firebrand in hell Better to blush now then burn for ever To draw towards a conclusion Ye see in the Text penitential Confession reaching even to the Mercy-seat The sinner falleth down breaketh his heart openeth his mouth breatheth his sins out loatheth and forsaketh them and Mercy scattereth them annihilateth them looketh upon them as if they were not Let us not then be more ashamed of confession then we are of mercy it self Let us learn exuere hominem to put off man to put off the old man to unnaturalize our selves and forget this though natural yet unseasonable modesty Est quaedam praevaricatrix modestia est quaedam sancta impudentia There is a modesty which betrayeth us and there is an holy and sanctified shamelesness and impudence when we lay our sins open and naked before God in their most deformed shape Sin is never less deformed in the eye of God then when it is in its own shape Masks and paintings and disguisings in other things if they add no beauty yet they conceal deformities but in Sin all this cost and labour is lost Nothing more deformed in the eye of God then a periwigged and painted sinner then a carnal man talking of the spirit then a wicked man wiping his mouth and saying I have done no evil Behold the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth From him no cloud can shadow us no deep can cover us no mountain can hide us To him we are never more open then when we are most concealed He looketh not at our sins when we read the roll and Catalogue our selves But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his revengeful eye is never off them when we seal the book or fold it up in silence when we study to disguise and conceal them Quintilian tells us Animalcula quaedam in foraminibus mobilia in campo deprehenduntur Some kind of small creatures there are which whilst they be amongst their burroughs and starting-hole are hardly taken but bring them into the open field and they are quickly seized on We cannot but apply it our selves Let us play least in sight with God as we please whilst our sins like those little foxes which spoil the vineyard of God do earth themselves or lurk in the holes and burroughs of excuses we shall never take them but being brought forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into confession before God as into the open field we shall quickly seize upon them and destroy them Tegentis non fatentis crimen est saith St. Ambrose Sin is never more sin hath never more upon it then when it is covered He that confesseth his sin hath found a plaister for it but he that covereth it flingeth it away and by too much tenderness suffereth his sore to fester For Sin is a disease and distemper of the soul and as we observe of some diseases of the body if it doth eructare se in superficiem as Tertullian speaketh if it breathe forth it self and drive its poison outward by confession it is like the Physicians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and restoreth the soul to its healthful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and constitution but if it strike inward and hide it self in the heart it is fatal and deleterial Sin is as the Leprosie and every sinner in whom the plague of sin is must be like the Leper under the Law Levit. 13.45 his cloths must be rent and his head bare and he must put a covering upon his upper lip and he must cry Unclean unclean And this we may observe that the Saints of God did so far abhor this sin of covering sin and so jealous have they been of it that they may seem to have bowed the stick too much the other way and to have erred too far on the other hand and studied expressions and forms of speech to that purpose Psal 51. When David bewailed his sin before God he thought it not enough to say he had not been free from sin since he was a child of a day old he durst not entitle himself to so much as a dayes innocency therefore he went up to the womb and confessed himself to be born in sin Nay this he thought too much yet and therefore went up to the instant of his conception In sin hath my mother conceived me He left not himself any moment free from pollution And so St. Paul that worthy servant of Christ Jesus shriving and confessing himself useth few but most quick and comprehending words It is a faithful saying and by all means to be received 1 Tim. 1 15. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief Now what should that great sin be which should denominate him the chiefest of sinners If any then certainly it was this that he persecuted the Church and yet even this himself professeth he did ignorantly And as Origen considering with himself the occasion which moved Lot's daughters to incest breaketh forth into this speech Vereor nè illarum incestus castior sit multarum pudicitiâ that he feared much that this incest of theirs had more of chastity in it then the virginity of others so we may be easily perswaded that there was more of piety in St. Peul's persecuting the Church then many others have who seem to maintain and cherish and defend it For what moved him to it Zeal for the Law which God himself had made a jealousie lest the glory should depart from Israel and that service and religion be beat to the ground which God himself had established And yet St. Paul himself hath recorded it and all posterity must believe it that for this action of his whatsoever it was he nameth himself the chief of sinners This saith the Father is the property of every child of God to accuse himself for little sins as for great to hide his sins by revealing them to diminish them by addition to make them little yea nothing by making them great Confessio poenarum compendium Confession setteth a quick period to all sin and punishment Cum accusat excusat cùm squalidum facit magìs mundatum reddit even worketh a miracle lifteth a man up when it casteth him down maketh him most glorious when it most dishonoureth him beautiful when it defileth him when it accuseth it excuseth and when it condemneth it absolveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the expression of the Greek Father in a manner making the Judge ashamed holding his hand when he is ready to strike striking the thunderbolt out of his hand and changing the shadow of death into a glorious morning Though we have run from him into a far Country yet if we return and say We have sinned he that was our Judge will be our Father and will run and fall upon our neck and kiss us and for open confession give us open absolution and put upon us the best robe even cloath us with the garment of righteousness behold us as his children and by his
that where the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there we are to understand the Person of the Holy Ghost yet we rather lay hold on the pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When He the Spirit of truth shall come He shall lead you which pointeth out to a distinct Person If as Sabellius saith our Saviour had onely meant some new motion in the Disciples hearts or some effect of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been enough but ILLE He designeth a certain Person and I LLE He in Christ's mouth a distinct Person from himself Besides we are taught in the Schools Actiones sunt suppositorum Actions and operations are of Persons Now in this verse Christ sayth that he shall lead them into all truth and before he shall reprove the world v. 8. and in the precedent chapter he shall testifie of me v. 26. which are proper and peculiar operations of the blessed Spirit and bring him in a distinct Person from the Father and the Son And therefore S. Augustine resteth upon this dark and general expression Lib. 6. De Trinit Spiritus S. est commune aliquid Patris Filii quicquid illud est The Holy Ghost communicateth both of the Father and the Son is something of them both whatsoever we may call it whether we call him the Consubstantial and Coeternal communion and friendship of the Father and the Son or nexum amorosum with Gerson and others of the Schools the essential Love and Love-knot of the undivided Trinity But we will wave these more abstruse and deeper speculations in which if we speak not in the Spirit 's language we may sooner lose than profit our selves and speak more than we should whilest we are busie to raise our thoughts and words up to that which is but enough It will be safer to walk below amongst those observations which as they are more familiar and easy so are they more useful and to take what oar we can find with ease than to dig deeper in this dark mine where if we walk not warily we may meet with poysonous fogs and damps in stead of treasure We will therefore in the next place enquire why he is called the Spirit of Truth Divers attributes the Holy Ghost hath He is called the Spirit of Adoption Rom. 8.15 the Spirit of Faith 2 Cor. 4.13 the Spirit of Grace Hebr. 10.29 c. For where he