vs that are of the Clergie §. 4. The explication of the words By manifestation of the Spirit here our Apostle vnderstandeth none other thing than hee doth by the adiectiue word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first and by the substantiue word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the last verse of the Chapter Both which put together doe signifie those spirituall gifts and graces whereby God enableth men and especially Church-men to the duties of their particular Callings for the generall good Such as are those particulars which are named in the next following verses a Vers. 8-10 the word of wisdome the word of knowledge faith the gifts of healing workings of miracles prophecy discerning of spirits diuers kinds of tongues interpretation of tongues All which and all other of like nature and vse because they are wrought by that one and selfe-same b Vers. 11. Spirit which diuideth to euery one seuerally as he will are therefore called c Vers. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts and here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifestation of the Spirit The word Spirit though in Scripture it haue many other significations §. 5. By Spirit is meant the Holy Ghost yet in this place I conceiue to be vnderstood directly of the Holy Ghost the third Person in the euer-blessed Trinitie For first in vers 3. that which is called the Spirit of God in the former part is in the later part called the Holy Ghost a Vers. â— I giue you to vnderstand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Iesus accursed and that no man can say that Iesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Againe that varietie of gifts which in vers 4. is said to proceed from the b Vers. 4-6 same Spirit is said likewise in vers 5. to proceed from the same Lord and in vers 6. to proceed from the same God and therefore such a Spirit is meant as is also Lord and God and that is onely the holy Ghost And againe in those words in vers 11. c Vers 11. all these worketh that one and the selfe-same Spirit diuiding to euery man seuerally as he will the Apostle ascribeth to this Spirit the collation and distribution of such gifts according to the free power of his owne will and pleasure which free power belongeth to none but God alone d Vers. 18. who hath set the members euery one in the body as it hath pleased him Which yet ought not so to bee vnderstood of the Person of the Spirit as if the Father §. 6. not as excluding the other Persons and the Sonne had no part or fellowship in this businesse For all the Actions and operations of the Diuine Persons those onely excepted which are of intrinsecall and mutuall relation are the ioynt and vndiuided workes of the whole three Persons according to the common knowne maxime constantly and vniformely receiued in the Catholike Church Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indiuisa And as to this particular concerning gifts the Scriptures are cleare Wherein as they are ascribed to God the Holy Ghost in this Chapter so they are elsewhere ascribed to God the Father a Iam. 1.17 Euery good gift and euery perfect giuing is from aboue from the Father of Lights I am 1. and elsewere to God the Sonne b Ephes. 4.7 Vnto euery one of vs is giuen grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ Ephes. 4. Yea and it may be that for this very reason in the three verses next before my text these three words are vsed Spirit in vers 4. Lord in vers 5. and God in vers 6. to giue vs intimation that c Ne gratia donum diuisum sit per personas Patri Filij et Sp. Sancti sed indiscretae vnitatis naturae trium vnum opus intellâ—gatur Ambros in 1. Cor. 7. ca. 61. these spirituall gifts proceed equally and vndiuidedly from the whole three Persons from God the Father and from his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord and from the eternall Spirit of them both the Holy Ghost as from one entire indiuisible and coessentiall Agent §. 7. but by way of appropriation But for that we are grosse of vnderstanding and vnable to conceiue the distinct Trinity of Persons in the Vnity of the Godhead otherwise than by apprehending some distinction of their operations and offices to-vs-ward it hath pleased the wisedome of God in the holy Scriptures which being written for our sakes were to be fitted to our capacities so farre to condescend to our weaknesse and dulnesse as to attribute some of those great and common workes to one person and some to another after a more speciall manner than vnto the rest although indeed and in truth none of the three persons had more or lesse to doe than other in any of those great and common-workes This manner of speaking Diuines vse to call a V. Aquin. 1. qu. 39 7. Appropriation By which appropriation as Power is ascribed to the Father and Wisedome to the Sonne so is Goodnesse to the Holy Ghost And therefore as the Worke of Creation wherein is specially seene the mighty power of God is appropriated to the Father and the worke of Redemption wherein is specially seene the wisedome of God to the Sonne so the workes of sanctification and the infusion of habituall graces whereby the good things of God are communicated vnto vs is appropriated vnto the Holy Ghost And for this cause the gifts thus communicated vnto vs from God are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manifestation of the Spirit Wee see now why spirit but then §. 8. What is meant by Manifestation why manifestation The word as most other verballs of that forme may be vnderstood either in the actiue or passiue signification And it is not materiall whether of the two wayes we take it in this place both being true and neither improper For these spirituall Gifts are the manifestation of the spirit Actiuely because by these the spirit manifesteth the will of God vnto the Church these being the instruments and meanes of conueighing the knowledge of saluation vnto the people of God And they are the manifestation of the spirit Passiuely too because where any of these gifts especially in any eminent sort appeared in any person it was a manifest euidence that the Spirit of God wrought in him As we reade in Act. 10. that they of the Circumcision were astonished a Act. 10.45 46. When they saw that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost If it bee demanded But how did that appeare it followeth in the next verse for they heard them speake with tongues c. The spirituall Gift then is a b Id est Donum spiritus quo dono spiritus suam in homine praesentiam declarat Metonymia effecti Piscat in schol hîc manifestation of
the spirit as euery other sensible effect is a manifestation of its proper cause §. 9. By spirituall gifts Wee are now yet farther to know that the Gifts and graces wrought in vs by the holy spirit of God are of two sorts The Scriptures sometimes distinguish them by the different termes of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although those words are sometimes againe vsed indifferently and promiscuously either for other They are commonly known in the Schooles and differenced by the names of a V. Aquin. 1.2 qu. 111.1 Gratiae gratum facientes and Gratiae gratis datae Which termes though they be not very proper for one of them may be affirmed of the other whereas the members of euery good distinction ought to be opposite yet because they haue beene long receiued and change of termes though happely for the better hath by experience beene found for the most part unhappy in the euent in multiplying vnnecessary booke-quarrels wee may retaine them profitably and without preiudice Those former which they call Gratum facientes are the Graces of sanctification whereby the person that hath them is enabled to doe acceptable seruice to God in the duties of his generall Calling these later which they call Gratis datas are the Graces of edification whereby the person that hath them is enabled to doe profitable seruice to the Church of God in the duties of his particular Calling Those are giuen Nobis Nobis both to vs and for vs that is b Duplex est operatio sancti spiritus operatur enim in nobis aliud propter nos aliud propter proximos Bernard in paruis Serm. 53. chiefly for our owne good these Nobis sed Nostris to vs indeed but for others that is chiefly for the good of our brethren Those are giuen vs geminae operationis experimentum Vnius qua nos primò iâ—tus virtutibus solidat ad salutem alterius qua foris quoque muneribus ornat ad lucrum Illas nobis haec nostris accepimus Bernard in Cant. Serm. 18. ad salutem for the sauing of our owne soules these ad lucrum for the winning of other mens soules Those proceed from the speciall loue of God to the Person and may therefore be called Personall or speciall these proceed from the generall loue of God to his Church or yet more generall to humane societies and may therefore be rather called Ecclesiasticall or Generall Gifts or Graces Of that first sort are Faith Hope Charity Repentance Patience Humility and all those other holy graces and a Gal. 5.22 fruites of the spirit §. 10. What is here not meant which accompany saluation Wrought by the blessed and powerfull operation of the holy Spirit of God after a most effectuall but vnconceiuable manner regenerating and renewing and seasoning and sanctifying the hearts of his Chosen But yet these are not the Gifts so much spoken of in this Chapter and namely in my Text Euery branch whereof excludeth them Of those graces of sanctification first wee may haue indeed probable inducements to perswade vs that they are or are not in this or that man But hypocrisie may make such a semblance that we may thinke wee see spirit in a man in whom yet there is nothing but flesh and infirmities may cast such a fogge that wee can discerne nothing but flesh in a man in whom yet there is spirit But the gifts here spoken of doe incurre into the senses and giue vs euident and infallible assurance of the spirit that wrought them here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a manifestation of the spirit Againe secondly those Graces of sanctification are not communicated by distribution b 1 Cor. 7.7 Alius sic alius verò sic Faith to one Charity to another Repentance to another but where they are giuen they are giuen all at once and together as it were strung vpon one threed and linked into one chaine But the Gifts here spoken of are distributed as it were by doale and diuided seuerally as it pleased God shared out into seuerall portions and giuen to euery man some to none all for c Vers. 8. to one is giuen by the spirit the word of wisedome to another the word of knowledge c. Thirdly those Graces of sanctification though they may and ought to bee exercised to the benefit of others who by the d Math. 5.16 shining of our light and the sight of our good workes may be prouoked to glorifie God by walking in the same paths yet that is but vtilitas emergens and not finis proprius a good vse made of them vpon the bye but not the maine proper and direct end of them for which they were chiefly giuen But the Gifts here spoken of were giuen directly for this end and so intended by the giuer to be employed for the benifite of others and for the edifying of the Church they were giuen to profit withall It then remaineth §. 11. and what is to vnderstand this Text and Chapter of that other and later kinde of spirituall Gifts those Graces of Edification or Gratiae gratis datae whereby men are enabled in their seuerall Callings according to the quality and measure of the graces they haue receiued to be profitable members of the publique body either in Church or Common-wealth Vnder which appellation the very first naturall powers and faculties of the soule only excepted which flowing à principijs speciei are in all men the same and alike I comprehend all other secondary endowments and abilities whatsoeuer of the reasonable soule which are capable of the degrees of more and lesse and of better and worse together with all subsidiary helpes any way conducing to the exercise of any of them Whether they be first supernaturall graces giuen by immediate and extraordinary infusion from God such as were the gifts of tongues and of miracles and of healings and of prophecie properly so called and many other like which were frequent in the infancie of the Church and when this Epistle was written according as the necessitie of those primitiue times considered God saw it expedient for his Church Or whether they be secondly such as Philosophers call Naturall dispositions such as are promptnesse of Wit quicknesse of Conceit fastnesse of Memory clearenesse of Vnderstanding soundnesse of Iudgement readinesse of Speech and other like which flow immediately à Principijs indiuidui from the indiuiduall condition constitution and temperature of particular persons Or whether they bee thirdly such as Philosophers call Intellectuall Habits which is when those naturall dispositions are so improued and perfected by Education Art Industry Obseruation or Experience that men become thereby skilfull Linguists subtile Disputers copious Orators profound Diuines powerfull Preachers expert Lawyers Physitians Historians Statesmen Commanders Artisans or excellent in any Science Profession or Faculty whatsoeuer To which we may adde in the fourth place all outward subseruient helpes whatsoeuer which may any way further or
