Image which we lost nor to leaue vs in this earth but it pleased him to giue vs a better Image and beside that to place vs in heauen there to remaine with him for euer Now resteth his mercie and grace here No But that this saluation which he hath alreadie purchased brought about by his Sonne our Sauiour Christ Iesus might be wholly accomplished hauing nothing wanting in it as he redeemed vs in his owne person perfectly so he makes this same redemption to come to our knowledge makes vs sure of it in our consciences and to this end what doth he As by his death he purchased our full redemption so he makes it knowne vnto vs he intimates it vnto vs by our inward calling letting vs both finde and feele in our heaâ—ts what he did in his body for vs. For our Lord when he makes his seruants to proclaime this redemption and to intimate it to our consciences he workes this Iewell of faith in our soules which assures vs that the Son of God hath died for vs. For what could it auaile vs to see our redemption to see our saluation and our life a farre off if a way were not found out and a hand and meanes giuen vnto vs whereby we may apprehend that saluation applie it to our selues What can it auaile a sicke man to see a drugge in an Apothecaries shop except he may haue it and apply it to his sicke bodie So to the end that this worke of our redemption and saluation may be fullie and freelie accomplished looke how freelie he hath giuen his onely Sonne to the death of the crosse for vs as freelie hath he found out this way and meanes and offered vs this hand whereby we may take hold on Christ apply him to our soules This meanes to conclude is faith There is not a way nor an instrument in the Scriptures of God whereby we can applie Christ to our soules but onelie the instrument of faith therefore faith cannot be enough commended Turne to faith and it will make thee turne to God and so conioyne thee with God and make all thine actions well pleasing vnto him There is no good action that we do though it seeme neuer so good before the world but it is abhomination before God if it be not done in faith and will further our condemnation hauing faith all the creatures of God are seruiceable vnto vs they must all conspire to the furtherance of the worke of our saluation As on the contrarie wanting faith there is none of the creatures of God but shall be enemies vnto vs and conspire to our damnation For faith conioynes vs with the God of heauen and makes vs heauenly This Iewell of faith seasons all the gifts and graces which God giueth vnto vs all the riches of the earth is of no value to my soule without faith And what auaileth it any man to haue all the knowledge and wisedome in the earth without faith For the diuell hath all this knowledge and is not the better What auaileth it me to conquer all the Monarches kingdomes and whole riches in the earth what can all these auaile my soule Nothing but accuse me if I want faith Therefore all the benefits and gifts of God without faith auaile nothing but to augment our miseâ—ie All the gifts and graces of God are abused without faith faith onely maketh thee to vse the benefits and graces of God rightly Faith only should be sought kept and entertained here in this life hauing faith all the rest of Gods graces are profitable vnto thee for this Iewell keepeth them all in order and maketh them all fruitfull whereas wanting this iewell there is nothing here on earth but it will testifie against thee Let vs then speake of this faith how it is wrought in you I take my ground out of the Euangelist Iohn 6.44 where our Sauiour saith No man can come to â—e except the Father which hath sent me draw him In the which words we see clearly that except we be drawne except we be compelled except we be thrust except of vnwilling we be made willing by God the father it is not possible for vs to come to his Sonne What is the reason of this that the Spirit of God must draw vs and make vs willing or euer we come to God Because by nature we are not onely wounded and lanced by sinne and iniquitie but as the Apostle sheweth Ephes. 2.1 We were wholly dead in trespasses and sinnes yea obseâ—ue how voide any dead bodie is of a naturall life so voide are our soules though they be liuing the naturall life so voide are they of the life of God of that heauenly and spirituall life whereunto we in this life do aspire vntill such time that the Spirit of God draw our hearts and minds that is quicken our hearts and minds No it is not a drawing as we commonly speake it is a very quickning of a dead thing It is a quickning of that thing which was void of the life of the Spirit Then except the Spirit of God draw vs that is quicken vs with that spirituall and heauenly life it is not possible for vs to come to heauen And except he nourish this life which he hath begun it is not possible that we can stand in this life So the Spirit of God is said to draw vs that is to begin this life in vs and by the same holy Spirit to continue and nourish this life in vs. Now by the drawing of the Spirit our soules are quickned and by the drawing of the Spirit I vnderstand no other thing but the framing and creating of faith in our soules which makes vs new creatures Now let vs see what order the Spirit of God keepeth in drawing vs and informing and creating this faith in our soules First of all I deuide the soule into no more parts then commonly it vseth to be deuided that is into the heart and the mind Our mind then being â— cloud of darknesse altogether blind naturally there being nothing in that mind of ours but vanitie error and ignorance whereby we vanish away can neuer long continue in any good resolution or purpose what doth the Spirit of God The first worke that euer the Spirit of God doth he taketh order with the mind and what doth he to the mind He banisheth darknesse he chaseth out vanitie and blindnesse that naturally lurketh in the mind and in stead of this darknesse he placeth in the mind a lâ—ght a celestial and heauenly light a light which is resident in Christ Iesus onely Then the Spirit chaseth out that cloud of mist and darknesse and placeth light in the mind And what worketh he by this light We getting sanctified vnderstanding incontinent he makes vs to see God not onely as he is God the Creator of the world but also as he is God the Redeemer and hath redeemed vs in his Sonne Christ Iesus Now before I obtaine this light
in his soule that in the 17. verse he calleth it bitter bitternesse he hath no words to expresse this bitternesse what euer it was Where the iudgements of God make such a print in the soule it is long ere sinne can blot it out and so long as the memory of the iudgement remaineth it is easie to be thankfull it is easie to go forward in doing some part of our duty it is easie to stand in aw that we fall not into the hands of God but when we blot out this memory we returne to that same puddle out of the which we were deliuered Therefore I commend to you to craue of God a sanctified memory that ye may kepe fresh the iudgements of God which either ye haue seene in others or felt in your owne bodies that the feeling of these iudgements may serue you to be thankfull to him and may make you to stand in aw and beware to fall into the hands of a consuming fire Now this King finding this benefite so sweete he is compelled to burst forth in the praise of the word of God which brought forth so good an effect And first he praiseth it generally from the good it doeth vnto all men Then he prayseth it in particular from his owne particular experience comfort which he receiued in his owne person This doctrine is necessary and notable for these times First then he praiseth the word from the good it worketh in all flesh By these things sayth he men liue that this by the force of these words it commeth to passe that we enioy the benefite of this naturall life wherby we liue in this body vpon earth For the Lords word calleth on things that are not as though they were and his word maketh them to be By his word he created heauen and earth by his word he gaue man life and breath and whatsoeuer is necessary to him By his word he assigned to him the earth the seasons and bounds of his habitation To this end that man being created according to the image of God he might seeke God and no doubt he is not farre from euery one of vs For as the Apostle sayth Act. 17. In him we liue moue and haue our being And as this is true in this naturall life so is it as true in the entertainment of this life for by the benefit of this word we are sustained For our life standeth not onely in meate and drinke but in euery word that proceedeth out of the Lords mouth Mat. 4. that is in euery thing wherunto the Lord giueth power to nourish For it is the Lords word that giueth power to nourish vs. And suppose meate and drinke were remoued the Lord is able to make stones to nourish vs. This good King acknowledged this good effect to come of the word and therefore he praiseth the word Now after he had praised it from the generall effect he goeth forward and praiseth it from his owne particular experience and he saith in the conclusion of these things The life of my soule standeth that is in thy saying and doing in thy truth and mercy in thy promising and keeping thereof standeth the life of my soule as if the King would say Not onelie haue I this naturall life which I liue in this miserable bodie by the benefite of the word but I haue a more precious life the life of my soule and spirit which discerneth me from the rest of mankind which putteth me in a better estate then the rest of the world which maketh mine heauen to begin here which neuer shall end For as there is a life and death of the body so there is a life and death of the soule The life of the body may be conioyned with the death of the soule and the death of the body may stand with the life of the soule The life of the body standeth in the presence of the soule the life of the soule standeth in the presence of the Spirit of life Except the soule be borne againe by the Spirit of life ye shall neuer see the face of God before the soule be quickned by the Spirit of life it remaineth a dead carion dead in sinne dead in the lusts of the flesh as the Apostle saith Ephes. 2. Colos. 2. And consequently there remaineth but a carriō both in soule body the soule being as void of a spirituall and heauenly life as a carion is of a naturall life The words of the Apostle in that place in sundry places are Dead in sinne dead in trespasses and in the vncircumcised lusts of the flesh Where death hath place life must be wholly extinguished and where death hath place there can neither be halfe life quarter life nor a breath of life But so it is that death hath place in our soule by nature Therefore by nature there cannot be so much as a sparke of that heauenly life in it And if there be not so much as a sparke of life in it where is that halfe or quarter life whereof the Papists speake They will not haue it dead but lamed or crooked The Apostle saith in plaine tearmes that it is dead and therefore that spirituall life must be wholly put out and consequently all kind of will to good and all sight of God in Christ is banished away this death of the soule remaineth perpetually in vs vntill such time that the participation of the Spirit of life which is in the body of Christ Iesus free vs from the law of sinne and from the law of death which is in our owne nature Rom. 8. Now would ye know whether your soule liueth or not Would ye perceiue whether this Spirit of life be begun in you or not I will giue you certaine effects whereby ye may examine the life of the soule There are many effects giuen vs in the Scriptures as namely Gala. 6. But I leaue them choose three speciall effects whereby euery one may discerne of the life of the soule There is first that inward peace of conscience There is next that ioy and reioycing vnder trouble There is thirdly a loue of God a loue of vertue and an hatred of vice where euer any of these three hath place there the soule liueth where thou findest thy conscience refreshed and thy soule recreate from the great terrors manifold pangs of sinne no question the soule liueth for this is the effect of the right Spirit and this is the right peace whereof the world is ignorant that passeth all naturall vnderstanding The more thou makst this peace to grow the more thou liuest in thy soule The more this peace groweth the more sinne decayeth the more thou castest out all that baggage of sin that troubleth the quiet estate of the conscience In a word the onely thing that troubleth the soule that disquieteth the conscience and that we haue to cast out is sinne For sinne is the onely thing that seuereth vs from God in whom there
is onely true peace and quietnesse to be found Therefore our exercise should chiefly stand in this to expell this enemy and monster sinne and to possesse that sauing iuice and wholsome peace that passeth all vnderstanding The second effect whereby we may know that the soule liueth is the ioy and reioycing vnder trouble For we know by experience that trouble of it owne nature cannot bring forth this ioy but bringeth forth the contrary effects as sadnesse heauinesse and sorrow Now where the Spirit is so disposed that we reioyce vnder trouble this is a sure argument of the blessed Spirit the Spirit of life which onely quickneth the soule and this ioy maketh vs not onely to reioyce in trouble but to glory also as sayth the Apostle For surely the crosse of Christ is our onely ioy the shame of Christ is our onely honour Hereby we perceiue the great glory that the Lord hath called vs to that not onely he maketh vs to beleeue his word but to suffer for him also onely ye haue to take heede to your troubles For this ioy accompanieth not all troubles but onely those troubles that are suffred for Christs cause for righteousnesse sake are vnderserued For those troubles that are deserued the like ioy is not to be found in them The third effect whereby we may know that the soule liueth is the loue of God and hatred of euill Where this loue is kindled in the soule where we beginne to know God to loue him and to taste of him for it is not possible that we can loue him except we haue a taste of his sweetnesse this loue make vs like to God for God is loue as Iohn saith If loue dwell in thine heart God dwelleth in thine heart and this loue is a sure pledge of the life of the soule where this loue is of necessity also there must be a hatred of euill Now trie and examine if the Spirit of life hath wrought these effects in thy soule in any measure if it were neuer so small it is a sure argument that this life is begunne and the life which God hath begunne he will perfect it If the loue of God were neuer so litle and the hatred of euill were neuer so little if any of these effects were but in a small measure ye may be sure that Christ dwelleth in your hearts by faith and that the soule liueth Ye that feele this as I would that ye all felt it prease to nourish and strengthen this life not weary in well doing but go forward in working the works of the Spirit Sow not in the flesh go not forward in the lusts and appetites thereof for ye may learne of the Apostle what aduantage this labour bringeth to wit shame and confusion death of the body and death of soule Rom. 6. But on the contrary go forward in nourishing of the Spirit and in well doing Sow in the Spirit and as the Apostle sayth ye shall reape an euerlasting and incomprehensible life This Spirit then is said to be nourished and corroborate in our hearts when we nourish the light and knowledge of God in Christ Iesus when we edifie our selues in our most holy faith and continue in the exercise of prayer As by the contrary we banish this light of the good Spirit and by our euill doing we banish the knowledge of God in Christ whē we put out this light diminish our perswasion and leaue off the exercise of prayer For by the same meanes whereby the soule liueth they being remoued the soule dieth Therfore those that would liue this way they ought to nourish the knowledge of God they ought to be exercised in well doing in hearing of Gods word in edifying them in their most holy faith and in continuall crauing of grace and mercy by prayer Now the King sayth he hath this life and he hath experience of the good word in this for I take this to be a different life from the other whereof he spake before to wit this is the life of the soule which proceedeth of the word of promise for this word is the power of God to saluation to all them that beleeue Rom. 1. Set your hearts saith Moses Deut. 32 vpon this word for it is not a vaine word it is your life and felicity The words which I speake sayth our Master Iohn 6. are Spirit life And from this Iohn calleth him the word of life the bread of life Peter saith whom shall we go to for in thee are the words of life It is he that hath life in himselfe Iohn 5. From this also it is said 1. Cor. 15. that as the first Adam was made a liuing soule so the second Adam was made a quickning Spirit and by reason we are made participant of this spirit by the ministery of his word therefore it is called the word of the Spirit by the same reason we that are his Ministers are counted the Ministers of the Spirit as the Apostle calleth vs 2. Cor. 3. They that would reade further of the praise of this word I remit them to the 19. Psalme where the properties of this word are exactly set downe I will end here Who so looketh vpon the precious effects of this word and on the other side looketh vpon our vnhappy behauior I am assured it would astonish any Christian heart to behold how the Lord can suffer our contempt so long as he doth For formerly whereas there was skarsly crummes of this bread of life to be had in this countrie men sought it out diligently and ran to haue it with such zeale that they compassed both sea and land they spared neither trauell nor cost but forcibly as it were thronged and thrusted in and made irruption in this kingdome But now when it hath pleased the Lord to offer vnto vs great plentie of this foode we so despise the bountie and liberality of this good God that we turne this great grace and mercie of his into iudgement and vengeance vpon our owne heads And as to the greatest part of the multitude they disdain it so spitefully that they had rather embrace the leauen of the Pharisies and draw them to that company where they can haue no other foode but songes maskes mummings and vnknowne Languages And so thinke to feed their soules by the mockery of God Now as to the Gentlemen Earles Lords and Barrons they are so drunken with sacrilegde that ere they will part with these goods they had rather part with the life of their soule yea when it cometh to this that the word cannot be entertained but by their expences they make no choyse but had rather lose their soules an hundred times ere they would bestow a halfepenny vpon the Church This is true in the greatest part so it is the Lord that wonderfully continueth the light amongst vs that keepeth a face of a ministery in Scotland There is no good entertainment but a very great pouerty in the most part
