most holy faith that so when our earthly house of this Tabernacle shall bee destroyed we may haue a building giuen of God a house not made with hands but eternall in the heavens This is that which is most piously feelingly taught in these few leaues so that you shall read nothing here but what I perswade my selfe you haue long practised in the constant course of your life It remaineth only that you accept of these labours tendred to you by him who wisheth you the long ioies of this world the eternal of that which is to come Oxon. from Corp. Christ. College this 13. of Ianuary 1613. THE FIRST SERMON EPIST. IVDE 17 But yee beloved remember the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Iesus Christ 18 How that they told you that there should be mockers in the last time which should walke after their owne vngodly lusts 19 These are makers of sects fleshly having not the spirit 20 But yee beloued edifie your selues in your most holie faith praying in the holy Ghost 21 And keepe your selues in the loue of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto eternall life THE occasion wherevpon together with the ende wherefore this Epistle was written is opned in the front entrie of the same There were then as there are now many evill and wickedly disposed persons not of the mysticall body yet within the visible bounds of the Church men which were of old ordained to cōdemnation vngodly men which turned the grace of our God into wantonnesse and denied the Lord Iesus For this cause the spirit of the Lord is in the hand of Iude the servant of Iesus and brother of Iames to exhort them that are called and sanctified of God the father that they would earnestly contend to maintaine the faith which was once delivered vnto the Saints Which faith because wee cannot maintaine except wee knowe perfectly first against whom secondly in what sort it must be maintained therefore in the former three verses of that parcell of Scripture which I haue read the enimies of the crosse of Christ are plainely described and in the later two they that loue the Lord Iesus haue a sweet lesson giuen them how to strengthen stablish themselues in the faith Let vs first therefore examin the description of these reprobates concerning faith and afterwards come to the words of the exhortation wherein Christians are taught how to rest their hearts on Gods eternall and everlasting truth The description of these godlesse persons is two fold Generall and Speciall The generall doth point them out and shew what manner of men they should be The particular pointeth at them and saith plainely these are they In the generall description we haue to consider of these things First when they were described they were told of before Secondly the men by whom they were described They were spoken of by the Apostles of our Lord Iesus Christ. Thirdly the daies when they should bee manifested vnto the world they told you they should bee in the last time Fourthly their disposition and whole demeanure mockers and walkers after their own vngodly lusts 2 In the third to the Philippians the Apostle describeth certaine They are men saith hee of whom I haue told you often and now with teares I tell you of them their God is their belly their glorying and reioycing is in their owne shame they mind earthly things These were enimies of the crosse of Christ enimies whom he saw his eies gusht out with teares to behold them But we are taught in this place how the Apostles spake also of enimies whom as yet they had not seen described a family of mē as yet vnheard of a generation reserved for the end of the world for the last time they had not onely declared what they heard and saw in the daies wherein they lived but they haue prophecid also of mē in time to come And you doe well saith S. Peter in that yee take heed to the words of prophecie so that yee first know this that no prophecie in the Scripture commeth of any mans owne resolution No prophecie in Scripture commeth of any mans owne resolution For all prophecy which is in Scripture came by the secret inspiration of God But there are prophecies which are no scripture yea there are prophecies against the Scripture my brethren beware of such prophecies and take heed you heed them not Remember the things that were spoken of before but spoken of before by the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Take heed to prophecies but to prophecies which are in scripture For both the manner and the matter of those prophecies doth shew plainely that they are of God 3 Touching the manner how men by the spirit of prophecie in holy Scripture haue spoken written of things to come wee must vnderstand that as the knowledge of that they spake so likewise the vtterance of that they knewe came not by these vsuall and ordinary meanes whereby we are brought to vnderstand the mysteries of our salvation and are wont to instruct others in the same For whatsoever wee know we haue it by the hands and ministrie of men which lead vs along like children from a letter to a syllable from a syllable to a word from a word to a line from a line to a sentence from a sentence to a side and so turne over But God himselfe was their instructour he himselfe taught thē partly by dreames and visions in the night partly by revelations in the daie taking them aside from amongst their brethrē and talking with them as a man would talke with his neighbour in the way Thus they became acquainted even with the secret and hidden counsels of God They saw things which themselues were not able to vtter they beheld that whereat men and Angels are astonished They vnderstood in the beginning what should come to passe in the last daies 4 God which lightned thus the eies of their vnderstanding giving