facilitate the exercise of any of the former graces dispositions or habits such as are health strength beauty and all those other Bonae Corporis as also Bona fortunae Honour Wealth Nobility Reputation and the rest All of these euen those among them which seeme most of all to haue their foundation in Nature or perfection from Art may in some sort bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirituall gifts in as much as the spirit of God is the first and principall worker of them Nature Art Industrie and all other subsidiary furtherances being but second Agents vnder him and as meanes ordained or as instruments vsed by him for the accomplishing of those ends he hath appointed §. 12. Inferences hence The first And now haue wee found out the iust latitude of the spirituall gifts spoken of in this Chapter and of the manifestation of the spirit in my Text. From whence not to passe without some obseruable inferences for our Edification Wee may here first behold and admire and magnifie the singular loue and care and prouidence of God for and ouer his Church For the building vp whereof hee hath not only furnished it with fit materials men endowed with the faculties of vnderstanding reason will memory affections nor only lent them tooles out of his owne rich store-house his holy Word and sacred Ordinances but as sometimes hee filled a Exod. 35.30 c. Bezaleel and Aholiab with skill and wisedome for the building of the materiall Tabernacle so he hath also from time to time raysed vp seruiceable men and enabled them with a large measure of all needfull gifts and graces to set forward the building and to giue it both strength and beauty A Body if it had not difference and variety of members were rather a lumpe than a body or if hauing such members there were yet no vitall spirits within to enable them to their proper offices it were rather a Corps than a Body but the vigour that is in euery part to doe its office is a certaing euidence and manifestation of a spirit of life within and that maketh it a liuing Organicall body So those actiue gifts graces and abilities which are to be found in the members of the mysticall body of Christ I know not whether of greater variety or vse are a strong manifestation that there is a powerfull Spirit of God within that knitteth the the whole body together and worketh all in all and all in euery part of the body §. 13. The second Secondly though wee haue iust cause to lay it to heart when men of eminent gifts and place in the Church are taken from vs and to lament in theirs our owne and the Churches losse yet wee should possesse our soules in patience and sustaine our selues with this comfort that it is the same God that still hath care ouer his Church and it is the same Head Iesus Christ that still hath influence into his members and it is the same blessed Spirit of God and of Christ that still actuateth and animateth this great mysticall Body And therefore wee may not doubt but this Spirit as he hath hitherto done from the beginning so will still manifest himselfe from time to time vnto the end of the world in raising vp instruments for the seruice of his Church and furnishing them with gifts in some good measure meete for the same more or lesse according as he shall see it expedient for her in her seuerall different estates and conditions giuing a Eph. 4.11 13 some Apostles and some Prophets and some Euangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministerie for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all meete in the vnitie of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Sonne of God vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the stature of the fulnes of Christ. He hath promised long since who was neuer yet touched with breach of promise that he would b Matth. 28.20 be with his Apostles and their successours alwaies vnto the end of the world §. 14. The third Thirdly where the Spirit of God hath manifested it selfe to any man by the distribution of gifts it is but reason that man should manifest the Spirit that is in him by exercising those gifts in some lawfull Calling And so this manifestation of the Spirit in my text imposeth vpon euery man the Necessity of a Calling Our Apostle in the seuenth of this Epistle ioyneth these two together a Gift and a Calling as things that may not be seuered a 1. Cor. 7.17 As God hath distributed to euery man as the Lord hath called euerie one Where the end of a thing is the vse there the difference cannot be great whether we abuse it or but conceale it The b Math. 25.30 vnprofitable seruant that wrapped vp his Masters talent in a napkin could not haue receiued a much heauier doome had he mispent it O then vp and be doing c Math. 20.6 why stand you all the day idle Doe not say because you heard no voyce that therefore no man hath called you those very gifts you haue receiued are a Reall Call pursuing you with continuall restlesse importunitie till you haue disposed your selues in some honest course of life or other wherein you may be profitable to humane societie by the exercising of some or other of those gifts All the members of the Body haue their proper and distinct offices according as they haue their proper and distinct faculties and from those offices they haue also their proper and distinct names As then in the Body that is indeed no member which cannot call it selfe by any other name than by the common name of a member so in the Church he that cannot stile himselfe by any other name than a Christian doth indeed but vsurp that too If thou sayest thou art of the body I demand then What is thy office in the body If thou hast no office in the body then thou art at the best but Tumor praeter naturam as Physitians call them a scab or botch or wenne or some other monstrous and vnnaturall exerescency vpon the body but certainely thou art no true part and member of the body And if thou art no part of the body how darest thou make challenge to the head by mis-calling thy selfe Christian If thou hast a Gift get a Calling §. 15. The fourth Fourthly we of the Clergy though wee may not ingrosse the Spirit vnto our selues as if none were spirituall persons but oue selues yet the voyce of the World hath long giuen vs the Name of the Spiritualtie after a peculiar sort as if we were spirituall persons in some different singular respect from other men And that not altogether without ground both for the name and thing The very name seemeth to be thus vsed by Saint Paul in the 14. Chapter following where at vers 37 he maketh a Prophet
worth the labour as this none that can bring so much profit to others nor therefore so much glory to God nor therefore so much comfort to our owne hearts as this d Tit. 3.8 This is a faithfull saying and these things I will that thou affirme constantly saith Saint Paul to Titus that they which haue beleeued in God might be careful to maintaine good workes these things are good and profitable vnto men You cannot doe more good vnto the Church of God you cannot more profit the people of God by your gifts than by pressing effectually these two great points Faith Good works these are good and profitable vnto men §. 35. The Conclusion I might here adde other inferences from this point as namely since the manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery one of vs chiefely for this end that wee may profit the people with it that therefore fourthly in our preaching wee should rather seeke to profit our hearers though perhaps with sharpe and vnwelcome reproofes than to please them by flattering them in euill and that fifthly wee should more desire to bring profit vnto them than to gaine applause vnto our selues and sundry other more besides these But I will neither adde any more nor prosecute these any farther at this time but giue place to other businesse God the Father of Lights and of Spirits endow euery one of vs in our Places and Callings with a competent measure of such Graces as in his wisedome and goodnesse he shall see needefull and expedient for vs and so direct our harts and tongues and endeauours in the exercise and manifestation thereof that by his good blessing vpon our labours wee may bee enabled to aduance his glory propagate his truth benefit his Church discharge a good conscience in the meane time and at the last make our account with comfort at the appearing of our Lord Iesus Christ. To whom c. FINIS THREE SERMONS Ad Magistratum BY ROBERT SAVNDERSON Batchellor in Diuinity and sometimes Fellow of Lincolne Colledge in Oxford PSAL. 2.10 Et nunc Reges intelligite erudimini qui judicatis terram LONDON Printed by R.Y. for R. Dawlman at the Signe of the Bible neere the great Conduit in Fleetstreete 1627. To the Right VVorshipfull my much honoured Patron Sir NICHOLAS SAVNDERSON of Filingham Linc. Knight and Baronet SIR HAuing first vpon slow deliberation resolued to publish these three Sermons my next resolution came on more readily to present them to you For which there was no need I should deliberate long the consideration both of the Author and Argument prompting mee thereunto For my selfe first As you haue abundantly witnessed vnto the world your good affection to mee both by sundry other courtesies and especially in being the chiefest meanes vnder the good Prouidence of God by your free collation of a Benefice vpon me of drawing me from the Vniuersitie into these parts where I am now settled so I haue beene euer couetous of some faire opportunity to witnesse vnto the world my thankfull acknowledgement of your kinde fauours whereof for want of better meanes I desire this Dedication maybe some expression And then for the Argument I knew none more fit to Patronage a Theame of Iustice than your selfe whom God hath endowed with strong abilities many wayes of Vnderstanding Affections Courage Elocution Induâ—trie together with outward Meanes and Power in a gracious measure and aboue many of your fellowes in the same office to doe Him and his Annointed and their People good seruice in aduancing the course of publike Iustice in the Countrie where you liue In both which regards as I presume these my meditations concerning Iustice will not come altogether vnwelcome so I am confident that the manner of handling vsed therein in taxing the Abuses with such Freedome as it may be some will not rellish will yet be by so much more acceptable to you by how much more freely your owne heart when you reade of them shall witnesse your owne freedome from them In which confidence with all due respect I commend these Sermons into your hands and with my faithfullest deuotions your selfe and your Religious Lady and whole family into the hands of God who alone is able hath to continue and multiply his blessings vpon you in the meane time and in the end to crowne his owne graces in you with glory Yours in the Lord ROB. SAVNDERSON Booth by Paynell Line 1. Mar. 1626. THE FIRST SERMON At a publike Sessions at Grantham Linc. 11. Iun 1623. IOB 29. VERS 14 15 16 17. 