lying in the farthest part of England if ye haue a good title to it the distance of the place cannot hurt your title so I say the distance of place hurts not my title and my right that I haue to Christ. But though he be sitting at the right hand of the Father yet the title and right that I haue to him makes him mine so that I may say truly this Christ is my property Then Christ is not made mine because I fetch him out of the heauens but he is mine because I haue a sure title and right to him and hauing a sure title and iust right to him the distance of place how farre soeuer it be can no wayes hurt my title nor right but where-euer he be he is mine because I haue a right and title to him Yea not onely haue I a title to him but this title is confirmed to me For as I get a title to him in the word and if I got not that title to him in the word I durst not come to the Sacrament so in the Sacracrament I get the confirmation of my title I get the Seale which confirmes my title Then to come to the point Christs body is sitting at the right hand of the Father and yet he is mine and is deliuered to me because I haue right to his body be it where it will he was borne for me giuen to mee and deliuered to me So distance of place hurts not the surety of my title as propinquity of place helpes not the surety of the same Though Christ would bow the heauens and touch thee with his body as he did Iudas yet this could not helpe thee for if thou hast not a title to him thou darest not call him thine So it is not the neerenesse nor proximity of place that maketh Christ mine It is onely the right that I haue to him I haue right to him onely by faith So by faith onely Christ is made mine But they thinke they haue gotten a great vantage of vs if we be so farre from Christ as the heauen is from the earth but this shall be answered by Gods grace I haue a title to his bodie his bodie is distant from my bodie yet his bodie is not distant from me that is from my soule I say his bodie and my soule are conioyned It is a strange ladder that will reach from the earth to the heauens yet let me tell you there is a cord that extendeth from the earth to the heauens and coupleth me and Christ together and this is onely true faith By true faith Christ though he be in the heauens is coupled and conioyned with me who am here on earth I will shew you this by a similitude Is not the bodie of the Sunne in the firmament It is impossible for you to touch the bodie of the Sunne yet the bodie of the Sunne and ye are conioyned How By those beames that shine on you by that light that shineth vpon you Why may not the bodie of Christ then though it be in the heauens be conioyned with me that am on earth namely by the beames by the light and gladnesse that floweth from his bodie My bodie and Christs bodie are conioyned by the vertue and power flowing from his bodie which vertue and power quickneth my dead soule maketh me to liue the life of Christ to begin to die to my selfe and euer the more I die to my selfe the more I liue to Christ. This coniunction now is the ground as I told you of all our felicitie and happinesse and I haue made it cleare to you at this time so far as God hath giuen me insight Alwaies ye see this coniunction is brought to passe by two speciall meanes by the holy Spirit by faith If there be no other meanes but these two what needest thou a carnall or a visible coniunction Faith is inuisible and the Spirit is inuisible therefore thou canst not see it nor take it vp with the eye of thy bodie The power of the holy Spirit is so subtile secret and inuisible that thou canst not perceiue it nor take it vp with the eye of the bodie and it will worke great effects in thy soule or euer thou perceiuest his working In respect therefore that the meanes of this coniunction are so subtill secret and spirituall why thinkest thou to get a sight of this coniunction with the eye of thy bodie why imaginest thou such a carnall coniunction as this which would do thee no good if thou hadst it Knowest thou not that the Spirit that coupleth vs and Christ is infinite so that it is as easie for the Spirit to couple vs and Christ how far distant soeuer we be as it is easie for our soules to couple our head and the feete of our bodies though they be distant Then seeing this coniunction is the ground and fountaine of all our happinesse and seeing this ground of happinesse is so substill and so spirituall what is your part Remoue all your outward senses remoue all your naturall motions remoue your naturall discourses and your naturall reason and follow the sight and information of the Spirit of God Craue that it would please him to illuminate your vnderstanding that by the light of his Spirit ye may see clearely the spirituall coniunction Except the eye of the Spirit be giuen you to perceiue this spirituall coniunction it is not possible that ye can get any insight in it But if the Lord of his mercie will bestow some measure of his holy Spirit vppon you out of question ye shall soone come to the vnderstanding of it and ye shall thinke the time happie that euer ye heard this word Except ye haue some part of this Spirit it is not possible that ye can be spirituall That which is borne of flesh and bloud will remaine flesh and bloud except the Spirit come in and make it spirituall Therefore ye must be borne againe of the Spirit ye must be borne in the bodie of Christ his Spirit must quicken you This is called the quickning and liuing Spirit of Christ by Iohn And so soone as the Spirit cometh what doth it It chaseth away darknesse out of the vnderstanding whereas before I knew not God now I see him not onely generally that he is a God but that he is my God in Christ. What more doth the holy Spirit It openeth the heart as well as the minde and what doth it there Those things whereon I bestowed the affections of my heart and imployed the loue of my soule are by the working of the holy Spirit made gall to me he maketh them venome to me and to be as deadly hated of me as poyson He worketh sâ—ch an inward disposition in my soule that he maketh me to turne and flie from those things whereon I imployed my loue before and to imploy it vpon God This is a great perfection Alwaies in some measure he makeâ—h me to loue God better then any other thing
and women are baptized into one bodie of Christ. That is we are conioyned and fastened with one Christ by the meanes saith he of one Spirit not by a carnall band or any grosse coniunction but onely by the band of the holy Spirit That same holy Spirit that is in him is in euery one of vs in some measure and in respect one Spirit is in him and in vs therefore we are accounted all to be one bodie and to be members of one spirituall and mysticall bodie And in the same verse the Apostle saith We are all made to drinke into one and the selfe same Spirit that is we are made to drinke of the bloud of Christ. And this bloud is no other thing but the quickning vertue and power that floweth from Christ and from the merits of his death we are made all to drinke of that bloud when we drinke of the liuely power and vertue that floweth out of that bloud So there is not a band that can couple my soule with the flesh of Christ but onely a spirituall band and a spirituall vnion And therefore it is that the Apostle 1. Cor. 6.17 saith He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit And Iohn saith That which is borne of the Spirit is Spirit So it is onely by the participation of the holy Spirit that we are conioyned with the flesh and bloud of Christ Iesus That carnall band whether it be the band of bloud which runneth through one race or the carnall touching of flesh with flesh that carnall band I say was neuer esteemed of by Christ. In the time that he was conuersant here vpon earth he respected nothing that band for as he witnessed himselfe by his owne words he neuer had that carnall band in any kind of reuerence or estimation in respect of the spirituall band But as for the spirituall band whereby we are coupled with him by one Spirit he euer esteemed of this band in the time that he was conuersant on earth in a word he hath left the praise and commendations of the same To let you see how lightly he esteemed of the carnall band of bloud and alliance which we esteeme so much ye may see in the eight of Luke 20.21 for there they coming to him say Master thy Mother and thy brethren stand without and would see thee ye shall heare his answer vnto them how little he esteemed of that carnall band in the 21. verse in a manner denying that band he saith My Mother and my brethren are those which heare the word of God and do it As if he would haue said It is not that carnall band that I esteeme it is not that carnall coniunction that I reuerence it is the spirituall coniunction by the participation of his holy Spirit whereby we are mooued to heare the word of God to giue reuerence to it and obey it This carnall band was neuer profiâ—able as that in the 8 of Luke doth plainly testifie for if the touching of Christs flâ—sh had bene profitable the multitude whereof mention is made in that Chapter that thrusted and preased him had bene the better by their carnall touching But so it is that there was neuer any of them the better by their carnall touching therefore the carnall touching profiteth nothing Saith not Christ himselfe Iohn 6.63 to draw them from that sinister confidence they had in the flesh onely My flesh profiteth nothing It is the Spirit that quickneth To touch him by the holie Spirit and by faith in thy soule this touching by faith hath euer bene profitable and we haue a plaine example of it in the same Chapter Euen so the poore woman that had long bene diseased with a bloudie issue the space of twelue yeares and had wasted and consumed the greatest part of her substance in seeking remedie she found no helpe by the naturall and bodily Physition at the last by vertue of the holie Spirit working faith in her heart she vnderstands and conceiues that she is able to recouer the health of her bodie and the health of her soule from Christ Iesus who came to saue both bodie and soule And vpon this perswasion which she had in her heart that Christ could cure both bodie and soule she came vnto him and as the Text saith she preased through the multitude to come to him and when she was come it is not said that she touched his flesh with her hand in case the Papists would ascribe the vertue which came out of him to her carnall touching but it is said that she touched onely the hemme of his garment with her hand and with faith which is the hand of the soule she touched her Sauiour God and man And to let you vnderstand that she touched him by faith he saith to her at the last Go thy way thy faith hath saued thee She touched him not so soone by faith but incontinent there came a power out of him which power and vertue she felt by the effect of it in her soule and our Sauiour felt it when it went from him The effect whereby she felt it was the health of her soule and the effect whereby he felt it was the going from him And so soone as he felt it go from him he saith Who is it that hath touched me Peter who was euer most suddaine answereth and saith Thou art thronged and thrusted by the multitude yet thou askest who hath touched thee Our Sauiour answers againe It is not that touching that I speake of it is another kind of touching There is one hath touched me who hath drawne a vertue and power out of me the multitude taketh no vertue from me The poore woman thinking she had done amisse and perceiuing she could not be hid came trembling and said I haue done it He answered her at the last and said Depart in peace thy faith hath saued thee Thy faith hath drawne out a vertue and power from me that hath made both thy soule and thy bodie whole So that this touching of Christ hath euer bene profitable is shall be profitable like as the touching of Christ with the corporall hand hath neuer bene is not nor euer shall be profitable And why Christ is not appointed to be a carnall head to be set vpon the necks of our bodies that he may do the office of a carnall head thereunto to furnish naturall motions and senses to our bodies No the Scriptures call not Christ a naturall head but the Scriptures call him a spirituall head to be set vpon the necke of our soules that is to be conioyned with our soules that out of him into our soules may distill holy motions heauenly senses and that there may flow out of him to vs a spirituall and heauenly life Then the Scriptures call him a spirituall head as they call vs a spirituall bodie and as the life which we get from him is spirituall so all our coniunction with him is spirituall And in respect he
worketh that same operation in my soule which the carnall head doth in my bodie therefore he is called a spirituall head therefore he is called the head of his Church because he furnisheth her with spirituall motion and senses which is the life of the Church So to be short there is nothing in this coniunction carnall there is nothing grosse in it there is nothing that may be compassed by our naturall iudgement and vnderstanding And therefore whosoeuer would attaine to any small in-sight of this spirituall coniunction betweene Christ and vs of necessitie he must humble himselfe earnestly pray for the Spirit otherwise it is not possible to get any vnderstanding no not the least apprehension how the flesh of Christ and we are conioyned except we haue some light giuen vs by the Spirit that is except our hearts be wakened by the mighty working of the Spirit of Christ this shall remaine as a dead closed letter vnto vs. So ye are to craue that the Lord in his mercie would waken you illuminate your vnderstandings and make you to haue a spirituall light to discerne of these spirituall things Next ye must studie and be carefull to remoue all vaine cogitations earthly fantasies when ye come to heare so high a matter ye must cast off all filthie thoughts ill motions and care of the world and ye must shake off all things that clog your hearts Thirdly ye must come with a purpose to heare the word to giue diligent eare to the word with a sanctified heart to receiue it with a purpose to grow and increase in holinesse as well in bodie as in soule all the daies of your life And coming with this purpose no question the holie Spirit shall reueale those things to you which ye want And though this word passe and bring no commoditie for the present yet the holie Spirit hereafter shall reueale to thee the truth of that which thou hast now heard This then is the end of all Be present in your hearts and minds and let your soules be emptied of all the cares of the world that they may receiue that comfort which is offered in the hearing of the word Now I come to the defining of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper I call this Sacrament An holy Seale annexed to the couenant of grace and mercie in Christ. A seale to be ministred publikely alwaies according to the holy institution of Christ Iesus that by the lawful ministery thereof the Sacramentall vnion betweene the signes and the thing signified may stand and this vnion standing Christ Iesuâ— who is the thing signified is as truly deliuered to the increase of our spirituall nourishment as the signes are giuen and deliuered to the body for our temporall nourishment Now let vs examine the words and parts of this definition First of all I call this Sacrament a Seale because this Sacrament serueth to the same vse to our soules that a common seale doth to a common Euidence As the seale which is annexed to the Euidence confirmes seales vp the truth contained in the Euidence so this Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ confirmeth and sealeth vp the truth of mercy and grace contained in the couenant of mercy and grace for this respect it is called a seale It is called An holy Seale Why Because it is taken from profane vse whereunto that bread serued before and that bread is applyed to an holy vse There is a power giuen to that bread to signifie the precious body of Christ Iesus to represent the nourishing and feeding of our soules And in respect it serueth now in the Sacrament to so holy an vse therfore I call it an holy seale This is not my word it is the Apostles Rom. 4.11 where he giueth the Sacrament the same name and calleth it a seale And further if the wisedome of Christ in his Apostle had bene followed and if men had not inuented