talked of him or with him but to shew their vtter dislike of him they vsed to say Is this he or art thou hee that wilt doe such a thing Is not this hee whom they go about to kill They woulde not say Is not this Iesus Christ or the sonne of God Againe whither will hee go that we shall not finde him This is a most despightfull kinde of speaking and doth bewray a bundance of malice that is hidden in the heart And is it not so betweene some Husbandes and Wiues and their neighbours they coulde speake one to another but disdaine and anger will not suffer the one to affoord vnto the other their names and their titles least they shoulde be put in minde of those dueties which these names require whereout Sathan sucketh no small aduauntage and these are like the spirituall Iewes Whereas manie times the verie name of husband or wife or brother or sister or neighbour or sonne or seruaunt or maister doth helpe not a little to persuade the minde and to win the affection yea the verie mentioning of those names doth oftentimes leaue a print of duety behind in the conscience Many think themselues sufficiently discharged if they speake the truth It is no matter they thinke after what maner it be done thinking to preuaile by boysterous terms nicke-names and wordes of disgrace but they are deceiued for if termes of loue and kindnesse will not preuaile words of reproch and hatred shall neuer preuaile except it be to make thinges worse and this will be the end of it while they doe so vnkindly hunt one another the diuell doth hunt them both vntill both of them become a praie vnto the diuell like men which make themselues a pray vnto the Lawyers while they striue to eate vp one another at law Now on the other side if teachers must shew themselues like Fathers then by the same lawe the people must shew themselues like children If the minister must for his parte seeke them with a fathers affection then they for their parte must not be wanting with a sonnelike affection His authoritie for God bindeth them to reuerēce him as the minister of God to obay him as if God himselfe did commaund them for for they are embassadours for Christ or in Christs stead and do entreate vs to be reconciled vnto God And in the 2. Cor. 5. 20. the Apostle saith that God doth beseech vs through them We must know then when Gods minister in the excercise of his ministerie doth persuade God doth persuade when he doth threaten vs God doth threaten vs when he doth promise vs any thing God doth promise it when he doth shew patience it is Gods patience if he doth forbeare thee God doth forbeare thee and all this is done for thy good therefore they that abuse the ministers patience as he is a minister do abuse Gods patience which God vseth towards vs for no other purpose but to draw vs to repentance which if we abuse to serue our own turn we do but heape vnto our selues wrath against the day of wrath Your murmurings are not against vs saith Moses but against God He that receiueth me saith Christ c. He that despiseth you despiseth me Therefore touch not mine annointed saith God and do my Prophets no harme because they are my Prophets not to prophesie vnto me but for me vnto you Are we now at libertie thinke we to here them or not to heare them at our pleasure because some speake roughlye and some smoothlye may we now without sinne censure the preachers of the word buy and sell them behinde their backes or gibe and iest at them with our mouthes may we descant and play vpon their wordes as the maner of some is and escape in the end may we ly in waite for them and betray them may we smite them with our tongues as the Iewes do smite Ieremie may we thinke any thing wel gotten that is gottē from them Or may we make more account of any yea of the oddest companion in the worlde than of Gods minister May any thinke to doe this and a great deale more which is vsed in the world and not to be called to account for it one day Will there not be bitternes in the end as Abner said to Ioab But stay thou art a father and hast children and doest trye by all waies and meanes to do them good what if thy child shuld mock thee or iest at thee when thou doest speak in earnest to him for his good wouldst thou be contented what if he should turne his backe vpon thee in contempt and goe his way when thou callest him Or what if he should turne againe and smite thee when thou doest reproue him for his faulte but what if he should betray thee into the handes of his enemies wouldst not thou thinke thy cost well bestowed vpon him wouldst thou take pleasure in such a monster Nay wouldst thou not wish rather that he had neuer seene the sunne But if a child ought not so to handle his naturall parentes which haue begotten him and brought him forth into the worlde shall any man thinke it lawfull so to handle his spiritual father by whom he is begotten to God and brought vp to the hope of life euerlasting The eye saith Salomon that mocketh his father despiseth the instruction of his mother let the Rauens of the valley pickè it out and the young Eagles deuoure it But the eye that mocketh the counsell of God his