14. I put on righteousnesse and it cloathed mee my judgement was as a robe and diadem 15. I was eyes to the blinde and feet was I to the lame 16. I was a father to the poore and the cause which I knew not I searched out 17. And I brake the jawes of the wicked and plucked the spoyle out of his teeth WHere silence against foule and false imputations may be interpreted a a Si cum mihi furta largitiones obijciuntur ego respendere soleo meis non tà m sâ—m existimandus â—e rebus gestis gloriari quà m de obiectis non confiteri Cic. pro domo sua Confession §. 1. The Occasion there the protestation of a mans owne innocency is euer iust and sometimes b Mihi de memetipso tam multa dicendi necessitas quaedam imposita est ob illo Clâ— pro Syll. necessarie When others doe vs open wrong it is not now Vanity but Charity to doe our selues open right and whatsoeuer appearance of folly or vaine boasting there is in so doing they are chargeable with all that compell vs thereunto and not wee I am become a foole in glorying but yee haue compelled mee 2 Cor. 12.11 It was neither pride nor passion in Iob but such a compulsion as this that made him so often in this booke proclaime his owne righteousnesse Amongst whose many and grieuous afflictions as it is hard to say which was the greatest so we are sure this was not the least that hee was to wrestle with the vniust and bitter vpbraidings of vnreasonable and incompassionate men They came to visit him as friends and as friends they should haue comforted him But sorry friends they were and Iob 16.2 miserable comforters indeed not comforters but tormentours and Accusers rather than Friends Seeing Gods hand heauie vpon him for want of better or other proofe they charge him with Hypocrisie And because they would not seeme to deale all in generalities for against this generall accusation of hypocrisie it was sufficient for him as generally to pleade the truth and vprightnesse of his heart they therefore goe on more particularly but as falsly and as it were by way of instance to charge him with Oppression Thus Eliphaz by name taxeth him Chap. 22.6 c. Thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught and hast stripped the naked of their cloathing Thou hast not giuen water to
and a Spirituall man all one and by prophecying in that whole Chapter hee meaneth Preaching a 1. Cor. 14.37 If any man thinke himselfe to be a Prophet either spirituall let him acknowledge c. But howsoeuer it be for the title the thing it selfe hath very sufficient ground from that forme of speech which was vsed by our blessed Sauiour when hee conferred the Ministeriall power vpon his Disciples and is still vsed in our Church at the collation of Holy Orders b Ioh. 20.22 Accipite spiritum sanctum Receiue the holy Ghost Since then at our admission into holy Orders wee receiue a spirituall power by the imposition of hands which others haue not wee may thenceforth be iustly stiled spirituall persons The thing for which I note it is that wee should therefore endeauour our selues c 2. Tim. 1.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so to stir vp those spirituall gifts that are in vs as that by the eminencie thereof aboue that which is in ordinary temporall men we may shew our selues to be indeed what wee are in name spirituall persons If we be of the Spiritualtie there would be in vs another gates manifestation of the Spirit than is ordinarily to be found in the Temporaltie God forbid I should censure all them for intruders into the Ministery that are not gifted for the Pulpit The seuerest censurers of Non-preaching Ministers if they had liued in the beginning of the Reformation must haue been content as the times then stood to haue admitted of some thousands of non-preaching Ministers or else haue denied many Parishes and Congregations in England the benefit of so much as bare reading And I take this to bee a safe Rule Whatsoeuer thing the helpe of any circumstances can make lawfull at any time that thing may not be condemned as vniuersally and de toto genere vnlawfull I iudge no mans conscience then or calling who is in the Ministery be his gifts neuer so slender I dare not denie him the benefit of his Clergie if he can but reade if his owne heart condemne him not neither doe I. But yet this I say As the Times now are wherein learning aboundeth euen vnto wantonnesse and wherein the world is full of questions and controuersies and nouelties and niceties in Religion and wherein most of our Gentrie very women and all by the aduantage of long Peace and the custome of moderne education together with the helpe of a multitude of English books and translations are able to look through the ignorance of a Clergy-man and censure it if he bee tripping in any point of Historie Cosmography Morall or Natural Philosophy Diuinity or the Artes yea and to chastice his very method and phrase if hee speake loosely or impertinently or but improperly and if euery thing bee not point-vise I say as these times are I would not haue a Clergie-man content himselfe with euery mediocritie of gifts but by his prayers care and industrie improue those he hath so as he may be able vpon good occasion to d Rom. 1.11 import a spirituall gift to the people of God whereby they may be established and to speake with such vnderstanding and sufficiencie and pertinencie especially when he hath iust warning and a conuenient time to prepare himselfe in some good measure of proportion to the quicknesse and ripenesse of these present times as that they that loue not his coate may yet approue his labours and not find any thing therein whereat iustly to quarrell e Tit. 2.7 8. Shewing in his doctrine as our Apostle writeth to Titus vncorruptnesse grauitie seueritie sound speech that cannot be condemned that he that is of the contrarie part may be ashamed hauing no euill thing to say of him They that are called spirituall persons should striue to answer that name by a more than ordinary manifestation of spiritual gifts And thus much shall suffice vs to haue spoken concerning the name and nature of these spiritual gifts by occasion of the title here giuen them The manifestation of the Spirit Consider we next and in the second place the conueyance of these gifts ouer vnto vs §. 16. The conueyance of these spirituall graces vnto vs how wee come to haue propertie in them and by what right we can call them ours The Conueyance is by deed of gift the manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery man Vnderstand it not to be so much intended here that euery particular man hath the manifestation of the Spirit though that may also bee true in some sense as that euery man that hath the manifestation of the Spirit hath it giuen him and giuen him withal to this end that he may do good with it Like as when we say Euery man learneth to reade before he learne to write it is no part of our meaning to signifie each particular person so to doe for there be many that learne neither of both but wee onely entend to shew the receiued order of the things to be such as that euery man that learneth both learneth that first As wee conceiue his meaning who directing vs the way to such or such a place should tell vs Euery man rideth this way and as wee conceiue of that speech of the Ruler of the Feast in the Gospell a Ioh. 2.10 Euery man at the beginning setteth forth good Wine and then after that which is worse though there be many thousand men in the world that neuer rode that way or had occasion to set forth any Wine at all either better or worse very so ought we to conceiue the meaning of the vniuersall particle Euery man both in this and in many other like speeches in the Scriptures with b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 restringendum est ad praesentem hypothesin Piscat schol in Luc. 20.38 Instances see Ioh. 1.7 Rom. 5.18 c. due limitations according to the tenor and purpose of the thing spoken of It mattereth not then as to the intent of this present speech be it true be it false otherwise whether euery man haue receiued a spiritual gift or no only thus much is directly intended that c Vnicuique datur intellige Vnicuique cum datur Piscat in Schol. hîc euery man who hath receiued such a gift hath receiued it by way of gift All spirituall graces all those dispositions habits and abilities of the vnderstanding part from which the Church of God may receiue edification in any kind together with all the secondary and inferiour helpes that any way conduce thereunto they are all the good gifts of God The manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery man §. 17. is by way of gift The variety both of the gifts meete for seuerall offices and of the offices wherein to employ those gifts is wonderfull and no lesse wonderfull the distribution of both gifts and offices But all that a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in 1. Cor. hom 29 varietie is deriued from one and the
same fountaine the holy Spirit of God and all those distributions passe vnto vs by one and the same way of most free and liberall donation Haue all the Word of Wisdome Haue all the Word of Knowledge Haue all Faith Haue all Prophecy or any other spirituall grace No they haue not but b 1. Cor. 12.8 c. to one the Word of Wisedome the Word of Knowledge to another and to others other gifts There is both variety you see and distribution of these graces But yet there is the same Author of them and the same manner of communicating them For to one c Ibid. is giuen by the Spirit the Word of Wisedome to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit and to others other graces but they are all from the same Spirit and they are all giuen And as the gifts so the offices too To that question in vers 29. d Vers. 29. Are all Apostles are all Prophets are all Teachers Answer may be made as before negatiuely No they are not but some Apostles and some Prophets and some Teachers There is the like variety and distribution as before but withal the same Doner the same donation as before For e Ephes. 4.11 he gaue some Apostles and some Prophets and some Pastors and Teachers Ephes. 4. And f 1. Cor. 12.28 God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers c. beneath at vers 28. Both gifts and offices as they are à Deo for the Author so they are ex dono for the manner from God and by way of gift If we had no other the very names they carry like the superscription vpon Caesars peny were a sufficient proofe from whom wee first had them When wee call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gratias gratis datas Gifts and Graces and Manifestations of the Spirit doe wee not by the vse of those very names confesse the receipt For what more free than gift and what lesse of debt or desert than grace Heathen men indeed called the best of their perfections 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Habits but Saint Iames hath taught Christians a fitter name for ours g Iam. 1.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gifts They saw they had them and looked no farther but we must know as that we haue them so as well how wee came by them And therefore this Apostle aboue at Chap. 4. ioyneth the hauing and the receipt together as if he would haue vs behold them vno intuitu and at once h 1 Cor. 4.7 Quid habes quod non accepisti what hast thou that thou hast not receiued §. 