new names of their owne for this Sacrament but had contented satisfied themselues with the names which God hath giuen by his Apostle that Christ himselfe hath giuen to this Sacrament I am assured none of these controuersies and debates which neuer will ceasse had fallen out but where men will go about to be wiser then God and go beyond God in deuising names which he neuer gaue vpon mens owne inuention such debates haue fallen out A lesson by the way that no flesh presume to be wiser then God but let them stoupe keepe the names which God hath giuen to this Sacrament Thirdly I say annexed to the Couenant annexed and hung to the Charter because it cannot be called a seale properly except it be hung to an Euidence What it is by nature the same it remaineth and no more if it be not annexed to some Euidence it is onely the hanging of it to the Euidence that maketh men account it a seale not being esteemed except it be hanged to the Euidence Euen so it is here if this Sacrament be not ministred and ioyned to the preached word to the preaching of the couenant of mercy and grace it cannot be a seale but what it is by nature it is no more As by nature it is but a common peece of bread so it is no more if it be not annexed to the preaching of the word and ministred therewith as Christ hath commanded Therfore I say the seale must be annexed and hanged to the Euidence to the preaching of the word for the confirming of the Euidence otherwise it is not a seale But it is not so with the Euidence which is the word of God for ye know any Euidence will make faith though it want a seale and it will serue to make a right if it be subscribed without a seale but the seale without the Euidence auaileth nothing Euen so it is with the word of God though the Sacraments be not annexed to the word yet the word will serue the turne it serueth vs to get Christ it serueth to ingender and beget faith in vs and maketh vs to grow vp in faith But the seale without the word can serue vs to no holy vse therefore I say the seale must be annexed to the word preached to the couenant of mercy and grace Now it followeth in the definition that this seale must be ministred publikely Wherefore say I publikly To exclude all priuate administration of this Sacrament For if this Sacrament be administred to any priuately it is not a Sacrament Why Because the Apostle calleth this Sacrament a Communion therefore if ye administer it priuately ye lose the Sacrament For this Sacrament is a Communion of the body and bloud of Christ therefore of necessity it must be by way of communication and so the action must be publikely ministred Secondly this Sacrament must be publikely ministred because Christ Iesus who is the thing signified in this Sacrament is no such thing as pertaineth to one man
Sunne whereof ye heard and heauen and earth shall perish ere a iot of his promise faile Yet notwithstanding this is true that there is such a constancie and fidelitie in him all these promises will not auaile vs except the Lord prepare our hearts yea except he sanctifie our hearts by meanes of faith that in our soules we may see this truth we shall neuer regard it and except he giue vs a heart to apply this truth all the promises which he hath made and is to make serue for no vse to vs. Therefore it is the dutie of all Christians to be instant in crauing that the Lord would prepare their hearts by faith that seeing him in their minds and feeling him in their hearts they may find his mercie and truth and repose in them for euer After this we entred into the recommendation of the word of God and generally we praysed the word from this that we haue the benefit of this temporall life by it as this is true in generall so he goeth forward and praiseth the word from his owne experience in particular and he granteth that not onely he hath the benefit of this temporall life by the word but of the spirituall also And as he hath the life whereby he liueth in his body by it so he hath by it the life whereby he liueth in the soule For as there is a life and death of the bodie so there is a life and death of the soule The life of the bodie may be conioyned well with the death of the soule for we may liue in the bodie and be dead in the soule at one time Also the death of the bodie may stand with the life of the soule for we may depart from this life and go to a better The life of the bodie standeth in the presence of the soule but the life of the soule standeth in the presence of the Spirit of life except our soules be borne anew againe by the vertue of that Spirit of life it is not possible that we can see God and taste of his ioy For by nature we are not onely hurt lame maimed but altogeâ—her dead in sinne so that looke how voide a corps is of a naturall life as voide are we of a heauenly and spirituall life The reason is this where death hath place there life must be wholly put out But by nature death hath place in vs therefore the spiâ—ituall life must be wholly put out If the Spiâ—it of life be wholly put out there remaineth not so much as a breath out of the which any good cogitations or actions may proceede If so be there is not so much as one breath where is all that free-will of the Papists where is that integritie which remaineth in the filthie nature Then I say we naturally remaine in the death of bodie and soule still vntill that by the paâ—ticipation of the Spirit of life which dwelleth in the bodie of Christ vntill I say that this Spirit free vs from sin and death And so vntill this time we shall neuer mount aboue the clouds nor see the face of God And therefore as I exhorted you the last day so I insist in the same exhortation now that euery one of you marke and perceiue your selues whether you haue such a life begun in you or not I gaue you three effects which will neuer deceiue you The first is if ye find your selues refreshed and recreate in your spirits from the terrours of your conscience and the feare of sinne which recreation and refreshment of the spirit is called that peace that passeth all vnderstanding whereof the world is ignorant he that findeth any of this if it were neuer so little within him no question he hath this life begun in him and the more this peace is augmented the more the life groweth But this peace groweth by remoouing of sinne Therefore our whole studie should be to remooue sinne for the onely thing that troubleth the conscience is sinne Take away sinne the conscience shall be at rest Wherefore this was the chiefe effect I willed you to take heede vnto The second effect is ioy and reioycing vnder trouble For we see trouble of the owne nature bringeth not foorth this effect but rather bringeth foorth sorrow heauinesse and lamentation Then when our spirit is so disposed that vnder trouble we reioyce and glorie in it this is the Spirit of life This ioy is not in all troubles it is not in the trouble which we procure but onely in the trouble which we sustaine for righteousnesse sake and which we sustaine for Christ his sake The third effect is if ye haue a loue of God and good men and a hatred of euill where these effects are in any measure no doubt but the Spirit of life is there As by the contrary where there is a loue of wicked and euill men no question let them speake of Christ as they will the spirit of the diuell hath full dominion This Spirit of life we shew was entertained by nourishing of the knowledge of God when we edifie our selues in our most holy faith when we nourish the exercise of prayer As by the contrary the Spirit is put out when by our euill doings we put out the knowledge of God when we diminish our perswasion of his mercie in Christ fall from the exercise of prayer Then ye that haue this life begunne nourish it by well doing for by well doing no question our faith is corroborate Delight therefore in well doing sow in the Spirit and not in the flesh run not with the thiefe nor consent not with the murtherer for so ye shall be participant of their punishment but sow in the Spirit and of this ye shall reape an euerlasting and comfortable life where otherwise of sinne ye shall reape nothing but shame and euerlasting condemnation I haue discoursed long on this head because it is very necessarie and I would wish you to consider of these things Thinke on the great benefits of God granted vnto this countrey Thinke againe vpon our ingratitude and vnnaturall behauiour There is no Christian that will weigh these two in one ballance but he shall conclude that it is wonderfull why the Lord suffereth iniquitie in this countrey so long to be vnpunished Formerly when there was but crums of the bread of life they ran to seeke it so that they compassed both sea and land and spared neither trauell nor cost to be ingrafted into the kingdome of Christ But now when there is plentie of it we haue taken such a lothsomnesse thereof that we abuse the liberalitie of God offered to vs and turne his grace and mercie into vengeance on our owne heads For as to the multitude ye see that they haue alreadie preferred the leauen of the Pharises and gone to mumchances mumries and vnknowne language wherein they pudled before As to the noble and gentlemen they are so drunken with sacriledge that rather then they will render these goods
must redound backe to him that gaue it Therefore the nearer the soule is conioyned with God it praiseth him so much the more Now after the death of the bodie the soules of the faithfull are more straightly coupled with God therefore after death they praise him the more Where Christ hath dwelt once in this life suppose the bodies die and be resolued in powder by reason of sinne yet the soule liueth by reason of righteousnesse Yea suppose the body be dissolued yet that Spirit of life that dwelt in the soule raiseth thy soule to heauen euen as the Spirit of life that dwelt in Christ Iesus raised his bodie from the graue And as the Spirit of life is the onely cause that made vs to praise him in our bodies so that same Spirit maketh vs to praise him out of these bodies by reason suppose we be absent in bodie yet are present in our soule with the Lord. For the words Rom. 8 are these If Christ dwell in you suppose the body be dead by reason of sinne yet the Spirit is aliue for righteousnesse sake The meaning of the words is suppose they that are departed leaue off to praise the Lord in their bodies and in the earth which he calleth the land of the liuing yet they leaue not off at all Now of this I shall marke one or two things Take vp the end wherefore the Lord deliuereth any person citie or country from any trouble within or without the chiefe end of his deliuerie is this That that person citie or countrey may serue as an instrument to preach his benefits to sound his praise and to render vnto him heartie thanks for it Are our sinnes forgiuen vs to this end is there any countrey or any citie set at libertie to this end that we should prouoke God to anger by heauier sinnes againe Is this the end wherefore he forgiueth sinnes Is this the end wherefore he bestoweth his benefits that we should vse them as weapons to fight against himselfe Is not this rather the high way to kindle him to greater seueritie and to sharpen his furie against our selues Yea and what exception I pray you can we vse in his greatest seueritie seeing we haue prouoked it our selues I speake it to this end there is not a person in particular nor any in generall but of naturall knowledge they will say There was neuer a greater benefit bestowed on a countrey then in releeuing vs of the feare of that barbarous Nation he must either confesse this or he is an asse This benefit if it were rightly measured and considered reade ouer the Scriptures conferre benefit with benefit miracle with miracle all circumstances being well considered ye shall finde that since the children of Israel came through the red Sea there hath not bene a greater To what end deliuered he vs is it that we should prouoke him with greater sinnes Looke since the feare of these strangers past what sinne is there but this countrey hath defiled her selfe with it See ye not slaughter in greater measure oppression murther without any mercie see ye not all law and equitie trampled vnder foote And briefly see ye not this confusion risen to such a height that euery Lord in his owne bounds is a King what sort of birth I pray you shall this confusion bring foorth At the last it must bring foorth one of these two of necessitie and take heeed ye may chance to see it except the Lord preuent it Either the supreme magistrate and inferiour magistrates must concurre in one voyce to put an end to this confusion or the confusion out of doubt shall put an end to him I am assured one of these two must follow for the weight of his wrath which hangeth ouer this land is insupportable the earth is not able to beare this birth of our iniquitie and if there were no other punishment as I haue often said the earth shall be compelled to spue foorth the inhabitants ere God want meanes to punish As this is true in the countrey in generall so it is as true in this Citie in particular for it neuer came yet for the most part in your hearts to thanke God aright for your deliuerie Therefore the Lord is beginning to let you see that he can raise strangers men who haue the hearts of strangers among our selues he hath meanes enough in the middest of our owne bowels to punish this countrey suppose he seeke not strangers But indeed in this late brag of our neighbour Lord he desireth you to go backe to the consideration of the greatnesse of the last benefit And if ye acknowledge it rightly and be thankfull for it there is no domesticke force ye neede to regard For as to the force that can proceede any way from that man ye know it And surely it would appeare to me that that man hath sold himselfe to iniquitie and the end will declare it except the Lord preuent him with his vndeserued grace which I desire most heartily Although in the meane time suppose there be peace promised yet stand ye on your guards and let it not come to passe by your misbehauiour and backwardnâ—sse that the glory of God and the libertie of this Citie be impaired in any wise but stand on your guardes that as this Citie hath bene a terrour to euill men before-time so it may terrifie him also For no question where God and a good quarrell concurre that side shall haue the vpper hand This onely by the way For it becometh me of my dutie to maintaine the good cause and to instruct you in this point of your dutie The second thing that I marke ye see the glorie of God is euer conioyned with the life of his owne so that we cannot aduance Gods gloâ—ie but we shall further our owne saluation and we cannot neglect the one but we shall neglect the other Seeing thâ—n that these two are necessarily conioyned for Gods sake let euery one remember to set forward the glorie of God in his life so farre as he may according to his estate and calling This life is so miserable in it selfe and there is none that seeth the confusion of this countrey to grow so fast that can looke for any redresse of these things in his own time So here beneath is no comfort all runneth on to such a desolation and miserable confusion that of all liues of the earth our liues were most miserable if we had not a sight of a better For all ioy to be looked for here beneath is taken away Well I leaue this second part and come to the last The third part of this song is in this 20. verse which is the conclusion of the whole song In this conclusion the King testifieth that he will not onely praise God for the present for the benefit which he hath receiued but he maketh a solemne promise that so long as he liueth he will neuer forget this benefit all the dayes of his life
