whit lesse religious then others In euery corner likewise a company of damnable Atheists vpon euery trisling occasion darting out hellish oathes which makes our land to mourne wounds the eares of the very hauens themselues and cries loud vnto the high throane of iustice for speedy vengeance Hither likewise doth oftentimes resort those cruell oppressors that make themselues gorgeous by the ruins of their poore Tenants Cloathing themselues with the flesh of their poore brethren how sure are they to finde the reward of Diues that so little regard the wants of poore Lazarus And lastly for I cannot stay to repeate all particulars whereas the outward deportment of a Christian should be nothing more then a louely representation of grace and modestie why now both men and women are generally for the most part so farre transported beyond themselues by pride that they turne Apes and antickes dauncing through the streetes as if they knew not whose feete they stand on so ridiculously vaine and so strangely witlesse and phantasticall are men in these times as that which almost I am ashamed to speake they are growne proud of their very iangling of the strappes of their bootes Good God! what mans wit is able to sinke the depth of those ridiculous follies wherein to vaine man would plunge himselfe if either the shame of men did not withhold him or the seueritie of strict lawes restraine him at least-wise if the awefull respect and feare of Gods almighty power and presence did not in some meansure bridle and pull backe the head-strong and violent current of his irregular desires And in fine you may here see the seauen deadly sinnes withall their attendants driuen all along before the Diuelto their euerlasting confusion So that Satan marcheth with his hellish troupes through the Church of God without controule and the enemie flourisheth his coulours amidst our forces and yet there is none that riseth vp against him Surely the Prophet in this place doth enioyne all men of all conditions in what they are able to endeauour to stoppe and stay the passages of sinne The priuate therefore should endeauour by such meanes as are in their power by holy prayers and brotherly admonitions the Minister by discouering vnto men their sinnes and reprouing their transgressions Indeede this none of vs can say but for the most part it s faithfully discharged but Reason saith one is a good Orator when it hath force to backe it and therefore in the third place without the diligence and faithfulnesse of the Magistrate all that we can say will little auaile Now the office of euery ciuill Magnistrate euen such as know not God is to looke to the markets and to heare and redresse the complaints of all disturbances of the ciuill peace but of a Christian Magistrate to see that God be not blasphemed and dishonoured that Religion be not dishartned nor disgraced but that with all his might hee doe oppose and discountenance euen all suspicions of prophanenesse and dishonour vnto God and as farre as his authoritie will extend seuerely to punish all offenders in that kinde that as he beares not the sword for nought so being the Minister of God hee may be a reuenger to execute wrath vpon all that doe euill Romanes 13.4 But now it s growne to such a passe that if a man haue risen to any place of respect in this Citie hee groweth after a manner incontrouleable hee may sweare and blaspheme hee may slaunder or oppresse the poore by forestalling the Markets he may oppose the Priestly office of Christ in the power of the keyes hee may reuell be drunke or commit any disorder when hee will and his Worship shall secure him from incurring any danger of punishment But alas beloued shall the poore honours of a Citie priuiledge any man to dishonour his GOD and can wee thinke that the angrie eyes of GOD lookes not vpon such courses as these Surely there will not alwaies be a time of mercie but at length the Lord will burst out into vengeance for though the Lord suffer long and much yet wee reade not that hee suffers alwaies but at length as the Prophet speakes in the day of his fierce anger will hee visite vs with the roddes of his wrath and will poure out his furie like fire And howsoeuer some men doe thinke this Citie to be greatly reformed from what it hath beene yet if they looke vpon it with a lesse indulgent eye they shall see but little reformation therein onely the same or worse sinnes masked ouer with more plausible and colourable pretences that its Gods wonderfull goodnesse wee are not as Sodome and Gomorrah When as the beastly bezeling sinne of drunkennesse is become the onely sinewes of good-fellowshippe the filthy pollution of the Temples of the holy Ghost at the mention whereof the heart of euery true Christian should euen nauseate and rise with indignation is generally for the most part accounted but as a youthfull recreation and laughed at When fearefull oathes are become meere phrases of gallantrie and the vnbrotherly contentions of carnall minded men are conceited to be Religion and Pictie When as oppression is accounted forecast and frugalitie and Pride esteemed as comelinesse Lying held as pollicie Idlenesse pretended pouertie and the voluptuous and immoderate wallowing in natures