18. not from Nature or Desert Possibly thou wilt alledge thy excellent naturall parts these were not giuen thee but thou broughtest them into the world with thee or thou wilt vouch what thou hast attained to by art and industry and these were not giuen thee but thou hast wonne them proprio Marte and therefore well deseruest to weare them Deceiue not thy selfe it is neither so nor so Our Apostle in the place now last mentioned cutteth off all such Challenges a 1 Cor. 4.7 Quis te discreuit Who made thee to differ from another Say there were as there is not such a difference in and from Nature as thou conceiuest yet still in the last resolution there must be a receipt acknowledged for euen b cum illius fit gratiae quod creatus es Hieron Epist. 139. Attendamus gratiam Dei non solùm quâ fecit nos Auggustin in Psal. 144. Nature it selfe in the last resolution is of Grace for God gaue thee that Or say there were as there is not such a difference of desert as thou pretendest yet still that were to be acknowledged as a gift too for God gaue thee that c Deut. 8.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dictum Agamemnonis ad Achillem apud Homâ—r Illad â— power whatsoeuer it was whereby thou hast attained to whatsoeuer thou hast But the truth is the difference that is in men in regard of these gifts and abilities ariseth neither from the power of nature nor from the merit of labour otherwise than as God is pleased to vse these as second causes vnder him but it commeth meerely from the good will and pleasure of that free spirit which bloweth where and when and how he listeth d 1 Cor. 12.11 diuiding his graces to euery man seuerally as he will at the eleuenth and e Ibid. 18. as it hath pleased him at verse 18. of this Chapter Nature is a necessary agent and if not either hindered by some inferiour impediment or ouer-ruled by some higher power worketh alwayes alike and produceth the same effects in all indiuiduals of the same kinde and how is it possible shee should make a difference that knoweth none And as for Desert there is indeed no such thing and therefore it can worke nothing For can God be a debtor to any man or hath any man f Rom. 11.35 giuen to him first that it might bee recompenced him againe As a lumpe of g Esay 64.8 Clay lyeth before the Potter so is all mankinde in the hand of God The Potter at his pleasure out of that h Rom. 9.21 lumpe frameth vessels of all sorts of different shape proportion strength finenesse capacitie as he thinketh good vnto the seuerall vses for which hee intendeth them So God after the good pleasure of his owne will out of mankinde as out of an vntoward lumpe of clay all of the same price equall in nature and desert maketh vp vessels for the vse of his Sanctuary by fitting seuerall men with seuerall gifts more or lesse greater or meaner better or worse according to the difference of those offices and employments for which he intendeth them It is not the Clay but the Potter that maketh the difference there neither is it any thing in man but the Spirit of God that maketh the difference here Whatsoeuer spirituall abilities wee haue we haue them of gift and by grace The manifestation of the spirit is giuen to eueryman §. 19. Generall Inferences 1. Of thankefulnesse for those we haue A point of very fruitfull consideration for men of all form whether they bee of greater or of meaner gifts And first all of vs generally may hence take two profitable directions the one if we haue any vsefull gifts whom to thanks for them the other if we want any needfull gifts where to seeke for them Whatsoeuer manifestation of the spirit thou hast it is giuen thee and to whom can thy thankes for it be due but to the Giuer Sacrifice not to thine owne a Habaâ— â— 16 nets either of Nature of Endeuour as if these Abilities were the manifestations of thine owne spirit but enlarge thy heart to magnifie the goodnesse and bounty of him who is b Heb. 12.9 Pater spirituum the Father of the spirits of all flesh and hath wrought those graces in thee by
receiued Now as for you §. 26. Speciall inferences to those of meaner gifts to whom God hath dealt these spirituall gifts with a more sparing hand the freedome of Gods distribution may be a fruitfull meditation for you also First thou hast no reason whosoeuer thou art to grudge at the scantnesse of thy gifts or to repine at the giuer How little soeuer God hath giuen thee it is more than he a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. in 1. Cor. hom 29. owed thee If the distribution of the Spirit were a matter of iustice or of debt God we know is b Acts 10.34 no accepter of persons and he would haue giuen to thee as to another But being as it is a matter of gift not of debt nor of iustice but of grace take that is thine thankfully and be content withall c Mat. 20.13.15 He hath done thee no wrong may he not doe as he will with his owne Secondly since the manifestation of the Spirit is a matter of free gift thou hast no cause to enuie thy Brother whose portion is greater Why should d Mat. 20.15 thy eye bee therefore euill against him because God hath been so good vnto him Shall the foote enuie the hand or the eare the eye because the foote cannot worke nor the eare see If the e Hic vers 17 19. whole body were hand where were the going and if the whole were eye where were the hearing or if the whole were any one member where were the body If the hand can worke which the foote cannot yet the foote can goe which the hand cannot and if the eye can see which the eare cannot yet the eare can hearken which the eye cannot And if thy brother haue some abilities which thou hast not thou art not so bare but thou hast other some againe which he hath not Say thine be meaner yet the meanest member as it hath his f Hîc vers â—1 23. necessarie office so it is not destitute of his proper comelinesse in the Body Thirdly if thy gifts bee meane thou hast this comfort withall that thy accounts will be so much the easier Merchants that haue the greatest dealings are not euer the safest men And how happy a thing had it been for many men in the world if they had had lesse of other mens goods in their hands The lesse thou hast receiued the lesse thou hast to answer for If God haue giuen thee but one single talent he will not require fiue nor if fiue ten Fourthly in the meanenesse of thy gifts thou mayst reade thy selfe a daily lecture of humilitie and humilitie alone is a thing of more value than all the perfections that are in the world besides without it This thinke that God who disposeth g Rom. 8.28 all things for the best to those that are his would haue giuen thee other and greater gifts if he had seene it so expedient for thee That therefore hee hath holden his hand and with-holden those things from thee conceiue it done either for thy former vnworthinesse and that should make thee humble or for thy future good and that should make thee also thankfull Lastly remember what the Preacher saith in Ecclos 10. h Eccl. 10.10 Maximum mediocris ingenij subsidium diligentia Sen. in controu If the iron be blunt then he must put to the more strength Many men that are well left by their friends and full of money because they think they shall neuer see the bottome of it take no care by any employment to encrease it but spend on vpon the stocke without either feare or wit they care not what nor how till they be sunke to nothing before they be aware whereas on the contrary industrious men that haue but little to begin withall yet by their care and prouidence and paines taking get vp wonderfully It is almost incredible what industrie and diligence and exercise and holy i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 31. hîc emulation which our Apostle commendeth in the last verse of this Chapter are able to effect for the bettering and encreasing of our spirituall gifts Prouided euer wee ioyne with these hearty prayers vnto and faithfull dependance vpon God for his blessing thereupon I know no so lawfull k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 25.27 Vsury as of these spirituall talents nor doe I know any so profitable Vsury or that multiplyeth so fast at this doth your vse vpon vse that doubleth the principall in seuen yeares is nothing to it Oh then l Luk 19.23 cast in thy talent into the banke make thy returnes as speedy and as many as thou canst loose not a market or a tide if it be possible m 2. Tim. 4.2 be instant in season and out of season omit no opportunitie to take in and put off all thou canst get so though thy beginnings be but small thy later end shall wonderfully encrease By this meanes thou shalt not onely profit thy self in the encrease of thy gifts vnto thy selfe but which no other Vsurie doth besides thou shalt also profit others by communicating of thy gifts vnto them Which is the proper end for which they were bestowed and of which wee are next to speake The manifestation of the Spirit is giuen to euery man to profit withall To profit whom it may be Himselfe It is true a Prou. 9.12 If thou art wise §. 27. The end of spirituall gifts not only our owne thou shalt be wise for thy selfe said Salomon and Salomon knew what belonged to wisedome aswell as another For b Syrac 14.5 Qui sibi nequam cui bonus He that is not good to himselfe it is but a chance that hee is good to any body else When we seeme to pitie a man by saying He is no mans foe but his owne or he is worst to himselfe we doe indeed but flout him and in effect call him a foole and a prodigall Such a foole is euery one that guiding the feete of others into the way of peace himselfe treadeth the paths that leadeth vnto destruction and that c 1. Cor. 9.27 preaching repentance vnto others himselfe becommeth a Castaway He that hath a gift then he should doe well to looke to his owne aswell as to the profit of others and as vnto doctrine so as well and first to d 1. Tim. 4.16 take heed vnto himselfe that so doing he may saue himselfe aswell as those that heare him §. 28. but rather the profit of others This then is to be done but this is not all that is to be done In a Sunt qui scire volunt vt aedificent et Charitas est sunt qui scire volunt vt aedificentur Prudentia est Bern. in Cant. serm 36. Wisedome wee cannot doe lesse but in Charity we are bound to do more than thus with our gifts If our owne profit onely had been intended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would haue