euery yeare of thy whole life For that conscience that should rest for euer with the liuing God that conscience â—hich must euer behold the face of the Sonne of God it cannot be ouer-well cleansed we cannot looke ouer-narrowly to it The more curious we be in searching out of this conscience we are the better occupied I spake of our owne consciences I speake not of our neighbours Thirdly I come to the points wherein euery one of you should trie examine your selues Euery one of you ought to trie and examine your consciences in two things First whether thou be at peace with God who is the Lord of heauen or not Next examine thy conscience whether thou art in loue and amitie with thy neighbour or not Wouldest thou know whether thy conscience be at vnitie and peace with God or not Thou shalt know it this way the God of heauen can haue no societie nor companie with that soule which is alwaies vncleane that is euery way defiled no he cannot Now I speake not so precisely that I make a soule to be fully sanctified and perfectly holy in this life no in this life there are wonderfull iniquities grosse sinnes and great faults wherewith euen the righteous are defiled but this is my meaning There is no soule can be at peace with God or wherewith the Lord can haue any societie but in some measure it must be sanctified and made holy For God cannot make residence in a soule that is alwaies as a stinking dunghill and therefore of force in some measure it must be sanctified there must be so much made cleane in one corner or other of that soule wherein the Lord of heauen by his holy Spirit may make his residence Now let vs see whereby the heart is sanctified Peter Act. 15.9 saith That the soule of man is purified by faith that the heart of man is purged by faith So faith openeth and purgeth the heart By faith in Christ Iesus and in the merits of his bloud we haue peace with God Being iustified by faith we haue peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ saith the Apostle Rom. 5.1 Now then this point cometh in That ye are to proue your selues whether ye be in the faith or not as the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 13.5 Proue your selues whether ye are in the faith Examine if your soules be seasoned with this faith for if ye haue not faith in Christ Christ is not in you and if Christ be not in you ye are in an euill state ye are in the estate of the reprobate and damned So euery one ought to looke carefully and see if he haue a beliefe in the bloud of Christ or not whether he belieue to obtaine mercy by his merits and sanctification by his bloud or not For if thou haue no measure of this faith thou hast no measure of peace with God by reason our peace with God is ingendered and groweth daily more and more by true faith in Christ. Now this faith where it is true where it is liuely and couples the heart with God as I haue alreadie said it must breake forth in word and deede it can by no meanes be held in but it will breake forth It must breake out in word in glorifying the God of heauen who hath forgiuen vs our sinnes it must breake forth in word by giuing a notable confession of those sinnes wherein we haue offended him It must breake out in deed in doing good works to testifie to the world that thing which is within thy heart to testifie to the world that thou who hast this faiâ—h art a new man that by thy good example of life and conuersation thou maist edifie thy brethren the simple ones of the Church of God and that by thy holy life thou mayest draw sinners to repentance that they seeing thy good light may be compelled to glorifie God in thee Then in the first point of triall let vs looke to these three to the heart to the mouth to the haâ—d Take heed that there be an harmonie betwixt these three for if the heart be inwardly coupled with God there is no doubt but the mouth will outwardly glorifie him and if thy heart and mouth be renewed and be one of necessity thou wilt expresse it in thy conueâ—sation There must be an agreement betwixt the heart and the hand thy conuersation must be changed with the heart and be holy honest and godly as the heart is So that if thy conuersation be good it is a sure token that thou art at one with God but if thy conuersation be not good speake what thou wilt thy heart is but defiled this true and liuely faith hath no place in it Then wouldest thou know when thou art at one with God When thy conuersation thy heart and thy mouth say all one thing then without question thou hast the worke of faith wrought by the holy Spirit in thy heart which maketh thee to be at peace with God This is the first point wherein ye should trie your selues The next point is loue ye must trie whether ye be in loue and charitie with your neighbours or not for as thou art not coupled with God but by the hand of faith so thou art not coupled with thy neighbour nor ioyned with any member of Christ in this world but by the hand of loue amity and charity Take away loue thou art not a member of this body for loue is the maister sinnew and couples all these members of Christs bodie together and makes them to grow vp in a spirituall and mysticall vnity loue is the onely marke whereby the children of God members of Christs bodie are knowne from the rest of the world loue is that holy oyle that refresheth our soules and makes vs like vnto God and the moâ—e we grow in loue the more God by his Spirit dwelleth in vs for God is loue So that except in some measure loue towards thy neighbour dwell in thy heart thou canst haue no societie with thy neighbour and far lesse with God If the manners of men were examined by this rule we should find a multitude of godlesse people in this Country who haue their hearts raging with malice one against another and where the diuell and the malicious spirit dwelleth there is no place for the holy Spirit And although the Lord hath gone about by all meanes possible early and late to instruct them and to infuse into them this precious loue and amity towards God and their neighbour and so to alter their conditions yet they will not suffer themselues to be wakened vntill the great vengeance and malediction of God fall vpon them This loue this honest and godly conuersation floweth alwaies from the roote of faith So that if thy heart haue faith in any measure be it neuer so little in that same measure thou must haue loue towards thy neighbour and this loue is neuer idle but is vttering it selfe in one effect or other And
man But Christ Iesus hath locked vp and reserued the ministery of this heauenly thing to himselfe onely therefore there are two giuers in this Sacrament the Minister giueth the earthly thing Christ Iesus the Mediatour giues you the heauenly thing in this Sacrament For Christ in giuing the earthly thing wil not vse his owne ministery immediately nor the ministery of an Angell but only the ministery of an earthly man And as for the dispensation of his owne body bloud he will not giue it either to heauenly creature or earthly man but he keepeth this ministery to himselfe and he dispenseth his owne body and bloud to whom and when he pleaseth And why If any man in the world had power to giue Christs body bloud no question this man should haue power to clense the heart conscience for the bloud of Christ hath this power with it and consequently should haue power to forgiue sins Now it is onely God that may forgiue sinnes and therefore it is not possible that the ministery of the heauenly thing can be in the power of any man Example we haue in Iohn the Baptist Math 3.11 Saith he not The ministery that I haue is of the element I am commanded to minister the element of water onely but as for the ministery of fire and of the Spirit Christ hath reserued it vnto himselfe Therfore looke not to get the Spirit at mans hands but at the hands of Christ himselfe onely And without this inward ministerie the outward ministerie is not worth a straw For my outward ministerie yea suppose it were the ministerie of an Angell and suppose Christ were present in the flesh to minister vnto you these outward things except he conioyne the inward ministerie of his Spirit therewith it auaileth nothing it may well be as a processe against you in the day of that generall assemblie but to your saluation it will neuer profit you Therfore this ye ought alwaies to pray for that the Lord would water your hearts by his holy Spirit as he watereth your eares by the hearing of his word Then there are two offerers the Minister offers the signe Christ Iesus offers himselfe the thing signified The three persons one God offer the Mediatour or the Mediatour offers himselfe and that by the power and vertue of his owne Spirit As there are two offerers two persons that offer and giue the Sacrament and thing signified by the Sacrament so these two are offered and giuen in two actions Christ who is the heauenly thing is offered and giuen vnto you by an inward secret and spirituall action which is not subiect to the outward eye The signe againe is offered and giuen in an outward action after a corporall and visible manner As there are two sorts of actions so there are two sorts of instruments whereunto the signe and the thing signified are offered for the thing signified that is Christ is neuer offered to the mouth of my bodie the bloud of Christ the flesh of Christ whole Christ or the Spirit of Christ is not offered either in the word or in the Sacrament to the mouth of my bodie Let the Aduersaries find me that in any part of the Bible that there is any other manner of receiuing Christ then by faith and let them haue the victorie So there is not an instrument as I told you neither hand nor mouth to receiue Christ but faith onely As Christ who is the thing signified is receiued by the hand and mouth of faith so the signe which signifieth Christ is receiued by our owne naturall mouth and hand Ye haue a mouth in your heads and in your bodies as proper to receiue the signe as faith is to receiue Christ. So the signe and the thing signified are offered and giuen not to one instrument but to two the one to the mouth of the bodie the other to the mouth of the soule Now marke by what way these things are offered and giuen by the same way they are receiued as the signe is corporall and naturally offered to a corporall instrument so is it receiued after a corporall and naturall manner for thou must take the Bread and Wine either by thy hand or by thy mouth The thing signified is not taken after a corporall manner but after a secret and spirituall manner and as it is offered so it is taken There can be nothing clearer then this the one is taken after a naturall manner the other after a secret and spirituall manner So in this last part ye haue these things to marke to distinguish betweene the outward action and the inward betweene the signe and the thing signified and to keepe a proportion and analogie betweene the inward and the outward actions ye may surely perswade your selues that if ye be faithfull Christ is as busie working inwardly in your soules as the Minister is working outwardly towards your bodies looke how busie the Minister is in breaking that Bread in pouring out that Wine in giuing that Bread and Wine vnto thee as busie is Christ in breaking his owne bodie vnto thee and in giuing the iuyce of his owne bodie after a spirituall and inuisible manner So keepe this distinction and ye may assure your selues that by faith Christ is as well occupied towards your soules to nourish thē as the Minister is outwardly towards your bodies Keepe this and ye haue the whole Sacrament Then from this discourse and deduction you may learne a double matter whereof the Sacrament consisteth It standeth on two sorts of materials that is of an earthly matter and of an heauenly matter the signe and the thing signified And as there is a double matter in the Sacrament so the Sacrament must be handled after a double manner by an outward action and an inward action keepe the distinction in these things betweene the signe and the thing signified and ye shall not easily slip in the vnderstanding of the Sacrament This being said concerning the generall consideration of the Elements for all this yet appertaineth to the Elements it resteth that we speake somewhat concerning the word which I call the other part of the Sacrament I meane and vnderstand by the word whereunto the Elements are annexed that thing which quickneth this whole action which serueth as it were a soule and giueth life vnto the whole action For by the word and appointment of Christ in the word the Minister knoweth what is his part the hearer knoweth what is his part euery one is prepared how to deliuer and how to receiue the Minister how he should deliuer and the hearer how he should receiue So the Institution of Christ is the quicking of the whole action for all the action is warranted from the Institution set downe in his word In the Institution of Christ there are two things chiefly to be considered a Command and a Promise The Command is this where he saith Take eate The Command requireth obedience There is a Promise also
in the institution and it is contained in these words This is my bodie The Promise craueth faith as the Command craueth obedience so the Promise craueth beliefe Therefore come not vnto the Sacrament except ye bring both faith and obedience with you If thou come not with a heart minding to obâ—y Christ at the least more then thou wast wont to do thou comest vnto thy owne damnation And if thou bringest a heart void of faith thou comest vnto thine owne damnation So let euery one that cometh vnto the Sacrament bring with him a heart minding to do better that is to obey and belieue Christ better then he did in time past Except ye bring these two in some measure come not vnto the Sacrament for whatsoeuer thou doest except it flow from faith it can profite nothing Thus farre briefly concerning the word Now it will be demanded what neede is there that these Sacraments and seales should be annexed the word wherefore are they annexed seeing we get no more in the Sacrament then we get in the word and we get as much in the very simple word as we get in the Sacraments Seeing then we get no new thing in the Sacrament but the same thing which we get in the simple word wherefore is the Sacrament appointed to be hung vnto the word It is true certainly that we get no new thing in the Sacrament nor we get no other thing in the Sacrament then we get in the word for what more wouldest thou craue then to get the Sonne of God if thou get him well Thy heart cannot wish nor imagine a gâ—eater gift then to haue the Sonne of God who is King of heauen and earth therefore I say what nâ—w thing wouldest thou haue for if thou get him thou gettest all things with him thy heart cannot imagine a new thing besides him Wherefore then is the Sacrament appointed Not to get thee any new thing I say it is appointed to get thee that same thing better then thou hadst it in the word The Sacrament is appointed that we may take better hold of Christ then we could in the simple word that we may possesse Christ in our hearts and minds more fully and largely then we did before in the simple word That Christ might haue a larger space to make residence in our narrow hearts then he could haue by the hearing of the simple word and to possesse Christ more fully it is a better thing For suppose Christ be one thing in himselfe yet the better hold thou hast of him thou art the surer of his promise The Sacraments are appointed that I might haue him more fully in my soule that I might haue the bounds of it enlarged that he may make the better residence in me This no doubt is the cause wherefore these Seales are annexed to the euidence of the simple word They serue to this end also to seale vp and confirme the truth that is in the word for as the office of the Seale hung to the Euidence is not to confirme any other truth then that which is in the Euidence and though ye belieued the Euidence before yet by the Seales ye belieue it better euen so the Sacrament assures me of no other truth then is contained within the word yet because it is a seale annexed vnto the word it perswades me the better of the same for the more the outward senses are wakned the more is the inward heart and minde perswaded to belieue Now the Sacrament wakneth all the outward senses as the eye the hand and all the rest and the outward senses being mooued no questâ—on the Spirit of God concurring therewith moues the heart the more The Sacraments are then annexed vnto the word to seale vp the truth contained in the word and to confirme it more and more in thy heart The word then is appointed to worke beliefe and the Sacrament is appointed to confirme you in this beliefe But except ye feele the truth of this inwardly in your hearts except ye haue your heart as ready as your mouth thinke not that any thing will auaile you All the seales in the world will not worke except the Spirit of God concurre and seale the same truth in your hearts which the Sacrament seales outwardly except he make cleere the sight of thy minde inwardly and worke a feeling in thy heart both word and Sacrament shall lose their fruite effect which they should haue All the Scriptures are full of this the whole Scriptures of God are but a slaying letter to you except the Spirit of God concurre to quicken inwardly Therefore your whole indeuour should be to prease to feele Christ inwardly in your hearts that finding him in your hearts and seeing him in your minds both word and Sacrament may be effectuall If not your soules remaine dead ye are not translated fâ—om that death wherein ye were conceiued Therefore all the study of Christians should be when they see the Sacraments and heare the word to labour to finde and feele in their hearts and minds that which they heare and see and this I call to finde Christ quick in your owne soules This cannot be except ye sanctifie his lodging for if all the corners of thy soule remaine a dunghill Christ cannot dwell there and therfore exept ye study for continuall growth in sanctification and seuer your selues from euery thing that seuers you from Christ it is not possible that he can liue or dwell in you This is a great lesson and it is not possible to do this except as I haue said a stronger come in and possesse vs and make vs to renounce our selues Then the seales had not bene annexed to the word except for our cause for there is no necessity on Gods part that God should either sweare or confirme by seales the thing tâ—at he hath spoken for his word is as good as any oath or seale But the necessity commeth of vs there is such a great weaknesse in vs that when he hath sworne and set his seales vnto his word we are as neere to belieue as if he had neuer spoken a word So to helpe our beliefe our weaknesse and inability that is in vs for we are so vnable by nature that we can belieue nothing but that which is of our selues and the more we leane vnto our selues the further we are from God I say to helpe this wonderfull weaknesse whereby we are ready to mistrust God in euery word he hath annexed his Sacraments and besides his Sacraments he sweares the things that concerne most our saluation As in the Priesthood of Christ Psal. 110.4 he will not speake onely but he sweares and that for our weaknesse and infirmities but yet if he abstract the ministery of his Spirit all these meanes will do no good Now the last thing is how the Sacrament is peruerted how we are defrauded of the fruit effect therof Two sorts of faults peruert the
