* Luk. 1. 38. ancilla domini Behold the hand-maid of the Lord nay more yet he that was Lord of all became a servant So by Gods own compellation Esay 53. 11. So by his owne profession 4. Matth. 20. 28. and no more in the worlds estimation Philip. 2. 7. enough it is for any man to be reckoned amongst these worthies to be of Gods familie in any Relation but God thinkes it not enough for his Love It is not therefore My servant but My Sonne We that were unworthy to be accounted servants he hath advanced to the honour of Sonnes Not My Servant therefore but My Sonne Nay not my friend this priviledge had Abraham the father of the faithfull Ja. 2. 23. for his faith And the same is promised to Christs disciples upon condition of their obedience Jo. 15. 14. And a great prerogative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laere Diog. do vita c. Ego sensi animam meam animam amici mei unam fuisse animam in duobus corporibus Ang. lib. conf 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ar. lib. 8. 1 th it is to be Gods friend for a friend is alter ego a second selfe and amicorum omnia communia all things are common amongst friends no comfort with-held no secret hid from a friend * Gen. 18. 17. Pet. 1. 4. yet it is not my freind but My Sonne for Gods love which is infinite knows no bounds but extends to the highest degree of kindnesse and calls man now not my Servant not my Freind only but my Sonne To be of Gods Court his servant is much to be of his counsel his Friend is much more but to be partakers of the Divine nature the Sonne of God is most of all of this I may say as Elizabeth in a case not much unlike unde hoc mihi * Luk. 1. 43. whence is this to me that I should be called the Son of God But how the Sonne of God Or what Sonne doth God here meane Not his naturall Son so is none but Christ as God he is both Primogenitus and unigenitus his first-begotten and only-begotten of the same essence consubstantiall coaeternal and coaequal with the father begotten by an unspeakable Generation which we may adore cannot search out for who shall declare his Generation Esay 53. 8. Yea Christ as man by grace of hypostatical or personall union is after a speciall manner the Sonne of God so fore-told to be before he was so Luke 1. 32. That holy thing that shall be borne of thee shall be called the Sonne of God And so declar'd to be when he was so Matth. 3. 17. This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well-plea-sed And thus is none the Sonne of God but only he who both by nature and the union of his person is indeed the very Sonne of God Others there are whom holy Scripture hath honoured with this title Adam he was so by Creation the immediate Sonne of God for God was Father Mother God-Father made him produced him named him Luke 3. The Angels they are so made in Gods image and stiled his Sonnes Psal 89. 6. And so are Kings by Gods owne ordination and special appointment the Sonnes of God Psal 82. 6. I have said ye are Gods and all of you are Children of the most high This title thus taken is a singular prerogative peculiar to some special persons But here we will take it more generally as it is a common title given by God to all the faithfull My Sonne Not by naturall Generation for so is none but Christ as God Not by grace of personall union for so is none but Christ as man Not by immediate creation for so was Adam and the Angels only Nor by Divine Ordination for so are Kings and Princes only But by grace adoption every true beleever is truly the Son of God The faithfull by adoption are filij designati appointed by the Father for the Sons of God Through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus they are filii facti made the Sonnes of God And by the laver of regeneratiō they are filii signati sealed by the Spirit for the Sons of God They are first designed by the Father for heires Then really made and accepted by Christ for Coheyres And finally assured by the holy Ghost of an Inheritance undefiled that fadeth not away reserved for them in the heavens Gods Sonnes the faithfull are before they are so in the purpose of the Vosque si nondum natos jam tamen designatos filios jam credite Chrys Ser. 71. in orat dominum pag. 306. father but not so in his Delight they must declare their predestination by their conversation before they can be admitted into Gods familie there must concurre with the Fathers purpose the purchase of the Sonne and the purging of the holy Ghost when in the Sonne and by the Holy Ghost they are made such as the father purposed they should be then he takes delight in them and ownes them for his Sonnes and not before for it is not the fathers Adoption nor the Sons Redemption that can priviledge the faithfull from being by nature the children of wrath even as others Ephes 2. 