ioyned his word and his spirit togither by which as by a true tuchstone all false loue is discerned from true loue and all false peace and false ioy is tried from true peace and true ioy and so of the rest and therfore is the word called the sword of the spirite because it doth not try nothing nor worke any thing ordinarily but by the word of God And last of al least Sathan should abuse delude the children of God with the manifold corruptions imperfections and rebellious thoughtes of their heartes and make them conclude thereupon that they haue not the spirit of God They are to know that the spirite of God in the elect is not alwaies felt in themselues nor perceiued in them by others in a like measure but it is in them as the sunne which sometime shineth and sendeth foorth her light dispersing the clouds and somtimes againe is hidden vnder the cloudes It is in them as the ebbing and flowing of the sea It is in them as the waxing and waning of the Moone It is in them as the fire when it is kindled and when it is raked vp in the ashes And it is within them as the sap of the tree is in Winter and Sommer sometime in all the branches and sometime gone to the roote And as the elect are like Trees planted by the waters side which doe bring forth fruite in due season so the same trees haue both a summering and a wintering a spring time and a fall of the leafe when winter come they seeme as though they were dead but in summer they shall waxe fresh and greene againe The fruits of the spirite in the elect children of God are likewise like the fruit of the tree which is first in the sap only then it commeth into buds and then into blossomes whereof some are smitten with blasting some are nipped with frost cold some are eaten with worms but if they escape al these then from blossoms they come to be appls and at the first they are green and louely and many doe lust to eate of them but they are still hard and harshe but in time they come to their full growth And when they are ripe then are they eyther shaken downe with the winde and swine deuour them or beaten downe with cudgels and theeues do steale them or if they be fairely gathered yet are they pluckt from the tree that hath borne them then are they bought and sold whereof some perish and are cast out of dores the fairest and the sweetest is brought either to fire to be rosted or to the boord to be pared and cut in peeces and so to be eaten then the tree is naked and seemeth to be dead but the next spring doth fetch all againe So are the fruites of the spirite in the adopted children of God first in the sap of faith only which is hidden in the heart then it commeth into good thoughtes then into good wordes then into good workes by degrees but many times they are nipped and smitten in the bud or in the blossome that is either in thoughts or wordes that they neuer come into workes The workes likewise of the godly are at the first faire and freshe but yet hard and harsh and when they are come to any perfectiō they are either wind-shaken and deuoured by beasts or smitten with persecution then are they bought and solde and euerie man handleth them as they list In a worde the fairest the pleasantest and the best of our workes must be pared and picked for dainty mouths and queasie stomackes and in the end consumed of all and then are our labours come to their perfection wherher they be of Church or common-wealth and then doe many of Gods children thinke themselues naked and dead but there is no cause why they should for as all that fruit when it is so and so handled doe prooue that sap is in the tree so all the fruites of the elect whether they perishin the bud or in the blossome or in the ripening or howsoeuer they be handled yet they proue that the sap of Gods spirite is in them and the next spring of Gods grace will fetch all againe But then they doubt of themselues because perhappes they haue not so much fruit as they had or so much as others haue but there is no cause why they shold doubt of thēselues for though they haue not so much as they had yet it is as good and sound as that which they had it is not counterfait and fained but it is in trueth that which it seemeth to be and so long they may care but they neede not to feare the want of Gods spirite in them for it is not so materiall how much faith or howe much zeale or how much loue or how much patience a man hath but how good faith howe good zeale how good loue how good patience a man hath whether the faith loue zeale c. be true or counterfeit from the heart or in hypocrisie must be the question That as men say of fruit this is but little but it is good heere be not many of them but those that are of them are verie daintie they are right of such and such a kind So the children of God may say My faith is but little and weake my loue is not so much as I would it were my zeale is but litle and my patience is but small but it is true faith and true loue and true zeale and true patience euen from the verie heart root without dissembling O Lord increase it and strengthen it And thus much for the difference betweene the children