worketh Grace is operative our Love is without dissimulation Rom. 12.9 our Joy is like the joy of heaven as true though not so great Gal. 5.6 Isa 6.6 Rom. 10 2. our Faith a working faith and our Zeal a coal from the altar kindled from his fire not mad and raging but according to knowledge He maketh no shadows but substances no pictures but realities no appearances Luke 1.28 but truths a Grace that maketh us highly favoured a precious and holy Faith 1 Pet. 1.7 8. full and unspeakable Joy Love ready to spend it self and Zeal to consume us Psâ—l 69.9 of a true existence being from the Spirit of that God who alone truly is But here he is stiled the Spirit of Truth yet is he the same Spirit that planteth grace and faith in our hearts that begetteth our Faith dilateth our Love worketh our Joy kindleth our Zeal and adopteth us in Regiam familiam into the Royal family of the first-born in heaven But now the Spirit of Truth was more proper For to tell men perplext with doubts that were ever and anon and somtimes when they should not asking questions of such a Teacher was a seal to the promise a good assurance that they should be well taught that no difficulty should be too hard no knowledge too high no mystery too dark and obscure for them but All truth should be brought forth and unfolded to them and having the veyl taken from it be laid open and naked to their understanding Let us then look up upon and worship this Spirit of Truth as he thus presenteth and tendereth himself unto us 1. He standeth in opposition to two great enemies to Truth Dissimulation and Flattery By the former I hide my self from others by the later I blindfold another and hide him from himself The Spirit is an enemy to both he cannot away with them 2. He is true in the Lessons which he teacheth that we may pray for his Advent long for his coming and so receive him when he cometh First dissemble he doth not he cannot For Dissimulation is a kind of cheat or jugling by which we cast a mist before mens eyes that they cannot see us It bringeth in the Devil in Samuel's mantle and an enemy in the smiles and smoothness of a friend It speaketh the language of the Priest at Delphos As to King Philip whom Pausanias slew playeth in ambiguities promiseth life when death is neerest and biddeth us beware of a chariot when it meaneth a sword No this Spirit is an enemy to this because a Spirit of truth and hateth these involucra dissimulationis this folding and involvedness these clokes and coverts these crafty conveyances of our own desires to their end under the specious shew of intending good to others And they by whom this Spirit speaketh are like him and speak the truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 1.12 in the simplicity and godly sincerity of the spirit not in craftiness 2 Cor. 4.2 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 handling the Word of God deceitfully not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 4.14 not in the slight of men throwing a die and what cast you would have them not fitting their doctrine to men and the times that is not to men and the times but to their own ends telling them of heaven when their thoughts are in their purse Wisd 1.5 6. This holy Spirit of Truth flieth all such deceit and removeth himself far from the thoughts which are without understanding and will not acquit a dissembler of his words There is nothing of the Devil's method nothing of the Die or Hand no windings or turnings in what he teacheth He speaketh the truth and nothing but the truth and for our behoof and advantage that we may believe it and build upon it and by his discipline raise our selves up to that end for which he is pleased to come and be our Teacher And as he cannot dissemble so in the next place flatter us he cannot This is the inseparable mark and character of the evil Spirit qui arridet ut saeviat who smileth upon us that he may rage against us lifteth us up that he may cast us down whose exaltations are foils whose favours are deceits whose smiles and kisses are wounds Flattery is as a glass for a Fool to look upon and behold that shape which himself hath already drawn and please himself in it because it is returned upon him by reflection and so he becometh more fool than before It is the Fools
is a main difference nor can we expect an ocular and visible descent Therefore if we will be taught by the Spirit we must use the means which the same Spirit hath prescribed in those lessons which he first and extraordinarily taught the Apostles and not make use of his name to misinterpret those lessons or bring in new of our own and as new so contrary to them For what is new must needs be contrary because he then taught all truth and what is more then all is nothing what is more then all truth must needs by a lye Nor did he lead them into all truth for themselves alone but for those who should come after them for all generations to the end of the world He made them Apostles and sent them to make us Christians to make that which he taught them a rule of life and to fix it on the Church as on a pillar that all might read it that none should adde to it or take away from it Eph. 2.20 And for this they are called a Foundation and we are said to be built upon them Jesus Christ being the head corner-stone But this we could not be if their testimony were so scant and defective that there were left a kind of necessity upon us to hew and square out what stones we please and lay new ones of our own to cast down theirs withal and to bear up whatsoever our insolent and boundless lusts will lay upon them And now what is become of my Text For if this be admitted we cannot say the Spirit led them For what leading is that which leaveth us so far behind at such a distance from the end thâ—â— in every age the Spirit must come again and take us by the hand and draw us some other way even contrary to that which he first made known And what an all is that to which every man may adde what he please even to the end of the world For every mans claim and title to the Spirit is the same as just and warrantable in any as in one And when they speak contrary things the evidence is the same that is none at all unless this be a good Argument He hath the Spirit because he saith so which is as strong on his side that denyeth it upon the same pretense Amongst the sons of men there are not greater fools then they who have nothing to say for what they say but That they say it and yet think this Nothing enough and that all Israel are bound to hearken to them as if God himself did speak This is an evil a folly a madness which breatheth no where but in Christendome was never heard of in any other body or society but that of Christians Though many Governours of Common-wealths did pretend to a kind of commerce and familiarity with some God or Goddess when they were to make a law yet we do not read of any as far as I remember that did put up the same pretense that they might break a law but when the law was once promulged there was nothing thought of but either obedience or punishment But Christians who have the best Religion have most abused it have played the wantons in that light in which they should have walkt with fear and trembling finding themselves at a loss and meeting with no satisfaction to their pride and ambition to their malice to their lusts from any lesson the Spirit hath yet taught have learnt an art to suborn something of their own to supply that defect and call it a dictate of the Spirit Nor is this evil of yesterday nor doth it befall the weakest onely But the Devil hath made use of it in all ages as of the fittest engine to undermine that truth which the Spirit first taught Tertullian as wise a man as the Church then had being not able to prove the Corporeity of the Soul by Scripture Post Ioannem quoque prophetiam meruimus consequi c. Tertull. de Anim. montanizans flyeth to private Revelation in his Book De anima Non per aestimationem sed revelationem What he could not uphold by reason and judgment he striveth to make good by Revelation For we saith he have our Revelations as well as S. John Our sister Priscilla hath plenty of them and trances in the Church She converseth with Angels and with God himself and can discern the hearts and inward thoughts of men S. Hierome mentioneth others Contra Libertin and in the dayes of our forefathers Calvine many more who applyed the name of the Spirit to every thing that might facilitate and help on their design as Parish-priests it is his resemblance would give the name of six or seven several Saints to one image that their offerings might be the more I need not go so far back for instance Our present age hath shewn us many who though very ignorant yet are wiser then their teachers so spiritual that they despise the word of God which is the dictate of the Spirit This monster hath made a large stride from