serued the turne aswel but the word here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which importeth such a kind of profit as redoundeth to b Vtilitatem sc. Ecclesiae Pisc. in Schol. hîc communitie such as before in the 10. Chapter he professeth himself to haue sought after c 1. Cor. 10.33 Not seeking mine owne profit he meaneth not onely his owne but the profit of many that they may be saued Wee noted it already as the maine and essentiall difference betweene those Graces of sanctification and these Graces of edification that those though they would bee made profitable vnto others also yet were principally intended for the proper good of the owner but these though they would be vsed for the owners good also yet were principally intended for the profit of others You see then what a strong obligation lyeth vpon euery man that hath receiued the Spirit conferre aliquid in publicum to cast his gift into the common treasurie of the Church to employ his good parts and spirituall graces so as they may some-way or other be profitable to his brethren and fellow-seruants in Church and Common-wealth It is an old receiued Canon Beneficium propter officium No man setteth a Steward ouer his house onely to receiue his rents and then to keepe the moneys in his hand and make no prouision out of it for his Hines and Seruants but it is the d Luk. 12.42 office of a good and wise Steward to giue to euerie one of the houshold his appointed portion at the appointed seasons And who so receiueth a spirituall gift ipso facto taketh vpon him the office and is bound to the duties of a Steward e 1. Pet. 4.10 As euery man hath receiued the gift euen so minister the same one vnto another as good stewards of the manifold graces of God 1. Pet. 4. It was not onely for orders sake and for the beautifying of his Church though that also that God f Eph. 4.11 12. gaue some Apostles and some Prophets and some Euangelists and some Pastors and Teachers but also and especially for more necessarie and profitable vses for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ephes. 4.11 12. The members of the body are not euery one for it selfe but euery one for other and all for the whole The stomake eateth not to fill it selfe but to nourish the body the eye seeth not to please it selfe but to espie for the body the foote moueth not to exercise it selfe but to carry the body the hand worketh not to helpe it selfe but to maintaine the body euery g Eph. 4.16 ioynt supplieth something according to the effectuall working in the measure of euery part for the fit ioyning together and compacting and encreasing of the body to the edifying it selfe in loue h Hîc vers 27 Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular §. 29. in respect 1. of the Giuer Now this necessitie of employing spirituall gifts to the good and profit of others ariseth first from the will and intent of the Giuer my Text sheweth plainely what that intent was The manifestation of the Spirit was therefore giuen to euery man that he might profit withall Certainely as a Deus natura nihil faciunt frustrae nature doth not so much lesse doth the God of Nature make any thing to no purpose or barely for shew but for vse and the vse for which all these things were made and giuen is b 1. Cor. 14.26 edification He that hath an estate made ouer to him in trust and for vses hath in equitie therein no estate at all if hee turne the commodities of the thing some other way and not to those speciall vses for which he was so estated in it So hee that employeth not his spirituall gift to the vse for which it was giuen to the c in Communem vtilitatem collatum est Erasm. in paraphr hîc profit of the Church hee hath de iure forfeited it to the Giuer And we haue sometimes knowne him de facto to take the forfeiture as from the vnprofitable seruant in the Gospel d Mat. 25.28 See Hieron in Agg. 2.9 Take the talent from him Wee haue sometimes seene the experiment of it Men of excellent parts by slackning their zeale to haue lost their very gifts and by neglecting the vse to haue lost the Principall finding a sensible decay in those powers which they were slothfull to bring into act It is a iust thing with the e Iam. 1.17 Father of Lights when hee hath lighted any man a candle by bestowing spirituall gifts vpon him and lent him a candlestick too whereon to set it by prouiding him a slay in the Church if that man shall then f Matth. 5.15 hide his candle vnder a bushell and enuie the light and comfort of it to them that are in the house either to remoue his candlesticke or to put out his candle in obscuritie As the intent of the Giuer so secondly §. 30. 2. of the Gift the nature and qualitie of the gift calleth vpon vs for emploiment It is not with these spirituall gifts as with most other things which when they are emparted are impaired and lessened by communicating Here is no place for that allegation of the Virgins a Matth. 25.9 Ne non sufficiat Lest there be not enough for you and for vs. These graces are of the number of those things that communicate themselues by Multiplication not Diuision and by diffusion without waste As the seale maketh impression in the waxe and as fire conueigheth heate into Iron and as one candle tindeth a thousand all without losse of figure heate or light Had euer any man lesse knowledge or wit or learning by teaching others had hee not rather more b Ecâ—les 12.9 The more wise the Preacher was the more he taught the people knowledge saith Salomon Eccles. 12. and certainely the more hee taught them knowledge the more his owne wisedome increased As the c 4. King 4.4 Widowes oyle increased not in the vessell but by powring out and as the d Ioh. 6.11 barley bread in the Gospell multiplied not in the whole loafe but by breaking and distributing and as the e 2. Cor. 9.10 graine bringeth encrease not when it lyeth on a heape in the garner but by scattering vpon the land so are these spirituall graces best improued not by f Absconsione minuitur communicatione multiplicatur Cassiod in Epist. keeping them together but by distributing them abroad Tutius incredito quà m in sudario the talent gathereth nothing in the napkin vnlesse it be rust and canker but trauelling in the banke besides the good it doth as it passeth to and fro it euer g Quò in plures diffunditur â—ò redundantior manet fortè leg manat in suum fontem recurrit In se enim refluit vbertas
in such as these Hypocrites may goe very farre as to the outward semblance and performance Note secondly that I speake not of the inward power and reality of these graces for Castawayes and Hypocrites not hauing vnion with God by a liuely faith in his Sonne nor communion with him by the effectuall working of his spirit haue no part nor fellowship in these things which are proper to the chosen and called of God and peculiar to those that are his b 2 Tit. 2.14 peculiar people but I speake only of the outward performances and exercises of such actions as may seeme to flow from such spirituall graces habitually rooted in the heart when as yet they may spring also and when they are found in vnregenerate men doe so spring from Nature perhaps moralized or otherwise restrayned but yet vnrenewed by sauing and sanctifying Grace Note thirdly that when I say an Hypocrite may goe very farre in such outward performances by the Hypocrite is meant not only the grosse or formall Hypocrite but euery naturall and vnregenerate man including also the Elect of God before their effectuall calling and conuersion as also Reprobates and Castawayes for the whole time of their liues all of which may haue such faire semblances of the forenamed Graces and of other like them as not only others who are to iudge the best by the Law of Charity but themselues also through the wretched deceitfulnesse of their own wicked and corrupt hearts may mistake for those very Graces they resemble The Parable of the seed sowen in the stony ground §. 7. with the application may serue for a full both declaration and proofe hereof which seed is said to haue sprouted forth immediately a Matth. 13.5 springing vp forthwith after it was sowen but yet neuer came to good but speedily withered away because for want of deepnesse of earth it had not b Luk. 8.6 moysture enough to feed it to any perfection of growth and ripenesse And that branch of the Parable our blessed Sauiour himselfe in his exposition applyeth to such hearers as c Math. 13.20 Mark 4.16 when they heare the word immediately receiued it with gladnesse and who so forward as they to repent and beleeue and reforme their liues but yet all that forwardnesse commeth to nothing they endure but for a short time d Math. 13.21 Mark 4.17 because they haue no roote in themselues but want the sap and moysture of Grace to giue life and lasting to those beginnings and imperfect offers and essayes of goodnesse they made shew of Here are good affections to see to vnto the good word of God they receiue it with ioy it worketh not only vpon their iudgements but it seemeth also to reioyce yea after a sort to rauish their hearts so as they feele a kinde of tickling pleasure and delight in it which the Apostle calleth e Heb. 6.4.5 tasting of the heauenly gift and the good word of God and the powers of the world to come Heb. 6. And as they receiue the seed ioyfully so it appeareth quickly it springeth vp anon in the likenesse of Repentance and Faith and Obedience and newnesse of life They may bee touched with a deepe feeling of their sinnes and with heauy hearts and many teares confesse and bewaile them and not only promise but also purpose amendment They may bee superficially affected with and finde some ouerly comfort and refreshing from the contemplation of those gracious promises of mercy and reconciliation and saluation which are contained in the glorious Gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ and haue some degrees of perswasion that those promises are true and some flashes of confidence withall of their own personall interest therein They may reforme themselues in the generall course of their liues in sundry particulars refraining from some grosse disorders and auoyding the occasions of them wherein they haue formerly liued and delighted and practicing many outward duties of Piety and Charity conformably to the letter of the Lawes of both Tables and misliking and opposing against the common errours or corruptions of the times and places wherein they liue and all this to their owne and others thinking with as great zeale vnto godlinesse and as thorough indignation against sinne as any others All this they may doe and yet all the while be rotten at the heart wholly carnall and vn-renewed quite empty of sound Faith and Repentance and Obedience and euery good grace full of damnable Pride and Hypocrisie and in the present state of damnation and in the purpose of God Reprobates and Castawayes §. 8. and proofe thereof Examples hereof wee haue in a 1 Sam. 28.9 Sauls care for the destroying of Witches in Iehu's zeale in killing Baals Priests 4. King 10.16.28 in c Mark 6.20 Herods hearing of Iohn Baptist gladly and doing many things thereafter and to omit others in this wicked King Ahabs present fit of Repentance and Humiliation At all which and sundry other like effects wee shall the lesse need to maruell if wee shall seriously consider the Causes and Reasons thereof I will name but a few of many and but name them neither First great is the force of Naturall Conscience euen in the most wicked men especially when it is awakened by the hand of God in any heauy affliction or by the voyce of God threatning it with vengeance it pursueth the guilty soule with continuall and restlesse clamours and hee seeth that something hee must needs doe if hee knew what to stop the mouth of Conscience and so hee falleth a repenting and reforming and resoluing of a new course which though it bee not syncere and so cannot worke a perfect cure vpon a wounded conscience but that still it ranckleth inward yet it giueth some present ease and allayeth the anguish of it for the time Secondly God will haue the Power of his owne Ordinance sometimes manifested euen vpon those that hate it as hee got himselfe d Exod. 14.4 honour vpon Pharaoh and the Egyptians that his owne faithfull ones may see and admire the power of that holy seed whereby they are begotten againe from the dead not doubting but that the Gospell will proue e Rom. 1.16 the power of God vnto saluation to all that beleeue when they behold in it the power of conuiction vpon many that beleeue not Thirdly God in his most wise and vnsearchable prouidence so ordereth and disposeth not only outward things but euen the hearts and wills and thoughts and actions of men permitting his children to fall backwards into sinnes and bringing on his enemies towards goodnesse so farre as hee thinketh good as for other purposes so for this end also among the rest that man might not bee able f See Eccle. 9.1 from those things hee seeth happen vnto other men or done by them to iudge infallibly of the state of his brothers soule God reseruing this Royalty vnto himselfe to bee the only g Iere.