of God by creation only and the children of God both by creation and adoption And thus much of the spirit of God both in the one and in the other Now let vs come to the matter in hand We haue heard who be called the sonnes of God how this title is giuen to the Lord Iesus how to Angels and how to men hath been also declared but to imagine that in this place it were spokē to the Lord Iesus were no lesse than blasphemy because he was euer without sinne and to enquire whether it were spoken to the Angels or no were vaine curiositie Now if it be man to whom the Lord saith My son as it is indeede O Lord what is man that thou doost speak so kindly to him or the sonne of man that thou doest so regarde him Againe if it be spoken to man how art thou O Man gotten into such fauour with God which sometimes thou hadst lost How happy and honourable are those men which are the sonnes of God But is it spoken to me in deede what to sinfull and miserable man and are the sonnes of Adam among the sons of God as Saul was amongst the prophets is the prodigall son come home againe is it for him that such costly robes are brought forth and is it he that his father went out to meete
with heauen not because we haue wrought them our selues as the aduersaries of the grace of God doe teach but because they are sanctified in the couenaunt of Gods grace and washed in the bloud of the vnspotted Lamb Iesus Christ therfore we hold and hold truely that all those spots and blots which remain in our imperfect obedience must be couered with the vnspotted holinesse and perfect obedience of Iesus Christ as with a garment that no part of our filthy nakednes may appeare in the pure presence of him whose eyes can abide no vncleannesse or els we can neuer be saued Therefore we hold againe and that according to truth that all our righteousnesse is vncleane and polluted in the puddle of Originall corruption in the loines of the first Adam but it is clensed in the pure fountaine of Iesus christ his obedience the second Adam It is onely begunne here and in part perfourmed but it shal be finished and made perfect in the life to come and that in Christ Iesus in whom all our poore endeuours and small beginnings shal be accepted that little good which is in vs is matched with much euill yea euery good motion when it commeth from the father of lightes is of a brighte and liuely colour but so soone as they come into our vessels they chaunge their colour and looke of another hue There is neuer a praier that we make but hath his wants of feeling or want of humbling or faith or reuerence or something is wanting and it is stained with the contrarie There is neuer a sermon that we make or heare but hath some stain and pollution in vs There is neuer a grace that we say but is likewise blemished for want of some grace our whole seruice is idle and vnprofitable for when did we talke without vanitie when do we giue without some sauour or other of Hipocrisie when do we heare without wearines or when do we pray without tediousnesse and when we doe pray for pardon what toies and fancies do stain our prayers that when we haue praied we had need to pray againe that God would forgiue our prayers for do we not thinke least of God when we pray vnto him and doth not our deuotion commonly end with our prayers If we suffer any thing is it without some impatience and distrust will not a little murmuring and grudging against God haue a hand in the matter will we not appoint our heauenly father either where to strike or when or with what or how long or how much or how litle or one thing or other as though he knew not what to doe without vs And when I pray you doe we rest hartely well contented with his good pleasure and will If we obtaine any thing which we desired doe we not still desire more like Achab If we doe any euill alas how cherefully how speedely and how easily doe we commit it but if we doe any good wo be vnto vs how faintly how rudely and how slackly do we goe about it in our owne causes how hoate are we in Gods causes how cold are we in excercises of prophanenesse how bold but in the excercises of holinesse how bashfull is the best of vs and that which God doth most abhorre do we not waxe proud of those good things which God doth worke in vs and by vs as children are proud of their new clothes which their parents do put vpō them or of saying a grace which with much ado their parents haue taught them In one word that litle good that is in vs is it not matched as I said and manie times ouermatched with muche euill And that litle that is in vs or done by vs it is of the Lord also that worketh both the will and the deed And whē he doth reward that what doth he but crowne his owne gifts in vs and that according to that promise and couenant which hee sware to our forefather Abraham and his seede for euer So that wee may now safely conclude as Paule doth It is neither in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie All this and much more being considered how should we doe if wee were not first the sonnes of God in Christ our Lord would our workes abide the triall of Gods iustice