foreign parts and set his foot in our coasts If they murder the Spirit moved their hand and drew their sword If they throw down Churches it is with the breath of the Spirit If they would bring in Parity the pretence is The Spirit cannot endure that any should be supreme or Pope it but themselves Our Humour our Madness our Malice our Violence our implacable Bitterness our Railing and Reviling must all go for Inspirations of the Spirit Simeon and Levi Absalom and Ahithophel Theudas and Judas the Pharisees and Ananias they that despise the holy Spirit of God these Scarabees bred in the dung of sensuality these Impostors these men of Belial must be taken no longer for a generation of vipers but for the scholars and friends of the holy Ghost Whatsoever they do whithersoever they go he is their leader though it be to hell it self May we not make a stand now and put it to the question Whether there be any holy Ghost or no and if there be Whether his office be to lead us Indeed these appropriations these bold and violent ingrossings of the blessed Spirit have I fear given growth to conceits well near as dangerous That the Spirit doth not spirare breath grace into us That we need not call upon him That the Text which telleth us the holy Ghost leadeth is the holy Ghost that leadeth us That the Letter is the Spirit and the Spirit the Letter an adulterate piece new coyned an old heresie brought in a new dress and tire upon the stage again That he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strange unheard of Deity and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. Orat 37. Quis vetâ—rum vel recentium adoravit Spiritum quis or avit c. Sic Macedoniani Eunomiani Ibid. an ascriptitious and supernumerary God I might say more dangerous For to confess the Spirit and abuse him to draw him on as an accessory and
but once and shall never see again acteth over those sins which he shall never bring into act delighteth in that which he shall never enjoy robbeth and slayeth and rideth in triumph on a thought and so leaveth his God who gave him this power and faculty to a better end then to wallow in this mire and to be enslaved to the drudgery of so vile an imployment Yet too many are willing to perswade themselves that God neither seeth this nor regardeth it that a Thought is such Gozamour of so thin an appearance that it escapeth the eye and so they set up a whole family of thoughts in their mind and dally and delight themselves with them as with their children And yet this is the ground of all evil and evil it self wrought in the Soul which worketh by its faculties as the Body doth by its members the Eye and the Hand And thus it may beat down Temples murder men lay Kingdoms level with the ground And it groweth and multiplieth reflecteth upon it self with joy and content omnia habet peccatoris praeter manus and hath all that maketh a sinner but Hands But though Men see not our thoughts for this is a Royal prerogative yet they are visible to his eye who is a Spirit And they that look upon them as bare and naked thoughts and not as complete works finisht in the soul know not themselves nor the nature of God and therefore cannot be said to walk with him Rom. 16.17 To conclude then These walk not with God let us therefore mark and avoid them The Presumptuous daring sinner walketh not with him but hideth himself in his Atheistical conceit That because Man cannot punish God doth not see The Hypocrite cometh forth in a disguise and acteth his part and because Men applaud him thinketh God is of their mind as the Pantomine in Seneca who observing the people well pleased with his dancing did every day go up into the Capitol and dance before Jupiter and was perswaded that he was also delighted in him The Apologizer runneth into the holes and burrows of excuses and there he is safe for who shall see him The Speculative sinner hideth himself and all his thoughts in a thought in this thought That Thoughts are so near to nothing that they are invisible That Sin is not sinful till it speak with the tongue or act with the hand But the eye of God is brighter then the Sun and his eye lids will try the children of men Psal 11 4 as the Goldsmith trieth his gold in the fire and will find out the dross which we do not see And if we will not walk with him but walk contrary unto him Lev 26 21 23 c. he will also walk contrary unto us He will see us and not see us know us and not know us Habemus nescientem Deum quod tamen non nescit l. 9. de Trin. saith Hilary God will seem not to know that which he doth know and his ignorance is not ignorance but a mystery For to them who walk not with him humbly now the Word will be at the last day Matth. 25.12 I know you not then God will keep state and not know and acknowledge them This pure God will not know the Unclean this God of truth will not know the Dissembler this strong and mighty God will bring down the Imperious offender this Light will examine thoughts and excuses will fly before it as the mist before the Sun But then Psal 1.6 The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous saith the Psalmist and those that do justly and love Mercy and walk as under his all seeing eye with humility and reverence he will lead by the hand go along with them uphold and strengthen them in their walk shadow them under his wing and when their walk is ended know them as he did Moses Exod 33. Numb 12. Mal. 3 17 above all men And seeing his own marks upon them beholding though a weak yet the image of his Justice and his Mercy upon them he will spare them as a father spareth his son that serveth him He will know them and love them know them and receive them with an EVGE Well done good and faithful servants Matth. 25.21 23. You have embraced the Good which I shewed you done the thing which I required of you you have dealt justly with your brethren and I will be just in my promises you have shewed Mercy and Mercy shall crown you you have walked humbly with me I will now lift up your heads and you shall inherit the Kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world Matth. 29.34 The Seventh SERMON GAL. IV. 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit even so is it now IN these words the Apostle doth present to our eye the true face of the Church in an Allegory of Sarah and Hagar of Ismael and Isaac of mount Sinai and mount Sion Gal. 4.24 Which things are an allegory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It speaketh one thing and meaneth another and carrieth wrapt up in it a more excellent sense then the words at first hearing do promise Take the full scheme and delineation in brief 1. Here is Sarah and Hagar that is Servitude and Freedom 2. Here are two Cities Jerusalem that now is the Synagogue of the Jews and that Jerusalem which is above the Vision of peace and mother of all the faithful For by the new Covenant we are made children unto God 3. Here is the Law promulged and thundred out on mount Sinai and the Gospel the Covenant of Grace which God published not from the mount but from heaven it self by the voice of his Son In all you see a fair correspondence and agreement between the type and the thing but so that Jerusalem our Mother is still the highest the Gospel glorious with the liberty it brought and the Law putting on a yoke breathing nothing but servitude and fear Isaac an heir and Ismael thrust out the Christian more honorable then the Jew The curtain is now drawn and we may enter in even within the veil and take that sense which the Apostle himself hath drawn out so plainly to us And indeed it is a good and pleasing sight to see our priviledge and priority in any figure to find out our inheritance in such an Heir our liberty and freedom though in a Woman Who would not lay claim to so much peace and so much liberty Who would not challenge kindred of Isaac and a Burgessship in Jerusalem It is true every Christian may But that we mistake not and think all is peace and liberty that we boast not against the branches that are cut off Rom. 11.18 Paul bringeth in a corrective to check and keep down all swelling and lifting up of our selves the adversative particle S E D But as then so now We are indeed