superfluities defended by a pretence of Christian libertie and all these the most hatefull and abhominable in the eyes of Almighty God of all others to passe and escape vnregarded and vnpunished Surely O Lord wee haue iust cause to admire thy long sufferance aboue all thy mercies The Lord for his infinite mercies sake by that almighty power by which hee is able to subdue all things to his owne will breake these stonie hearts of ours that wee may alwaies stand in awe and feare of that dreadfull Maiestie that so forsaking the crooked waies of sinne and iniquitie wee may hold on our course in such pathes as are agreeable to his holy will vntill such time as it shall please him to transplant vs from this vale of miserie and make vs glorious inhabitants of those sacred pallaces where nothing but light and blessed immortalitie no shaddow of matter for teares discontentments feares or any vncomfortable passions to worke vpon but all ioy tranquilitie and peace euen for euer and euer doe dwell Vnto which place the Lord in his due time bring vs all for Christ Iesus sake to whom with the Father and his most blessed and holy Spirit be Glorie and Maiestie and Dominion and Power both now and for euer Amen FJNJS Errata PAge 17 line 28. for These commit reade That is commits p. 20. l. 36 for timer sinne p. 21. l. vls for whereby r. where
Apostle calls spiritum Seruitutis the spirit of Bondage Rom. 8.15 and the filiall feare from that which hee calls spiritum Adoptionis the spirit of Adoption For we haue not saith hee receiued the spirit of Bondage to fear again but we haue receiued the spirit of Adoption whereby wee cry Abba Father Both of them the good worke of Gods most holy spirit the filiall feare he worketh onely in his elect children the seruile feare both in the elect and the reprobate though not vnto the same end But in the reprobate as a pledge and beginning of future and greater punishments and in his elect as it is an entrance into grace whereby the seruant of God is admonished to forbeare sinne for inasmuch as a Christian man is an Hypostasis consisting of two natures which the Scripture notes out by the Flesh and the Spirit the Old man and the New and such like therfore are both of these feares required the one to restraine the power of sinne the other to set forwards the powers of righteousnesse Yet not both in the same degree of respect For although in a Christian the seruile feare cannot be wanting because that as in a bad way wee haue as much if not more neede of a bridle then a spurre so wee as it were riding on through the rough and thorny paths of sinne haue in that respect more neede of that feare to hold vs backe yet for all that it is not to be paralelld with the filiall feare nor to be accounted a true and essentiall part of Gods worship and honour but onely as a remouer of his dishonor and a preparatiue vnto the filiall feare In which respect one of the Fathers compares seruile feare to a Needle and filiall feare to a Thred so that as the needle doth enter into the cloth not to stay there but to draw in the thred after it so is the seruile feare required in euery Christian not as a thing acceptable in the sight of God but onely as a preparatiue vnto that filiall feare wherein his true seruice doth especially consist From the consideration of which things wee may gather this obseruation and carefully lay it vp in our memories as a lesson necessary to be learned of all men That so long as we feare the iudgements of God wee may deeme our selues the seruants of God but wee are neuer the sonnes of God vntill we feare him for his goodnesse The seruant feares his Master but why because that if hee doe not well hee will punish him but the sonne feares his Father because he loues him and therefore is fearefull to displease him hauing more regard vnto his Fathers griefe then his owne punishment respecting more the losse of his Fathers loue then the incurring Gal. 4.30 and the induring of his owne paine Now the seruant abides not in the house for euer saith the Scripture but they which haue receiued the adoption of sonnes shall onely inherit Why because hee feares not God for God but onely for himselfe which properly is not true feare because the obiect of it is not truely euill For malum poenae the euill of punishment which seruile feare onely respects is not simply euill not euill suo genere as the Schooles speak nor sua natura in it owne nature for it is a worke of the pure and exact Iustice of God but onely malum secundum not euill in respect of vs Whereas on the other side the childe-like feare is the onely true feare because onely its obiect is truely euill For malum culpae the euill of sinne which it chiefly respects is sua natura in it owne nature euill although our corrupted nature account it as bonum secundum nos secming good vnto vs and therefore doth our inclination so much desire to commit it And howsoeuer the feare of sonnes may be said also to respect malum poenae the euill of punishment yet is it not that punishment which the other lookes at for seruile feare lookes onely at that which is called poenae sensus that punishment which it sensiblie shall feele but the filiall feare at that which is called poena damni the punishment