3. without righteousnesse holines Innocencie and all right to glory meer carnal men and so by nature must still continue for that which is borne of the flesh is flesh there John 3. 6. must be a new birth they must be borne againe and so made new Creatures before they can become the Sonnes of God and here must not be left out the office of the holy Ghost for as the Sonne of God could not become the Sonne of man so neither can Luke 1. 35. the Sonnes of men become the Sonnes of God without the speciall office and operation of the holy Ghost Jo. 3. this cannot be the worke of flesh and blood which naturally produces it's like carnall and sinfull nor the worke of man for parentes peremptores our parents are our murtherers wee derive from them the contagion of sinne * and Non imitatione sed propagatione with sin an Obligation to eternall death and so saith Saint Austin wee are damnati antequam nati dead in sinne before alive in the world Mans freedome from this wretched condition and translation into the glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God is a worke of Grace Gods entire worke so Saint James Of his owne will Tit. 3. 6. Verbum adveniens aqua dat ei virtutem abluendi Aq. in locum Austin begate he us with the word of Truth cap. 1. 18. with the washing of water by the Word so Saint Paul Eph. 5. 26. Accedit verbum ad elementum fit Sacramentum by the power of the word the Element is made a Sacrament And that water whose common use was to wash the bodie from filth now serves for a holy use to clense the soule from sin to this use God hath ordained it and his Spirit
accompanies his owne Ordinance which whilst the eye is fixed upon the signe the water carries the minde to the consideration and so on in a sweet meditation of the thing signified the blood of Christ by that the Baptist washes the bodie with this the holy Ghost clenseth the soule and this cleansing is a changing also persona tingitur natura mutatur Euseb Emissen de Ep. Hom. 3. and this purgation by the blood of Christ is a preparation for the grace of Christ which upon is infused into the soule so St. Cyprian in expiatum pectus purum desuper se lumen infundit and being then Cyp. lib. 2. ep secunda Donato pag. 69. circa sinem infused it giveth to the powers of the soule their first disposition unto newnesse of life which by frequent acts of vertue is wrought into a habit and so is Christ formed in us tantae molis erat such a do there was this blood and sweat it cost to Redeeme man from slavery and bondage to repaire the decayes of nature to recover the lost heritage and to restore to the Father his lost Sonne And now brethren you see your calling how the sons of Adam are made the sonnes of God here 's an Alteration which the spirituall eye may easily discover First here is a change of our estate and condition when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the blood of his sonne who by his death overcame death which we had deserved suffered for sinne which we had committed fulfilled Gods law which we had violated satisfied his justice which we had offended appeased his wrath which we had kindled recovered his favor and made our peace and by this means we that were by nature children of wrath by that Grace and favour which Christ hath obtained for us at Gods hands are taken in to be the sonnes of God for so well pleased was he with the obedience of the naturall sonne that for his sake and at his intercession he is pleased to accept us for his sonnes thus Christ became our baile and surety undertooke for us and humbled himselfe to the meanesse of a servant that we might be advanced to the estate of sonnes And that our nature may be fit for that estate there 's a change of that too the change of our estate is ascribed to the Credulitas quae deum spiritum proclamavit de carnis substantia mortali in vitalem spiritus sustantium vos mutavit Chrysol ser 71. 