God This added to the rest maketh up a number an account Without this our joyning with such a body or company nay our appearing in his Courts our naming him and calling upon his name are but cyphers and signifie nothing It is not the Church but the Spirit of Christ and our own consciences which can witness to us that we are inhabitants of the new Jerusalem and dwell in Christ We read Gen. 45. that when Jacob had news that his son Joseph lived his heart fainted for he believed them not but at the sight of the chariots which Joseph sent to carry him his spirit revived So it is here When we shall be told or tell our selves for our selves are the likeliest to bring the news that we have been of such a Church of such a Congregation and applaud our selves for such a poor and unsignificant information bless our selves that the lines are fallen unto us in so goodly a place Psal 16.6 when we shall have well looked upon and examined all the priviledges and benefits we can gain by being parts of such a body all this will not assure us nor fix our anchor deep enough but will leave us to be tossed up and down upon the waves of uncertainty fainting and panting under doubt and unbelief For to recollect all in a word our admiring the Majesty of Christ our loving his command our relying on his protection and resting under the shadow of his wing again our sense and feeling of the operation of the Spirit of Christ by the practick efficacy of our knowledge the actuation and quickning of our faith and the power of it working an universal constant sincere obedience these are the chariots which Christ sendeth to carry us out of Egypt unto our celestial Canaan And when we see these and by a sweet and well-gained experience feel the power of them in our souls then we draw neer in full assurance then we joyfully cry out with Jacob It is enough then we know that our Joseph is alive and that Christ doth dwell and live in us of a truth And now to conclude and by way of conclusion to enforce all these to imprint and fasten them in your hearts what other motive need I use then the thing it self Christ in Man and Man in Christ For if honour or delight or riches will move us here they are all not as the world giveth them but as Truth it self giveth them A sight into which the Angels themselves stoop and desire to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 To be in Christ to dwell in Christ if a man did perfectly believe it of himself that he were the man non diu superstes maneret said Luther he would even be swallowed up and die of immoderate joy Here now is Life and Death set before us Heaven and Hell opened to our very eye If we do not dwell in Christ if we be not united to him we shall joyn our selves with something else with flesh and blood with the glory and vanity of the world which will but wait upon us to carry us to our grave feed us up and prepare us for the day of slaughter Oh who would dwell in a land darker then darkness it self who would be united with Death But if we dwell in Christ and he in us if he call us My little children and we cry Abba Father then what then Who can utter it The tongue of Men and Angels cannot express it Then as he said to the Father All mine are thine and thine are mine so all his is ours John 17.10 Col. 1.24 and all ours is his Our miseries are his and when we suffer we do but fill up that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ He is in bonds in disgrace in prison with us and we bear them joyfully for we bear them with him who beareth all things Our miseries nay our sins are his He took them upon his shoulder upon his account He sweat he groned he died under them and by dying took away their strength Nay our good deeds are his and if they were not his they were not good Hebr. 13.15 for by him we offer them unto God by his hand in his name He is the Priest that prepareth and consecrateth them Our Prayers our Preaching our Hearing our Alms our Fasting if they were not his Nazianz. were but as the Father calleth the Heathen mans virtues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fair name a title of health upon a box of poison the letter Tau written in the forehead of a reprobate Again to make up the reciprocation as all ours are his so all his are ours What shall I say His Poverty his Dishonour his Sufferings his Cross are ours Yes they are ours because they are his If they had not been his they could not be ours none being able to make satisfaction but he none that could transfer any thing upon man but he that was the Son of man and Son of God His Miracles are ours for for us men and for our salvation were they wrought His Innocency his Purity his Obedience are ours For God so dealeth with us for his sake as if we were innocent and pure as if we our selves had satisfied Let S. Paul conclude for me in that divine and heavenly close of the third chapter of his former Epistle to the Corinthians Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods And if we be Christs Rom. 8.17 then we be heirs joynt-heirs with Jesus Christ As he is heir so have we in him right and title to be heirs and so we receive eternal happiness not onely as a gift but as an inheritance In a word we live with him we suffer with him we are buried with him we rise with him and when he shall come again in glory we who dwell in him now shall be ever with him even dwell and reign with him for evermore The Sixteenth SERMON PART I. EZEKIEL XXXIII 11. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked Turn ye turn ye from your evil wayes For why will ye die O house of Israel WE have here a sudden and vehement out-cry Turn ye turn ye And those events which are sudden and vehement the Philosopher telleth us do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leave some notable mark and impression behind them An earthquake shaketh and dislocateth the earth a whirlwind rendeth the mountains and breaketh in pieces the rocks What is sudden at once striketh us with fear and admiration Greg. in loc Certainly reverenter pensandum est saith the Father This call of the Prophet requireth a serious and reverent consideration For if this vehement ingemination be not sharp and keen enough to enter our Souls and divide asunder the joynts and the marrow here is a Quare moriemini a Reason to set an edge
neither with possibilities nor events sed plus vult posse quà m omnia it would do more then it is able more then all more then it doeth more then it can do And then tell me what a spark is our Love Christ indeed came to kindle it but it is scarce visible on the earth Last of all as Fire Love ascendeth and mounteth upwards even to the Holy place to the bosome of God himself It came from heaven and towreth towards it For he that abideth in love dwelleth in God and God in him saith S. John Here it is as out of its sphere and element and never at rest nor at home but in God In a word where this love is there is the good will of him who dwelt in the bush Where this love is there the lamp burneth and all is on fire Amor fons caput omnium affectionum saith Martin Luther Love is the source and original of all other affections It setteth our Anger on fire and putteth the spear into Phinehas his hand It setteth our Sorrow a bleeding and maketh rivers of water gush from our eyes It maketh our Fear watchful that we may work out our salvation with trembling It exalteth our Joy Oh how I rejoyced saith David when they said unto me We will go into the house of the Lord It raiseth our Hope even to hope above hope It mixeth and incorporateth it self with every passion Our Love with Anger is Zeal with Fear Jealousie with Hope Confidence with Sorrow Repentance and with Joy it is Heaven And thus by the Love of the Truth the man of God is made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Chrysostom speaketh a man of fire conquering all difficulties and consumed by none He standeth in the midst of scoffs and derision and detraction and of all temptations as in the midst of a field of stubble or dry flax or straw and is not hurt at all They that come near him do but sindge and torment themselves as thorns crackle and make a noise and vanish into smoke and the man is safe Such a burning light such a man of fire was John the Baptist who bare witness to the Truth and for the love of the Truth lost both his liberty and his life who preached it in the womb and preached it in the wilderness who preached it by living and preached it by dying and preached being dead S. Chrysostom telleth us that he spake most when his head was off In a word the love of Truth did so enflame him that he may seem what the Rabbies phansie of Elijah in whose spirit he came to have sucked not-milk but flames of fire from his mothers breasts And so much for his Burning Now in the next place as he burned with the love of Truth so he shined also by the manifestation of it which was as the spreading and displaying of his beams As he was hot within so he was resplendent without As he had this fire within himself so there was a scintillation and corruscation on others And it was visible in his severity of life in his raiment in his fasting in his doctrine in his boldness in reprehending the Pharisees and Saduces in his laying the axe to the very root of the trees in fulfilling of all righteousness For we must not conceive of this fire as S. Basil phansieth of the elementary fire that God did divide and sunder the two qualities of Heat and Light of Burning and Shining and placed the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the burning quality in hell