them knowledge by vnvsuall and extraordinarie meanes did also miraculously himself frame and fashion their wordes and writings in so much that a greater difference there seemeth not to bee betweene the manner of their knowledge then there is between the manner of their speed ours When we haue conceiued a thing in our hearts and throughlie vnderstand it as wee thinke within our selues yet we can vtter it in such sort that our brethrē may receaue instruction or comfort at our mouths how great how long how earnest meditation are we forced to vse And after much travaile and much paines when we open our lips to speake of the wonderfull workes of God our tongues doe faulter within our mouthes yea many times wee disgrace the dreadfull mysteries of our faith and grieue the spirit of our hearers by words vnsavory and vnseemely speeches Shall a wise man fill his bellie with the easterne vind saith Eliphaz shall a wise man
vp that the bowels of the childe may be made the mothers graue that he hath caused no small number of our brethren to forsake their natiue country with all disloialty to cast off the yoke of their allegeance to our dread Soveraigne whom God in mercy hath set over them for whose sauegard if they caried not the hearts of Tygers in the bosomes of men they woulde thinke the dearest blood in their bodies wel spent But now saith Abiah to Ieroboam yee thinke yee be able to resist the kingdome of the Lorde which is in the hands of the sonnes of David Yee be a great multitude the golden calues are with you which Ieroboam made you for Gods haue yee not driven away the priests of the Lord the sonnes of Aaron and the Levites haue made you priests like the people of natioÌ„s whosoever commeth with a young bullocke and seaven rammes the same may bee a priest of them that are no Gods If I should follow the comparison here vncover the cup of those deadly and ougly abominations where with this Ieroboam of whom we speake hath made the earth so drunke that it hath reeled vnder vs I know your godly hearts would loath to see them For my own part I delight not to take in such filth I had rather take a garment vpon my shoulders and go with my face from them to cover them The Lord open their eies and cause them if it be possible at the length to see how they are wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked Put it O Lord in their hearts to seeke white raiment and to cover themselues that their filthy nakednes may no longer appeare For beloved in Christ we bow our knees lift vp our hands to heaven in our chambers secretly openly in our churches we pray hartily howrely even for them also though the Pope haue given out as a Iudge in a solemne declaratory sentence of excommunication against this land that our gracious Lady hath quite abolished praiers within her realme and his schollers whom he hath taken from the midst of vs haue in their published writings charged vs not only not to haue any holy assemblies vnto the Lorde for praier but to hold a common schoole of sinne flattery to hold sacrilege to be Gods service vnfaithfulnesse and breach of promise to God to giue it to a strumpet to be a vertue to abandon fasting to abhor confession to mislike with penance to like well of vsury to charge none with restitution to finde no good before God in single life nor in no well working that all men as they fal to vs are much woorsed and more then afore corrupted I do not adde one word or sillable vnto that which Mr Bristow a man both borne and sworne amongst vs hath taught his hand to deliver to the view of all I appeale to the coÌ„science of every soule that hath beene truely converted by vs whether his heart were never raised vp to God by our preaching whether the words of our exhortation never wrong any teare of a penitent heart from his eies whether his soule never reaped any ioy any comfort any consolation in Christ Iesus by our sacraments and praiers and Psalmes thansgivings whether he were never bettered but alwaies worsed by vs. Omerciful Godlif heaven and earth in this case do not witnesse with vs and against them let vs bee razed out from the land of the living let the earth on which we stand swallow vs quicke as it hath done Corah Dathan and Abiram But if we belong vnto the Lord our God and haue not forsaken him if our priests the sonnes of Aaron minister vnto the Lord and the Levites in their office if wee offer vnto the Lord every morning and every evening the burnt offrings sweet incense of praiers land thanks givings if the bread be set in order vpon the pure table the candlesticke of gold with the lamps thereof to burne every morning that is to say if amoÌ„gst vs Gods blessed sacraments be duly administred his holy word sincerely and daily preached if we keep the watch of the Lord our God and if yee haue forsaken him then doubt yee not this God is with vs as a captaine his priests with founding trumpets must cry alarme against you O yee children of Israel fight not against the Lord God of your fathers for yee shall not prosper The second Sermon EPIST. IVDE 17 But yee beloved remember the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Iesus Christ. 