2 Pet. 14. Est in locū riches of Christs merit but this of our nature to the grace of his holy spirit this change is not in substance but in quality and so in quality though not in substance the spirit of God altereth our nature conformes us to the Image of Christ and makes us partakers of the divine nature but mistake not St. Peter for by nature he understands not the essence of God which is appropriated onely to the Trinity of persons and communicated to no man but the divine Attributes of wisdome justice holinesse truth glory and immortallity and in these we have fellowship with the Father and with his sonne Jesus Christ and so are made wise righteous holy mercifull immortal and glorious like God in respect of the qualities not equality our vertues being but a ray of his Son a sparke of his eternall Aq. in 2 Pet. 13. fire a participation of his fulnesse he being an inexhaustible fountaine of grace and goodnesse filleth our frayle vessels secundum modulum nostrum according to their capacity see that what soever grace the holy Ghost effectually worketh in us it is first originally in God and is made ours either by imputation or infusion our nature is corrupt I know that in me saith St. Paul Ro. 7. 18. dwelleth no good thing mans goodnes is not inherent but either impured or imparted and so when God is pleased to participate unto us his own goodnesse there is a change wrought in our nature new light is put into our minds new desires into our affections new obedience into our wils and a sweet conformity into all our actions in this renovation there is no destruction but a conversion no subversion of the old substance but a generation of new qualityes there still remaines the same subject and this alteration of our nature is a transformatiō not a transubstantiaton To this new man there is not wanting a new name and names are given to expresse the nature of things now no name can so fully and so fitly notifie him who is made partaker of the divine nature adopted to the inheritance of glory and immortality in the kingdome of heaven as this of Gods son here then is a change of our names too there are no more termes of hostility between God and man the enmity is now abolished and all such names as carrie in them sorrow shame and misery are done away and a new name that imports comfort glory and felicity is imposed and now we are no more enemies but sonnes now surely this is good newes to heare the father hath found his lost sonne an Angell is not an able and sufficient messenger God him-himselfe bowes the heavens and comes downe ecce novum behold a new thing upon earth Esay 43. 19. This is novum and inauditum a thing never heard of before God in the flesh revealed it heaven and earth God and man reconciled good tidings Blessed be the peace maker God and man made friends good news welcome be he whosoever brings it his lips are gracious and his feet beautifull whose heart doth not leape for joy to heare himselfe by the everlasting Father called my Sonne And this new name must be attended with a Chrys ser 68. in ora Domi. new life qui Dei filium credit actu vita moribus honestate tanto generi respondeat they that professe themselves the Sons of God must be answerable to such honorable compellations this is a high and a heavenly calling and our conversation must be suitable to our calling nec degeneret Cyp. ser 5. de ora Domi. actus noster a spiritu ut qui coelestes spirituales esse caepimus non nisi spiritualia coelestia cogitemus agamus we must looke unto the Rock from whence wee are hewne and beware we degenerate not from that Royall family where into we are admitted but we who call God our Father should be blamelesse and harmelesse the sonnes of God without rebuke Phil. 2. 15. a godly name and a wicked life agree not sinners are hardened and God dishonoured when he that is called a sonne of God behaves himselfe as a servant of sinne it is very fit that every sonne of God should imitate his Matth. 11. heavenly father or if he desire a patern neerer hand let him learn of his elder brother discite à me saith Christ learne of me Frame your lives to his rule and they wil acquit you convince men
Lord with our substance Thirdly for his poore childrens sake whose case hee makes his owne And so if God stand in need of nothing man can give yet Christ doth not Christus merus sed Christus mysticus Not the person of Christ for God hath put all things in subjection under his feete and exalted him to be Lord of all But the bodie of Christ Totus Christus est caput corpus Aust his Church that labours under many wants and God expects the necessities of his Church should be supplied of that which is thine his Temples beautified his Ministers maintained his poore members relieved and what is given to any of these God acknowledges as given to him so that when God becomes a suiter unto man it is not for himselfe but for his Church hee makes his Churches case his owne and when a man gives to his Church he offers to God the time was when the forwardnesse of the giver prevented all suit and then so much was given that now God needs not to turne beggar for his Church give him that which is his owne that which the pietie of former