where the fire burneth but shineth not and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the shining quality in heaven which shineth but burneth not This was but a phansie though of a learned and judicious man No where this fire is there will be light nor can we sever them The Knowledge indeed of Truth many times breatheth in no other coasts then where it was conceived may dwell in a cloister or a wilderness in men qui non possunt pati solem multitudinem who cannot walk the common wayes Saints indeed in private but of no publick use but yet even here is some light in the wilderness in a cell or grott But when to the Knowledge of Truth we have added the Love of Truth our heart will wax hot within us and the fire will burn and we who before was possest with a dumb spirit do speak with the tongue yea cannot but speak the things which we have heard and seen then we cannot contain our selves within our selves but have those glorious eruptions then we shine upon others who burn in our selves As the heat is such is the light as the burning within such the shining without When we shine alone in mere out-ward performances in the pomp of devotion in the rolling of the eye in the lifting up of the ear in the motion of the tongue in the extermination of the countenance it is but a false and a momentary light but as the light of a glo-worm in the night which proceedeth from some other cause not from heat It may be a flash of Ambition or some scintillation of Vain-glory or the very sparkles of Faction and like lightning dum micat extinguitur it is extinguished in the very flâ—sh When we burn alone when we cast not forth beams but breathe forth hail-stones and coals of fire when we wax hot as an oven but cast forth no light at all when we lash the iniquities of the times and are our selves those fools on whose back the whip should be laid when we cry down sin and are men of Belial when all the heat is for Religion and all the light we see is Faction and Rapine it is too plain that we burn but we are set on fire by hell For if the heat be kindly the light will be glorious If it be from heaven it will not feed it self with earth and the things of this world If our light be manifest and permanent if our light so shine that men may see it and for it glorifie the Fountain of light it must needs proceed ab intimo pleno fervore devotionis from this inward burning from this true and full heat of Devotion Where there is heat there is light and where there is light there is heat And these two Heat and Light seem to contend for superiority Quo calidior radius lucidior The more hot the beams are the more light there is And this Light reflecteth upon the Heat to make it more intense and the Heat hath an operation upon the Light to make it more radiant and by a reciprocal influence on each other they are multiplyed every day My Love of the Truth spreadeth my Holiness and maketh it known unto all men and my holy Conversation dilateth and improveth my Love of the Truth My Love of the Truth maketh me increase and abound more and more and the nearer I draw to perfection I do the more and more love the Truth The more I burn the
The treasures thereof are infinite the minerals thereof are rich assiduè pleniùs responsura fodienti The more they are digged the more plentifully do they offer themselves that all the wit of men and Angels can never be able to draw them dry But even this Word many times is but a word and no more Sometimes it is a killing letter Such vain and unskilful pioneers we are that for the most part we meet with poisonous damps and vapours instead of treasure I might adde a third Teacher Christ's Discipline which when we think of nothing but of Jesus by his rod and afflictions putteth us in remembrance that he is the Lord. This Teacher hath a kind of Divine authority and by this the Spirit breatheth many times with more efficacy and power then by the Church or the Word then by the Prophets and Apostles and holy Scriptures For when we are disobedient to his Church deaf to his Word at the noise of these many waters we are afraid and yield our necks unto his yoke All these are Teachers But their authority and power and efficacy they have from the Spirit The Church if not directed by the Spirit were but a rout or Conventicle the Word if not quickned by the Spirit a dead letter and his Discipline a rod of iron first to harden us and then break us to pieces But AFFLAT SPIRITUS the Spirit bloweth upon his Garden the Church and the spices thereof flow And then to disobey the Church is to resist the Spirit INCUBAT SPIRITUS The holy Ghost sitteth upon the seed of the Word and hatcheth a new creature a subject to this Lord. MOVET SPIRITUS The Spirit moveth upon these waters of bitterness and then they make us fruitful to every good work In a word The Church is a Teacher and the Word is a Teacher and Afflictions are Teachers but the Spirit of God the holy Ghost is all in all I might here enter a large field full of delightful variety But I forbear and withdraw my self and will onely remember you that this Spirit is a spirit that teacheth Obedience and Meekness that if we will have him light upon us we must receive him as Christ did in the shape of a Dove in all innocency and simplicity He telleth us himself that with a froward heart he will not dwell and then sure he will not enlighten it For as Chrysostom well observeth that the Prophets of God and Satan did in this notoriously differ that they who gave Oracles from God gave them with all mildness and temper without any fanatick alteration but they who gave Oracles by motion from the Devil did it with much distraction and confusion with a kind of fury and madness so we shall easily find that those motions which descend not from above are earthly sensual and devilish that in them there is strife and envying and confusion and every evil work but the wisdom which is from above from the holy Ghost is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated James 3. full of mercy and good fruits Be not deceived When thy Anger rageth the Spirit is not in that storm When thy Disobedience to Government is loud he speaketh not in that thunder When thy Zele is mad and unruly he dwelleth not in that fiery hush When the faculties of thy soul are shaken and dislocated by thy stubborn and perverse passions that thou canst neither look nor speak nor move aright he will not be in that earthquake But in the still voice and the cool of the day in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the calm and tranquility and peace of thy soul he cometh when that storm is slumbred that earthquake setled that thunder stilled that fire quenched And he cometh as a light to shew thee the beauty and love of thy Saviour and the glory and power of thy Lord. And though he be sole Instructor yet he descendeth to make use of means and if thou wilfully withdraw thy self from these thou art none of his celestial Auditory To conclude Wilt thou know how to speak this language truly that Jesus is the Lord and assure thy self that the Spirit teacheth thee so to speak Mark well then those symptoms and indications of his presence those marks and signs which he hath left us in his word to know when the voice is his For though as the Kingdom of heaven so the Spirit of God cometh not with observation yet we may observe whether he be come or no. Remember then first that he is a Spirit and the Spirit of God and so is contrary to the Flesh and teacheth nothing that may flatter or countenance it or let it loose to insult over the Spirit For this is against the very nature of the Spirit as much as it is for light bodies to descend or heavy to move upwards Nay Fire may descend and the Earth may be moved out of its place the Sun may stand still or go back Nature may change its course at the word and beck of the God of Nature but this is one thing which God cannot do he cannot change himself nor can his Spirit breathe any doctrine forth that savoureth of the World or the Flesh or Corruption Therefore we may nay we must suspect all those doctrines and actions which are said to be effects and products of the blessed Spirit when we observe them drawn out and levelled to carnal ends and temporal respects For sure the Spirit can never beat a bargain for the world and the Truth of God is the most unproportioned price that can be laid out on such a purchace When I see a man move his eyes compose his countenance order and methodize his gesture and behaviour as if he were now on his death-bed to take his leave of the world and to seal that Renouncement which he made at the Font when I hear him loud in prayer and as loud in reviling the iniquities of the times wishing his eyes a fountain of tears to bewail them day and night when I see him startle at a mis-placed word as if it were a thunderbolt when I hear him cry as loud for a Reformation as the idolatrous Priests did upon their Baal I begin to think I see an Angel in his flight and mount going up into heaven But after all this devotion this zele this noise when I see him stoop like the Vultur and fly like lightning to the prey I cannot but say within my self O Lucifer son of the morning how art thou fallen from heaven how art thou brought down to the ground nay to hell it self Sure I am the holy Ghost looketh upward moveth upward directeth us upward and if we follow him neither our doctrine nor our actions will ever savour of this dung Remember again that he is SPIRITUS RECTUS a right Spirit as David calleth him Psal 51. not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 winding and turning several wayes now to God and anon nay at once to Mammon now glancing