mouth Marke this That if it were not of Gods speciall grace and mercy that he giueth me an eye to perceiue him a mouth to receiue him I would refuse him as wel as they So this Argument holdeth not Christ is offered to all Ergo he is receiued of all Happy were they if they could receiue him Thus far for the 3. Argumēt What resteth now for the full vnderstanding of the Sacrament These things remaine That we vnderstand the Sacramentall speeches that are vsed in the Sacrament for we vse to speake of them God vseth to speake of them and the Ancients vse to speake of them We vse to say that the soule eateth the body of Christ and drinketh the bloud of Christ. These speeches would be opened to you how the soule is said to eate the body and drinke the bloud of Christ these speeches are Sacramentall yet ye are not the wiser but I will make it plaine by Gods grace They are Sacramentall what is that Ye know it is proper to the body to eate and drinke they are the proper actions of the body onely Now they are ascribed to the soule by a translation by a figuratiue manner of speaking That which is proper to the body is ascribed to the soule and it is said that the soule eateth and drinketh The eating of the soule doth resemble the eating of the body then the eating of the soule is no other thing but the applying of Christ to the soule to beleeue that he hath shed his bloud for me that he hath purchased remission of sinnes for me Wherefore then call you this an eating Thy body eateth when thou appliest the meate to thy mouth If then the eating of the body be no other thing but the applying of the meat to the mouth the eating of the soule is no other thing but the applying of the nourishment to the soule Then ye see what is meant by the eating and drinking of the soule no other thing but the applying of Christ to my soule and the applying of his death and passion to my soule and this is onely done by faith therefore he that lacked faith cannot eate Christ. Thus farre for the eating and drinking of the soule which are Sacramentall speeches There remaineth now of all these great things of al this doctrine which hath bin taught but this one lessō That thou learne to apply Christ rightly to thy soule Thou art a great Diuine if thou hast learned this wel for in the right application of Christ to the sick soule to the wounded conscience and diseased heart here begins the fountaine of all our felicity and the wel-spring of all our ioy And I will tell you what this application worketh Obserue what the presence of thy soule within thee suppose thou want Christ in thy soule doth to this earthly body to this lumpe of clay as by the presence of the soule it liueth it moueth it feeleth as the soule giueth to the body life mouing and senses that same very thing doth Christ vnto thy soule Hast thou once laid hold of and applyed him to thee As the soule quickens thy body so he quickens thy soule not with an earthly or temporall life but with the life which he liueth in heauen he makes thee to liue that same life which the Angels liue in heauen he maketh thee to moue not with worldly motions but with heauenly spirituall and celestiall motions Againe he inspires in thee not outward senses but heauenly senses he worketh in thee a spirituall feeling that in thine owne heart and conscience thou mayst find the effect of this word So by the coniunction of Christ with my soule get a thousand times greater benefits then the body doth by the soule for the body by the presence of the soule getteth onely an earthly and temporall life subiect to continuall misery but by the presence of Christ in my soule I see a blessed life l feele a blessed life and that same life takes daily more and more increase in me Then the ground of all our perfection and blessednesse standeth in this coniunction suppose thou mightest liue Methushelaes yeers and wert euer seeking yet if in the last houre thou get this coniunction thou must thinke thy trauell well bestowed thou hast gotten enough for if we haue obtained Christ we haue gotten al with him Then the applying of Christ to my soule is the fountaine of all my ioy felicity Now let vs see how we get this coniunction This is a spirituall coniunction a coniunction hard and difficult to be purchased obtained gotten of vs. How then is this coniunction brought about which are the meanes of this coniunction on Gods part and which are the means on our part to get Christ to put Christ in our soules and to make Christ one with vs There is one meanes on Gods part that helpeth vs vnto Christ and there is another on our part On Gods part there is the holy Spirit which offereth the body and bloud of Christ to vs and on our part there must be a meanes or else though he offer we will not receiue Therefore of necessity there must be faith in our soules to receiue that which the holy Spirit offers to receiue that heauenly food of the body and bloud of Christ which the holy Spirit offers Then faith and the holy Spirit are the two meanes of this spirituall and heauenly coniunction By these two meanes by faith and by the holy Spirit I get the body of Christ the body of Christ is mine and he is giuen to my soule Now here comes in the question How canst thou say that the body of Christ is giuen or deliuered to thee seeing the body of Christ is sitting at the right hand of God the Father and looke how great distance is betwixt heauen and earth as great distance is there betwixt the body of Christ and thy body how then say ye that the body of Christ is giuen to you The Papists vnderstand not this and therefore they imagine a grosse and carnall coniunction Except the Spirit of God reueale these things they cannot be vnderstood The Spirit of God must illuminate our mindes and be planted in all our hearts before we can come to the vnderstanding of this Then wouldest thou vnderstanding of this Then wouldest thou vnderstand how Christ is giuen thee This ground is true that the body of Christ is a◠the right hand of the Father the bloud of Christ is at the right hand of the Father yet notwithstanding though there be as great distance betwixt my body and the body of Christ as is betwixt heauen and earth yet Christs body is giuen to me because I haue a title to his body giuen to me the right and title which is giuen to me of his body and bloud makes me to possesse his body and bloud The distance of the place hurteth not my title nor my right for if any of you haue a peece of Land
He changeth the affections and inclinations of my soule he changeth the faculties and qualities of my soule And though our hearts and minds be made new yet the substance of them is not changed but onely the faculties and qualities are changed in respect of the which change we are called new creatures and except you be found new creatures ye are not in Christ. Now to come to the point This secret coniunction is brought to passe by faith and by the holy Spirit by faith we lay hold on the bodie and bloud of Christ And though we be as farre distant as heauen and earth are the Spirit serueth vs as a ladder to conioyne vs with Christ As the ladder of Iacob which reached from the ground to the heauen to the selfe same vse serueth the Spirit of God to conioyne the bodie of Christ with my soule Then obserue the whole in a word What maketh you to haue any right or title to Christ Nothing but the Spirit nothing but faith What should be your studie then Seeke by all meanes possible to get faith that as Peter Acts 15.9 saith your hearts and consciences may be sanctified by faith And if you endeuour not as well to get faith in your hearts as in your minds your faith auaileth not What auaileth the faith that fleeteth in the fantasie and bringeth a naked knowledge without the opening of the heart and consent of the will So there must be an opening of thy heart and consent of thy will to do that thing that God commandeth or else thy faith auaileth not Then striue to get faith in your hearts and minds and doing so ye do the duties of Christians This is not done without the diligent hearing of the word and diligent receiuing of the Sacrament Then be diligent in these exercises and be diligent in prayer Praying in the holy Ghost that he would nourish your soules inwardly with the bodie and bloud of Christ That he would increase faith in your hearts and minds and make it to grow vp more and more daily vntill you come to the full fruition of that blessed immortalitie Vnto the which the Lord of his mercie bring vs and that for the righteous merits of Christ Iesus To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour praise and glorie both now and euer Amen THE FIFTH SERMON VPON THE LORDS SVPPER 1. COR. 11.23 For I haue receiued of the Lord that which I also haue deliuered vnto you to wit that the Lord Iesus in the night that he was betrayed tooke Bread c. WE haue heard wel-beloued in Christ Iesus in our last exercise what names were giuen to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper as well in the Scriptures as by the Ancients of the Latine and East Churches we heard the chiefe ends wherefore and whereunto this holy Sacrament was at first instituted we heard the things that were contained in this Sacrament what they were how they are coupled how they are deliuered and how they are receiued we heard also some obiections that might be obiected to the contrarie of this doctrine we heard them propounded and as God gaue the grace refuted we heard how the faithfull soule is said to eate Christs body and drinke Christs bloud We heard the manner how Christ is or can be receiued of vs. And we concluded in this poynt That Christ Iesus the Sauiour of mankinde our Sauiour cannot be perceiued nor yet receiued but by a spirituall way and apprehension Neither the flesh of Christ nor the bloud of Christ nor Christ himselfe can be perceiued but by the eye of faith can be receiued but by the mouth of faith nor can be layd hold on but by the hand of faith Now faith is a spirituall thing for faith is the gift of God powred downe into the hearts and minds of men and women wrought in the soule of euery one and that by the mighty working and operation of the holy Spirit So the onely way to lay hold on Christ being by faith and faith of it owne nature being spirituall it followeth therefore that there is no way to lay hold on Christ but a spirituall way there is not a hand to fasten on Christ but a spirituall hand there is not a mouth to digest Christ but a spirituall mouth The Scriptures familiarly by all these termes describe the nature and efficacy of faith We are said to eate the flesh of Christ by faith and to drinke his bloud by faith in this Sacrament chiefly in doing of two things First in calling to our remembrance the bitter death and passion of Christ the bloud that he shed vpon the crosse the Supper which he instituted in remembrance of him before he went to the Crosse the commandement which he gaue Do this in remembrance of me I say we eate his flesh and drinke his bloud spiritually First in this point in recording and remembring faithfully how he died for vs how his bloud was shed vpon the crosse This is the first point a point that cannot be remembred truly except it be wrought by the mighty power of the holy Spirit The second poynt of the spirituall eating standeth in this That I and euery one of you beleeue firmely that he died for me in particular That his bloud was shed on the crosse for a ful remission and redemption of me and my sins The chiefe and principall point of the eating of Christ his flesh drinking of his bloud standeth in beleeuing firmly that that flesh was deliuered to death for my sinnes that that bloud of his was shed for the remission of my sinnes and except euery soule come neere to himselfe and firmely consent and agree and be perswaded that Christ died for him that soule can not be saued that soule can not eate the flesh nor drinke the bloud of Christ. Then the eating of the flesh and drinking of the bloud of Christ standeth in a faithfull memorie in a firme belief and in a true applying of the merits of the death and passion of Christ to my owne conscience in particular There were sundry things obiected against this kind of receiuing I will not insist to repeate them But beside all the obiections which ye heard obiected against this kinde of spirituall receiuing by faith they say If Christ his flesh nor his bloud be not perceiued nor receiued but by the Spirit by faith in the Spirit then say they ye receiue him but by an imagination if he be not receiued carnally nor corporally but onely by the Spirit and by faith then is he not receiued but by way of imagination conceite and fantasie So they account faith an imagination of the minde a fantasie and opinion fleeting in the hearts of men I cannot blame them to thinke so of faith For as none can iudge of the sweetenesse of hony but they that haue tasted of it so there is none can discerne nor iudge of the nature of faith but they that haue felt it
little vertue in the syllables or pronouncing of the words themselues So we denie that there is any vertue inclosed in the syllables or resident in the word But we say that there is a power conioyned with the word and this power is not resident in the word but is resident in the eternall word in the essentiall word whereof Iohn the Euangelist maketh mention Chap. 1. The word which was from the beginning that is the Sonne of God Christ Iesus We say there is not a dram weight of this vertue power resident in anie creature that euer God created but it is only resident in Christ Iesus And therefore there floweth no vertue from the sillables nor from the words that are spoken but from Christ and his Spirit who giueth the vertue to those words So we differ in this we say that there is not any vertue resident in the sillables we say that the sillables and pronouncing of the sillables worke nothing but we say that the vertue is resident in the person of the Sonne of God and he worketh by his owne word Now we say that there cannot be such a monstrou change as to say the whispering of so many words should change the owne substance of the bread pull downe the substance of the bodie of Christ and put his bodie in so narrow a compasse we say that cannot be And this I shall proue by these three rules namely By the veritie of the flesh of Christ Iesus By the articles of our beliefe And by the true end of the institution of this Sacrament And so we shall see by Gods grace the infinite absurdities that follow vpon their opinion The first principle that I lay is this Seeing that Christ Iesus the Sonne of God in the time appointed tooke true flesh of the wombe of the Virgin vnited himselfe with our nature in one personall vnion to the end that our nature which fel altogether from integritie in the first Adam might recouer the same in the second Adam yea not onely the same but so much the greater as our second Adam excelleth the first in all degrees And in respect he tooke on him a bodie like vnto ours in all things sinne excepted of necessitie it must follow that the definition of a true bodie and the inseparable properties thereof must be competent to him But these are the inseparable properties namely to be in one certaine place to be finite circumscribed visible and palpable for all these concurre quarto modo as the Logicians say to a bodie so that they cannot be separate from the subiect without the distraction thereof Then I reason on this manner A true humane bodie is in a certaine place Christ Iesus bodie is a true humane bodie therefore it is in a certaine place I call a place a certaine condition of an instrumentall bodie whereby it cometh to passe that where-euer the bodie be of necessitie it is limited within that place and while it is there it cannot be elsewhere If you would haue the probation of my Proposition from the Doctors reade Augustine to Dardanus speaking of this same bodie of Christ. Take away a certaine roome from the bodies and they shall be in no place and if they be in no place they are not The same Augustine writing vpon Iohn in his 30. Treatise saith The bodie in the which the Lord did arise of necessitie must be in a place but his diuine efficacie and nature is diffused euery where And in his third Eple he saith How much soeuer the bodie be or how little soeuer the bodie be it behoueth to occupie the bounds of a place And besides these tâ—e historie of the Acts proueth most euidently Christ his bodie to be in a certaine place as Acts 3.21 the words are these Whom the heauens must containe vntill the time that all things be restored which God had spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets Though I need not to insist in the probation of these things yet I proceede Secondly then I reason after this manner A humane bodie is finite and circumscribed but the bodie of Christ is a humane bodie What warrant from the Doctors haue I for this I leaue many purposely and will alledge onely Augustine who writing to Dardanus Belieue saith he Christ to be euery where in that he is God but onely to be in heauen according to the nature of a true bodie And in his 146. Epistle I belieue saith he the bodie of Christ to be so in heauen as it was on the earth when he went vp to heauen But it was circumscribed in a certaine place on the earth Ergo it is so in the heauen And consequently it cannot be in the Masse-bread and in heauen both at one time The last reason is this A humane bodie is visible and palpable but Christ hath a humane bodie and he is corporally present as they say therefore Christ his bodie is visible and palpaple I proue my Proposition by Christ his owne words taken out of Luke 24.39 In the which place to perswade the Apostles of the veritie of his bodie and to proue euidently that it was not fantasticall he vseth the argument taken from these two qualities and he commandeth his Apostles to feele and see giuing them thereby to vnderstand that as these two senses are the most certaine of all the rest so are they most able to discerne whether he was a bodie or a Spirit As if he would haue said If I be visible and palpable ye may be out of doubt that I haue a true bodie For as the Poet saith which Tertullian citeth also to this same purpose Tangere enim tangi nisi corpus nulla potest res By these arguments it may be euidently seene how this Transubstantiation may no way stand with the veritie of the bodie of Christ Iesus And as it fights wiâ—h the flesh of Christ Iesus so it repugnes dirâ—ctly the articles of our faith For in our Beliefe we professe that Christ ascended out of this earth to the heauen where he sits at the right hand of the Father where he gouerns and directs all things in heauen and earth from the which place he is to come at the last day to iudge the world This article teacheth vs that he hath changed his dwelling which he had amongst vs on earth and is ascended into the heauens where he sits at the right hand of his Father and shall remaine there according to the testimonie of Peter which I cited out of the Acts 3.21 vntill the last day If he sit at his Fathers right hand and be to remaine in heauen vntill the last day then is he not corporally in the bread But the article of our beliefe saith That he sitteth at the right hand of his Father and Peter saith in that place that the heauens must containe him vntill the last day Therefore this Transubstantiation is directly against the articles of our Beliefe and the manifest