of losse fearing more to lose the loue and fauour of God and the promised ioyes of Heauen then to be iustly punished by God and to endure all the torments of Hell Let vs therefore consider that so long as we do feare God onely for his iudgements we are but seruile the seed of the bond-woman but vntill we feare him for his goodnesse we are not the sonnes of the free-woman not the true adopted sonnes of God By the one we are still vnder the Law but by the other we are vnder Grace The one is wrought in vs by the threatnings of the Law the other by the sweet promises of the Gospell In summe The true childe of God is more afraide to deserue punishment then to suffer punishment Now for the second that God onely is to be feared it may be also doubted that in as much as the Lord hath commanded vs in his word to feare our Parents Leuit. 19.3 Rom. 13.4.7 Ephes 6.5 to feare the Magistrates the Gouernours which hee hath set ouer vs How is he said onely to be feared and what proportion is there between that feare which we owe vnto God and that which we are to giue vnto men what difference is there betweene the one and the other To which I answer that God onely and no other besides him is to be feared in these two respects and limitations Simpliciter and per se simply and by himselfe For first God alone and neyther Angell Deuill nor any other creature besides is to befeared simpliciter simply because he onely hath a simple and an absolute power ouer vs. For howsoever the creature may haue power to doe that euill which we may feare yet is not its power absolute nor ouer all and euery part of vs but limited vnto our bodies and goods onely Whereas Gods power is vnlimited and absolute both ouer soule and body goods and all and is able to destroy all In which respect our blessed Sauiour admonisheth his Disciples not to feare them which kill the body Math. 10.28 but are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him who is able to destroy both soule and body in hell And the reason why wee are to feare the Magistrate the Apostle giues in the 13. of his Epistle to the Romanes because he heares not the Sword for nought Rom. 13.4 But the power of the sword is limited eyther to our goods or bodies or liues and cannot extend vnto the soule and conscience and therefore is hee not to be feared absolutely as God is because hee hath not that absolute power that God hath Secondly God onely is to be feared per se for his owne sake for himselfe without any reference at all to any other creature For although both Angells Men and Diuells haue power in some things
to hurt vs yet haue they it not originally from themselues nor according to their owne wills but onely from God and according to his will Neyther haue they it alwaies nor in what measure it pleaseth themselues but both how much how long it pleaseth God And for that cause our Sauiour answered Pilate boasting that he had power eyther to loose him Iohn 10.11 or put him to death Thou couldest haue no power at all ouer mee saith hee vnlesse it were giuen thee from aboue Yea the Diuell himselfe whom the Scripture stiles by the name of the Prince of this world had no power to touch so much as any the least thing that was Iobs further then the Lord permitted and gaue leaue Although therefore we are by the precept of Almighty God to feare our Parents and Gouernours yet are wee not to feare them for themselues but as they haue power and commission from God Rom. 13.1 for there is no power saith the Apostle but of God God therefore hauing all power both in himselfe and of himselfe and vniuersall and absolute ouer all and at all times is onely simply and by himselfe to be feared and all other but vnder him or from him and as farre as he permits and commands So that as by strong euidence of reason we see that it cannot be denied by any man but that hee is to referre and yeeld all feare onely and especially vnto God So also doth the consent of Scripture sound altogether that way exacting it as one of the chiefest dueties that a christian is to performe namely at all times to stand in awe and continuall feare of the Maiesty of Almighty GOD. Oh that there were such a hart in my people saith the Lord that they would feare me and keepe all my commandements alwaies that it might be well with them and their children for euer Deut. 5.29 Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue Deutro 10.20 And in the 12. verse And now O Israel what doth the Lord require of thee but to feare the Lord thy God to walke in his waies c. I haue giuen you a Land for which you did not labour and Cities which yee built not and yee dwell in them of the Vineyards and Orchards which ye planted not doe you eate now therefore feare the Lord Iosu 24.14 And I say vnto you my friends saith our blessed Sauiour in the 12. of S. Lukes Gospell be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that haue no more that they can doe But I will forewarne you whom you shall feare Feare him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say vnto you feare him Feare God and honour the King saith S. Peter And Feare God and giue glorie vnto him saith the Angell that had the euerlasting Gospell to preach vnto all the earth Apoc. 14.7 And the