he hath put a pardon into our hands We must therefore seek out another Righteousness And we may well say we must seek it for it is well near lost in this Imputed Righteousness is that we hold by and Inherent righteousness is Popery or Pâ—lagianism We will not be what we ought because Christ will make us what we would be We will not be just that he may justifie us and we will rebell because he hath made our peace As men commonly never more forfeit their obedience then under a mild Prince But if the love of the world would suffer us to open our eyes we might then see a Law even in the Gospel and the Gospel more binding then ever the Law was Nor did Christ bring in that Righteousness by faith to thrust out this that we may do nothing that we may do any thing because Faith can work such a miracle No saith S. Paul he establisheth the Law He added to it he reformed it he enlarged it made it reach from the act to the look from the look to the thought Nor is it enough for the Christian to walk a turn with the Philosopher or to go a Sabbath-day's journey with the Jew or make such a progress in Righteousness as the Law of Moses measured out No Christ taught us a new kind of Righteousness and our burthen is not onely reserved but increased that this Righteousness may abound a Righteousness which striketh us dumb when the slanderer's mouth is open and loud against us which boundeth our desires when vanity wooeth us setteth a knife to our throat when the fruit is pleasant to the eye giveth laws to our understanding chaineth up our will when Kingdoms are laid at our feet shutteth up our eyes that we may not look upon a second woman which a Jew might have embraced calleth us out of the world whilest we are in the world and maketh us spiritual whilest we are in the flesh Justitia sincera a sincere Righteousness without mixture or sophistication and justitia integra an entire and perfect Righteousness Righteousness like to the love of our Saviour integros tradens integrum se danti a Righteousness delivering up the whole man both body and soul unto him who offered up himself a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world For conclusion of this point and to make some use of it Beloved this is the Object we must look on And we must use diligence and be very wary that we mistake it not that we take not that to be our Juno which is but a cloud that to be Righteousness which flesh and bloud our present occasions our present necessities our unruly lusts and desires may set up and call by that name This is the great and dangerous errour in which many Christians are swallowed up and perish not to take Righteousness in its full extent and compass in that form and shape in which it is tendered and so fulfil all righteousness but to contract and shrink it up to leave it in its fairest parts and offices and to vvork all unrighteousness and then make boast of its name And thus the number of the Righteous may be great the Goats more then the Sheep the gate vvide and open that leadeth unto the Kingdom of God Thus the Hypocrite vvho doth but act a part is righteous the Zelote vvho setteth all on fire is righteous the Schismatick vvho teareth the seamless coat of Christ is righteous he whose hands yet reek vvith the bloud of his brethren is righteous righteous Pharisees righteous Incendiaries righteous Schismaticks righteous Traitours and Murtherers not Abel but Cain the righteous All are righteous For this hath been the custom of vvicked men to bid defiance to Righteousness and then comfort themselves with her name We vvill not mention the Righteousness of the heathen For they being utterly devoid of the true knowledge of Christ it might perhaps diminish the number of their stripes but could not adde one hair to their stature or raise them nearer to the Kingdom of God Nor will we speak of the Righteousness of the Jew For they vvere in bondage under the Elements of the world nor could the Lavv make any of them perfect We Christians on vvhom the Sun of Righteousness hath clearly shined depend too much upon an Imputed Righteousness An imputed Righteousness why that is all It is so and will lift us up unto happiness if we adde our own not as a supplement but as a necessary requisite not to seal our pardon for that it cannot do but to further our admittance For we never read that the Spirit did seal an unrighteous person that continued in his sin to the day of his redemption No Imputed Righteousness must be the motive to work in us inherent Righteousness and God will pardon us in Christ is a strong argument to infer this conclusion Therefore we must do his will in Christ. For Pardon bringeth greater obligation then a law Christ dyed for us is enough to win Judas himself those that betray him and those that crucifie him to repentance The death of Christ is verbum visibile saith Clement a visible word For in the death of Christ are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Righteousness If you look upon his Cross and see the inscription JESUS OF NAZERETH KING OF THE JEWS you cannot miss of another HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THE LORD There hung his sacred body and there hung all those bracelets and ornaments as Solomon calleth them those glorious examples of all vertues There hung the most true and most exact pictures of Patience and Obedience and unparallel'd Love And if we take them not out and draw them in our selves imputed Righteousness will not help us or rather it will not be imputed What Righteousness imputed to a man of Belial Christ's Love imputed to him that hateth him his Patience to a revenger his Truth to the fraudulent his Obedience to the traitour his Mercy to the cruel his Innocency to the murtherer his Purity to the unclean his Doing all things well to those who do all things ill God forbid No let us not deceive our selves Let us not sleep in sin and then please our selves with a pleasant dream of Righteousness which is but a suggestion of the enemy whose art it is to settle that in the phansie which should be rooted in the heart and to lead us to the pit of destruction full of those thoughts which lift us up as high as heaven Assumed names false pretences forced thoughts these are the pillars which uphold his kingdom and subvert all Righteousness Vera justitia hoc habet omnia in se vertit True Righteousness complieth with nothing that is contrary or diverse from it It will not comply with the Pharisee and make his seeming a reality it will not comply with the Schismatick and make his pride humility it will not comply with the prosperous Traitour and make him a Father of his
there been no Sin there had been no Hell at all And therefore as it resembles it so it tends to it as naturally as a Stone doth to the centre Against the righteous the gates of Hell will not open but they are never shut to the wicked ever ready to receive him and take him in as his due and portion For again is it not fit that they who have made an agreement with it that with their words and works have called it to them that have studied and laboured for it all their life long that have made it their business that have broke their sleep for it that have had it in their will and desire should at last be thrown into that place which they have chosen and which they have made such hast to all the daies of their life Is it not fit that what they sow that they should also reap You will say This is impossible impossible that any man should will it should desire it should be ambitious of that place of horrour and count it a preferment But beloved as much as it may be this is the case and condition of every obstinate and unrepenting sinner For he that counts Sin a preferment must count Punishment a preferment too which can no more be separated from Sin then Poyson from a Serpent When thou first sinnest thou bowest towards Hell when thou goest on in thy sin thou runnest to destruction and to die and to be in Hell are the same period and term of thy motion Prov. 8.36 When thou lovest Sin thou lovest Death When thou drawest in Sin as the Oxe doth water thou