times hath endowed his spouse with and then shee may say as Esau to Jacob I have enough my brother keep that thou hast unto thy selfe Gen. 33. But yet I have not done with tuum mihi thy goods thy body thy life omne tuum all thou hast to God when by that thou hast thou mayst doe him service keepe nothing back But above all that is thine thine heart to God any thing else thou hast God commends into thine hand gives thee libertie to dispose of it Corpus terrae thy body Terram terra tegat daemon peccata resumat mundus res habeat spiritus astra petat to the earth earth it is and to earth it must returne commend it therefore to the consecrated bed of dust to sleepe with it's fathers untill by the last trumpe it be awakened to a joyfull resurrection Bona amicis leave thy goods to thy freinds to the Saints upon earth and such as excell in vertue and forget not to transport a part before thee in pious and charitable uses remember thy freinds in heaven as well as thy kindred upon earth Peccatum Dia bolo thy sinne to Sathan hee was the first suggester of it and a daily tempter to it stop his mouth with a tolle quod tuum est vade let him gaine nought from thee but thy sinne that is his and bid him take his owne and be packing but Cor mihi thy heart for God wee must breath out our soules with David In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit all other parts at times convenient may labour about the things of this life but sur sum corda the Heart must never looke so low heaven is Col. 3. 2. it's hope and her conversation must be as high as her hope where her fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus Christ and from this fellowship she must not stray when the eyes are abroad in the world the heart must still be fixed in heaven and let nothing remove it from that station keep it there and it keeps the whole man upright whilst the Heart is devoted to God there is no violence briberie or injustice in the hand no lust covetousnesse or envie in the eye the eare is not open to vanitie or blasphemie there is no Idolatry in the knee no bitternesse or falshood in the tongue no guile in the lippes no impietie to God no injurie to man and this is the blessed fruit of the hearts devotion thy Heart to God then Other Competitors there are for the Heart The world cries Cor mihi give me thine heart and thou shalt have wealth and honors The flesh cries Give it me and thou shalt have ease and pleasures Give it me saith Sathan and thou shalt have all these the riches of the world and the pleasures of the flesh give him but the heart and he will give all how comes hee thus munificent Paracelfus tels us he is but a beggarly spirit and therefore let him not delude the heart with vaine hopes or deceive it with false shewes hee promises all but can give none Matth. 4. suppose him able to make his promise good yet all hee promises even the whole world is not a valuable price for the heart and will any man be so adventerously foolish as to sell upon trust at an under rate and to Sathan too so bad a pay-master the veriest huckster in the world Give it him it is lost for ever but in Gods keeping it is sure enough and this is not all the heart gaines by being devoted to God not safety Domine quia fecisti nos ad te irrequiet ū est cor donec requiescat in te Aug. only but satietie too he fils the heart and contents it to the full cheering it on earth with his grace and crowning it in heaven with his glory even for his Christs Jo. 1. 14. sake whose is the fulnesse of grace and glory to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit three Persons but one LORD GOD Almighty Be ascribed all might majestie and dominion now and for ever Amen FINIS IMPRIMATUR Jan. 26. 1638. GUIL BRAY. Good Reader with thy pen amend the faults escaped in the presse thus ERRATA Page 8. line 5. blot out the. p. 12. l. 20. blot out 4. p. 30. l. 1. read so p. 33. l. 20. r. qui se Dei filium p. 37. l. 6. blot out for p. 38. l. 18. Sonne p. 40. l. 5. r. recount p. 43. l. 7. blot out is not p. 46. l. 23. r. only p. 48. l. 3. r. stimulus p. 52. l. 1. blot out is p. 58. l. 2. r. these p. 60. l. 20. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 62. l. 12. r. too l. 13. blot p. 64. l. 19. r. this p. 67. 19. r. ranke p. 74. l. 2. r. notion p. 83. l. 20. r. gestus p. 84. l. 2. r. the. p. 85. 116. r. corde p. 87 l. 4. adde p. 88. l. 1. r. Holocauitis p. 94. l. 10. r. gald In the margent p. 20. r. dominicam p. 28. r. substantiam p. 36. r. proles p. 37. r. voluit p. 55. r. est non p. 80. r. redun iat p. 89. r. indiget cui unitur p. 112. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