heauenly father or despiseth the instruction of Gods minister his spirituall father let the Deuils of hel picke that out and except he repent let the infernall Spirits deuour it But some will say if he were learned as other men be if he were of yeares and grauitie as some men be if he were a good fellow as some men be if he would flatter please as some men do if he would preach seldome as some men doe if he were in place of authoritie as some men be and did come with countenaunce and credite as some men do then would we heare him and reuerence him and regard him and maintaine him as now we do not Now imagin that thy child should make such an apoligie for himsefe when he hath dishonored thee and say father do not meruaile though I regard you not more than I do for you are but a young man you are but a plain man you are but a poore man you are but a simple man and haue no learning I haue more learning than you and can teach you what though you giue me meate and drinke apparell what though you haue brought me vp to learning yet it is not in such plentifull and fine maner as some haue nor you do not handle me so daintilie nor make so much of me as some do vse their children c. Therfore I care not for you if you had these properties as you haue not I
CONCLVSIONS of peace betweene God and man Containing comfortable meditations for the children of God By W. Burton LONDON Printed for Iohn Hardie dwelling in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Tygers head 1594. TO THE RIGHT HOnourable Sir Richard Martin Knight nowe the second time L. Maior of the honourable Cittie of London and maister of her maiesties Mint T. C. All increase of honor in this life and in the world to come euerlasting happinesse RIght Honourable hauing heeretofore receiued at your honours hands many fauours altogither vndeserued of my part I haue bin studious along time how to shew some part of my thankefull mind for the same But no occasion was offered me til now that this booke comming to my handes to be printed without anie dedication and the authour dwelling farre off I was bold without his consent to present it to your good lordship aswell to shewe my dutie and thankeful heart towards you as also knowing what fauour your honour hath alwaies borne to such men and their workes The Authour is well knowen and the treatise is sweet and comfortable as your lordship shall find if your great affaires will allow you time to peruse it It resteth that I humbly craue pardon for my boldnesse which I hope I shall the easilier obtain if mine intēt herein be rightly considered Which is only to testifie that I am not vnmindful nor vnthankeful in heart for any benefit receiued Humbly beseeching your lordship to accept it Your Honors most hearty and humble affectionat to command Tobie Cooke Prou. 7. 1. 2. My sonne keepe my words and hide my commandements with thee Keepe my commandements and thou shalt liue THis text containeth an exhortation to the faithful and diligent keeping of Gods commandementes with a promise of life annexed thervnto And the doctrine that is to be gathered from the same ariseth partly from the maner of speaking that is there vsed and partly from the exhortation The manner of speaking is to be considered in the two first wordes My sonne Wherein is to be obserued that whosoeuer is the partie that speaketh he speaketh not like an Emperour nor like a king nor like a Iudge nor like a maister of his absolute power I will and command c. But he persuadeth like a father most louingly and tenderly Hee doth not say My slaue nor my ennemy nor my seruaunt nor my subiect nor my friend nor my brother which is much but he saith My sonne which is more a name of loue and a title of the greatest loue that can be The loue of a Prince is great the loue of a friend is great the loue of a brother is great the loue of husbands and wiues is great but the loue of father and mother to their children is like the loue of Ionathan to Dauid It is wonderfull passing the loue of Princes the loue of brethren the loue of neighbours the loue of husbandes and wiues and passing the loue of women and all loues For saith Esay can a woman forget her child As if he should say it is impossible Therefore hee that here speaketh in the person of a Father and saith My sonne perswadeth by all loues and sheweth that whatsoeuer hee counselleth or reprooueth it is not of mallice or enuy to hurt vs but of singular loue and care to doe vs good We are further to consider of two principall circumstances one is of the person that spake these words the other is of the partie to whom they were spoken Now the question is not of his fatherly affection vnto his children for of that we are persuaded nor of his fatherly authoritie ouer his children for that is graunted nor of his childrens duetie towardes him for that is acknowledged but now the question of his person and who it is that heere saith My sonne that hee might be reuerenced and who they are to whom this title of Sonnes doth belong that they might not neglect to doe their dutie If thou knewest saith the Lord Iesus to the woman of