drawest in the flames of Hell When thou thinkest thy self in Paradise thou art falling into the pit of Hell The Philosopher gives the reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The beginning is from thy self if therefore the end is from thy self the cause is from thy self and therefore the effect is from thy self For will any man say that the Glutton is sick the Wanton rotten the Sluggard poor against his will when they greedily do those things which naturally bring along with them Sickness Rottenness and Poverty Will you say he had a mischance that wilfully leapt into the Sea We will Death we love Death nay further yet exsultamus rebus pessimis we rejoyce to do evil Prov. 2.14 We are in an exstasie transported beyond our selves in our third heaven as S. Paul was in his we talk of it we dream of it we sweat for it we fight for it we travell for it we embrace it we have a kind of exsultation and jubilee in Sin And what is this but to hoyse up our sails and make forward towards the gulf of Destruction and the bottomless pit So that to conclude this by the Justice of God by the Providence of God by our own Wills as by so many winds by the tempest of our Passions as well as that of Gods Wrath we are driven to our end to the place prepared and fitted for the Devil and his Angels and for all those who have loved their tentations and embraced them with more affection then they have the oracles of God For if we thus deceive our selves and mock God God will mock us to our own place Still it is What a man soweth that shall he also reap We will but look back and so hasten to our journeys end adde one word of application and so conclude And 1. that we be not deceived let us as S. Augustine exhorts operam dare rationi let us therefore diligently observe the dictates of Reason and be attentive to the Spirit speaking in the Scripture not neglect the light of the one nor quench the heat of the other The Scripture cannot deceive us but when we are willing to deceive our selves When we are averse from that it bids us love and place our love where it commands our hatred then we are not interpreters but fathers of the Word as he spake of Origine and put what shape and sense we please upon it Nor can we urge the obscurity of the Text especially in agendis in matters of practice for I never thought it a matter of wit and subtilty to become a Christian And if we weigh the plainness and easiness of Scripture and the time and leisure which most have but mispend upon their lusts and the world I might bespeak them as Chrysostome bespake his auditory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What need have you of a preacher For why should our Wit serve us rather to make us rich then good Why may we not try out as many conclusions for saving Knowledge as we do for Riches and Honour and the things of this world 2. Let us not seek death in the errour of our lives Let us not plunge our selves in errour and then study to believe that which we cannot believe without fear and trembling Let us not present God unto us in a strange and aliene shape in that monstrosity which we affect and so make him like unto our selves Quid tibi cum Deo si tuis legibus What hast thou do with God if thou wilt be thy own Lawgiver and wilt live and be judged by no other Laws but those which thy self makest This is indeed to take the place of God whilst we give him but the name Oh beloved it is ill trying conclusions with him who tryeth both the heart and the reins From him no cloud can shadow us no deep can cover us no secret grot or cave can hide us And if we act by our own laws yet we shall be judged by his And what paint soever we put upon our sins he that numbreth the stars will number them all and call them by their right names What we call Religion shall be with him Profaneness What we call Faith with him shall be but Phansie What we call the Cause of God shall be the cause of our Damnation Quantas cuncque tenebras superfuderis Deus lumen est Cast what mists you will build what labyrinths you please God is Light and will find out thy Sin that monster that Minotaur Be not deceived God is not mocked but is rather more jealous of his Wisdome then of his Power At the very sight of Sin his Anger waxeth hot but when vve vvould hide our sin from his sight his Jealousie burneth like fire For he that sinâ—eth dallieth with God's Power but he that palliateth his sin playeth with his Wisdome and tryeth whether he can fraudulently circumvent and abuse him He who sinneth would be stronger then God but he who shifteth a sin into the habit of Holiness by a pretense would be wiser then God potior Jupiter quà m ipse Jupiter Then vvhich no impiety can be greater 3. And last of all let us remember the end When vve sow look forward toward the Harvest Say vve vvithin our selves What may this vvhich I now sow bring forth Will Light grow up here and Joy or shall I reap nothing but Darkness and Corruption
in the Gospel as it were with the Sun-beams S. Paul giveth it this character that it is profitable that is 2 Tim. 3.16 17. sufficient for doctrine which is either of things to be believed or of things to be done for reproof of greater and more monstrous crimes for correction of those who fall by weakness or infirmity for instruction in righteousness that those who have begun well may grow up in grace and every vertuous work that the man of God may be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perfect and consummate throughly furnished unto all good works Take him in what capacity you please there in the Scripture in the New Testament especially yea and in that alone he may find what will fill and qualifie him and fit him in every state and condition Take him in the worst condition as an unbeliever there is that will beget faith and form Christ in him as wavering in the faith there is that will confirm him as believing and fallen into errour or sin there is that will restore him as rooted and built up in Christ there is that will settle and establish him as under the cross there is that will strengthen him as crowned with peace there is that will crown that crown and settle it on his head as in health there is that will make him run the wayes of God's commandments as in sickness there is that will tune his grones and quicken him even when he is giving up the ghost as a King there is that which will manage his sceptre as a Subject there he may learn to bow Take him as a Master or a Servant as Rich or Poor as in prison or at liberty living or dying there he shall find what is necessary for him in that condition of life even to the last moment and period of it and not onely that which is necessary but under that formality as necessary so fitted and proportioned to the end that without it we can never attain it They that lay hold of it shall have peace with God and they who despise it shall have a worm ever gnawing them These shall go away saith our Saviour into everlasting punishment but the righteous who look into this perfect Law into life eternal Will you behold the Object of your Faith There you shall see not onely a picture of Christ but Christ even crucified as S. Paul speaketh to the Galatians before your eyes Will you behold that Faith which shall save you There you shall behold both what she is and what wonders she can work Have you so little Charity as not to know what she is There you may see her in every limb and lineament in every act and operation which is proper to her her Hand her Ear her Eye her Bowels There you may see what is worth your sight Et quod à Deo discitur totum est We can learn no more then God will teach us When we affect more and pour forth all the lust of our curiosity to find it out we at last shall be weary and sit down and complain that we have lost our labour For thus Curiosity which is a busie Idleness punisheth it self as a frantick person is punished with his madness Quicquid nos beatos facturum est aut in aperto est saith Seneca aut in proximo Whatsoever can make us happy is either open to the eye or near at hand We will instance but in one and that the main point Justification because the Church of Rome hath set it in the front of those points of doctrine which are imperfectly or obscurely delivered in the Gospel and therefore require a visible and supreme Judge of controversies to settle and determine them It is true indeed The Gospel hath been preached these sixteen hundred years and above and many questions have been started and many controversies raised about Justification For though men have been willing to go under the name of Justified persons yet have they been busie to enquire how Justification is wrought in them They are justified they know not how Many and divers opinions have been broached amongst the Canonists and Confessionists and others Osiander nameth twenty And there are many more at this day And yet all may