ends and Dauids children c 2 Sam. 13.29 Ammon and d 2 Sam. 18.15 Absalon and the e Num. 16.37.33 little ones of Dathan and Abiram and others Some haue had losses and reproaches and manifold other distresses and afflictions in sundry kindes too long to rehearse And all these temporall iudgements their fathers sinnes might bring vpon them euen as the faith and vertues and other graces of the fathers doe sometimes conueigh temporall blessings to their posterity So Ierusalem was saued in the siege by Sonacherib for f Esay 37.35 Dauids sake many yeares after his death Esay 37.35 And the succession of the Crowne of Israel continued in the line of g 4 King 10.30 Iehu for foure descents for the zeale that hee shewed against the worshippers of Baal and the house of Ahab So then men may fare the better and so they may fare the worse too for the vertues or vices of their Ancestors Outwardly and temporally they may but spiritually and eternally they cannot For as neuer yet any man went to heauen for his fathers goodnesse so neither to hell for his fathers wickednesse §. 13. An Obiection with the first If it be obiected that for any people or person to suffer a a Amos 8.11 famine of the word of God to bee depriued of the vse and benefit of the sacred and sauing ordinances of God to be left in vtter darkenesse without the least glimpse of the glorious light of the Gospell of God without which ordinarily there can be no knowledge of Christ nor meanes of Faith nor possibility of Saluation to be thus visited is more than a temporall punishment and yet this kinde of spirituall iudgement doth sometimes light vpon a Nation or people for the vnbeliefe and vnthankfulnesse and impenitencie and contempt of their Progenitors whilest they had the light and that therefore the Children for the Parents and Posterity for their Ancestrie are punished not only with temporall but euen with spirituall iudgements also If any shall thus obiect one of these two answers may satisfie them First if it should bee granted the want of the Gospell to be properly a spirituall iudgement yet it would not follow that one man were punished spiritually for the fault of another For betwixt priuate persons and publike societies there is this difference that in priuate persons euery succession maketh a change so that when the father dyeth and the sonne commeth after him there is not now the same person that was before but another but in Cities and Countries and Kingdomes and all publike societies succession maketh no change so that when b Eccles. 1.4 one generation passeth and another commeth after it there is not another City or Nation or People than there was before but the same If then the people of the same land should in this generation bee visited with any such spirituall iudgement as is the remoueall of their Candlesticke and the want of the Gospell for the sinnes and impieties of their Ancestors in some former generations yet this ought no more to bee accounted the punishment of one for another than it ought to be accounted the punishing of one for another to punish a man in his old age for the sinnes of his youth For as the body of a man though the primitiue moysture bee continually spending and wasting therein and that decay bee still repayred by a daily supply of new and alimentall moysture is yet truely the same Body and as a Riuer fed with a liuing spring though the water that is in the channell be continually running out and other water freshly succeeding in the place and roome thereof is truely the same Riuer so a Nation or People though one generation is euer passing away and another comming on is yet truely the same Nation or People after an hundred or a thousand yeares which it was before §. 14. and second answer thereunto Againe secondly the want of the Gospell is not properly a spirituall but rather a temporall punishment Wee call it indeed sometimes a spirituall Iudgement as wee doe the free vse of it a spirituall Blessing because the Gospell was written for and reuealed vnto the Church by the spirit of God and also because it is the holy ordinance of God and the proper instrument whereby ordinarily the spirituall life of Faith and of Grace is conueighed into our soules But yet properly and primarily those only are a Epli. 1.3 spirituall blessings which are immediately wrought in the soule by the spirit of God and can neuer be lost where they are once placed and are proper and peculiar to those that are borne againe of the spirit and all those on the contrary which may bee subiect to decay or are common to the reprobate with the elect or may turne to the hurt of the receiuer are to be esteemed temporall blessings and not spirituall And such a blessing is the outward partaking of the word and ordinances of God the want thereof therefore consequently is to be esteemed a temporall iudgement rather than spirituall So that notwithstanding this instance still the former consideration holdeth good that God sometimes visiteth the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children with outward and temporall but neuer with spirituall and eternall punishments Now if there could no more bee said to this doubt but only this it were sufficient to cleere Gods Iustice since wee haue beene already instructed that these temporall iudgements are not alwayes properly and formally the punishments of sinne §. 15. Temporall euils of children though not properly For as outward blessings are indeed no true blessings properly because Wicked men haue their portion in them as well as the Godly and they may turne and often do to the greater hurt of the soule and so become rather Punishments than Blessings so to the contrary outward punishments are no true punishments properly because the Godly haue their share in them as deepe as the Wicked and they may turne and often doe to the greater good of the soule and so become rather Blessings than Punishments If it be yet said But why then doth God threaten them as Punishments §. 16. are yet after a sort punishments to the Fathers and how if they be not so I answer First because they seeme to be punishments and are by most men so accounted for their grieuousnesse though they bee not properly such in themselues Secondly from the common euent because vt plurimùm and for the most part they proue punishments to the sufferer in case hee bee not bettered as well as grieued by them Thirdly because they are indeed a kinde of punishment though not then deserued but formerly Fourthly and most to the present purpose because not seldome the a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. in Gen. hom 29. Filij bona valetudo felicitas patrimonium pertiâ—et ad patrem Felicior futurus si saluum habuerit filium infelicioâ— si amiserit Senec. 5. de
from the duties of all other Callings as if their spirituall freedome in Christ had cancelled ipso facto all former obligations whether of Nature or Ciuility The Husband would put away his wife the seruant dis-respect his master euery other man breake the bonds of relation to euery other man and all vnder this pretence and vpon this ground that Christ hath made them free In this passage of the Chapter the Apostle occasionally correcteth this errour principally indeed as the present Argument led him in the particular of Marriage but with a farther more vniuersal extent to all outward states and conditions of life The summe of his Doctrine this He that is yoaked with a wife must not put her away but count her worthy of all loue he that is bound to a master must not despise him but count him worthy of all honour euery other man that is tyed in any relation to any other man must not neglect him but count him worthy of all good offices and ciuill respects sutable to his place and person though Shee or He or that other be Infidels and Vnbeleeuers The Christian Calling doth not at all preiudice much lesse ouerthrow it rather establisheth and strengtheneth those interests that arise from naturall relations or from voluntary contracts either domesticall or ciuill betwixt Man and Man The generall rule to this effect he conceiueth in the forme of an Exhortation that euery man notwithstanding his calling vnto liberty in Christ abide in that station wherein God hath placed him containe himselfe within the bounds thereof and cheerefully contentedly vndergoe the duties that belong therto vers 17. As God hath distributed to euery man as the Lord hath called euery one so let him walke And lest this Exhortation as it fareth with most other especially such as come in but vpon c Ex incidenti dat documentum generale Lyran. ad vers 17. the by as this doth should be slenderly regarded the more fully to d Quod vt plenè commendet reiterat Ambros in 1. Cor. cap. 37. commend it to their consideration practise he repeateth it once againe vers 20. Let euery man abide in the same calling wherein he was called And now againe once more in the words of this verse concluding therewith the whole discourse into which he had digressed Brethren let euery man wherin he is called therin abide with God From which words §. 2. The Pertinency I desire it may be no preiudice to my present discourse if I take occasion to entreat at this time of a very needefull argument viz. concerning the Necessity Choyce and Vse of particular Callings Which whilest I doe if any shall blame me for shaking hands with my Text let such know First that it will not be very charitably done to passe a hard censure vpon anothers labour no nor yet very prouidently for their owne good to slight a profitable truth for some little seeming impertinency Secondly that the points proposed are indeede not impertinent the last of them which supposeth also the other two being the very substance of this Exhortation and all of them such as may without much violence be drawne from the very words themselues at leastwise if we may be allowed the liberty which is but reasonable to take-in also the other two verses the 17. and the 20. in sense and for substance all one with this as anon in the seuerall handling of them will in parr appeare But howsoeuer Thirdly which S. Bernard deemed a sufficient Apology for himselfe in a case of like nature a Nouerint me nâ—n â—à m inâ—endisse exponere Euangelium quà m ex Euangelio sumere occasionem loquendi quod loqui delectabat Bernard super Messus est Nouerint me non tam intendisse c. let them know that in my choyce of this Scripture my purpose was not so much to binde my self to the strict exposition of the Apostolicall Text as to take occasion there-from to deliuer what I desired to speake and judged expedient for you to heare concerning 1. the Necessity 2. the Choyce and 3. the Vse of particular Callings §. 