18 How that they tolde you that there should be mockers in the last time which should walk after their own vngodly lusts 19 These are makers of Sects fleshly having not the spirit 20 But yee beloved edifie your selues in your most holy faith praying in the holy Ghost 21 And keepe your selues in the loue of God looking for the mercie of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto eternall life HAving otherwhere spoken of the words of Saint Iude going next before concerning Mockers which should come in the last time backsliders which even then fell away from the faith of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ I am now by the aide of almighty God and through the assistance of his good spirit to lay before you the words of exhortation which I haue read 2 Wherein first of all whosoever hath an eie to see let him open it and he shall wel perceiue how carefull the Lord is for his children how desirous to see them profit and growe vp to a manly stature in Christ how loath to haue them any way mislead either by examples of the wicked or by enticements of the world and by provocation of the flesh or by any other meanes forcible to deceaue them and likely to estrange their heartt from God For God is not at that point with vs that hee careth not whether wee sinke or swimme No he hath written our names in the palme of his hand in the signet vpon his finger are we graven in sentences not onely of mercy but of iudgement also we are remembred He never denouÌ„ceth iudgements againâ—t the wicked but hee maketh some Proviso for his children as it were for some certaine priviledged persons Touch not mine annointed doe my Prophets no harme hurt not the earth nor the sea nor the trees till wee haue sealed the servants of God in their foreheads Hee never speaketh of godlesse men but he adioineth words of comfort or admonition or exhortation whereby wee are moued to rest and settle our hearts on him In the second to Tim. the 3. Chap. Evil men saith the Apostle and deceiuers shall waxe worse and worse deceiuing and being deceiued But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned And in the first to Tim. the. 6. Chap. Some men lusting after money have erred from the faith pierced themselues through with many sorrowes But thou ô man of God fly these things and follow
exercises purely orderly established in the Church this is to separate themselues by schisme If they willingly cast of and vtterly forsake both profession of Christ communion with Christians taking their leaue of all religion this is to separate themselues by plaine Apostasie And Saint Iude to expresse the manner of their departure which by Apostasie fell away frō the faith of Christ saith they separated themselues noting thereby that it was not constraint of others which forced them to depart it was not infirmitie and weaknes in themselues it was not feare of persecution to come vpō them whereat their hearts did faile it was not griefe of torments whereof they had tasted and were not able any longer to endure them No they voluntarily did separate themselues with a fully setled and altogether determined purpose never to name the Lord Iesus and more nor to haue any fellowship with his Saints but to bend all their counsell and all their strength to raze out their memoriall from amongst men 12 Now because that by such examples not only the hearts of Infidels were hardned against the truth but the mindes of weake brethren also much troubled the holy Ghost hath given sentence of these backsliders that they were carnall men and had not the spirit of Christ Iesus least any man hauing an overweening of their persons should be overmuch amazed and offended at their fall For simple men not able to discerne their spirits were brought by their apostasie thus to reason with themselues If Christ be the sonne of the liuing God if hee haue the words of eternall life if he be able to bring salvation to all men that come vnto him what meaneth this Apostasie and vnconstrained departure Why doe his servants so willingly forsake him Babes be not deceived his servants forsake him not They that separate themselues were amongst his servants but if they had been of his servants they had not separated themselues They were amongst vs not of vs saith Saint Iohn and Saint Iude proveth it because they were carnall and had not the spirit Will you iudge of wheat by chaffe which the winde hath scattered from amongst it Haue the children no bread because the dogs haue not tasted it Are Christians deceived of that salvatiō they looked for because they denied the ioies of the life to come which were not Christiās What if they seemed to bee pillers and principall vpholders of our faith What is that to vs which know that Angels haue fallen from heaven Although if these men had beene of vs indeed O the blessednes of a Christian mans estate they had stood surer then the Angels they had never departed from their place Whereas now we mervaile not at their departure at all neither are we prejudiced by their falling away because they were not of vs sith they are fleshly and haue not the spirit Children abide in the house for ever they are bondmen and bondwomen which are cast out 13 It behoveth you therefore greatly every mā to examine his owne estate and to try whether you be bond or free children or no children I haue tolde you already that we must beware we presume not to sit as Gods in iudgement vpon others and rashlie as our conceipt and fancie doth lead vs so to determine of this man he is sincere or of that man he is an hypocrit except by their falling away they make it manifest and knowne what they are For who art thou that takest vpon thee to iudge another before the time Iudge thy selfe God hath left vs infallible evidence whereby we may at any time giue true righteous sentence vpon our selues We cannot examine the harts of other men we may our owne That we haue passed from death to life we knowe it saith St Iohn because we loue our brethren knowe yee not your owne selues how that Iesus Christ is in you except yee bee reprobates I trust beloued wec knowe that wee are not reprobates because our spirit doth bear vs record that the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ is in vs. 14 It is as easie a matter for the spirit within you to tell whose yee are as for the eies of your body to iudge where you sit or in what place you stand For what saith the Scripture Yee which were in times past strangers and enimies because your minds were set on evill workes Christ hath now reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to make you holy and vnblameable and without fault in his sight if you continue grounded and established in the faith and bee not moved away from the hope of the Gospell Colos. 