Scriptures doth not only abound in precepts to this effect but also is plentifull in examples hereof As Abraham Gen. 22.12 Lay not thy hand saith the Lord vnto him vpon the childe nor doe him any hurt for now I know that thou fearest me because that for my sake thou wouldst not haue spared thine onely Sonne Ioseph also witnesseth the same of himselfe For I feare God saith he Gen. 42.17 The Aegyptian Mid-wiues likewise are memorable for their feare of God in the first of Exodus and therefore did they dare to breake that barbarous and bloudy commandement of King Pharaoh wherby they were appointed to kill all the male children of the Hebrewes Obadiah the Ruler of King Ahabs houshold in the 1. of the Kings 18.3 is said to haue feared God greatly and therefore did he hide a hundred of the Lords Prophets from the cruelties of Iezabel Iob also approued by the mouth of God himselfe for his feare Iob. 1.8 The Prophet Dauid in the fift Psalme In thy Feare O Lord will I euer worship towards thy holy Temple And in the New Testament Zachary and Elizabeth Simeon Cornelius Ananias and many others are recorded to their perpetuall praise for their feare of God Yea the whole Scripture doth runne throughout that Gods people haue euer beene a fearefull people that Gods generation is a trembling generation And no maruell Because they cannot serue their God vnlesse they doe feare him feare being the onely and chiefe part of his worship For the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome saith the Prophet in the III. Psalme All religion begins in feare And it s the end of all things saith Salomon in the last chapter of Eccles The end of all things saith hee is to feare God and keepe his commandements Yea it s both the beginning and ending and the continuance of a Christian life for worke out your saluation in feare and trembling saith the Apostle in the second to the Philippians And blessed is the man that feareth alwaies Prou. 28.1 I will teach you saith Samuel in the twelfth chapter of his first booke and the 21. verse the good and right way Onely feare the Lord and serue him in truth with all your heart for consider how great things hee hath done for you There is no action therefore that proceeds from a Christian through the whole course of his life but should receiue such a tincture from Religion and the feare of God as should make it remarkeable for a godly deede that if we speake it should be in feare if we worke it should be in feare whether we wake or sleepe or whatsoeuer else we doe all should be done in feare Nay the true childe of God takes not so much time as to eate his meate without feare For indeede when as the Lord hath once truely and throughly shaken the heart and conscience of a man with the terrours of death and hell for sinne and hath also seasoned his heart with a sweet apprehension and feeling of the comforts of his holy spirit when he hath once as it were giuen him a touch of the sorrowes of hell and taste of the ioyes of heauen he is euer after fearefull least he againe either incurre the danger of the one or loose the happinesse of the other As the skinne of that place that is once burned will euer after bee more tender then the rest The life of a Christian therefore is not a life of security a life of dissolutenesse and sensualitie but a life of terrour a life of feare a life of continuall and awfull respect of the presence and maiestie of almighty God Not according to the fashion of these times wherein men account it a small thing to cozen and deceiue to extort and opporesse to lie and slaunder to quarrell and contend to carouse and reuell as if there were no God in heauen that doth behold them The onely cause hereof can surely be no other then that of the Prophet in the 36 Psame Non est timor Deiante oculos eorum they haue not the
said finne not swere whereunto we are to consider that sinne in a Christian man is after a two fold manner either as a Tyrant or as a Rebell As a tyrant before regeneration when we liue as captiues and seruants vnder sinne obeying it in the lustes thereof and yeelindg our members as instruments of vnrighteousnesse vnto it without any checke or opposition at all As a Rebell when as a Christian after regeneration seeles the law of his members rebelling against the law of his minde and bringing him againe as an vnwilling captiue vnto the law of sinne Now after this manner namely as sinne is a rebell there is no man liuing but sinne shall still continue and remaine with him so long as he shall liue in the flesh which the Lord doth purposely suffer in his owne elect seruants for diuers ends and purposes both to abate the insulting pride of mans heart to make them wearie of this world but especially to make good and shew forth his great power in their weakenesse But after the first manner that is as a Tyrant sinne is in no man that is actually the childe of God in which respect onely the Prophet in this place doth forbid sinne namely according to the Apostles exhortation not that sinne be not in you but that it raigne not in you that you should willingly obey it in the lusts thereof Which kindes of sinning Saint Iohn differenceth herein comprehending the one vnder name of sinning simply and the