Alas poore wretches that we are the least staine of thought though it were neuer cōsented vnto would send vs packing to hell for euer But now being first the sons of God by Iesus Christ being assured of Gods loue in christ and pleading nothing but his mercy onely in the merites of Christ wee may be bold to go vnto our heauēly father for if any man sin wee haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righteous whose righteousnesse pleadeth for our vnrighteousnesse through whose stripes we are healed through whose bloud wee may be bold to enter into the holy place with him the Lord is well pleased in him the Sonnes of GOD are well accepted and without him wee are wholly reiected Therefore saith Saint Iohn Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that is in the faith of the Lord Iesus for they shall rest from their labours and their workes shall followe them that is God accepteth of them and their workes which are in the Lord but none els By this place our Papistes woulde prooue that our workes doe merite heauen But from hence wee may gather more truely that none haue a right faith in Christ but those which haue good workes to accompanie them when they dye in the Lord. But to gather heereupon that they merite wee cannot for then they shoulde goe before our being in the Lord and be a cause thereof but nowe we see that they followe our being in the Lord. Againe the workes doe not beautifie the man in the Lord but the man in the Lorde doth beautifie the workes as the Temple sanctified the golde that was vpon it but was not sanctified by the golde and as the Altar sanctified the offering that was vpon it but was not sanctified by the offering And this is not because hee hath done them but because they are done in the Lord by faith without which whatsoeuer is done is sinne and the Lord in him by his spirit doth sanctifie them vnto himselfe Last of all the Argument doth not hold our workes are rewarded therfore they merite for then none should be rewarded but he that did merite first then the seruant should be before the heire because hee taketh more paines than the other doth and yet the heire hath the land because he was the sonne before So we are first borne the sons of God by faith in Christ and so we are made fellow heires with him of Heauen and then followe good works not as a cause why we should haue th' inheritance but as fruits following from a thankefull minde But they of the popish Church being
it and therefore that all our care and studie must be to aduance him and to direct all our actions to his glorie as he hath directed his glorie to our good So that these wordes My sonne are to be considered after a double manner of speaking First as spoken by God the first authour of them next as proceeding from Salomon the minister of God and so much briefly for the persons by whom they were spokē The persons which are called sonnes NOw we are to consider of the persons that are called by the title of sonnes and because God is first in order we will first see of whom hee speaketh in this place when hee saith My sonne for many be called the sonnes of God in the scripture and they are of three sorts some are by nature the sons of God some are by adoption the sonnes of God and some for their exellencie are called the children of God By nature none is the sonne of God but Iesus Christ onely who was begotten from all eternitie of his fathers nature and substance By adoption all the faithfull are his children whom God hath elected before all worldes that he might call them in his time appointed by the liuely preaching of the Gospell and the effectuall working of his spirite in their hartes vnto the blessed and certaine hope of eternall glorie in the kingdome of heauen being first iustified by the righteousnesse of the Lord Iesus christ the naturall sonne of God These are called sonnes by adoption or made sonnes which before were no sonnes at all As if a king should take in a begger nay a traitor and make him his heire euen so did God with vs and such fauour did he freely shew to so many of the sonnes of Adam as it pleased him to adopte and to make his children wherein appeared the wonderfull loue of God to vs ward of which S. Iohn speaketh by way of administration Behold saith he what loue the father hath giuen to vs that we should be called the sonnes of God as if it were to be wondred at and not to be expressed The Angels are called the children of God Iob 1. 6. Iob 2. chap. and 1 verse When the children of God stood before the Lord Sathan came also and stood amongst them c. And they are so called partly for their excellēt state and condition but principally for their willingnesse and readines to doo the will of God Sometime also the Lord is called our father in respect of our creation onely as in Mat. 2. 10. Haue we not all one father hath not one God made vs and in Esa. 64. 