nature that it may be clothed with a more glorious apparell as with incorruption power glorie spiritualitiâ— and immortalitie We see then that this glorification imports a change indeed but I beleeue no man will be so mad as to thinke this change to be made in the substance for if that were so the old substance behoued to decay and a new should arise but we heare no such thing in this discription And as little is the change made in the quantitie for we find no word either of augmentation or diminution of any substance which behoued to be if it were in the quantitie The most that we can perceiue this mutation consisteth in the qualities by the which the bodie casteth off the old coate of infirmitie and is clothed a new with the coate of glorie for Christ after he did arise he both went and came was seene and touched Of the things before deduced it cleaâ—ely followeth That in respect the glorie of the bodie of Christ hath wrought nothing in his nature and substance and consequently in his naturall dimensions neither yet in any other essentiall propertie that therefore the glorification of his bodie freeth it not from the rules of Nature For so long as that nature of a true bodie remaineth there are no supernaturall gifts whereby it may be glorified were they neuer so high so far as they may be gathered out of the Scriptures that may hurt either the nature or the naturall propertie of it For there is no gift nor qualitie that may hurt nature but that gift that is against nature But the supernaturall gift is neither vnnaturall neither yet against nature therefore it cannot hurt nor impaire nature And my reason is this Those gifts that decore and beautifie nature they cannot hurt nor impaire nature But all supernaturall gifts beautifie and decore nature Therefore they cannot take away either nature or yet the naturall propertie They leaue vs not so but out of this doctrine of Paule concerning the glorification of the bodie they draw an obiection to presse vs withall Paul granteth that a glorified bodie is a spirituall bodie but a spirituall bodie is an inuisible body Therefore a glorified bodie is inuisible and by consequence the bodie of Christ is inuisible Though â—he argument be not formall yet to be short I denie theiâ— assumption for if there were no more but that word bodâ—e that word might be an argument that the spirituall bodie is not inuisible But yet to open the matter more clearely according to the meaning of Saint Paul in that place Saint Paul in a word as it were in the 44. verse of that Chapter sheweth the change that shall be in the qualities of the bodie by the resurrection For he saith that our naturall bodies shall become spirituall bodies and then in the next verse immediatly following he expoundeth these two qualities for in the 45. verse That is called a naturall body saith he which is maintained and quickned by a liuing soule onely such as Adams was And againe that is said to be a spirituall bodie which together besides the soule is quickned with a farre more excellent vertue to wit with the Spirit of God which descendeth from Christ the second Adam vnto vs. Then according vnto this ground I answer with Augustine ad Constantium As the naturall bodie is not a soule but a bodie euen so the spirituall bodie is not said to be a soule but a bodie And by consequent it is not inuisible For the further explaining of this head I will giue them onely one knot to loose so end this point Then I reason If therefore Christs body is naturally and really in the Lords Supper because that it is glorified It followeth consequâ—ntly that when it was not glorified it could not be really present But it was not glorified when this supper was first instituted Therefore it was not really present in the bread at Christs first Supper If his bodie was not really present in the bread at the first Supper it cannot be naturally present now For whatsoeuer they vse now in the administration of their Supper or of their Masse call it as you will according to their owne confession they vse it according to the ordinance forme and manner that Christ Iesus himselfe vsed in his first Supper For they say plainly in their disputation at Poyssie and in all the rest of their works That Christ Iesus first of all obserued that forme which they vse in their Masse and left it to his Apostles and to their successours that they should do the like And so by their owne words they haue intangled themselues and crucified their Masse what can they answere to this They will not stand dumbe I am sure for maintenance of their religion they must say some thing Thus they say That though the body of Christ which was locally present with the rest of his disciples was not glorified yet the body which he exhibited in the bread was glorified They might as wel haue held their peace and say nothing For marke the words of the text as they are written Luke 22.19 where it is said And he tooke the bread and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue to them saying This is my body which is giuen for you and Saint Paul 1. Cor. 11.24 hath these words Take eate this is my body which is broken for you This relatiue which is relatiue to the body which was exhibited in the bread for according to their owne confession those words are pronounced vpon the bread and directed vnto it But that same body was giuen and broken vnto vs that is to say crucified and broken with anguish and dolors Then I reason after this sort To be crucified and broken with anguish and dolors can no wayes agree and accord with a glorified bodie But the body that Christ exhibited in the bread is said of the Euangelists to be crucified and broken for vs Ergo that body was not glorified Now last of all they are not yet content but say Christ can make the bread his body and therefore his body is really present That Christ can make the bread his body we grant for Christ being God can do whatsoeuer he wil onely let them shew That Christ will make of reall bread his reall flesh and then this controuersie will end Christ indeede makes the bread his body not really but sacramentally For Christ hath not a bodie made of bread his bodie was made once of the pure substance of his blessed Mother Another body then this or oftner made then once hath he â—one wherefore all doctrine that teacheth Christs body to be made of bread is impious and hereticall The Papists doctrine of reall presence teacheth that Christs body in the Sacrament is made of bread by changing the bread into his body through consecration wherefore we may bodly and truly conclude That their doctrine of reall presence is both wicked and hereticall Now to conclude this head
I beseech them seeing that reason failes them that they fight not against God for maintenance of a lie how old soeuer it be for the diuell is old enough and yet he could neuer change his nature But let them rather glorifie God in confessing these speeches to be Sacramentall Then what is the reason and ground wherefore the Papists pull downe the substance of the body of Christ and the bloud of Christ and make the very substance to be corporally really and substantially in the Sacrament The reason is this Because they cannot see by their naturall iudgement nor can vnderstand by their naturall wit the truth of this to wit how Christs flesh and bloud caâ— be present in the Sacrament except he be present to their corporall mouth and stomacke If they had the light to informe them that Christ might be present in the Sacrament and not to the hand to the mouth or stomack they would neuer think of such a monstrous presence as they imagine to be there But being destitute of the spirituall light they follow their naturall reason and make a naturall and carnall presence So that ye haue this lesson to nore from hence There is no man that hath not the spirit of God to vnderstand this word This is my body but out of question he will do as the Papists do that is he will vmderstand it carnally And so they misknowing the right meaning of it it is no marueile though and we differ in this matter For will you aske of a Papist first if the true body of Christ be there or if the true flesh and bloud of Christ be there he will say it is there will you aske him wherein he will say in and vnder the accidents of the bread and wine vnder the hew and roundnesse of the bread will you aske him againe by what instrument it is receiued He will tell you by the mouth and stomacke of the body So this is their grosse vnderstanding of the body and bloud of Christ. Will you aske of the Vbiqueter if the true body of Christ be present he will say it is will you aske if it be in with or vnder the bread he will answere It is in the bread contentiuè that is the bread containes it will you aske him to what instrument it is offered he will answere that the bodie of Christ is offered to the mouth of our bodie and that the bloud of Christ is offered to the mouth of our body as the Papists do Will you know of vs how Christ Iesus his true body bloud is present We wil say that they are spiritually present really present that is present in the Lords Supper and not in the bread we will not say that his true flesh is present to the hand or to the mouth of our bodies but we say it is spiritually present that is present vnto thy spirit and faythfull soule yea euen as present inwardly vnto thy soule as the bread and wine are present vnto thy body outwardly Will you aske then if the body and bloud of Christ Iesus be present in the Lords Supper We answer in a word They are present but not in the bread and wine nor in the accidents nor substance of bread and wine And we make Christ to be present in this Sacrament because he is present to my soule to my spirit fayth Also we make him present in the Lords Supper because I haue him in his promise This is my body which promise is present to my faith and the nature of faith is to make things that are absent in themselues yet present And therefore seâ—ing he is both present by faith in his promise and present by the vertue of his holy Spirit who can say but that he is present in this Sacrament But yet the word would be explained what we meane by the word present how a thing is said to be present and absent And knowing this ye shall finde all the mater easie I say things are said to be present as they are perceiued by any outward or inward sense and as they are perceiued by any of the senses so are they present and the further they be perceiued the further present and by what sense any thing is perceiued to that sense it is present As if it be outwardly perceiued by an outward sense that thing is outwardly present As for exaÌ„ple if it be perceiued by the outward sight of the eye by the outward hearing of the eare by the outward feeling of the hands or taste of the mouth it is outwardly present Or if any thing be perceiued by the inward eye by the inward taste and feeling of the soule this thing cannot be outwardly present but it must be spiritually and inwardly present to the soule So I say euery thing is present as it is perceiued So that if you perceiue not a thing outwardlie it is outwardly absent and if ye perceiue not a thing inwardly it is inwardly absent It is not distance of place that maketh a thing absent nor propinquity of place that makes a thing present but it is onelie the perceiuing of any thing by any of thy senses that makes a thing present and the not perceiuing that makes a thing absent I say though the thing it selfe were neuer so farre distant if thou perceiue it by thine outward sense it is present vnto thee As for example my bodie and the Sunne are as farre distant in place as the heauen is from the earth yet this distance stayeth not the Sunnes presence from me why because I perceiue the Sunne by mine eye and other senses I feele it and perceiue it by the heate by the light and by his brightnesse So if a thing were neuer so farre distant if we haue senses to perceiue the same it is present to vs. Then the distance of place makes not a thing absent from thee if thou hast senses to perceiue it likewise the neerenes of place makes not a thing present be it neuer so neere if thou hast not senses to perceiue it As for example if the Sunne shine vpon thine eyes if thou be blinde it is not present to thee because thou canst not perceiue it A sweete tune will neuer be present to a deafe eare though it be sung in the eare of that man because he hath not a sense to perceiue it and a well told tale will neuer be present to a foole because he cannot vnderstand it nor hath no iudgement to perceiue it So it is not the nearenesse nor distance of place that maketh any thing present or absent but onely the perceiuing or not perceiuing of it Now the word being made cleare aske you how the bodie of Christ is present To giue our iudgement in a word as ye haue heard from time to time he is present not to the outward senses but to the inward senses which is faith wrought in the soule For this action of the Sacrament and
they make no account of the death of Christ and thinke that he died for himselfe For it appeareth they haue no touch nor remorse of sinne which is the thing that will destroy them except it be preuented Their manifest contempt testifieth this ouer well for they go forward without remorse in all kind of sinnes the more they are forbidden I remember the Apostle is more sharpe in his threatning against these men then anie man can be For he saith Heb. 10. at the end If he that contemned Moses or any part of his lawes died without mercie how much more shall he be worthie of punishment that contemneth the person of the Sonne of God that treadeth the Sonne of God vnder foote and counteth his bloud an vnholy thing who will not apply the mercie of Christ to themselues and reiect the Spirit of Christ whereby they should be sanctified These threatnings suppose they take not effect suddainly as also the promises suppose they be not beleeued of you yet they must be vttered by vs that these walles may testifie and beare witnesse to your conscience that there was a Prophet here These things were told vs and we had time to haue done them if we had listed Ere I leaue this it is necessarie for you all that ye marke the examples of these heauie diseases There are few that are touched with them although they are very worthy of marking I say it is necessarie that the examples of these diseases be marked whether it be men or women that haue them we should marke them if it were but to learne this lesson We may see how easie it is for God to represse the pride of the flesh we may see how easie it is to the Lord to daunt the foolishnesse and wantonnesse of youth in an instant of time in the space of twelue houres a glorious King is brought to the gates of death Then ye should say with your selues It is time for vs to change our course we see how easie it is to the Lord to bring high conceits low The Lord doth this to this King and he seeketh no fire nor sword he vseth no externall armor nor he seeketh no forreine instrument to do it but he taketh of the stuffe that is within him he taketh the matter of sinne wherein he was conceiued borne vnhappie sinne which is the matter of all iudgments and plagues it is the matter of death both in bodie and soule This matter within our selues is as readie at the Lords hand as if it were in his owne store-house to plague thee best that intendedst to gainstand him Thē ye that haue your health and the benefit of it learne to vse it well for if ye abuse it and vse it to defile your bodies which he hath appointed to be the temples of his holy Spirit looke how easie it was to him to bring the King low as easie and farre easier shall it be to him to bring the best of you downe Then I say ye that haue the benefit of health employ it to the honour of him and comfort of his Church that gaue you it Thus farre concerning the second part of our diuision In the third part contained in the 14. verse he letteth vs see what he did in this great extremitie the raging furie of his sicknesse being so great he letteth vs see what was his exercise and he saith as ye may see in that verse that notwithstanding God handled him so yet he maketh his recourse to the same God who plagued him and he seeketh and presseth friendship at the same God who threatned him He seeketh him as ye may see in that verse two manner of waies so long as his tongue serued him that the extremitie of his disease tooke not away the vse of it from him And whereas the extremitie of the disease tooke his speech from him that he