the soule from the body for a time till God reunite them both in glory The Spirituall debt is that which man oweth to the God of nature and it is twofold either the debt of obedience or the debt of punishment The debt of obedience is the debt of righteousnesse Rom. 8.12 The debt of punishment is called the second death to the which man is bound for satisfaction of the justice of God in case of not performing and paying of the debt of righteousnesse The debt of righteousnesse is truly and properly called debt The debt of punishment is but figuratively and improperly so called and that for two causes first in respect of the antecedent and next in respect of the consequent In respect of the antecedent righteousnesse which we should have obeyed and in respect of the consequent punishment which is due to him that disobeies as it is written Tribulation and anguish shall bee c. There remaineth a third debt that man oweth and it is mixed for it is partly religious and partly civill Religious when according to the prescript of the word of God wee give reverence to whom wee owe reverence feare to whom we owe feare and love to whom wee owe love civill when wee render to every man that which wee have borrowed remembring that it is a blessing to owe nothing unto any man and the curse of the wicked that he borroweth and payeth not againe Psal 87. LECT 15. And forgive us our debts IN the end of our last Sermon wee looked on the words of the Petition it selfe wherein wee found foure things considerable First what wee are by nature sinners and debters to God whereof wee have spoken in our last Sermon Now it remaines that wee go forward to consider the other three parts and first of the pardon of our sinne Forgive In handling of which word I purpose not with Salmeron the Jesuite to dispute concerning the propriety of the word and to search whether it had beene better to have said remitte then as it is here dimitte I will onely according to the received approved custome of the Church speake of the word as it implyeth a pardon free remission of our sins which are our spirituall debts For never did man speake in so naturall a dialect as this is for all the other conditions displayed the condition and temper of his faith this the condition of his nature these implyed the good he hoped for this demonstrates the present misery body of death under which hee lyeth sigheth and groaneth desiring to be eased and to speake truly what can bee more acceptable unto God then the confession of sinne and the suit of pardon Did not our Redeemer in the dayes of his flesh call upon all them that were weary and ladened to come to him that hee might give them ease of their burthen rest to their soules Whilst therefore hee shall see us acknowledge our burthen confesse our debt shall we not be welcome to him O know this O man for thy cōfort the sheepheard never rejoyced more in the recovery of his lost sheepe nor the woman of her lost penny nor the father of his lost sonne then God is well pleased and glad of thy returne to him ready to forgive thee thy debt if in humility thou canst but acknowledge it for it is written Blessed is the man that confesseth his sinne and forsakes it but hee that hideth his transgression shall not prosper Well then seeing wee have in the first word confessed our burthen and debt let us now come to the second and consider our desire of pardon and release Forgive Debts are released and forgiven two manner of wayes either freely by pardoning the debtor or else legally by exacting the debt and so acquitting it Againe this legall release and acquitting of debt is two wayes first when the debt is paid by the true debtor Secondly when it is satisfied not by the true debter but by him who became suerty for him to this effect it is that Iustin telleth us Inst l. 3. tit 30. Tollitur omnis obligatio solutione ejus quod debetur non tamen interest quis solvat utrum is qui debet an vero alius pro eo Now shall we looke on mans sinne as it maketh him Gods debtor and enquire how it is forgiven I answer O man thy sinne is forgiven thee both ingenuously and legally Ingenuously because freely and voluntarily Legally because thy debt is paid though not by thy selfe yet by thy suerty Jesus Christ who hath done all suffered all and paid all that it be hooved thee to doe to suffer and to pay for the satisfaction of the justice of God hee did it for thee and thou hast done it in him But that this may be the more cleare and the termes of our pardon may bee the more distinctly known let us consider the debt of sinne as it is severally imposed upon three severall sorts of persons to wit the reprobate Angels and men on the elect amongst the sonnes of men and on the Sonne of God for the lost sons of men Now according to the diversity of the imputation of this debt so is the release and pardon thereof diversly and severally graunted the reprobate Angels and Sonnes of men have the debt and burthen of sinne imputed to them but the pardon and release of sinne neither doth nor ever shall appertaine unto them for with them the Lord doth and shall deale in the severity of his justice for ever for they shall bee cast in prison where they cannot come out till they have paid the uttermost farthing And because they cannot pay they shall not be forgiven The elect sonnes of men who are chosen vessels of mercy and appertaine to the covenant of grace by vertue of their election had the debt of their sins imputed to them when as they were borne dead in their sinnes and trespasses and were strangers by nature from the life of God as well as the children of wrath but now blessed bee God through Jesus Christ our Lord the release and pardon of our sinnes for that which was impossible to the law in so far as it was weak because of the flesh God sending his owne Sonne in the similitude of sinfull man and that for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the law might bee fulfilled in us who walke not after the law but after the spirit Lastly the Sonne of God had the debt and burthen of of sinne imposed upon him not of his owne sinne for hee that knew not sinne was made sinne for us And with him God hath dealt with such rigour of his justice that hee came from Bosra with red garments hee hath trodden the wine-presse of the Father alone and in the anguish and bitternesse of his sorrow cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee If wee shall looke to the persons to whom this release and pardon of sinne is promised and