1. And in the third to the Coloss. yee knowe that of the Lord yee shall receiue the reward of that inheritance for yee serue the Lord Christ. If wee can make this account with our selues I was in times past dead in trespasses and sinnes I walked after the prince that ruleth in the aire after the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience but God who is rich in mercy through his great loue wherewith he loued me evē when I was dead hath quickned me in Christ. I was fierce heady proud high minded but God hath made me like the child that is newly wained I loved pleasures more then God I followed greedily the ioies of this present world I esteemed him that erected a stage or theatre more then Solomon which built a Temple to the Lord the Harpe Viole Timbrell Pipe men singers womē singers were at my feasts it was my felicity to see my children dance before me I said of every kind of vanitie O how sweet art thou vnto my soule All which things now are crucified to me and J to them now I hate the pride of life and pompe of this world now I take as great delight in the way of thy testimonies O Lord as in all riches now I finde more ioy of heart in my Lord and Saviour then the worldly minded man when his wheate and oyle do much abound now I tast nothing sweet but the bread that came downe from heaven to giue life vnto the world now mine eyes see nothing but Iesus rising from the dead now my eare refuseth all kind of melodie to heare the song of them that haue gotten victory of the beast and of his image and of his marke and of the number of his name that stand on the sea of glasse hauing the harpes of God and singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lambe saying Great and marvailous are thy workes Lord God Almightie iust true are thy waies O king of Saints Surely if the spirit haue been thus effectuall in the secret worke of our regeneration vnto newnesse of life if wee endeavour thus to frame our selues anew then we may say boldly with the blessed Apostle in the 10. to the Hebrewes we are not of them which withdraw our selues to perdition but which follow
after righteousnesse godlines faith loue patience meeknesse In the second to the Thessalonians the second Chap. They that have not receiued the loue of the truth that they might bee saued God shall send them strong delusions that they may beleeue lies But we ought to giue thanks alway to God for you brethren beloued of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and faith in the truth And in this Epistle of S. â—ude There shall come mockers in the last time walking after their owne vngodly lusts But beloued edifie yee your selues in your most holy faith 3 These sweet exhortations which God putteth every where in the mouthes of the Prophets Apostles of Iesus Christ are evident tokens that God siâ—teth not in heaven carelesse and vnmindfull of our estate Can a mother forget her child Surely a mother will hardly forget her child But if a mother bee happily found vnnaturall and doe forget the fruit of her owne wombe yet Gods iudgements shew plainly that he cannot forget the man whose heart hee hath framed and fashioned a new in simplicity and truth to serue and feare him For when the wickednesse of man was so great and the earth so filled with crueltie that it could not stand with the righteousnes of God any longer to forbeare wrathfull sentences brake out from him like wine from a vessell that hath no vent My spirit saith he can struggle and striue no longer an end of all flesh is come before me Yet then did Noah finde grace in the eies of the Lord I will establish my covenaÌ„t with thee saith God thou shalt goe into the arke thou and thy sonnes and thy wife and thy sonnes wiues with thee 4 Doe we not see what shift God doth make for Lot and for his familie in the 19. of Genesis least the fierie destruction of the wicked should overtake him Overnight the Angels make enquiry what sons or daughters or sonnes in law what wealth and substance he had They charge him to carie out al whatsoever thou hast in the citie bring it out God seemeth to stand in a kind of feare least something or other would be left behind And his will was that nothing of that which he had not an hoofe of any beast not a threed of any garment should bee singed with that fire In the morning the Angels fayle not to call him vp and to hasten him forward Arise take thy wife thy daughters which are here that they be not destroyed in the punishment of the Citie The Angels hauing spoken againe and againe Lot for all this lingereth out the time still till at the length they were forced to take both him and his wife and his daughters by the armes the Lord being mercifull vnto him and to cary them forth and set them without the citie 5 Was there ever any father thus carefull to saue his child from the flame A man would thinke that now being spoken vnto to escape for his life and not to looke behinde him nor to tarry in the plaine but to hasten to the mountaine there to saue himselfe he should do it gladly Yet behold now he is so farre off from a chearefull willing hart to do whatsoever is commanded him for his owne weale that he beginneth to reason the matter as if God had mistaken one place for another sending him to the hill when salvation was in the Citie Not so