could not vtter his mind by words yet he leaueth not off but where he might not vtter his mind by distinct voyces and words he seeketh him by a dolorous mourning like to the Doue and by a heauie lamentation like to the chattering of the Swallow or Crane And last of all he in his gesture lifteth vp his eyes to heauen By this meanes he retireth himselfe to God when the benefit of the tongue was taken from him The words that he speaketh so long as libertie is granted to him are few but very sententious Where he saith it hath oppressed me refresh me or weaue me out persisting in the similitude As if he would say I see well the rage and furie of my sicknesse is so great that neither force of nature nor any naturall meanes is able to comfort me the force of the disease hath ouercome all force of nature and naturall meanes Therefore seeing there is no helpe in nature I make my recourse to the God of nature to whom it is very easie to giue helpe where nature hath refused it And therefore I desire of the omnipotent God that he would weaue out the rest of the web of my life to restore me to my health to his glory and to the comfort of his Church This I thinke be the summe and meaning of his prayer whether he mourned whether he moned whether he spake or chattered As to the words the petition would onely be considered It might appeare strange that the King should seeke the prorogation of his dayes as if there were not a life better then this or a day after this but if ye weigh the matter well and consider the race of the historie ye shall find that he had many particulars that mooued him to seeke the prorogation of his dayes and chiefly we know that Manasses his sonne was not yet begotten he lacketh as yet children in whom he might see the pledges of Gods fauour and accomplishment of the promises made to him and his fathers house and specially of that promise concerning the Messias Now lacking children in whom he should see the accomplishment of this promise had he not good reason to seeke the lengthening of his daies vntill he see the promise accomplished As to the generall I insisted in it before and therefore I shall be the shorter I say it is lawfull in some respect to craue prorogation of dayes for seeing it is the benefite of God seeing the seruants of God haue sought it before and seeing the Apostle counteth it a speciall mercy of God as we may see in the person of Epaphroditus Phil. 2. verse 29. we must also esteeme the same a speciall mercy Whosoeuer knoweth surely in their minde that the lengthening of their dayes will serue better to the glory of God and comfort of his Church then present death I say it is lawfull and they may in faith craue it Although there is a generall condition to be looked to in this as in all other petitions that ye submit your will and affections to be ruled by the good wil of God in such sort
that ye haue your life and the commodities of it ready to lay downe at his feete ready to offer vp in sacrifice when it pleaseth him Of this I shall gather one or two notes and so I shall end this present exercise The first thing that I wil you to marke is the contrary voices that this King vttereth in the 14. verse and in the verse foregoing Reade these verses and ye shall see how contrary he is to himselfe In the 13. verse ye see he vttereth voices full of doubting and as it appeareth full of despaire at the least full of doubting he vttereth such voices as if God had bene his deadly enemy In the fourteenth ver he vttereth the flat contrary And he maketh his recourse to the same God whom he seeemeth to make his enemy in the 13. verse and he seeketh a blessing of him which testifieth that he trusted in him for none can call on him in whom they trust not So this is his behauiour in this disease one while he thinketh God a consuming fire another while he hath his recouse to him as his onely refuge One while he vttereth voices full of doubting another while he vttereth voices full of confidence Now the question ariseth Is it possible that faith and doubting can haue place both in one soule I say it is very possible there is neuer a one of the seruants of God but they haue had it And this is sure that there is no conscience so at rest that it is without al trouble and no estate of men so quiet that is without some inquietnesse in this life for it is the custome of God to bring his dearest children sometime into doubting suppose he do so yet in the meane time he susteineth them from despaire Know we not that this faith of ours is imperfect subiect to a continuall growing and progresse but neuer coming to a perfection so long as we are here subiect to stammering to manifold errors wrastlings and doubtings Yet all these imperfections are freely pardoned in the righteous merites of Iesus Christ. Where is that soule or who is he that hath that soule â—hat if he will examine his faith with the absolute perfection that is in the nature of God to whon nothing is pleasant but that which is perfect who shall not fall in doubting so soone as he beholdeth him Examine your faith with that perfection which is commanded in the Scriptures and with that progresse that is wished for in the holy Scriptures who shall not doubt By this examination let him but cast downe his eyes on the manifold corruption that is in him and on the heauy iudgement of God that hangeth ouer both body and soule for sinne and who will not doubt It is not possible but he must doubt hauing his eyes bent on himselfe and his affections wherewith he is defiled So I say doubting is common to all the best seruants of God There is none of you that will esteeme Paul to haue bene one of the worst and yet his words declare that there was a doubting in his soule for 2. Corinth 4.8 he sayth plainely we are alwayes in affliction but not in distresse We are in doubt but we despaire not So he granteth that there is a doubting in the soule that hath faith onely he denieth despaire As if he would say I giue you to vnderstand that doubting may stand in the soule with faith but not to despaire for the word despaire importeth of it selfe the cutting of the pillars of our beliefe Therefore faith and despaire cannot both stand in one soule But faith and doubting do lodge in my soule and shall lodge in all the soules of the faithfull to the end of the world Vnder doubting he comprehendeth all the errors tentations stammerings and wrastlings wherewith our faith is assaulted full oft which makes vs sometimes incline to despaire sometimes to hope whilest we looke on our selues to despaire and whilest we looke on the mercy of God in Christ Iesus to hope Now the Apostle taketh this doubting to himselfe as a thing whereunto all Christians are subiect There are few of you that know what this meaneth although it is certaine ye may be visited this way therefore keepe in memory this that suppose ye haue not to do with it your selues yet ye may vse it when you visite others for seeing we carry about with vs these bodyes of sinne for the spirit of faith and sanctification filleth not all the soule in this life and the largest part of the soule being defiled with this remanent corruption it must vtter such stuffe as it hath to wit doubting and stammering Now seeing there remaineth in the greatest part this corruption of necessity it must be occupied in doing it must be working And what bringeth it forth Sinne. And what doth the multiplication of sinne but hindereth our faith and perswasion and casteth a veile and a mist betwixt the sight of God and vs and therefore the Prophet calleth it a separation whereby we are depriued of the sight of God which we haue in the Mediator Christ. Seeing then so long as we are in these bodies of â—lay we are subiect to sinne we cannot but doubt For suppose we fall not into these grosse iniquities yet sinne and the guiltinesse thereof bringeth a doubting and casteth a veile ouer the eye of our faith and this veile being on the eye of our fayth out of question it hindreth our perswasion and maketh vs not to be so stedfast in our beliefe as otherwise we would be for he that seeth euill will oft times take one thing for another So this corruption is the cause of our doubting which in some measure is euer in the soule Now what learne we of this first we learne this coÌ„fort that it is no new thing to the seruants of God to vtter contrary voices in their great trouble to vtter voices proceeding of a deepe sense of the loue and the mercy of God in one word and in another word to vtter a feâ—ling of his hatred and wrath as if he were our deadly enemy Sometimes this King vttereth words full of doubting sometime he seeketh benefites of him as he were his good friend Christ vsed these contrary voices There was neuer a speciall seruant of God but they had them And Christ had them himselfe more then any seruant that he hath not proceeding of any doubting or mistrust in the mercy of his Father because in him there was no roote of infidelity but coming of the feeling of his extreme wrath for a time Looke Matthew 26. There he sayth twise ouer Let this cup depart from me And againe he taketh vp himselfe and he sath Not I as will but as thou wilt These are quite contrary he saith to God why hast thou forsaken me and yet he calleth him my God my God So I say it is no new thing to the seruants of God being in trouble and hauing
some roote of infidelity abiding stil in them to vtter voices sometimes full of doubting and sometimes full of faith Thus farre for the first Now againe to testifie that the soule hauing faith hath bene subiect to doubting and as faith is on the one part so doubting is on the other this is a thing that hath bene in all the seruants of God and shall be to the end of the world The example of this ye haue in Dauid ye haue the example of it here in Hezechiah in all the rest of the good seruants of God Then suppose many of you know not what I say yet keepe the lesson in memory for it shall stand you in great good steede For this is sure that suppose the paines of the body be great yet there is as great difference betwixt the paines of the body and the paines of the soule as is betwixt God and the creature Ye would choose rather all the torments of the body that can be deuised ere ye felt one touch of the consuming wrath of God in the soule But yet these words will not effect it for words will not mollifie the heart except the Lord by the power of his Spirit worke in the heart And therefore I haue to craue of God ye haue by your prayers to assist me that ye be not vnfruitefull hearers of the word but seeing there is a Hell ye may study to preuent it Now last of all ye see the King learneth you a new fashion of prayer and I beseech you marke it When the extremity is so great that he may not vtter nor speake distinct voices and his speech is taken from him yet he leaueth not off to pray but hath recourse to his lamenting mourning conterfeiting the distinct voices of the Doue Crane Swallow by this diuersitie of tunes vttering his great anxiety And what fashion of prayer is this I say this kinde of sighing mourning and lifting vp of the eyes is as good language to God as any language spoken by the tongue He vnderstandeth the meaning of thy sigh and grone better then thou vnderstandest me that speakest And how is this It is his owne Spirit that raiseth these sighs grones that moueth these mournings And I pray you knoweth he not the meaning of his owne Spirit This the Apostle declareth Rom. 8. He knoweth the meaning of his owne Spirit and therefore whether this Spirit moue vs to sigh to mourne or to speake the Lord vnderstandeth all alike Then learne this forme of prayer when the Lord visiteth you with sicknesse in such sort that the vse of the tongue is taken from you and ye may not lift vp your hands to praise him nor lift vp your eies to looke vnto him yet let your moane be made yea further suppose the heart would not make moane with the mouth yet let the mouth suppose it hath no helpe honour and glorifie God Yea I say more suppose the case stand so as it may be that the heart be contrary to prayer and the mind will not assist the mouth to pray yet ere God be not honoured let him be honoured with the lip if the mouth wil not do it let the hand do it And euery member in like maner to the which the Lord haâ—h giuen leaue let theÌ„ honor God because euen this striuing against the hardnes of the heart and prouoking of it with the outward members of the body is pleasant to God no doubt it is he who giues this will as a speciall grace howbeit we get not incontinently the performance If ye can learne this it is not possible that ye can want prayer for prayer is such as sometimes is vttered by teares sometimes by sighes sometimes by words and sometimes by gesture And euer let thy Spirit be well occupied musing vpon God and spirituall things and whether thou eate whether thou drinke take thy rest or what euer thou do let thy Spirit haue euer thy minde on God comfort thee with this When the Lord visiteth thee with such kinde of disease that thy tong is taken from thee let the rest of thy members honour him And if ye be not so diseased your selfe yet in your visitation comfort others herewith assuring them that this kinde of language is as well vnderstood as if it were spoken with the tongue I end here This king is not exempted from trouble he is not exempted from tentation both of body and soule There is none that cast them to liue godly but of force they must suffer trouble There is none that will make them for heauen but of all estates prince or people or what euer they be they must walke in the strait way As to them that walke in the broade way they shall grow worse and worse as the Apostle saith till they come to such an height vntill at the last the Lord anger them by the same sinnes whereby they anger him For this is his iust iudgement that as thou hast angred him by Adultery he shall anger thee by the same sinne Hast thou angred him by blood he shall anger thee by bloud also Hast thou angred him by blasphemy he shall anger thee with the punishment of blasphemy Hast thou angred him with drunkennesse he shall anger thee with the punishment of drunkennesse For euery sin hath the owne punishment in the selfesame Then as ye would eschue the punishment of sinne so cast you to eschue sinne that so farre as the Lord will giue you grace ye may keepe your selues free And so ye shall haue not onely ioy long dayes here but euerlasting ioy after this purchased to vs in the righteous merits of Christ Iesus To whoÌ„ with the Father the holy Spirit be al honor praise glory for euer euer Amen THE TENTH SERMON VPON ISAIAH CHAPTER 38. 15 What shall I say For he hath said it to me and he hath done it I shall walke weaklie all my yeares in the bitternesse of my soule 16 O Lord to them that ouerliue them and to all that are in them the life of my spirit shall be knowne that thou causest me to sleepe and hast giuen life to me IN our last Sermon welbeloued in Christ Iesus the King returned to his wonted griefe and tooke vp his old lamentation againe vttering his trouble in these words My habitation is departed and transported from me as if he should say my life is ready to depart death is instant and my remouing is at hand he sheweth the maner of his remouing by two similitudes the one similitude is taken from a shepheards tent the other from a Weauer and his web As to the first looke in what maner we se the sheepheard tents flitted and remoued after the same manner I see my life to be flitted and remoued In the which we are taught not to settle our standing here nor to fixe our anker here but that we may be ready to remoue because we are vnder