other of committing sinne by peccare and peccatum facere In the first respect saith he he that saith he hath not sinne is a lyer and the truth is not in him Concerning the other he saith he that is borne of God sinneth not 1 Ioh. 3.9 These commit not sinne namely as a seruant of sinne Yea he addeth that he cannot sinne to wit with a full swing and consent of his will as those that be the serswing and consent of his will as those that be the seruants of sinne because the seede of God remaines in him whereby he is partly spirit and not onely flesh so that as he cannot perfectly will that which is good because of the rebellion of the flesh so can he not will with full consent that which is euill because of the reluctation of the spirit For howsoeuer peccare and peccatum facere to sinne and to commit sinne are not so generally differenced but that in many places of the Scriptures the one is put for the other yet is there necessitie of distinction betweene them For he is said properly peccatum facere to commit sinne qui studio peccanditenetur which is setled in a delightfull desire thereof which bends all the forces of his minde and the whole sway of his desires therevnto Being a propertie peculiar vnto the reprobate and vnregen erate who as the Prophet saith of them inuent mischiefe vpon their beds Psal 36.4 they cannot sleepe vnlesse they haue done euill And as the meditation and delight of a true Christian should be in the law of his God and in contemplation thereof so is their whole delight and meditation in the law of sinne how they may fulfill the lusts thereof that is they sinne ex animo without any reluctation at all it comes willingly and pleasingly from them Their very thoughts and intentions are more damnable then the sinfull actions of the godly why because they proceede from the heart their will concurs therewith and therefore our blessed Sauiour saith vnto Iudas Quod fasis fac cito Ioh. 13.27 that thou doest doe speedily Hee had then done nothing yet saith our Sauiour Zuod facis What thou doest because his minde was at that time intent and set vpon it Whereas on the other side we reade of diuers in the Scriptures who although they did not exactly fulfill the law and commandements of God in act yet their thoughts their affections and their wils being with and vpon them they are said to haue kept them So we reade of the Prophet Ps 119.121.168 Feci iudicium institiam I haue done righteously and iustly and I haue kept thy testimonies and I haue not erred from thy precepts Now how could be say thus of himselfe when as it is well knowne he had many times sinned grieuously Why surely most iustly if we consider his heart and affections though not if we consider those sinfull actions which by infirmitie he fell into For his minde and his will was alwaies to haue obeyed God and he continually applyed himselfe that way the law of God was his meditation day and night In this respect therefore the Prophet doth admonish vs that we sinne not that is that we commit not sinne that our delights be not set thereon that our desires and our wills concurre not therewith Or else thus may be the Prophets meaning in these words sinne not That originall concupiscence that habituall custome of sinne which is within our natures is a corrupt tree continually supullulating sprouting out a filthy fountain ouer flowing at all times all the faculties of our soules Now Stand in awe and sinne not saith the Prophet that is let the feare of God plucke vp those poysonfull Sprigs and stop the passage of those vnwholsome streames that the one doe not grow nor the other doe not flow beyond the bounds and limits of Gods Law S. Iames doth excellently set forth the gradation of sinne of its beginning proceeding and perfecting in his first Chapter the 14. and 15. verses Euery man is tempted saith he when he is drawne away of his owne lust and is entised Then when lust hath conceiued it bringeth forth sinne and sinnewhen it is finished bringeth forth Death The originall and whole progression of sinne vnto the end thereof is in these words expressed For Concupiscence begets it the will conceaues it the act brings it forth and death finisheth it Though concupiscence therefore would alwaies beget it in thee yet sinne not saith the Prophet that is yeeld not vnto its entisements and let the feare of God hold thee backe from prostituting thy holy will vnto the vnchast allurements thereof Stand in awe and sinne not Lastly to conclude if for your better vnderstanding hereof I may illustrate it by an Allegoricall resemblance you may imagine the soule of man at the first to haue bin as the Garden of Eden the Garden of God wherein the Lord had ingrasted euery thing that was delightfull in his sight and pleasing vnto his tast But when as man had so defiled this heauenly Paradise with the filthinesse and stench of sinne the Lord left this goodly habitation and since it s growne a Wildernesse a poole of Snakes a Cage of vncleane birds there nothing but thornes and Brambles Weedes and Thilstles growes in the same So that now afore regeneration the soule is as the ruines of an olde Garden ouer-growne with weedie and poysonable hearbs But when it shall please God to returne vnto his Garden