my Lord I beseech thee Behold thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou haste shewed vnto me in saving my life I cannot escape in the mountaine least some evil take me and I die Here is a Citty hard by a small thing O let me escape thither is it not a small thing and my soule shall liue Well God is contented to yeeld to any conditions Behold I haue received thy request concerning this thing also I will spare this City for which thou hast spoken hast thee saue thee there For I can do nothing till thou come thither 6 Hee could doe nothing Not because of the weaknesse of his strength for who is like vnto the Lord in power but because of the greatnesse of his mercy which would not suffer him to lift vp his arme against that City nor to power out his wrath vpon that place where his righteous servant had a fancie to remaine and a desire to dwell O the depth of the riches of the mercy and loue God! God is afraide to offend vs which are not afraid to displease him God can do nothing till he haue saved vs which can finde in our harts rather to do any thing then to serue him It contenteth him not to exempt vs when the pit is digged for the wicked to comfort vs at every mention which is made of reprobates and godlesse men to saue vs as the apple of his owne eie when fire commeth downe from heaven to consume the inhabitants of the earth except every Prophet and every Apostle and every servant whom he sendeth forth doe come loaden with these and the like exhortations O beloved edifie your selues in your most holy faith Giue your selues to praier in the spirit keepe your selues in the loue of God Looke for the mercie of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto eternall life 7 Edifie your selues The speech is borrowed froÌ„ material builders and must be spiritually vnderstood It appeareth in the 6. of S. Iohns gospel by the Iewes that their mouthes did water too much for bodilie food Our fathers say they did eate Manna in the Desert is it is written He gaue them bread from heaven to eate Lord evermore give vs of this bread Our Saviour to turne their appetite another way maketh theÌ„ this answere I am the bread of life hee that coÌ„meth to me shall not hunger and hee that beleeveth in mee shall never thirst 8 An vsuall practise it is of Satan to cast heapes of worldly baggage in our way that whilest we desire to heape vp gold as dust wee may be brought at the length to esteeme vilely that spiritual blisse Christ in the 6. of Matthew to correct this evill affection putteth vs in minde to lay vp treasure for our selues in heaven The Apostle 1. Tim. 3. chapt misliking the vanity of those womeÌ„ which attired themselues more costly then beseemed the heavenly calling of such as professed the feare of God willeth them to cloath themselues with shamefastnes and modestie and to put on the apparel of good workes Taliter pigmentatae Deum habebitis amatorem saith Tertullian Put on righteousnesse as a garment in steed of Civit haue Faith which may cause a savour of life to issue from you and God shall be enamoured he shal be ravished with your beauty These are the ornaments bracelets and jewels which inflame the loue of Christ and set his hart on fire vpon his spowse We see how he breaketh
dispute with words not comely or with talke that is not profitable Yet behold even they that are wisest amongst vs living cōpared with the Prophets seem no otherwise to talke of God then as if the children which are caried in armes should speake of the greatest matters of state They whose words doe most shew forth their wise and standing and whose lips doe vtter the purest knowledge so long as they vnderstand and speake as men are they not faine sundry waies to excuse themselues Sometimes acknowledging with the wise mā hardly can we discerne the things that are on earth and with great labour finde wee out the things that are before vs who can then seeke out the things that are in heauen Sometimes confessing with Iob the righteous intreating of things too wonderfull for vs we haue spokē we wist not what Sometimes ending their talke as doth the history of the Macchabees if we haue done wel aa the cause required it is that we desire if we haue spok̄ stenderly and havely we haue done that we could But God 〈…〉 saith Esay And we haue receiued saith the Apostle not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God that wee might know the things which are given to vs of God which things also we speake not in words which mans wisdome teacheth but which the holy Ghost doth teach This is that which the Prophets mean by those books writtē ful within without which books were so often delivered thē to eat not because God fed thē with inke paper but to teach vs that so oft as he employed them in this heavenly worke they neither spake nor wrote any word of their owne but vttered sillable by sillable as the spirit put it into their months no otherwise then the Harp or the Lute doth giue a sound according to the discretion of his hands that holdeth striketh it with skill The difference is only this An instrument whether it be a pipe or harpe maketh a distinction in the times and sounds which distinction is well perceived of the hearer the instrument it selfe vnderstanding not what is piped or harped The Prophets and holy men of God not so I opened my mouth saith Ezechiels and God reached me a scroule saying son of man cause thy belly to eat fill thy bowels with this I giue thee I eate it and it was sweet in my mouth as hony saith the Prophet Yea sweeter I am perswaded then either hony or the hony combe For herein they were not like Harps or Lutes but they felt they felt the power and strength of their owne words Whē they spake of our peace every corner of