Samaria who it is that saith vnto thee giue mee drinke thou wouldest haue asked of him and hee would haue giuen thee water of life So if wee knewe who it is that heere saith My sonne and giueth counsell like a father in matters of this life we would aske of him and he would giue vs counsell to eternal life Let vs know then who it is that saith My sonne whose voice is it what is it the voice of God or of man is it from heauen or from earth or from whence is it For the better finding out of this point wee are to consider that as these names of Father and Sonne be often vsed in this booke of Prouerbs so they are not alwaies the words of one and the selfe same partie They are somtimes to be vnderstood of God and of his Church as in the 1. chapter verse 8. They are sometimes to be vnderstood of Salomon and the members of Gods Church as chap. 4. ver 1. They are somtime to be vnderstood onely of Dauid the father of Salomon the sonne of Dauid as in cha 4. verse 3. 4. Sometime they are the wordes of Bethsheba Salomons mother vnto Salomon her sonne as in chap. 30. ver 1. But most commonly they are the wordes of God and Salomon togither and are spoken to the members of the Church in generall and so they are to be vnderstoode when there is no manifest difference as there is in the places before mentioned In this exhortation these words My sonne are to be takē as the words of God the common father of all his creatures but especially of his Church in generall and they are also the wordes of Salomon a notable instrument in the Church of God My sonne saith God my son saith Salomon for this is Gods worde though Salomons writing because Salomon writeth as the holy Ghost inditeth My sonne saith God by the ministery of Salomon naming no body because he speakes to euery one that will follow his counsell of what nation or of what countrie or of what language or of what yeares of what estate and conditition soeuer he be My sonne saith Salomon in the person of God naming no body yet speaking to all that shal either heare or read his writings that at the verie entrance the dores being of loue they may be in loue with the whole frame of his counsell haue a delight to dwell therein My sonne saith God by the ministerie of Salomon that wee might perceiue what loue hee beareth to vs and knowe what dutie we beare to him My son saith Salomon in the person of God to teach all teachers with what affection to teach the Lords people and to shewe all hearers what accompt they must make of their teachers My sonne saith God to teach vs that all his care is to doe vs good and if we follow his counsell it is the better for our selues hee is neuer the better for
it and therefore that all our care and studie must be to aduance him and to direct all our actions to his glorie as he hath directed his glorie to our good So that these wordes My sonne are to be considered after a double manner of speaking First as spoken by God the first authour of them next as proceeding from Salomon the minister of God and so much briefly for the persons by whom they were spokē The persons which are called sonnes NOw we are to consider of the persons that are called by the title of sonnes and because God is first in order we will first see of whom hee speaketh in this place when hee saith My sonne for many be called the sonnes of God in the scripture and they are of three sorts some are by nature the sons of God some are by adoption the sonnes of God and some for their exellencie are called the children of God By nature none is the sonne of God but Iesus Christ onely who was begotten from all eternitie of his fathers nature and substance By adoption all the faithfull are his children whom God hath elected before all worldes that he might call them in his time appointed by the liuely preaching of the Gospell and the effectuall working of his spirite in their hartes vnto the blessed and certaine hope of eternall glorie in the kingdome of heauen being first iustified by the righteousnesse of the Lord Iesus christ the naturall sonne of God These are called sonnes by adoption or made sonnes which before were no sonnes at all As if a king should take in a begger nay a traitor and make him his heire euen so did God with vs and such fauour did he freely shew to so many of the sonnes of Adam as it pleased him to adopte and to make his children wherein appeared the wonderfull loue of God to vs ward of which S. Iohn speaketh by way of administration Behold saith he what loue the father hath giuen to vs that we should be called the sonnes of God as if it were to be wondred at and not to be expressed The Angels are called the children of God Iob 1. 6. Iob 2. chap. and 1 verse When the children of God stood before the Lord Sathan came also and stood amongst them c. And they are so called partly for their excellēt state and condition but principally for their willingnesse and readines to doo the will of God Sometime also the Lord is called our father in respect of our creation onely as in Mat. 2. 10. Haue we not all one father hath not one God made vs and in Esa. 64. 