gift which is as farre out of his hands and from him by nature as the lusts of his youth are neare him by nature And therefore he should be so much the more diligent and earnest in begging this gift the nearer he knoweth these lusts to be to him and the further he knoweth this gift to be from him by nature Of these two points as the Lord shall assist me by his holy Spirit I thinke to speake at this time And first concerning the lusts of youth I vnderstand by them whatsoeuer motions raging flames or vicious affections or whatsoeuer euill inclinations a yong man is addicted to from all these lusts and enticements youth ought to flee as there is no vice vnder the Sunne vnto the which youth is not too much subiect For our corruption so long as we liue in this world is neuer idle but in what age that euer we be our corruption is perpetually fertile bringing forth euill thoughts euill motions euill actions out of vs But chiefly our corruption is fertile in our youth in the time of our youth chiefly and most of all is our corruption fertile and abundant for then the bloud of man burneth then the affections are in a rage and he hath no power of himselfe to controlle them But he is caried hither and thither as his owne appetites command him In such sort that it may be counted a miracle a speciall worke and blessing of the Almighty God to see a youth passe ouer his yong yeares without a notable inconuenience either to body or soule or both without some notable scarre as we speake For there is no youth there is none that tooke flesh that was begotten of man but in his youth he is subiect to one vice or other and there are few but they are subiect to many but there is no youth that euer proceeded of the wombe of a woman but in his youth before his calling he is subiect vnto one vice or other The affection of the which vice what euer it be whereto he is subiect is in seruitude commandeth him as ordinarily requireth obedience of him as ordinarily as any master requireth of his seruant And the heart of that man the minde of that man the body of that man are as ready to yeeld obedience to that vice affection as any seruant or slaue in the earth is ready to yeeld obedience to his maister As for example if any man be inclined vnto aspiring and addicted in his heart to promotion if he would be in worldly honour in such sort that that vice commandeth him in this point ambition hath as ordinaâ—y a command of him as mighty and potent a command to enioyne him as any master hath ouer his seruant In like maner if a mans heart be set vpon the drosse of this world vpon the paltry that is in it couetousnesse commandeth that man as ordinarily and more constantly then any master is able to command his seruant If a man be addicted to the pleasure of his flesh to defile his body that lust commandeth that man as ordinarily and more continually then any master can do his seruant And so fareth it in all the rest of the vices looke to what vice thou hast addicted thee in seruice the affection of that vice ordinarily commandeth thee The ground of this floweth from the heart of man and from the nature of man which is corrupted in the first Adam For such is the condition and estate of the heart of man so long as we remaine in our naturall estate That the heart of euery man of euery woman that euer was begotten and borne carrieth about in it the feede of all kinde of vice and impiety That vice is not so monstrous nor that wickednes so vgly which our eares or any of our senses abhorre to heare or see but the seede of that same vice lurketh and lieth naturally in the heart It is true indeede that all these seedes do not budde out that all these seedes spring not that men burst not foorth into all high impieties in their externall and outward actions but there commeth a restraint into the soule whereby we are restrained from these same actions whereunto some men burst foorth and shew what they are to the world This restraint whereby I abstaine and thou fallest in I keepe close and thou burstest forth cometh no more of my nature nor of thine that doth the turne but of the grace prouidence of the mighty God For if God had no meanes to restraine the impiety that is in the hart of man but euery man as his hart carieth him bursteth forth in euery impiety how would it be possible that a society could be kept how would it be possible that a Church could be gathered how would it be be possible that any man could haue company or any conuersation amongst men Therefore the Lord that one society might be kept that out of this society a Church might be gathered doth restraine the impiety the seedes of impiety that lieth lurking and hid in the heart of euery man The wayes whereby he restraineth impiety and holdeth the seeds of impiety choked that they burst not out are two he restraineth the impiety that lurketh in the heart either by Discipline or by seuere punishment and good execution of lawes Or he restraineth this euill lurking in the heart by the worke of his own Spirit The restraint that coÌ„meth by Discipline and execution of lawes doth not take away the tyranny of sinne it taketh not away the absolute command and soueraignty which sin hath it holdeth wicked men in aw it maketh them to keepe an externall society and holdeth them in some honesty and ciuill conuersation but it taketh not away the soueraignty and empire of the affections The restraint againe which is made by the Spirit of God by the Spirit of Christ Iesus which we call the Spirit of sanctification the restraint that is made by this Spirit taketh away the soueraignty and tyranny which mine affections had before it came it taketh away the dominion and kingdome which mine affections had before it came In such sort that where the worldling is restrained from the outward impiety against his will I by the power of the Spirit of Christ Iesus abstaine willingly But take heede I pray you the coming of the Spirit of God into mine heart and minde suppose it take away the full empire and soueraignty whiâ—h mine affections had in my soule before it came yet it taketh not away the lodging dwelling of sin in my soule But suppose mine affections and sinne dwell not as a King dwell not as a Prince as an absolute commander to command the powers of the soule the members of the body to put his will in execution as he had wont to do before suppose he dwell not as a King yet he lodgeth in the soule as a companion he dwelleth as a companion with the Spirit of
God in me to that part of my soule which the Spirit of God hath reformed in me In such sort that sinne dwelleth in me and it hath his owne will his owne wit his owne counsell out of my minde which he followeth As on the other side the reformed part of me hath his owne will his owne counsell his owne wisedome and vnderstanding in me which he followeth So that all the rest of the dayes of my life there is a continuall battell betwixt these two willes the will of sinne and flesh dwelling in my soule and the will of the Spirit of God and of the reformed part of my soule sinne perswading me to do euill the Spirit of God perswading me to do heauenly things This part suggesting holy thoughts and motions the other part suggesting wicked thoughts and motions And this is the estate of euery man in this earth that hath entred into society with the Spirit of God To take vp this matter that the long discourse of it carrie vs not from our purpose There is no youth yea more then youth there is no age nor part of mans life but carrieth the owne affections the owne vices and imperfectionâ— with it vnto the which affections and vices euery one of vs are either slaues and seruants rather then enemies seruants without contradiction to sin rather then enemies vnto it without battell All the powers of the soule and members of the body in that man where Christ hath not begun to worke content and agree to the euill action runne in a rage to the performance of the will of the flesh For thou art either an ordinary slaue and seruant to sinne or else thou art a contradictor of sinne And this contradiction sheweth the battell that ye haue within your selues It is true that in the naturall man reason and the light that is left in nature maketh some opposition but not long For she is vnarmed destitute of power and therefore the power of darknesse that is in the affection blindeth the eye of reason incontinently To flie from thy selfe to flie from thy affecions it is not possible for thee except that grace come downe out of the heauen except the Spirit of Christ giue thee eyes to see and perceiue that these same lusts of thine these affections of thine which thou thoughtsts in the folly of thy youth to be no sinne except that he giue thee eyes to see that they are sinne thou will neuer condemne them For this is the custome of the naturall man if he burst not forth into the outward actions which are to plainely daÌ„ned in the Law of God his inward lusts appeare to him to be no sinnes and it is onely by the light of the Spirit of Christ by the knowledge wrought by the Spirit of Christ that he beginneth to see clearely that all his affections and his lusts are vtterly damned in the sight of God and are sinnes And this sight first maketh vs flee from them for we would neuer part with our lusts and affections if the Spirit of God did not let vs see the vglinesse of them And beside this vglinesse it maketh vs to feele in our hearts and to taste of the bitternesse of them where the diuel and our corruption made vs to thinke that they were sweete oft before When the Spirit beginneth to rip vp our hearts and to discouer the secrets of our hearts and blindnesse of our minds it maketh vs to feele the vglinesse and bitternes that is in them and this is the first thing that euer maketh man to repent and giueth him a conscience of sinne and maketh him to haue an earnest desire to flie from himselfe and the lusts of his youth If thou flie not in time and take not on this flight in due season when thou art called to flie as now thou art called to flie by the word of God which giueth thee a cleare light an eye to see from whence thou shouldest flie If thou learne not now to flie â—o question thou and thine affections shall both perish These same affections wherin thy soule through long custome so delighted shall putrifie thy soule shall corrupt thy soule more and more shall bring thy bodie the tabernacle wherein thy soule lodgeth to greater and greater decay waste thy conscience subuert thy faith and spoile thee of thy white garments whereby onely accesse is granted thee to the throne of grace and in the end shall bring euerlasting destruction on soule and bodie both Except therefore thou learne to flie there is no escaping from euerlasting death both in bodie and soule therfore this flight is necessary And now it is time that euery one of you beg the Spirit of God that ye may flie For if ye knew those terrors of conscience the fire of Gods wrath and the feare of hell damnation whereunto the heart of euery man is subiect for all the kingdomes of the earth ye would not take in hand to offend so mightie and so gracious a God But such is the deceit and false pleasure of sinne and such is the canker venime which the diuel hath spewed into our hearts that it shutteth our eyes letteth vs not see the vglinesse of sinne nor taste of the bitternesse thereof Therefore euery one of you in the feare of God examine your affections examine your minds and see whereunto ye are addicted suspect euer your affections what euer enticement they haue to cloke the same with suspect euer the motion of them for the diuell is in them for when they appeare to be most quiet yea wholly rooted out and extinguished the stumps of them sticke in the soule and a verie slight obiect or short idlenesse will kindle them againe So they would euer be handled like yong Toades for they are the worse by ouer great libertie And as this should be done in euery man especially it should be done in publike men men who are placed in publike offices and must discharge them in some measure to the glory of God to the contentment of his Church weale of his people As we ought to do this so chiefly they ought euer to suspect their affections lest giuing place to their affections they make them to peruert iustice for what is it that peruerteth iustice but affection So these affections in publike persons would be chiefly eschued Then ye see the exhortation riseth clearely to you my Lord who are now placed to beare a peece of charge and gouernment in the absence of our Prince that ye my Lord cast away your affections and burie them vnder your feete and let iustice strike indifferently where it should strike Let no communitie of name alliance proximitie of bloud or whatsoeuer it be mooue you to peruert iustice but let euery man be answered according to the merit of his cause Except these affections that accompanie great men be remooued no question ye must peruert that place Let not the theefe passe because he is your
himselfe is neuer disappointed of his expectation Exhortation Faith is the free gift of God Certaine effects whereby we may know if we haue faith Our faith must be coÌ„tinually nourished because it is ioyned with doubting Doubting faith may lodge in one soule 1 Cor. 4. A doubting and weake faith is faith and shall neuer decay The spaâ—kles of faith though they be smothered they are not wholly put out nor are idle Similitudes shewing that the sparkles of faith though they be couered are not extinguished A sure retreat to repose on in highest tentations A lesson Of loue which is the secoÌ„d point of our triall How the word loue is taken in the Scripture The definition of loue Of our loue toward God Of loue towards our neighbour Conclusion with an exhortation The diuerse taking of the word Sacrament Ephes. 3.9 Ephes. 5.32 The heads to be entreated of in this Sermon 1. The signes in the SacrameÌ„t Why they are called signes 2. What is the thing signified in the Sacrament Question Answer The thing signified must be applyed How the signe the thing signified are ioyned together This coniunction is made cleare by the coniunction betwixt the word and the thing signified thereby How the signe and the thing signified are giuen and receiued Considerations thereof The signe the thing signified are offered in two actions by two instruments and after two manners Of the other part of the Sacrament which is the word Anâ—wer 1. By the Sacrament we possesse Christ more fully then by the simple word 2. They serue to confirme the truth contained in the word Exhortation Faults whiâ—h peruert the Sacrament Conclusion with an exhortation Of the Supper of the Lord in particular Heads to be intreated of First head generall Of the names giuen vnto this SacrameÌ„t both in the Bible and by the Ancients Second head generall Of the ends why this Sacrament was instituted Third head generall Of the things contained in this SacrameÌ„t outward and inward wherin sundry heads are intreated The thing signified in both the Sacraments is one the signs are not one Why in Baptisme there is but one signe and in the Lords Supper two Two questions What power the bread hath to be a signe in this Sacrament And how long that power endureth 1. Answer That bread hath that power from Christs institution 2. Answer That power continues during the seruice of the Table An obseruation How the signes the thing signified are coÌ„ioyned in the Sacrament How the signe and the thâ—ng signified iâ— receiued What kinde of receiuing Christ is established in the Sacrament Inconueniences cast in by the Papisâ—s against the spirituall â—eceiuing of Christ in the Sacrament First inconuenience That the Sacrament is supeâ—fluous Refutation of the first Inconuenience Second incoÌ„uenience Refutation of the second inconuenience obiected wherein are sundrie reasons giuen why the wicked are counted guiltie of the body and bloud of Christ. Exhortation Third inconuenience Refutation of the third inconuenience How the soule is said to eate the body and drinke the bloud of Christ. Obseruation Faith is that which couples vs and Christ. Similitude taken from the Sunne Conclusion with an exhortation How we are said to eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of Christ. Our vnion with Christ by one and the same Spirit Exhortation The definition of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Why this Sacrâ—ment is called a Seale Why it is called an holy Seale Why the seale is said to be annexed to the couenant Why the Sacrament should be ministred publikely First reason Second reasoÌ„ Why this seale must be ministred according to Christ his institution None hath power to institute a Sacrament but God onâ—ly We call the word in the Sacrament the whole institution Word and element must concurre in the constitution of a Sacrament What we meane by the word in the Sacrament What the Papists vnderstand by the word in the SacrameÌ„t The third head in controuersie How the elements are sanctified The word of blessing and thankâ—giuing vsed indifferently expressed by the other How the Papists sanctifie the outward Elements Refutation of the doctrine transubstantiation by three sorts of arguments The first sort of argument Second sort of argument Third sort of argument Other arguments vnto the same effect Their last râ—fuge The reason that moues the Papists to thinke thâ—t Christs body cannot be present in the Sacrament except it be really carnally and substaÌ„tially present Obseruation The diuerse opinions coÌ„cerning the presence of the body of Christ in the Saâ—rament How a thing is said to be present and absent How the bodie of Christ is present The last point in controuersie betwixt vs and the Papists Conclusion with an exhortation Heads to be intreated in this Sermon First lesson Second lessoÌ„ The time when the King fell into this disease Obseruation Doctrine The Prophet visiteth the King and inioyneth two things to him The dutie of the Pastor toward his diseased brethren The first omission that appeareth to be in this denunciation The second omission The third omission The King behauiour in this disease The Kings behâ—uiour makes vs certaine of his faith and repentance The Kings gesture in his disease The words of his prayer Dan. 6.23 1. Cor. 4. A wonderfull thing to haue recourâ—e vnto the same God who smiteth â—esson Recapitulation Diâ—isâ—on First lesson 2. Lesson 3. Lesson Doctrine The circumstance of peace Third circumstance The comfort that the King receiued Why mention of Dauid is here made Why Dauid is called Hezechias Father What maketh vs the sonnes of God 1. Lesson 2. Lesson A fault to be eschued in Ionas person Application to the King A vertue to be followed in Esaiahs person Doctrine Application The points of the comfort that the King receiued Obseruation Application Obseruation Exhortation to the Kings Maiestie Recapitulation The heads of doctrine to be intreated of The cause why he sought a signe How the wicked seeke signes Some refuse signes when they are offered How the signe was shewed Why the signe was wrought in the diall Why it was wrought in the body of the Sunne What profite is to be gathered of signes By whose power this signe was wrought The force of prayer in procuring this signe Why the Lord willeth vs to pray Application The Kingâ— thankfulnes for the beneâ—ite receiued The parts of the Kings Song A short sum of the Kings life A Christians chiefe exercise The first part of the song The diuersity of seeking death in the wicked and godly The way to eschue the feare of death Application The reason why deaâ—h was grieuouâ— to him Application The second reaâ—on why death was grieuous to the King How God was said to be seene of old Application The third reaâ—on why death was grieuous to this King Applicatâ—on What is worthy of praise or reprofe in these reasons Conclusion with an exhortation Recapitulation The heads to be treated of in this SermoÌ„ The manner of the transportation of the