their hearts was filled with ioy Whē they prophecied of mournings lamentations and woes to fall vpan vs they wept in the bitternes and indignation of spirit the arme of the Lord being mighty and strong vpon them 5 On this manner were all the prophecies of holy scripture Which prophecies although they containe nothing which is not profitable for our instruction yet as one starre differeth from another in glory so every word of prophecy hath a treasure of matter in it but all matters are not of like importance as al treasures are not of equal price The chiefe principal matter of prophecie is the promise of righteousnesse peace holinesse glory victory immortality vnto every soule which beleeveth that Iesus is Christ of the Iew first and of the Gentile Nowe because the doctrine of salvation to bee looked for by faith in him who was in outward appearance as it had beene a man forsaken of God in him who was numbred Iudged and condemned with the wicked in him whom men did see buffited on the face scoft at by Souldiers scourged by tormentours hanged on the crosse pearced to the heart in him whom the eies of many witnesses did behold when the anguish of his soule enforced him to roare as if his hart had rent in sunder O my God my God why haste thou forsaken me I say because the doctrine of salvatiō by him is a thing improbable to a natural man that whether we preach it to the Gentile or to the Iew the one condemneth our faith as madnes the other as blasphemy therefore to establish and confirme the certainety of this saving trueth in the harts of men the Lord togither with their preachings whom hee sent immediately from himselfe to reveale these things vnto the world mingled prophecies of things both civill and Ecclesiasticall which were to come in everie age from time to time till the very last of the latter daies that by those things wherein we see daily their words fulfilled and done we might haue strong consolation in the hope of things which are not seene because they haue revealed as well the one as the other For when many things are spoken of before in scripture whereof we see first one thing accomplished and then another and so a third pereeiue wee not plainely that God doeth nothing else but lead vs along by the hand til he haue setled vs vpon the rocke of an assured hope that no one iote or title of his word shall passe till all be fulfilled It is not therefore saide in vaine that these godlesse wicked ones were spoken of before 6 But by whom By them whose words if men or Angels from heauen gainesaie they are accursed by them whom whosoever despiseth despiseth not them but me saith Christ. If any man therefore doth loue the Lord Iesus and woe worth him that loueth not the Lord Iesus hereby wee may know that hee loveth him indeed if hee despise not the things that are spoken of by his Apostles whom many haue despised even for the basenesse and simplenesse of their persons For it is the propertie of fleshly and carnall men to honour and dishonour credit and discredit the words and deeds of every man according to that he wanteth or hath without If a man with gorgeous apparell come amongst vs although he bee a theese or a murtherer for there are theeues and murtherers in gorgeous apparell be his heart whatsoever If his coat be of purple or velvet or tissue every one riseth vp and all the reverent solemnities wee can vse are too little But the man that serveth God is contemned and despised amongst vs for his povertie Herod speaketh in iudgement and the people cry out The voice of God and not of man Paul preacheth Christ they tearme him a trifler Harken beloued hath not God chosen the poore of this world that they should be rich in faith hath hee not chosen the refuse of the world to be heires of his kingdome which hee hath promised to them that loue him hath he not chosen the ofscowrings of men to be the lights of the world and the Apostles of Iesus Christ Men vnlearned yet how fully replenished with vnderstanding fewe in number yet how great in power contemptible in shew yet in spirit how strong
in a ladder of many staues if you take away the lowest all hope of ascending to the highest will be remoued So because all the precepts and promises in the law and in the Gospell doe hang vpon this Beleeue and because the last of the graces of God doth so follow the first that he glorifieth none but whom he hath iustified nor iustifieth any but whom he hath called to a true effectual and liuely faith in Christ Iesus therefore S Iude exhorting vs to build our selues mentioneth here expresly only faith as the thing wherein we must be edified for that faith is the ground and the glorie of all the welfare of this building 15 Yee are not strangers forrainers but citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God saith the Apostle and are built vpon the foundation of the Prophets Apostles Iesus Christ himselfe being the cheefe corner stone in whom all the building being coupled together groweth vnto an holy Temple in the Lord in whom yee also are built together to be the habitation of God by the spirit And we are the habitation of God by the spiâ—â—t if we beleeue For it is written whosoever confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God in him God dwelleth and he in God The strength of this habitatioÌ„ is great it prevaileth against Satan it conquereth sinne it hath death in derision neither principalities nor powers can throwe it downe it leadeth the world captiue bringeth every enimie that riseth vp against it to coÌ„fusion and shame and all by faith for this is the victorie that overcommeth the world even our faith Who is it that overcoÌ„meth the world but hee which beleeueth that Iesus is the sonne of God 16 The strength of