8. But now thou O Lord art our father we are the clay thou art our potter we are the worke of thy handes So Adam is called the sonne of God by immediate creation in the 3 of S. Luke the last verse In this respect God is a common father not onely to all his creatures in generall but to the very reprobate also for he created them also and he made them good saith Salomon but they found out many inuentions but we shal neuer find that God vouchsafed to call any reprobat in the scripture by the name of his sonne Non tam praestanti reprobos dignatur honore He did neuer honour them with so excellent a title Many are so called and so accoumpted amongst men which doe iudge onely by the outwarde appearance but when they come before the Lord whose waies are not our waies and whose thoughts are not our thoughts the case is altered If any shall obiect and say that there is neuer a father without a childe and that they be relatiues and therefore seing as God is called a father of the reprobate in respect of creation the reprobate may at the least be called the sonnes of God though they be not the sonnes of God as the elect are they are to know that some are called fathers in the scriptures Metaphorically which were but the first inuenters of thinges and in that respect they are called fathers as Iaball the sonne of Adah the wife of Lamech is called the father of such as dwell in tents for he was the first inuenter of tents And Iuball his brother is called in the next verse the father of such as play vpon the Harpe and vpon Organes or pipes shall we therefore call the tentes Iabals children or must the organs and pipes be called the sonnes of Iuball So God is called the father of the reprobate because he first created them but yet they can no more be called the children of God than the tentes might be called the children of Iabal or the harps and organs the children of his brother Iubal But when the scriptures do speak of God as he is a father not onely by creation but also by adoption then is the title of sonnes also therewithal bestowed vpon those whom he hath created because he hath also adopted them to be haires of his kingdome through Christ but it is limited onely to the elect which do receiue him by faith as in Iohn 1. 12. As many as receiued him to thē he gaue prerogatiue to be called the sons of God So doth the Apostle Paul also restraine the title of Gods children onely to the godly As manie as are led by the spirite of God saith he are the sonnes of God And because the reprobate and all hypocrites wil boast of the spirite as well as the children of God as Zidkijah said hee had the spirit of God as wel as Michaiah therfore the scripture hath put a difference betweene the giftes of the spirite and the spirite of sanctification for Saul may haue the spirite of God that is some giftes and graces of Gods spirit as knowledge iudgement courage strength pollicy wisdome wealth c. as the wicked and thereprobate may haue to their condemnation but the spirite of sanctification or holinesse which worketh newnesse of life and changeth both the affections within and all the actions without that is proper onely to the elect children of God indeed And least anie shoulde deceiue themselues The Lord Iesus hath laid downe an euerlasting rule By their fruits you shall know them And the fruits of the spirite saith S. Paul are these Loue Ioy Peace Long-suffring Patience Goodnesse Gentlenesse Faith Meekenesse Temperance c. Against which there is no law that is to condemne them for they that are Christs haue crucified the fleshe with the affections and Iustes But there is a kinde loue and ioy and peace and suffering c. amongst the children of darkenesse because Sathan in his members can counterfeit whatsoeuer God doth commaund and there is amongst the members of the Church malignant in shew whatsoeuer the church of God militant haue in trueth whē Sathan doth change himselfe into the likenesse of an angel of light it is a hard thing to discerne the one from the other therefore hath the Lord
his sonne and to thee therfore he saith My sonne as if hee should say None may haue any interest in thee but I. Thou art mine thou art not theirs Thy creation is wholly mine thy redemption is wholly mine thy preseruation is wholly mine and therefore I looke that thy obedience and thy seruice and thy worship and thy bodie and thy soule and all should be wholly mine And good reason for do we not owe all to him of whom we haue receiued all Of God we haue receiued all that we haue for in him we liue and moue and haue our being doe we not therefore owe him our life our mouing and our being euē whatsoeuer we are or whatsoeuer we haue And is it not reason that if a man hath bought a thing wholly and wholly paid for it that he shuld haue it wholly to himselfe howe much more ought the Lord to haue the whole seruice both of body and soule seeing hee hath bought all and paid for all Therefore nowe we are no more our owne men but the Lords therefore hee saith My sonne As if he should say againe If thou hearkenest to anie hearken vnto mee if thou beleeuest anie beleeue me if thou louest anie loue me