the children of God wee are ready to giue ouer to dissemble and conceale our selues with Nicodemus as though wee were ashamed of Christ whereas wee should rather shew our selues to be ashamed of their wickednesse and our owne spirituall cowardice The Seruing-man will bee diligent and faithfull in his Maisters domesticall businesses and outward imployments hee will carefully obserue and note his Masters disposition and nature what things delight and please him what not And if his master bee of a right generous disposition that he vse to preferre good seruants then will he serue him diligently many yeares and the doubtfull hope of vncertaine preferment giueth life and courage to him to vndergoe ioyfully and willingly any paines heat cold wet dry night day are all alike to him and hee is ready to hazard limme and life in his masters quarrell But what is the haruest of his labours Some preferment by his Master or Masters procurement yet is his Master but a man and therefore vnconstant he is but a man therefore hee may leaue his former goodnesse and because hee is but a man the floure of grasse hee may dye before the time therefore saith Dauid Psalm 146. 2. 3. O put not your trust in Princes nor in any childe of Man c. But howsoeuer Seruice is no heritage but the Lords seruice is heritage hee hath no sonnes no daughters no kinsfolkes but his onely Sonne which he gaue a ransome for vs the price of our redemption and adoption that wee might be his Sonnes and coheyre with his owne Sonnes of the Kingdome of glory Now will the Seruingman doe this and that nay hee cares not what vpon vncertaine hopes of trifles and shall not we much more ioyfully and faithfully serue the Lord enduring with patience the afflictions of this present time seeing that wee haue a Master that is most good most mercifull most true who hath promised plentifully to reward his Seruants and is most willing and most able to performe his promises Why doth not the hope of this reward incourage and giue life vnto vs faithfully to serue him and ioyfully to suffer for him It is because infidelity lurketh in the heart it is because wee are not his Seruants wee haue no delight in such kinde of seruice nor in seruing such a Master And forasmuch as wee are carnall wee will in such sort serue bodily Masters for the good of our bodies but we will not serue the Lord for the both temporall and euerlasting felicity of body and soule Such like bruit beasts are sure that they haue bodies and they daily feele that they require maintenance therefore are they so labourious for the time present and so prouident and carefull for the time to come but whether they haue soules they are not very sure neither whether they be immortall neither what shall become of them do they much regard From whence then proceedeth this bodily niggardship and spirituall prodigality and dissolutenes that for a crust of bread they will sell the kingdome of heauen but from Infidelity and Atheisme Lastly the poore man that about ten twelue or twenty yeares hence or hee knowes not how soone shall haue a Lordship befall him or some great liuing can in the meane space farre more patiently indure pouertie the hope of inioying the same before his death doth reioyce his heatt in the greatest want and though he be doubtfull whether he shall liue and haue the benefit thereof yet is it no small comfort to him that his posterity shall be raised out of the dust But we poore and miserable wretches being sure that the inheritance promised is not farre off death making a passage and entrance to the same are little or nothing comforted therewith yea though the time of life be almost expired that one foote is euen in the graue already though I say we be so neere to our inheritance yet haue wee no reioycing therein because wee are more in loue with this nasty and muddy cottage than with the glorious pallace of heauen distrust infidelity and the loue of this world doth so deepely possesse our dead and darke hearts Thus much of the dehortation But labour for the meat that endureth to eternall life which the Sonne of man shall giue vnto you for him hath God the Father sealed These words contayne the Exhortation The matter of the exhortation is meate which is declared 1. By the effect or efficacie proceeding from the immortall nature thereof which endureth to eternall life 2. By the Author or Giuer which the Sonne of man shall giue vnto you This Authority and Office of the Sonne is confirmed by the primarie or principall cause thereof that is the Assignement and Designement of the Father according to the euerlasting decree of his counsell in calling him for him hath the Father sealed But for meate Meate in this place is quite opposite and contrary to the former signifying metaphorically in generall all things belonging to newnesse of life in speciall the doctrine of the Gospell For as the body is fed with meate so the soule is fed by the word of God through the efficacy and vertue of the spirit which begetteth Faith in the soule whereby the soule is quickened for of it selfe it is dead therefore seeing that faith is the life of the soule that is well compared to meate which increaseth and preserueth faith and that is the Gospell onely 1 Pet 1. 