consist well enough for ought I see and still that sense which is delivered in Scripture as necessary remain entire For 1. it is necessary to believe that no man can be justified by the works of the Law precisely taken And in this all agree 2. It is necessary to believe that we are not justified by the Law of Moses either by it self or joyned with Faith in Christ And in this all agree 3. It is necessary to believe that Justification is by Faith in Christ And in this all agree 4. That Justification is not without Remission of sins and Imputation of righteousness And in this all agree 5. That a Dead Faith doth not justifie And here is no difference 6. That that is a Dead faith which is not accompanied with Good works and a holy and serious purpose of good life And in this all agree 7. Lastly that faith in Christ Jesus implieth an advised and deliberate assent that Christ is our Prophet and Priest and King Our Prophet who hath fully delivered the will of his Father to us in his Gospel the knowledge of all his precepts and promises Our Priest to free us from the guilt of sin and condemnation of death by his bloud and intercession Our King and Law-giver governing us by his Word and Spirit by the vertue and power of which we shall be redeemed from death and translated into the Kingdom of heaven And in this all agree Da si quid ultrà est And is there yet any more All this which is necessary is plainly delivered in the Gospel And what is more is but a vapour from Curiosity which when there is a wide door and effectual is ever venturing at the needles eye This is so plain that no man stumbleth at it But those interpretations and comments and explications which have been made upon this nihil ampliùs quà m sonant make a noise but no Musick at all nec animum faciunt quia non habent nor can they add spirit to us in the way to bliss because they have none And as we find them not in the Scripture so have we no reason to list them amongst those doctrines which are necessary As to instance for the act of Justification what mattereth it whether I believe or not believe know or not know that our Justification doth consist in one or more acts so that I certainly know and believe that it is the greatest blessing that God can let fall upon his creature and believe that by it I am made acceptable in his sight and though I have broke the Law yet shall be dealt with as if I had been just and righteous indeed whether it be done by pardoning all my sins or imputing universal obedience to me or the active
under the name of Perfection because it tendeth to it So there is the Perfection of a beginner for he is a perfect beginner and the Perfection of a proficient for he is a perfect proficicent And there is a higher degree of Perfection of those who are so spiritualized so familiar with the Law of Christ that they run the wayes of his commandments But there is none so perfect but he may be perfecter yet none so high but he may exalt himself yet further in the grace and favour of God And even the beginner who seemeth to follow Christ yet a far off by that serious and earnest desire he hath to come nearer may be brought so near unto him as to be his member For there be babes in Christ and there be strong men And Christ looketh favourably even upon those babes and will take them into his arms and embrace them For his mercy is a garment large enough to cover all to reach even from the top to the last round and step of that ladder which being reared on earth reacheth up to heaven and to carry on those who first set foot in the wayes of life with a desire to ascend higher For all these are within within the pale of his Church Without are dogs and sorcerers and they who love and make a lie who have no relish of heaven no savour of Christ's ointment no desire of those things which are above no taste of the powers of the world to come For where this desire is not where it is not serious Christ is quite departed out of those coasts For Christ did not build his Church as Plato formed his Commonwealth who made such Laws as no man could keep but he fitted his Laws to every man and requireth no more of any then what every one by the strength which he will give may exactly accomplish It is a precept of a high nature and which flâ—sh and bloud may well shrink at be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Mat. 5.48 This is a hard and iron speech and he must have the stomach of an Ostrich that can digest it Therefore the Church of Rome hath sauced it to make it easie of digestion and hath made it not a peremptory Precept but a Counsel or Advice left it to our free choice whether we will keep it or no. To neglect and pass it by will hazard aureolam non auream it is their own distinction not the crown of life but some brooch or top some degree of happiness there And this is a great errour either to adde to or to take off from that burthen which it hath pleased Christ our Lawgiver to lay upon us Seem this precept never so harsh this burthen never so heavy yet if we consult with that patience and strength wherewith it hath pleased Christ to endue us by his blessed Spirit we shall be able to bear it without any abatement or diminution For we may deal with it as Protagoras did with his burthen of sticks dispose of it in so good order and method as to bear it with ease and have no reason to complain of its weight It is not so hard as we at first suppose And that we may gather from the illative particle Therefore Which hath reference to the verses going before and enjoyneth a Love above the love of Publicans whose love was negotiatio a bargaining a trafficking love vvho payed love for love loved none but those who loved them and so raiseth our Love to the love of our heavenly Father as to the most perfect rule and then draweth it down to compass and bless even the worst enemies we have And so this Perfection here doth not signifie an exact performance of all the commandments but the observation of this one The Love of our neighbour and that not in respect of the manner of observing it but the act it self That we love not onely our friends but our enemies And this indeed is a glorious act worthy the Gospel of Christ For to love them that love us is but a kind of necessary and easie gratitude the first beginings and rudiments of Piety the dawning of Charity But when we have attained to this to love them that love us not that hate us that persecute us then our Charity kindled from the the Love of our Father shineth forth in perfection of beauty He that can doe this hath fulfilled the Law For he that can love him that hateth him will love God that loveth him will love him when he frowneth on him when he afflicteth him when as Job speaketh he killeth him For indeed he cannot doe one but he must doe both But then for the manner of that love there he must needs come short of the patern Dust and ashes cannot move with equal motion in this sphere of Charity with the God of Love That we may love our enemies is possible but that we love them with the same extension or intension of love as God loveth them is beyond our belief and conceit and so impossible to be reached by the best endeavours we have God may give us strength but he cannot give us his arme He may make us wise and strong and good but not as good and wise and strong as himself What cruelty is our Mercy to his What weakness in our Power to his Almightiness Hovv ignorant is our Knovvledge to his light If vve speak of Wisdom he alone is vvise if of Povver he onely can doe what he will in heaven and in earth If vve speak of Mercy his Mercy reacheth over all his works Man is a finite mortal creature and all his goodness and wisdom and mercy are as mortal and changeable as himself and if it do measure out his span and hold out to the end of it yet it will retain a tast and relish of the cask and vessel of flesh and mortality and corruption But yet the Law is perfect and required a perfect man cum Dei adjutorio in nostrâ potestate consistit saith Augustine often and it is in our power with the help of God's grace to be perfect Rom. 16.25 God doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stablish us 1 Cor. 1.8 he doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confirm us he doth work in us to will and to do by giving us the sight of his glory and by his Spirit exciting and strengthening us He doeth it that giveth sufficient helps and advantages to do it The whole honour of every effect is due and returneth to the first Cause By this help we may be perfect as perfect as the prescript of the Gospel and the new covenant of Grace requireth For 1. God requireth nothing that is above our strength And certainly we can do what we can do we can do what by him we are enabled to do I can do all things saith S. Paul through Christ that strengtheneth me We may love him with all our mind with all our heart with all