if thou fearest anie feare me if thou obeiest anie obey me if thou standest for anie bodies credite or glorie stand for mine If thou doest praise anie bodies workes praise mine and if thou returnest thanksgiuing to any returne them to mee and to my vse onely for now by vertue of the league and couenaunt wherinto thou and I be entered thy hearing is mine thy faith is mine thy loue is mine thy feare is mine thy obedience is mine thy praises are mine in body and soule and in euery part and member therof thou must be wholy mine and no bodies else and therefore remember that I do not call thee Our son as though some other were my partner in thee but I call thee My sonne because I will not giue my glorie vnto any other Wilt thou bee content that thy wife as Iob sayth shall grind vnto another when she is married wholy to thee Thou wilt not And will the Lord take it in good part if thou deuide thy loue betweene him and another seeing he hath maried thee wholy to himselfe No surely hee will not be serued by the halfes hee will be a sole father and a whole father or els no father hee will haue thee his sonne onely or els no sonne at all hee will haue all our seruice or els none of our seruice And if the diuell hath any interest at all he shal one day haue interest in al without repētance for he taketh possession of the whole man by some one member of the body or by some one affection of the heart as men take state of a house by the ring of a dore And hee keepeth possession aswell by the loue of one sinne if it raigne in a man as by a thousand euen as men keepe possession of a house aswell by one man within or a childe as by a thousand if they be not expelled God hath a remnant in Israel more than Eliah knoweth of but they are such as bow not their knees to Baall neither doe they kisse him with their mouthes If we doe but hold vp our hands to an idoll saith the Church of God in captiuitie doe wee not deale deceitfully with Gods couenant and shall not God search this out yea though we keep our heartes for God as wee thinke so iealous is the Lord ouer his glorie that hee can abide no halting in religion Againe My sonne to teach vs that wee be not our owne men but our fathers which is in heauē If we be not our own men but the Lords then we must not be at our own appointment but at his in euery thing To euery one of his children God hath appointed a place a stāding while he liueth in the world to some in the Church and to some in the commonwealth Our whole taske is appointed by God how much and how long euerie one must worke in his place God must appoint looke how farre euerie one is to go by his heauenly fathers direction so farre must we go no further We must tarrie till God doth send vs and no longer and we must speake all that our father in heauen doth bid vs but no more Moses must keepe sheepe vntill God send him to Pharao and then he must go to Pharao be hee neuer so slow of speach Ionas must not go to Niniuie vntill he be sent neither may hee go to Tharsis when hee is sent to Niniuie Saul must not touch the Amalekites vntil he be commanded but when he hath his commission from aboue he may not spare Agag though he be a king neither anie of the cattell be they neuer so fit for sacrifice Balaam must not go when God bid him stay though the king of Moab send for him neither must he curse when God doth bid him blesse if he might haue mountaines of gold for his labour And when the Lord doth cast any office vpon his children then they are not onely Gods Children but also Gods officers I haue said yee are gods that is you are of my appointing and you are in my stead And then the Lord saith to one My sonne thou art now my Magistrate to rule for me to another hee saith Thou art nowe my Minister to teach for me to another Thou art nowe my Steward to giue for me to another Thou art now my Captaine to conduct for mee to another Thou art now my Souldiour to fight for me c. But remember that you are mine still and not your owne nor at anie bodies appointment but at mine And therfore see that you gouerne as I haue taught you for your gouernment is my gouernment See that you iudge as I haue appointed you for your iudgment is my iudgment See that you teach as I haue prescribed for your doctrine is my doctrin and see that you fight when I bid you fight for your battailes are my battailes When our Sauiour Christ sawe Caesars marke vpon Caesars coine hee bad that Caesar should haue his due but so as God also must not loose his right If Caesar must haue that which is marked out for Caesar shall not God haue that seruice that worship those officers and such orders as he hath marked out for himselfe verely if we giue them or chaunge them with the world or the deuill which haue no right in them wee shall follow too if we repent not What shall we doe then why what if the world say giue mee thy heart Say thou mayst not it is the Lordes alreadie What if vaine plaies and filthy speech woulde haue mee to lend them my eares denie them and say that they are for the holy thinges of God What iflying and deceite would haue the vse of my tongue and sit in the