8. But now thou O Lord art our father we are the clay thou art our potter we are the worke of thy handes So Adam is called the sonne of God by immediate creation in the 3 of S. Luke the last verse In this respect God is a common father not onely to all his creatures in generall but to the very reprobate also for he created them also and he made them good saith Salomon but they found out many inuentions but we shal neuer find that God vouchsafed to call any reprobat in the scripture by the name of his sonne Non tam praestanti reprobos dignatur honore He did neuer honour them with so excellent a title Many are so called and so accoumpted amongst men which doe iudge onely by the outwarde appearance but when they come before the Lord whose waies are not our waies and whose thoughts are not our thoughts the case is altered If any shall obiect and say that there is neuer a father without a childe and that they be relatiues and therefore seing as God is called a father of the reprobate in respect of creation the reprobate may at the least be called the sonnes of God though they be not the sonnes of God as the elect are they are to know that some are called fathers in the scriptures Metaphorically which were but the first inuenters of thinges and in that respect they are called fathers as Iaball the sonne of Adah the wife of Lamech is called the father of such as dwell in tents for he was the first inuenter of tents And Iuball his brother is called in the next verse the father of such as play vpon the Harpe and vpon Organes or pipes shall we therefore call the tentes Iabals children or must the organs and pipes be called the sonnes of Iuball So God is called the father of the reprobate because he first created them but yet they can no more be called the children of God than the tentes might be called the children of Iabal or the harps and organs the children of his brother Iubal But when the scriptures do speak of God as he is a father not onely by creation but also by adoption then is the title of sonnes also therewithal bestowed vpon those whom he hath created because he hath also adopted them to be haires of his kingdome through Christ but it is limited onely to the elect which do receiue him by faith as in Iohn 1. 12. As many as receiued him to thē he gaue prerogatiue to be called the sons of God So doth the Apostle Paul also restraine the title of Gods children onely to the godly As manie as are led by the spirite of God saith he are the sonnes of God And because the reprobate and all hypocrites wil boast of the spirite as well as the children of God as Zidkijah said hee had the spirit of God as wel as Michaiah therfore the scripture hath put a difference betweene the giftes of the spirite and the spirite of sanctification for Saul may haue the spirite of God that is some giftes and graces of Gods spirit as knowledge iudgement courage strength pollicy wisdome wealth c. as the wicked and thereprobate may haue to their condemnation but the spirite of sanctification or holinesse which worketh newnesse of life and changeth both the affections within and all the actions without that is proper onely to the elect children of God indeed And least anie shoulde deceiue themselues The Lord Iesus hath laid downe an euerlasting rule By their fruits you shall know them And the fruits of the spirite saith S. Paul are these Loue Ioy Peace Long-suffring Patience Goodnesse Gentlenesse Faith Meekenesse Temperance c. Against which there is no law that is to condemne them for they that are Christs haue crucified the fleshe with the affections and Iustes But there is a kinde loue and ioy and peace and suffering c. amongst the children of darkenesse because Sathan in his members can counterfeit whatsoeuer God doth commaund and there is amongst the members of the Church malignant in shew whatsoeuer the church of God militant haue in trueth whē Sathan doth change himselfe into the likenesse of an angel of light it is a hard thing to discerne the one from the other therefore hath the Lord
no children and doing nothing but of seruile feare can doe nothing that is good for first they faile in the matter of their good workes putting in practise the traditions of men in stead of Gods preceptes Secondly they faile in the maner of doing for that which they doe is done to a wrong end and with a wrong affection for it is too iustifie themselues thereby before God as the Pharisie did and therefore this white flagge of truce My sonne is not put out to them because they haue broken the conditions of peace Our Popish merit-mongers are like the elders of the Iewes which went to Christ in the behalfe of the Centurion for his sicke seruaunt They besought him instantly as though they might not be denied and they tell him forsooth that the Centurion is worthie of so much fauour as that the Lord Iesus should come to him and heale his seruant for proofe whereof they alleage two strong reasons like our Papistes One is He loueth our nation Another is He hath built vs a synagogue so plead our Papistes we are worthy O Lord of thy fauour we haue deserued so much at thy handes or such a one that is nowe gone hath deserued so much as that thou shouldest receiue his soule for he loued vs well while he liued hee was an honest man hee made vs good cheere hee kept a good house hee filled our bellies