part of his distributive justice Who ever amongst you kindled a fire upon my Altar in vaine And againe Try me if I shall not blesse thee No in this he hath made all flesh unexcusable For he maketh his sunne to shine upon the good and upon the bad and his raine to fall upon the wicked as upon the righteous Neither is this alone the goodnesse of God to be liberall in his dispensation for hee neither denyeth nor upbraideth But amongst the sonnes of men also it hath even in nature beene accounted foule and base to bee ingrate Alexander could say to Permenio it is not enough for Alexander to give Pharaoh could say to Ioseph Only in the Throne shall I be before thee and Herod though in an evill course can say Aske of mee to the halfe of my Kingdome I will not deny it Onely this base slave Sathan who hath nothing but what hee hath usurped and stolen can both trecherously entice the sinne and thereafter cruelly torment for sinne greedy by his temptation to make a proselite and by his torture and ingratitude to make a reprobate The Kingdome of man and the kingdome of Sathan being thus pointed out it rests only that wee looke on the Kingdome of God of the which it is said Thy Kingdome come Of this wee must enquire what it is and then how manyfold it is Gods Kingdome is that spirituall rule and authority which he hath in man through Christ communicating to him his grace in this life and keeping him by the power of his spirit through faith to eternall glory This Kingdome is different from the former two For as concerning the Kingdomes of men they were subordinate and under anothers authority This is suprem and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of himself from himself The Kingdom of Sathan was usurped and trecherously ingrate This is due authoritative and liberall This being knowne for the nature of this Kingdome wee will now enquire a little of the severall kindes thereof Know then that the Kingdome of God is three-fold 1. He hath a Kingdome of power 2. A Kingdome of grace 3. And a Kingdome of glory The first is an externall the second an internall the third an eternall Kingdome By the first hee ruleth all his creatures All the sonnes of men and all the divells in hell also He ruleth the creatures for his voice maketh the foundations of the earth to shake The Cedars of Lebanon to tremble and the goats of a thousand mountaines to calve He ruleth the sonnes of men either doing in them his will by his Spirit of grace or doing upon them his will by the stroake of his justice He ruleth the divells in hell also For howsoever they goe about like roaring Lions seeking to devoure us Yet hath he kept a bridle in their lips and a hooke in their nostrells so that they cannot doe what they would for as their Master himselfe confesseth concerning Iob Whom can harme the man whom the Lord hedgeth about Vse But that wee may make use of these things to our comfort Let us looke on the Kingdome of God in the second signification which is his Kingdom of grace Wherin we must understand that this internall Kingdome of God whereby he ruleth in the hearts of men hath an opposite Kingdome rebelling against it to wit the Kingdome of Sathan for the overthrow whereof and the maintenance of his owne God hath established in this his militant Church and Kingdome these things 1. A King and some subordinate subjects 2. Oathes of allegiance 3. Lawes for obedience 4. Punishment for offendors 5. And rewards for well-doers The King is God himselfe A Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity The Father the Son and Holy Ghost God one in Essence but distinguished in Persons The Subjects of this Kingdome are all the Saints of God from the first Adam to the last man that shall stand upon the earth The Fathers before the flood the Patriarkes after the flood The Prophets under the law The Apostles under the Gospell The Martyrs their successors and we who are now in the end of time become their fellow Brethren as the posterity of Iacob dwelling in the tents of Shem. And finally all that shall beleeve the Gospell of Jesus for now there is no more Jew nor Gentile nor Grecian nor Barbarian nor bond nor free but all are in Christ Jesus Our Oath of allegiance we have given in our baptisme and communion with him at his table In the first a vowing to bee his people as hee is our God In the second promising to grow up in him and in the grace given us untill hee consummate his grace with his Glory The law of this Kingdome is that which is written partly in the tenor of the law and partly in the tenor of the Gospell Neither so sharpe as alwaies to have their censure written in the blood of the offendor like Draces lawes nor yet so remisse that partiality might make of them a spiders webbe like those of Solon but so contemperate that what justice required was satisfied and what mercy craved was freely yeelded The reward of transgressors and of well-doers is not defective here also For as every man soweth so shall he reape He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reape life and peace Now all of these doe shew her to be a Church and a spirituall Kingdome Yet withall let us remember I pray you that it is but a militant Church and a militant Kingdome that wee have here Against whom the Prince of darknesse and he that ruleth in the children of disobedience rageth fiercely and fearfully because his time is but short And for his more sure triumph hee hath confederated our nearest enemies our flesh and the world against us We are weake as a little David and they strong as the sonnes of Zeruiah how can we then resist and be victorious Blessed bee God through Jesus Christ our Lord For there bee more with us then they that be against us If Sathan bee a strong man yet is our head and captaine farre stronger is Sathan a roaring Lion our captaine is the great Lion of the Tribe of Judah Is Sathan a mighty Pharaoh yet our captaine is the great Archangell of the covenant who seeth our wrongs and oppressions and who by a mighty hand and outstretched right arme shall worke out our deliverance For in the day of conflict and spirituall contest our captaine leaveth us not to our selves and our owne weaknesse But which serveth wonderfully for our comfort hee is made and hath become in our flesh to us these foure things 1. He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the moderator and marshall of our campe to us not suffering our temptations to exceed his appointed bounds 2. He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with us our Second offering himselfe to all our danger as well as our selves 3. Hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