23. Also the same Apostle saith as Babes desire the syncere milke of the Word It is a known principle in Philosophy ex quibus nascitur aliquid ex ijs pascitur Whereof we are bred thereof are we fed Now our bodies are bred or created out of the great world that is the firmament and the elements therefore are we sustained maintained and preserued by the same till the appointed time of our dissolution euen so our soules are regenerate and borne a new of the word and the spirit not to temporall but to eternall life Which endureth to eternall life These words are the effect of the Gospell The Gospell is such meate as it maketh the soule immortall working in the soule faith of the promises therein contained and an assured hope of the performance thereof in due season This meate being immortall maketh the soule immortall but the other is perishing therefore it cannot free the body from corruption And heerein appeares the difference of these meates First the vertue and strength of bodily food wherewith it feedeth is naturall being infused into it in the creation and continued till the end by generation and production But the vertue and strength of this meate is the spirit of regeneration descending from aboue inlightning and sanctifying whom hee will And as meate without the naturall strength thereof is but a dead corps and cannot feede so the Gospell without the spirit which is the life thereof is a dead letter to him which receiueth the same which killeth but feedeth not for then is it liuely
iustice mercy Heere is matter for the reasonable soule to worke and feede vpon but this is animall bread enduring but to temporall life not quickning or reuiuing the soule to eternall life Therefore there can no bread of life bee gathered out of this world but the liuing bread must come downe from heauen that must quicken and sustaine the soule to eternall life It is liuing bread not onely because it hath life in it selfe but also because it giueth life vnto vs which are dead which worldly bread cannot doe For other bread must come to a liuing stomacke as the matter to the workeman but this liuing bread commeth to a dead stomacke to giue not onely foode but life also to the same which it doth by the spirit which quickneth whom hee will And hee that hath the spirit hath life from whence proceedeth spirituall hungar and thirst and consequently spirituall digestion of Christ the liuing bread but hee that hath not the spirit hath not life therefore though Christ be offered to him yet is hee not quickned nor fedde therewith for the word of God is to him but a dead letter euen as restoratiues and nourishing meates are to a liuelesse corps Therefore let vs not labour for bodily meate pampering and fulfilling too much the brutish appetites of those corruptible carkasses which are a burthen and wearisomnesse to the sanctified soule Let vs rather labour to suppresse the intemperate and inordinate desires and lusts thereof least that obeying them in the lusts thereof wee be transformed into the nature of euill beasts or ciuill Epicures as very many are in these latter euill dayes wherein there are not so many conuerted from Popery to Protestancy as doe reuolt from true Christianity to manifest Pharisaisme to Ethnicall ciuility Epicurisme and flat Atheisme the Deuill catching more this way then escape out of his hands the other way Labour not for the preferments promotions pompes and vaine flourishes of this transitory world all which things are but momentary and being persecuted with enuy and accompanied with inseperable griefe and sorrow affoord no true felicity nor yet hearty reioycing to the possessours thereof Let vs rather labour to curbe these high aspiring thoughts moderating these flying and groundlesse imaginations with sobriety and sad wisedome Labour not for worldly wisedome and knowledge For the wisedome of God in his workes is vnsearchable neither can the ground of his workes be found out So that when wee haue done all this is all that wee haue learned namely that wee now know nothing whereas beeing vnlearned wee thought we knew or might know something and haue onely gotten some discerning of our ignorance and want of knowledge Moreouer whatsoeuer it is it dyeth and perisheth together with the braine not helping forward the soule one haire bredth towards the attainment of eternall blisse for otherwise Satan might haue cause of hope at least some mitigation of endlesse despaire But let vs labour for the meate that indureth for euer whereby our soules and bodies are preserued eternally Let vs labour that we may attaine to the knowledge of God in the saluation of our soules by faith in Christ This is true wisedome Let vs