and our purses too Besides that he hath built vs a stately synagogue goodly Churches and Chappels of ease he mended our hie-waies he erected such a Colledge such a friery and such a Nunrie Againe such a man is a good Catholique Lord for he helped the Priest to say Masse he gaue his consent to the poisoning of such a king and the murthering of such another hee did what hee could to dispatch all christian Princes because they are not of the Popes Religion so zealous a catholique was he But Lord he made a conscience of euery thing he would not eate a bit of flesh nor so much as an egge in Lent or vpon a friday he woulde neuer go out before hee had crossed himselfe before and behind his house was neuer without a Crucifix nor his windowes without a picture of the Trinitie a number of good workes more hee did which the tally will not holde and those are for his honest neighbors which will giue any thing for them Therefore Lord thou must of necessitie receiue his soule when hee is dead or els thou doest him great wrong And thus wee heare howe Papistes plead like the elders of the Iews for the Centurion and his seruantes But what saide the Centurion himselfe O Lord saith he trouble not thou thy selfe for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter vnder my roofe neyther did I thinke my selfe worthie to come vnto thee but onely speake the worde and my seruaunt shall bee whole And this message saith the Euangelist hee sent to Christ by his friendes as if they which pleaded his worthinesse and workes were his ennemies and not hys friendes But howe did the Lord Iesus like of this message Surely he maruelled at such humilitie commended the faith of the Centurion euen by the name of greatfaith to shew that merit-mongers haue no faith at all except the Deuils faith Now to end this pointe If any man be the child of God in Christ let him also become a new creature and liue as becommeth the sonnes of God let no man say If I bee the child of God I need not care what to doe or as the manner of many is GOD is mercifull and Christ died for our sinnes what need we feare for as there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ so they which are in Christ liue not after the flesh but after the spirite On the other side If thou feele thy self a new creatur in Christ and transfourmed into the likenesse of the sonnes of God then faint not vnder the crosse for thy heauenly father will beare thee vp in his arms plead not for thy selfe by any thing that is in thy selfe but appeale to the mercy of thy heauenly father and say Lord he whom thou louest is in want as the sisters of Lazarus said to christ for their brother Lord he whom thou louest is sicke And claime the promise of God thy heauenly father in his sonne Christ and then feare not thy sinnes My sonne saith God for I euen I will do them all away euen for my names sake and for my sonnes sake in whom thou art my sonne and in whom I am well pleased And thus we see al our feare turned into ioy because we are made the sonnes of God in Christ. When a lion roared vpon Sampson the spirite of strength came vpon Sampson and he rent him in pieces Not long after in the same Lion he found a swarme of Bees with their stings but therewithall he found a Hony-combe to feede vpon So our sinnes and the Deuill roared vpon vs and thought to haue deuoured vs. but our true Sampson Iesus Christ hath torne him in pieces which went about like a roaring Lion seeking to deuoure vs. Now if we looke into our owne heartes which are as a Lions den we shall find after this victory not a swarme of Bees as Sampson did in the Bellie of the Lion but a swarme of corruptions and sinnes with their stings like prickes in our flesh to humble vs but there withall we shall find Honny to comfort vs euen a rich Hony-combe of Gods mercies to feede vpon if the spirite of faith and courage be in vs as the spirite of strength and boldnesse was in Sampson and then we may say plainly as Sampson said in a riddle Out of the eater came meate and out of the strong came sweetnesse for what is stronger than a Lion and what is sweeter than Hony But we may say What is stronger than sinne and what is sweeter than mercy What sight more terrible than the blacke flagge of defiance with My Rebell the colours of vengeance vpon it What more comfortable than to see that pulled in and the white flagge of truce put forth with My sonne the words of mercy and peace vpon it My Rebell is gone My sonne is come in the steede The Lord take away the Rebellions of our heartes and graunt vs so to keepe his conditions of peace that we may be his sonnes indeed and find peace to our consciences for euermore Thus we see that as the Lord did once bring light out of darkenesse so our heauenly father hath wrought comfort out of sinne to all his children in Christ Iesus blessed be his name for euer And thus much for these wordes My sonne as proceeding from God to man My sonne as being the wordes of Salomon considered NOw if we consider them as they be the wordes of Salomon somthing more may be gathered from them for as God was the Authour so Salomon was