Text in order and method Let us now look into that house we all desire to be of and in Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth that we should be as the first fruits of his creatures With reflection therefore of your eyes to the 5th verse which is more remote especially to the 17th verse which is more near and to which indeed the words of my Text have relation Consider I pray you that of all those gifts and graces which God of his free love hath given to the children of men of all those evidences and testimonies of Gods good will and pleasure of all those divine exprâ—ssions of his goodness and mercy this of our New Birth or Birth from above is the greatest and chiefest Of our Râ—generation I say again or second Birth For man in his first birth Man born of a woman hath but a short time to live and Job 14. 1. is full of miserie His life poor man is not short and sweet but short and sharp though he hath want of daies yet he hath store of miseries And miserable he is not onely in regard of the calamities and sorrows he is born to but in regard of the sin and iniquity he is born in For being first ab immundo conceptus semine born of unclean seed and nursed in â— sinfull womb ubi prius incipit macula quam vita where he is stained and polluted before he be conceived or quickned How can that be clean which is born of a Woman I was born in iniquity saith David and in sin hath my mother conceived me As if hâ— Psalm 51. 5. had said True it is O Lord and I doe freely and
not because their sin is not imputed nor laid to their charge They are looked upon in the face of Gods Anointed and so God sees no iniquity in Jacob c. Thou art all fair my love saith Christ and there are no spots in thee spots she hath as there be spots in the Moon she hath sin in act but her sins are not imputed Thou are fair saith Christ through the beauty that I have put into thee In this sense they that are born of God sin not they have sin in them but not ruling or reigning in them Rom. 6. 4 As Christ said to his Disciples when he found them asleep The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak And the Spouse of her self and her drowsinesse I sleep but my heart waketh So the Saints of God the best have their nods and neves but the heart wakes when the eyes are closed even in their falls and weaknesses they have a desire to stand and to be strong in the Lord and as I said With their mind c. Rom. 7. last They sin I sry again but iâ— is not their work or trade It is not they as St. Paul saith but sin that remains in them Secondly It is their desire and intention to do good 3. They lie not they continue not in sin but their course is after the Commandment and a walking in and by the spirit whereas the wicked and unregenerate they sin purposely with delight and pleasure and they continue in their sinne making it their work end trade they make it their Plough as Job saith They plough iniquity and therefore they must needs reap misery They work it and cannot sleep except they commit it they love it and live by it it is not onely their love but their life and as it is their trade and their work so it is their sport and pastime their mirth and recreation this fool the sinner makes a sport of sin a fool indeed for have they any understanding that work wickedness saith David whereas the regenerate man grieves and mourns and laments for it his righteous soul is vexed at it and he never finds rest or quietness untill he feels in his conscience the assurance of his pardon in Christ Augustin in his Book de civitate Dei sets forth the difference between the sins of the regenerate and unregenerate very learnedly and comfortably by a comparison and instance in Tarquin and Lucrete where speaking of her ravishment by him he saith thus There were two bodies and yet but one Adulterer and concludes peccatum factum est de illa non ab illa sin was done with reluctancy and striving and strong opposition upon her it was not done willingly or delightfully by her The same may we say concerning the sins of the regenerate sin is done with reluctancy and striving and opposing and resisting upon the Godly it is not done willingly or purposely or readily or pleasingly by them Like men spiritually oppressed by the potency and power of the enemy by the strength and power and violence of Satan The good they would do they cannot do it but the evil c. Rom. which makes them heavily and dolefully to complain Miserable men that we are who c. and concludes the point having shewed the difference between the sins of the godly and ungodly in two sentences which deserve your observation 1. Verus pâ—nitens semper est in timone dolore a true penitent is alwaies in fear and grief In fear lest he sin 2. In grief for sinning Try thy self by this Art thou afraid when thou goest forth into the world where men walk as amongk snares lest thou sin and be ensnared and if thou beest overtaken with a fault dost thou grieve and lament thy folly and weakness and art never at rest untill thou hast made thy peace with thy God It is a certain signe of thy sonship that thou art the child of God thy sin shall not be imputed The second observable note of the Father there is this Peccata non nocent quae non placent Tâ—â—se sins do never hurt which do not please they damn not any man that delight him not because they be not committed with the heart mind or will for it is a true rule Quod cor non facit non fit What the heart doth not is not done So much of the heart and mind as is in any sin so much it is a sin where they are not there is no sin formally or evangelically at least condemnatory These things I write unto you saith St. John that you sin not which is an impossible thing in a strict and legal sense as I have said but in an evangelical and Gospel sense it is possible You must not sin as wicked men do who do nothing else but sin Their life being a continuall and continued course of sinning who make it their work and trade work it with both their hands and all their heart earnestly and constantly which they doe not who walk in Gods waies and who are Gods children but he that is born of God doth righteously 1 John 2. 29. And he that is born of God heareth Gods word John 8. 47. He carrieth a flexible and docible heart unto the word which is the seed of our new birth and preserves a man from sin Carry we our selves therefore like holy persons like men born from above and if David thought it a great honor to be son in-law to a King Let Christians think it a transcendent dignity and honor to have God the King of Kings for their Father â—hall such a man as I fly saith Nehâ—miah So shall such a man as a regenerate man sin wilfully or presumptuously offend such a Father as God is to him whose eyes are over him to protect him and his hands under him to support him who numbers his very hairs and si sic curat superflua in quanta securitate est anima They that are Gods children cannot will not sin they have the blessing of impotency and weakness in their regenerate part that they cannot sin strongly though they have not that blessed liberty in the regenerate part that they cannot sin at all Mephibosheth though he was lame in his feet yet he was of the bloudroyal son to a Prince and grandson to a King so may a Christian be the child of God though he be lame and weak in holy duties and performances He walks uprightly that walks sincerely and with a good heart And as I said before God will not se◠〈◊〉 where he sees truth in the inward â—ffections It was the happinesse of Adam in Paradice Pâ—tuit non peccare He could not have sinned God gave that power and strength unto the soul in the Creation that he was able to have preserved himself from sinning It is our unhappiness now after his fall Non possumus non peccare We cannot chuse but sin being born in iniquity and conceived in sin sinners from the womb It will be
8. by pointing to his Disciples Mat. 12. 49 50. He stretched forth his hands towards his Disciples and said Behold my mother and my brethren for whosoever doth c. The same Luke 8. My mother and my brethren are they that hear the word and do it verses 21. By which places of Scripture we see plainly and evidently that Christs respects are greater and he is dearer and nearer to them that are united to him by faith than by bloud by spiritual regeneration than by natural generation And St. Austin from hence is bold to affirm Felicior Maria credendo in Christum quam concipiâ—ndo carnem Christi Mary was more happy in believing in her Son than in bearing him in believing in him in her mind than in bearing him in her womb They are dearer and nearer to Christ that are allied to him by faith than by the flesh and this our Saviour mildly intimated to the woman who looking too carnally and sensually upon his outward and natural generation and crying out blessed the womb and he corrects her in these words Nay more blessed are they that hear the word of God and do it It is not the conception of the body but the conception of the mind which unites us to Christ for howsoever by the body we are born at first by the mind we are born again The womb of which conception lies higher namely in the heart where the seed of the word is sown to receiv the ingraffed word and to conceive the new man and by faith to impregnate and bring him forth This is the work of regeneration and this unites us to Christ makes us bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh The word of God which is called the seed of our new birth goes in at our ears from thence down to our hearts and there as I said it doth iâ—pregnate and fructifie and bring forth the new Men. God begets us of his will by the word of truth I will conclude this Point with the Prayer of St. Augustine before one of his Sermons beseeching God that Quicquid meditatum est cor meum whatsoever my heart hath profitably meditated upon this divine Subject may enter from my mouth into your ears from your ears into your hearts from your hearts spring forth in your lives and be fruitfull so that receiving the ingrafted word with meekness it may be able to save your souls As you have in part seen the eminency and dignity of a Christian of which you shall hear more anon so I pray you note three great and singular priviledges and prorogatives of one born of God they are worth your noting and observation I. First They that are born of God sin not 1. John 3. 9. He that is born of God doth not commit sin Sin not may some say how can you make that good since the most righteous sin seven times a day and there lives not a man upon earth that sins not If we say we have no sin saith St. John We I for one we are not only deceivers but lyars 1 John 1. In many things we offend all saith James We he puts himself in James called the Just puts himself into the number of sinners We offend all all of us in many things and many of us in all things Verebar omnia opera mea saith Job I feared all my works knowing that in the best of them is weakness in the worst wickedness error in all David cries out Who knows how often he offendeth The highest form of believers are not without the actings of sin though the lowest forms are not under the dominion of sin And what were Noahs drunkenesses Lots incest Abrahams dissimulation Davids Adultery Solomons Idolatry Peters Apostacy Thomas â—â—s â—â—credulity were not these sins Noah was a just man in his generation Abraham the Father of the Faithfull and friend of God David was a man after Gods own heart nay the Father of Christ according to the flesh Solomon a type of Christ and Prince of Peace Peter the prime Apostle upon whose faith Christ did build his Church Thomas vouchsafed that never man was to put his finger into the hole of our Saviours side and to handle his wounds yet these tall Cedars were not only shaken but overthrown Et si non timuit lupus illum gregem intrare If the Wolfe feared not to enter into the â—old of which Christ was the Shepherd how may we fear our standing since these strong ones were ever taken with faults no small ones and infirmities not a few Let him that standeth take heed 'T is true peccatum inest in electis non praeest It is in them not over them remanet non regnat it remains in them it reignes not in them Vivit non vincit it lives in them but it conquers them not bellat not debellat it wars but it wins not They are not so perfect so throughly sanctified here in this life that ye fail not or fall at all nor sin at all that peccatum non sit or nisit that sin should not be or be in them but they are so upheld and preserved by the power of God unto salvation ut peccatum non praesit non obsit that sin should not reigne in them nor ruine them because as I said God keeps the feet of his Saints and his seed that is his spirit and word remains in them So that though they fall yet they fall not foully or finally though sin be in them yet it reignes not in their mortal bodies that they should obey it in the lusts and desires thereof because they be born of God and by faith lay hold upon the Lamb of God which hath taken away c. and they have an Advocate with the Father c. But we are to know that this Advocate this Jesus who was so called because he should save though he hath taken away the strength and sting of sin the guilt and condemning power thereof yet he hath not taken away the being of sin The site of sinne that Christ hath not stirred but the spite and might of it that he hath quelled the might that it should not regnare reigne the spite of it that it should not damnare damn Sin is in the best and holiest but it condemns not them that are in Christ Rom. 8. 11 They commit no wickednesse saith David that walk in thy waies that is willingly purposely or resolvedly They sin indeed out of weaknesse and frailty and error out of negligence and carelesnesse and rashnesse but not out of wickednesse intention or presumption out of infirmity and inadvertency they sin but not delightfully or desperately willingly or constantly they sin not finally or to death with their mind they obey the Laws of God though with their flesh the Law of sin or as one saies upon the place They live not unto sin but unto Christ who died for sin or which is the truest and the most comfortable exposition of all They sin