labour for the spirit of Regeneration that wee may bee deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God This is true liberty Let vs labour for the assured hope of our eternall inheritance in the kingdome of heauen This is an euerlasting and true kingdome Let vs labour that wee may bee truely perswaded of the forgiuenes of our sinnes and that we are in the fauour of God This is true comfort ioy delight and pleasures Let vs labour to know God to be our God and protectour which is our safety both from our temporall and spirituall enemies Let vs labour to be partaker of all spirituall blessings from aboue which proeeed from the Father of lights Let vs labour for this meate that is able to make our soules and bodies immortall not like vnto Manna which our Fathers haue eaten and are dead but he that eateth this meate shall liue for euer It is the precious balme that will preserue our soules and bodyes from corruption that they shall neuer see death Which meate the Sonne of man Iesus Christ hath giuen vnto vs euen the Sonne of God incarnate and made man hee is the spence and store-house out of which wee must receiue this euerlasting foode for all the treasures of the Father are hid in him of whose fulnesse we shall receiue and our soules shall bee satisfied with God The Law affords no meat vnto vs it is a destroyer not a Sauiour the Leauen of the Pharisees euen Popery which is a masse and the head of all heresies and Satanicall policies is no meate but poyson And as for bodily meate and drinke which passeth by the mouth into the belly it is of short continuance Neither the Law nor the prudent nor the wise nor the Scribe nor the disputer of this world can affoord any part of this euerlasting food vnto vs. These are drye barren hungry and fainty deserts But Christ is the true Manna that came downe from heauen which who so eateth shall not hunger any more He is the rocke out of which doe flow the waters of life and hee that drinketh thereof shall neuer thirst any more For thus hath God the Father decreed in his euerlasting counsell and called him from all eternity that through the assumption and mediation of the man-hood hee should conuey this immortall meate and spirituall treasures vnto vs. Therefore the bread of life can wee haue from none but from the Sonne for the decree of the Father cannot be altered neither can the calling of the sonne be in vaine There is no wisedome knowledge saluation else-where to be found saue onely in the Sonne the truth of all which things may appeare outwardly vnto vs by his miracles which no man could worke but hee that was sent of God who heereby testified of his Sonne that by beleeuing in the Sonne wee might haue life through him not through our selues nor any other FINIS Mark 7. 21. 22. Heb. 4. 12. Ephes 6. 4. Psalm 119. 96. Psalm 146. 2. 3. Iob. 5. 13. Mat. 5. 16. Eph. 3. 10. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Rom. 6. 13. 1 Cor. 6. 13. 1. Tim. 6. 8. Esay 55. Prou. 8. 3. Hest 5. 11. 12. Psalm 146. 2. 3. 1 Pet. 1. 23. Math. 9. 6. Iohn 3. 13.
in opâ—ration when the receiuer thereof that before was dead is now raised from death by the spirit which as it gaue life to the first Chaos or Masse in the creation so it giueth life to the second confused Masse the naturall man Secondly bodily meate must bee mortified by the body which separateth the impure from the pure conuerting the one into his owne substance and nature but expelling the other as excrements but contrarily the meate of the soule which is the Gospell is not mortified of the soule but it doth mortifie the soule with all the powers and faculties thereof conuerting the soule into the nature and property of it selfe It destroyeth nature it casteth a man out of himselfe separating himselfe from himselfe as a corrupt refuse or excrement As for example Paul counted all things losse for the knowledge of Christ and iudged them to bee but dung that hee might win Christ and bee found in him But what things are they His Iewish priuiledges whereof he maketh an enumeration in the former verses and diuers other things wherein hee excelled many of his owne nation For hee was of excellent education perfectly instructed in the lawes of the Fathers skilfull in diuers languages by profession a Pharisee not luke-warme but zealous touching vertue and righteous liuing according to the Law vnrebukeable Heere is nothing wanting to Paul as hee supposed hee had made his saluation so sure that if hee were not saued hee thought none could be saued But this proud and dead flesh that is without feeling must bee launced cut and eaten away For when as in blinde zeale riding toward Damascus hee was throwne beside his horse being affrighted and astonished with the sudden light that shone about him and the voyce that spake vnto him hee was throwne beside himselfe also Hee fell a Iew he rose a Christian his fall was his spirituall death to his former Iudaisme the miraculous light and voyce of Christ his spirituall resurrection From hence-forward he glorieth not in worldly prerogatiues and Iewish priuiledges hee counts them but losse for Christ and iudges them to be but doung but hee reioyceth and glorieth in afflictions for Christs sake yea hee is content to suffer any thing scourgings imprisonments shipwracks perils of waters of robbers of the Iewes of the Gentiles of false brethren in the City in the wildernesse in the sea to suffer wearinesse painefulnesse watching hunger thirst colde nakednesse stonings fire sword if so bee that by any meanes hee might attaine to the resurrection of the dead Therefore this spirituall meate cures not for wee are past cure there being nothing in vs for medicine to worke vpon to recouer vs withall It mends not for these mildring muddy walls of ours can sustaine no new matter no more then olde vessells can containe new wine or an old garment retaine the new peece of cloth It repayres not for this ruinous building must not bee built vpon but pulled downe yea the foundation thereof must bee razed All mans vnderstanding wisedome reason imaginations will affections and all his goodnesse must be cast vp as vnprofitable rubbish good for nothing but as vnsauory salt to bee cast into the streets for men to tread vpon and a new foundation must be laide whereon he must build a new euen Iesus Christ on whom hee must be founded and out of whom he must grow euen as the building doth artificially grow from and out of the foundation And all other things what shew soeuer they haue of wisedome godlinesse zeale deuotion yet are they but sinne because they arise not from the true foundation which is Faith Therefore this meate transformeth and renueth non superinducens sed inducens nouam formam not putting vpon vs but putting in vs a new forme or shape which must transforme and change the whole man and life of man out of naturall into spirituall out of corruptible into incorruptible out of earthly into heauenly out of temporall into eternall Thirdly bodily meate is mortall therefore it cannot preserue the body for euer but both come to destruction but the word of GOD is immortall seeing that the spirit which is the life and strength thereof is immortall so mortality is swallowed vp of immortality And now Death where is thy sting Sinne where is thy strength Despaire where is thy worme Hell where is thy victory This is the true Philosophers stone that turneth iron euen iron hearts into gold mortall into immortall death into life euen as Lazarus was raised from death to life and as the dead and darke eyes of the blinde man were changed from darkenesse into light Fourthly corporall meate must bee mortified and prepared by our labour and Art but spirituall meate which is the Gospell is as gold purified seauen times in the fire seperated from all impurity much more then gold can bee by the skill of the cunning Alchimist mortifying and preparing vs to conuert vs into the nature of it selfe Wee serue our selues of bodily food but this meate must serue it selfe of vs else wee doe adulterate the same applying it carnally to our condemnation euen as the Iewes adulterated this miracle of our Sauiour making no other vse thereof than to serue their bodily turnes of it the filling of their bellies Note this well for it is the nature and very essence of hypocrisie and carnall gospelling which in these dayes is as rife as euer it was and that in the highest degree For in these dayes as there is much knowledge so is there great abuse of knowledge by hypocrisie and sophistry For men are not onely politicke to couer and hide their filthinesse by dissimulation and apish imitation of certaine words and termes and counterfaite shewes of profession as they are subtile to defend and excuse their wicked and most vngodly doings hauing Scripture and reasons as ready at command as Arrius the hereticke and as the Deuill the Father of cauils and lyes Satan neuer playd his part his Deuills part so kindly as when hee drew arguments of perswasion out of the Scriptures thereby to induce Christ to sinne contrary to the Scriptures Neyther doe hypocrites play their parts so kindely that is imitate their Father the Deuill so naturally as when they transforme themselues into the children of light euen as hee transformeth himselfe into an Angell of light to deceiue This hypocrisie hath taken such deepe rooting and is become so habituall that men are now as skilfull to deceiue their owne hearts as heeretofore they haue bin to deceiue others Let such sophisticall hypocrites take heede how they carnalize the Gospell and profession of religion that is serue their owne turnes of it eyther for profit or vaineglory as the common practise is And as men count themselues the wiser as they deepelier dissemble and blinde the world so much more foolish are they euen the Deuills fooles not considering how that by this way hee serueth himselfe of them Now to conclude this point Bodily foode yea all worldly