3. and Needfulnesse of the Points Points if euer needefull to bee taught and knowne certainly in these dayes most Wherein some habituated in idlenesse will not betake themselues to any Calling like a heauy jade that is good at bit and nought else These would bee soundly spurred vp and whipped on end Othersome through weakenesse doe not make a good choyce of a fit Calling like a young vnbroken thing that hath mettall and is free but is euer wrying the wrong way These would be fairely checkt turned into the right way and guided with a steddy skilfull hand A third sort and I thinke the greatest through vnsettlednesse or discontentednesse or other vntoward humour walke not soberly and vprightly and orderly in their Calling like an vnruly Coult that will ouer hedge and ditch no ground will hold him no fence turne him These would be well fettered and side-hanckled for leaping The first sort are to be taught the Necessity of a Calling the second to be directed for the Choyce of their Calling the third to be bounded and limitted in the Exercise of their Calling Of which three in their order and of the First first the Necessity of a Calling §. 4. The Generall and the Particular Calling The Scriptures speake of two kinds of Vocations or Callings the one ad Foedus the other ad Munus The vsuall knowne termes are the Generall and the Particular Calling Vocatio ad Foedus or the Generall Calling is that wherewith God calleth vs either outwardly in the ministery of his Word or inwardly by the efficacy of his Spirit or iointly by both to the faith and obedience of the Gospell and to the embracing of the Couenant of grace and of mercy and saluation by Iesus Christ. Which is therefore termed the Generall Calling not for that it is of larger extent than the other but because the thing whereunto we are thus called is one and the same and common to all that are called The same duties and the same promises and euery way the same conditions Here is no difference in regard of Persons but a Eph. 4.4.5 one Lord one faith one baptisme one body and one spirit euen as we are all called in one hope of our Calling That 's the Generall Calling Vocatio ad Munus or our Particular Calling is that wherewith God enableth vs and directeth vs and putteth vs on to some speciall course and condition of life wherein to employ our selues and to exercise the gifts he hath bestowed vpon vs to his glory and the benefit of our selues and others And it is therefore termed a Particular Calling not as if it concerned not all in generall for wee shall proue the contrary anon but because the thing whereunto men are thus called is not one and the same to all but differenced with much variety according to the
11.20 17.10 searcher of the hearts and reynes of others For these and sundry other Reasons it commeth to passe that Hypocrites and Castawayes doe oftentimes goe so farre as they doe in the outward performances of Holy duties §. 9. Inferences thence 1. of terrour against prophanenesse Now if men may goe thus farre and yet bee in the state of damnation what hope then First of heauen for such prophane vngodly wretches as are so farre from hauing a 2 Tim. 3.5 the power as that they haue not so much as the least shew of godlinesse What will become of those that b Psalm 1.1 sit them downe in the chaire of scorners and despise the good word of God and make a scoffe of those men that desire to square their liues by that rule when some of them that c Mark 6.20 heare it gladly and d Math. 13.20 receiue it with ioy and are content to bee ordered by it in many things shall yet goe to hell Certainly Ahab and Herod and such cursed miscreants shall rise vp in iudgement against these men and condemne them and they shall haue e Math. 24.51 their portion with Hypocrites shall I say Alas wofull is their case if their portion fall but there but let them take heede lest their portion be not so good as the Hypocrites and that it be not ten times easier for Ahab and Herod and the whole crew of such Hypocrites at the day of iudgement than for them Secondly what a starke shame would it be for vs §. 10. 2. of exhortation to abound in the fruites of godlinesse who haue receiued the a Rom. 8.23 first fruites of the Spirit not to bring forth b Gal. 5.22 the fruites of that spirit in some good abundance in the frequent and comfortable and actuall exercises of those habituall graces that are in vs of Faith Repentance Loue Reformation Zeale and the rest seeing the counterfeits of these graces are oftentimes so eminent euen in Hypocrites and Castawayes Shall a piece of rotten wood or a glow-worme shine so bright in the darke and our holy lampes fed with oyle from heauen burne so dimme Nay c Math 5.16 let our lights also as well as theirs shine before men yea and out-shine theirs too that men may see our truely good workes as well as their seeming ones and glorifie our Father which is in heauen Although all be not gold that glistereth yet pity it is that true gold should gather rust and lose the lustre for want of vsing when Brasse and Copper and baser mettals are kept bright with scowring Let not bleare-eyed Leah haue cause to reioyce against beautifull Rachel or to insult ouer her barrennesse neither let vs who professâ— our selues to be d Math. 11.19 Wisedomes children suffer our selues to be out-stript by Natures brats in justifying our Mother Rather let their splendida peccata prouoke vs to a godly iealousie and emulation and spurre vs vp to the quickning of those Graces God hath giuen vs that the power of Godlinesse in vs may bee at least as fruitfull in all outward performances as the shew of it is in them §. 11. 3. of Admonition to forbear iudging Thirdly this should teach vs caution in our iudging of other mens estates Wee are apt to offend both wayes If we see a man ouertaken with some grosse scandalous sinne as Drunkennesse Adultery Oppression or Periurie but especially if hee liue long therein by and by he is a Reprobate with vs or at least he is not yet in the state of Grace Thus we speake thus we iudge but we consider not the whilest how farre and how long God in his holy wisedome may suffer foule temptations to preuaile against his Chosen ones On the other side if we see a man forward in the duties of Religion charitably affected to the poore iust vpright in his dealings with men stoutly opposing against common corruptions suffering for the profession of the truth by and by he is a Saint with vs and wee sticke not sometimes in our folly to wish that our soules might speed as that mans soule at a venture But we consider not the whilest how farre the force of Naturall Conscience and common Morall Grace if you will allow me to speake so improperly may leade a man onward vnto all outward performances who was yet neuer effectually called nor truely sanctified And yet busie fooles thâ—t wee are wee cannot keepe our selues in our owne bounds but we must be medling with Gods prerogatiue and thrusting our selues into his chaire and be iudging of our brethren whose hearts we are so farre from knowing as that wee are scarce well acquainted with our owne But what haue wee to doe eyther with one or other what lawfull commission haue we at all to iudge or what certaine euidence haue we whereby to iudge Infallible signes we cannot haue from anie outward things eyther of the want or of the hauing of grace in other men yet of the two farre more pregnant probabilities of the want than of the hauing of grace Because there may be such an open course held in euill things as wee may iustly doubt whether such a course can stand with grace or no whereas there cannot bee anie course held in good things outwardly but such as may stand with Hypocrisie What are wee then to doe Euen this to vse the iudgement of Probabilitie hoping with cheerefulnesse that there is Grace where we see comfortable signes of it and to vse the iudgement of Charity still a 1. Cor. 13.7 hoping the best though not without some b Iude 23. feare that there may be Grace where we see feareful signes of the want of it But for the iudgement of Infallibility either pro or con what sinfull man dareth challenge that vnto himselfe vnlesse it bee that c 2. Thes. 2.3 man of sinne who hath nestled himselfe higher than into Peters Chaire into the Throne of God sitting in the Temple of God and there determining as God and with his breath damning and sainting whom he listeth But let him goe and let this bee our direction in this point Thinke wee comfortably where wee see no reason to the contrary Hope wee charitably euen where wee doe see some reason to the contrary But iudge wee neither way peremptorily and definitiuely whatsoeuer probabilities we see either way sith we know not how far a sanctified beleeuer may fall into the snares of sinne nor how farre a gracelesse Hypocrite may goe in the shew of Godlinesse That is the third Vse §. 12 4. of directioÌ„ for the tryall of sincerity The last and maine Inference is for selfe-tryall For if a man may goe thus farre and yet be an Hypocrite bee a Castaway it will concerne euery one of vs as we desire to haue comfortable both assurance of present Grace that wee are not Hypocrites and hope of future Glory that we are not Castawaies so to
and call vpon him daily for mercy vpon the land and that e Ezek 9.4 weepe and mourne in secret and vpon their beds for your abominations whom you hate and despise and persecute and defame and account as the very scumme of the people and the refuse and off-scouring of all things to whom yet you owe your preseruation Surely if it were not for some godly Iehoshaphat or other whose f 4. King 3.14 presence God regardeth among you if it were not for some zealous Moses or other that g Psal. 106.23 standeth in the gap for you Gods wrath had entred in vpon you long ere this as a mighty breach of water and as an ouerflowing deluge ouerwhelmed you and you had beene swept away as with the h Esay 14.23 besome of destruction and deuoured as stubble before the fire It is i Iob 22.30 the innocent that deliuereth the land and repriueth it from destruction when the sentence of desolation is pronounced against it and it is deliuered by the purenesse of his hands O the goodnesse of our God! that would haue spared the fiue Cities of the salt sea if among so many thousands of beastly filthy persons there had been found but k Gen. 18.32 ten righteous ones and that was for each city but two persons nay that would haue pardoned Ierusalem if in all the Ier. 5.1 streetes and broad places thereof replenished with a world of Idolaters and Swearers and Adulterers and Oppressours there had bin found but one single man that executed iudgement and sought the truth from his heart But on the madnesse of the men of this foolish world withall who seek to doe them most mischiefe of all others who of all others do them most good thirsting most after their destruction who are the chiefest instruments of their preseruation Oh foolish and mad world if thou hadst but wit enough yet yet to hugge and to make much of that little flocke the hostages of thy peace and the earnest of thy tranquillity if thou wouldest but m Luke 19.42 know euen thou at least in this thy day the things that belong vnto thy peace Thou art yet happy that God hath a remnant in thee and if thou knewest how to make vse of this happinesse at least in this thy day by honouring their persons by procuring their safety and welfare by following their examples by praying for their continuance thou mightest be still and more and euer happy But if these things that belong vnto thy peace bee now hidden from thine eyes if these men that prolong thy peace and prorogue thy destruction bee now despised in thy heart in this day of thy peace God is iust Thou knowest not how soone they may be taken from thee and though he doe not bring the euill vpon thee in their daies when they are gone thou knowest not how soone vengeance may ouertake thee and n Psal. 50.22 then shall he teare thee in pieces and there shall be none left to deliuer thee I haue now done §. 