every building which is of God standeth not in any mans armes or legs it is only in our faith as the valour of Sampson lay only in his haire This is the reason why wee are so earnestly called vpon to edifie our selues in faith Not as if this bare action of our minds whereby wee beleeue the Gospel of Christ were able in it selfe as of it selfe to make vs vnconquerable and invincible like stones which abide in the building for ever and fall not out No it is not the worthinesse of our beleeuing it is the vertue of him in whom we beleeue by which we stand sure as houses that are builded vpon a rocke He is a wise man which hath builded his house vpon a rocke for he hath chosen a good foundation and no doubt his house will stand But how shall it stand verily by the strength of the rocke which beareth it by nothing else Our fathers whom God delivered out of the land of Egypt were a people that had no peeres amongst the nations of the earth because they were built by faith vpon the rocke which rocke is Christ. And the rocke saith the Apostle in the first to the Corinthians the tenth Chapter did follow him Whereby we learne not only this that being built by faith on Christ as on a rocke and grafted into him as into an Oliue wee receiue all our strength and fatnesse from him but also that this strength and fatnesse of ours ought to be no cause why we should be high minded and not workeout our salvation with a reverent treÌ„bling and holy feare For if thou boastest thy selfe of thy faith knowe this that Christ chose his Apostles his Apostles chose not him that Israel followed not the rocke but the rocke followed Israel and that thou bearest not the roote but the root thee So that every heart must this thinke and every tongue must thus speake Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs nor vnto any thing which is within vs but vnto thy name onely only to thy name belongeth all the praise of al the treasures and riches of every Temple which is of God This excludeth al boasting and vaunting of our faith 17 But this must not make vs carelesse to edifie our selues in faith It is the Lord that delivereth mens soules from death but not except they put their trust in his mercy It is God that hath given vs eternall life but no otherwise then thus If wee beleeue in the name of the sonne of God for hee that hath not the sonne of God hath not life It was the spirit of the Lord which came vpon Sampson made him strong to teare a lion as a man would rent a kid but his strength forsooke him and he became like other men when the razer had touched his head It is the power of God whereby the faithfull haue subdued kingdomes wrougâ—t righteousnesse obtained the promises stopped the mouthes of Lions quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword But take away their faith and doth not their strength forsake them are they not like vnto other men 18 If yee desire yet farther to knowe how necessarie and neâ—dfull it is that we edifie and build vp our selues in faith marke the words of the blessed Apostles without faith it is impossible to please God If I offer vnto God all the sheepe and oxen that are in the world if all the Temples that were builded since the dayes of Adam till this houre were of my foundation if I breake my very heart with calling vpon God and weare out my tongue with preaching if J sacrifice my body and my soule vnto him and haue no faith all this availeth nothing Without faith it is impossible to please God Our Lord and Saviour therefore being asked in the sixt of S. Iohns Gospell What shall we doe that we might worke the workes of God maketh answer This is the worke of God that yee beleeue in him whom hee hath sent 19 That no worke of ours no building of our selues in any thing can be available or profitable vnto vs except we be edified built in faith what need we to seeke about for long proofe looke vpon Israel once the very chosen and peculiar of God to whom the adoption of the faithfull and the glory of Cherubins and the covenants of mercy and the lawe of Moses and the service of God and the promises of Christ were made impropriate who not onely were the ofspring of Abraham father vnto all them which doe beleeue but Christ their ofspring which is God to be blessed for evermore 20 Consider this people and learne what it is to build your selues in faith They were the Lords vine he brought it out of Egypt he threwe out the heathen from their places that it might be planted hee made roome for it and caused it to take roote till it had filled the earth the mountaines were covered with the shadowe of it and the boughs thereof were as the goodly Cedars She stretched out her branches vnto the sea and her boughs vnto the river But when God hauing sent both his servants and his sonne to visite this vine they neither spared the one nor receiued the other but
Gods owne mouth Therefore I conclude that faith is that which maketh vas most holy in consideration whereof it is called in this place Our most holy faith 28 To make a wicked and a sinful man most holy through his beleeuing is more then to create a world of nothing Our faith most holy Surely Solomon could not shew the Queene of Saba so much treasure in all his kingdoÌ„e as is lapt vp in these words O that our hearts were stretched out like tents that the eies of our vnderstanding were as bright as the sunne that we might throughly knowe the richâ—s of the glorious inheritance of Saints and what is the exceeding greatnesse of his power towards vs whome he accepteth for pure and most holy through our beleeuing O that the spirit of the Lord would giue this doctrine entrance into the stonie and brasen hart of the Iew which followeth the law of righteousnes but cannot attaine vnto the