26. the Conclusion Beseech wee God the Father of mercies for his deare sonne Iesus Christ his sake to shed his Holy Spirit into our hearts that by his good blessing vpon vs that which hath beene presently deliuered agreeably to his holy truth and word may take roote downewards in our hearts and bring forth fruite vpwards in our liues and conuersations and so to assist vs euer with his grace that we may with humble confidence lay hold on his mercies with cheerefull reuerence tremble at his iudgements by vnfained repentance turne from vs what he hath threatned and by vnwearied Obedience assure vnto vs what he hath promised To which Holy Father Sonne and Spirit three persons and c. At Grantham Linc. 19. Iun. 1621. THE THIRD SERMON 3 KINGS 21.29 I will not bring the euill in his dayes but in his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house §. 1. The doubts proposed I Come now this third time to entreate of this Scripture and by Gods helpe to finish it Of the three parts whereof heretofore propounded viz. 1. Ahabs Humiliation 2. the Suspension of his iudgement for life 3. and the Deuolution of it vpon Iehoram the two former hauing beene already handled the last only now remaineth to bee considered of In the prosecution whereof as heretofore wee haue cleared Gods Holinesse and Truth so wee shall be now occasioned to cleare his Iustice from such imputations as might seeme to lye vpon it from this Act. And that in three respects accordingly as Iehoram who standeth here punishable for Ahabs sinne may be considered in a threefold reference to Ahab that is to say either relatè as the sonne of Ahab or disparatè as another man from Ahab or comparatè as a man a 4 King 3.2 not altogether so bad as Ahab Now what b Quisquam est hominum qui fuisse illum Iouem Deum credat tà m iniustū tam impium nec mortulium saltem constituta seruantem apud quos nefas haberetur magnum alterum pro altero plect◠aliena delicta aliorum ceruicibus vindicari Arnob. contr Gent. lib. 7. Iustice first to punish the sonne for the father or indeed secondly any one man for another but most of all thirdly the lesser offender for the greater It is not a matter of so much difficulty §. 2. for resolution whereof as at the first appearance it seemeth to cleere these doubts if all things thereto appertaining bee duly and distinctly considered The greatest trouble will bee the things being of more variety than hardnesse to sort them in such manner as that we may therein proceed orderly and without confusion Euermore we know Certainties must rule Vncertainties and cleare truths doubtfull it will bee therefore expedient for vs for the better guiding of our iudgements first to lay downe some Certainties and then afterwards by them to measure out fit resolutions to the doubts and then lastly from the premises to raise some few instructions for our vse The first Certainty then §. 3. the first Certaintie and a maine one is this Howsoeuer things appeare to vs yet God neither is nor can be vniust as not in any other thing so neither in his punishments a Rom. 3.5.6 Is God vnrighteous that taketh vengeance God forbid for then how shall God iudge the world b Gen. 18.25 shall not the Iudge of all the earth doe right Indeed the reasons of his Iustice oftentimes may bee oftentimes are vnknowne to vs but they neuer are they neuer can be vnrighteous in him If in a deepe point of Law a learned discreete Iudge should vpon sufficient grounds giue sentence flat contrary to what an ordinary by-slander would thinke reason as many times it falleth out it is not for the grieued party to complaine of iniustice done him hee should rather impute what is done to want of skill in himselfe than of
was threatned though not presently is yet e 4. Kin. 10.10 at last performed yet where is his Iustice the while being a f 1. Pet. 1.17 God that without respect of persons rendereth to euery man according to his own workes and will g Exod. 34.7 not acquite the guilty neither condemne the innocent thus to seuer the Guilt the Punishment and to lay the Iudgement which hee spareth from the Father vpon the Sonne from the more wicked Father vpon the lesse wicked Sonne §. 3 and Diuision of the Text. Thus God to magnifie the riches of his Mercy is content to put his Holinesse and his Truth and his Iustice to a kinde of venture That so his afflicted ones might know on what obiect especially to fasten the eies of their soules not on his Holinesse not on his Truth not on his Iustice not onely nor chiefly on these but on his Mercy Hee seeketh more generall glory in and would haue vs take more special knowledge of and affoordeth vs more singular comfort from his Mercy than any of the rest as if he desired we should esteeme him vnholy or vntrue or vniust or any thing rather than vnmercifull Yet is he neither vnholy nor vntrue nor vniust in any of his proceedings with the sons of men but a Psal 145.17 righteous in all his waies and holy in all his workes and true in all his words And in this particular of his proceedings with King Ahab at this time I hope by his blessed assistance so to acquite his Holinesse and Truth and Iustice from all sinister imputations as that hee may be not onely magnified in his mercy but iustified also in the rest and b Psal 51.4 cleare when he is iudged as we shall be thereunto occasioned now and hereafter in the handling of this Scripture Wherein are three maine things considerable First the Ground or rather the Occasion of Gods dealing so fauourably with Ahab namely Ahabs humiliation Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before me because hee humbleth himselfe before me I will not c. Secondly the great Fauour shewed to Ahab thereupon namely the suspension of a Iudgement denounced I will not bring the euill in his dayes Thirdly the Limitation of that fauour it is but a suspension for a time no vtter remoueall of the iudgement But in his sonnes dayes will I bring the euill vpon his house Wherein wee shall be occasioned to enquire how the first of these may stand with Gods Holinesse the second with his Truth the third with his Iustice. And first of Ahabs humiliation Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before mee This Ahab was King of Israel §. 4. Ahabs person considered that is King ouer those ten Tribes which reuolted from Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon and claue to Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat Search the whole sacred storie in the bookes of Kings and Chronicles and vnlesse we will be so verie charitable as notwithstanding manie strong presumptions of his Hypocrisie to exempt Iehu the sonne of Nimshi and that is but one of twentie wee shall not finde in the whole List and Catalogue of the Kings of Israel one good one that claue vnto the Lord with an vpright heart Twentie Kings of Israel and not one or but one good and yet than this Ahab of the twentie not one worse It is said in the sixteenth Chapter of this booke that a 3. King 16.30 Ahab the sonne of Omri did euill in the sight of the Lord aboue all that were before him at verse 30 at verse 33. that b Ibid. 33. he did more to prouoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings of Israel that were before him and at verse 25. of this Chapter that c vers 25. hîc there was none like vnto Ahab which did sell himself to worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. An Oppressour hee was and a Murtherer and an Idolater and a Persecuter of that holy Truth which God had plentifully reuealed by his Prophets and powerfully confirmed by Miracles and mercifully declared by many gracious deliuerances euen to him in such manner as that hee could not but know it to be the Truth and therfore an Hypocrite and in all likelihoood an obstinate sinner against the holy Ghost and a Castaway §. 5. and his carriage with the Obseruations thence This is Ahab this the man But what is his carriage what doth hee hee humbleth himselfe before the Lord. Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe before me The manner and occasion of his humbling is set downe a little before at verse 27. And it came to passe when Ahab heard those words the words of a vers 20. 24. hîc Eliah the Prophet dealing plainly and roundly with him for his hatefull Oppression and Murther that he rent his cloathes and put sack-cloth vpon his flesh and fasted and lay in sack-cloth and went softly And that is the humbling here spoken and allowed of and for which God here promiseth that hee will not bring the euill in his daies Lay all all this together the man and his ill conditions and his present carriage with the occasion and successe of it and it offereth three notable things to our consideration See first how farre an Hypocrite a Castaway may goe in the outward performance of holy duties and particularly in the practice of Repentance here is Ahab humbled such a man and yet so penitent See againe secondly how deepe Gods word though in the mouth but of weake instruments when he is pleased to giue strength vnto it pierceth into the consciences of obstinate sinners and bringeth the proudest of them vpon their knees in despight of their hearts here is Ahab quelled by Eliah such a great one by such a weake one See yet againe thirdly how prone God is to mercy and how ready to apprehend any aduantage as it were and occasion to shew compassion here is Ahab humbled and his iudgement adiourned such a reall substantiall fauour and yet vpon such an empty shadow of repentance Of these three at this time in their order and of the first first An Hypocrite may goe very farre in the outward performances of holy duties §. 6. Obseru 1. How far an Hypocrite may goe in the performance of holy duties For the right conceiuing of which assertion Note first that I speake not now of the common graces of Illumination and Edification and good dexterity for the practising of some particular Calling which gifts with sundrie other like are oftentimes found euen in such apparantly wicked and prophane men as haue not so much as a 2 Mim 3.5 the forme much lesse the power of godlinesse but I speake euen of those Graces which de totâ specie if they bee true and syncere are the vndoubted blessed fruites of Gods holy renewing Spirit of sanctification such as are Repentance Faith Hope Ioy Humility Patience Temperance Meekenesse Zeale Reformation c.