righteousnesse of the law Wherefore saith the Apostle They seeke righteousnesse and not by faith Wherefore they stumble at Christ they are bruised shivered to peeces as a ship that hath runne her selfe vpon a rocke O that God would cast downe the eies of the prowd and humble the soules of the high minded that they might at the length abhorre the garments of their owne flesh which cannot hide their nakednesse and put on the faith of Christ Iesus as hee did put it on which hath said Doubtlesse I thinke all things but losse for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I haue counted all things losse and doe iudge them to be dung that I might winne Christ and might be found in him not hauing mine owner righteousnes which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ even the righteousnesse which is of God through faith O that God would open the Arke of mercy wherein this doctrine lyeth and set it wide before the eies of poore afflicted consciences which fly vp and downe vpon the water of their afflictions can see nothing but only the gulfe and deluge of their sinnes wherein there is no place for them to rest their feet The God of pittie and compassion giue you al strength courage every day and every houre every moment to build and edifie your selues in this most pure holy faith And thus much both of the thing prescribed in this exhortatioÌ„ also of the properties of the thing Build your selues in your most holy faith I would coÌ„e to the next branch which is of Prayer but I caÌ„not lay this matter out of my haÌ„ds til I haue added somwhat for the applying of it both to other to our selues 29 For your better vnderstanding of matters contained in this exhortation Build your selues you must note that every Church and congregatioÌ„ doth consist of a multitude of beleeuers as every house is built of many stones And although the nature of the mystical body of the Church be such that it suffereth no distinction in the invisible members but whether it be Paul or Apollos Prince or Prophet hee that is taught or he that teacheth all are equally Christs Christ is equally theirs yet in the externall administration of the Church of God because God is not the author of confusion but of peace it is necessary that in every Congregation there be a distinction if not of inward dignitie yet of outward degree so that all are Saints or seeme to be Saints and should bee as they seeme But are all Apostles If the whole bodie were an eie where were then the hearing God therfore hath giuen some to be Apostles and some to be Pastours c. for the edificatioÌ„ of the body of Christ. In which worke we are Gods labourers saith the Apostle yee are Gods husbandry Gods building 30 The Church respected with reference vnto administration ecclesiastical doth generally consist but of 2 sorts of men the Labourers the Building they which are ministred vnto and they to whom the worke of the ministery is committed Pastours the flocke over whom the holy Ghost hath made them overseers If the Guid of a Congregation be his name or his degree whatsoever be diligent in his vocation feed the flocke of God which dependeth vpon him caring for it not by constraint but willingly not for filthie lucre but of a ready mind not as though hee would tyrannize over Gods heritage but as a patterne vnto the flocke wisely guiding them if the people in their degree doe yeeld themselues frameable to the truth not like rough stone or flint refusing to bee smoothed and squared for the building if the Magistrate doe carefully and diligently survey the whole order of the worke providing by statutes and lawes bodily punishments if need require that all things may be done according to the rule which cannot deceaue even as Moses provided that all things might be done according to the patterne which hee saw in the Mount there the words of this exhortation are truely and effectually heard Of such a Congregation every man will say Behold a people that are wise a people that walke in the statutes and ordinances of their God a people full of knowledge and vnderstanding a people that haue skill in building themselues Where it is otherwise there as by slothfulnesse the roofe doth decay as by idlenesse of hinds the house droppeth thorough as it is in the 10. of Ecclesiastes v. 18 so first one peece and then another of their building shal fall away till there be not a stone left vpon a stone 31 We see how fruitlesse this exhortation hath bene to such as bend all their trauaile onely to build manage a Papacie vpon earth without any care in the world of building theÌ„selues in their most holy faith Gods people haue enquired at their mouthes What shall wt doe to haue eternall life where-in shall we build edifie our selues And they haue departed hoÌ„e froÌ„ their Prophets from their preists laden with doctaines which are precepts of men they haue bene taught to tire out themselues with bodily excercise those thinges are inioyned them which God did never require at their hands and the things he doth require are kept froÌ„ theÌ„ their eies are fed with pictures and their eares filled with melodie but their soules doe wither and starue and pine away they crie for bread and behold stones are offered them they aske for fishe and see they haue scorpions in their hands Thou seest O Lord that they builde themselues but not in faith they feede their children but not with food Their rulers say with shame Bring not build But god is righteous their druÌ„kennesse stinketh their abominations ate knowne their madnesse is manifest the winde hath bound them vp in hir wings and they shall be ashamed of their doings Ephraim saith the Prophet is ioyned to Idoles let him alone I will turne me therfore from the Preists which do