this that God demonstratively teacheth us how wee shall know whether wee bee members of his kingdome or not I finde that there is a lesson requisite to every Christian to be learned to salvation to wit That hee should try and examine himselfe in what measure of grace he standeth For many times our hearts flatter us and we cry peace to our selves when God meanes us no peace Yea many times wee condemne our selves in the sense of our sinnes when God condemneth us not nor mindeth any thing but our excitation from security Least therefore that we should mistake looking upon a flattering security as a true peace And least in the day of our visitation wee should mistake the arrowes of Ionathans advertisement for the arrowes of Sauls malice and destruction God hath given us here a touchstone to know both the nature of our peace as also of our correction which is this Looke to Gods will and what thou hast done concerning it Whilst thy soule speaks peace to thee and sayes with the Publican I thanke God I am not a sinner as this man content not thy selfe with that naked and generall verdict for it may deceive thee as it did him For he went away unjustified But draw rather home to the conscience of thy obedience and see how thy will hath beene subdued to Gods will and thy affections captivated to his obedience and from thence draw home in a practicall Syllogisme the true assurance of thy joy For as by faith in Jesus Christ wee have peace with God so on the other part nothing is more sure then that faith worketh by love that faith without workes is but a dead faith and he that brags of it may well have a name that he is living but in effect he is dead Againe on the other part it is as requisite for our comfort in the day of our troubled conscience by sinne that wee looke to the care of our obedience to Gods will for as the Apostle Paul telleth us Of my selfe I know no evill yet by this I am not justified And againe Of my selfe I know no good yet by this I am not condemned So it is with every Christian as he hath not so much good in him as by vertue of his merit may make him looke to get heaven So hath hee not so much evill in him as can sequestrate him from heaven if he have but a will and desire to doe Gods will For the best of Gods Saints may bee justified but are not in this life sanctified wholly There is in them two men the old and the new the flesh and the Spirit and these are so contrary one to the other that wee cannot doe the things which we would Yet in the middest of this our defect if wee have a delight in Gods law concerning the inner man all is well for by this we may know that hee hath begunne and will accomplish his work in us Yea what is more since the first Adam fell never man was able to doe Gods will Jesus Christ being excepted Not Abraham David Salomon nor Sampson Only Jesus Christ the second Adam hath fully done it and in his perfect obedience hath covered our defects and imperfections Two documents and evidents whereof wee have in Scripture One in the Epistle to the Collossians cap. 1.19 Another in the fourtieth Ps I desire to do thy will ô God saith David But in the tenth to the Hebrewes Loe here I am For in thy booke it is written of mee I come to doe thy will O God To come now to the Petition it selfe the parts thereof are two The first is simple and positive The second is comparative or set downe with a reference The simple and positive part is Thy will be done The comparative part is In Earth as it is in Heaven To returne to the first part In it three things are remarkable 1. What is the Object we looke to and it is a Will 2. Whose will it is wee should have respect unto and it is Gods Thy. 3. What way should wee be exercised after the knowledge of his will And that is wee should obey it Thy will be done Will. To speake of these things then as they lie in order Of the object of our Petition Gods will Wee must know that by the learned the will of God is diversly taken and considered Sometimes it is distinguished in an antecedent and consequent will So Damaseen lib. 2. cap. 46. Sometimes they distinguish it in the wil of his good pleasure and the will of his signification So Lumbardus Scholastici lib. 10. destinctione 45. Sometimes they distinguish it in an effectuall and ineffectuall Will. So Augustine in his Manuall 102. 103. But the Church in her latter times looking on the will of God hath found it taken three manner of wayes 1. For that faculty of power and willing which is in God And this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. For the act of his willing and this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. For the thing which he willeth And this they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for the first signification whilst it is taken for the power of willing In that sense it is one with the essence of God For as God in himselfe and by himselfe understands and knoweth and is wise so also he willeth For whatsoever is in God is God and that neither by way of accident or composition but by way of essence and essentially As to the second for the act of his willing Wee must understand that God willeth not as man willeth For man being but a finite and temporall creature willeth but in time and that in variety alteration and change But God being infinite and unchangeable hath willed from eternity that which is done in time or shall bee done after all time and nothing is or shall bee done for ever but that which in eternity hee both willed and decreed And in this sense the will of God is one with the essence of God also For as he is eternall and immutable so is also his will As to the third and last signification to wit the thing which God willeth For understanding hereof know that the object of Gods wil is three-fold First hee willeth himselfe and his owne glory Secondly he willeth something concerning the end of his creatures these are called his decrees Thirdly he willeth something concerning the way to that end and that is either obedience or disobedience Now it may bee enquired what is meant here by the will of God I answere not the first not the second but the third And that in all the three acceptations thereof both that which concerneth himselfe and his glory in that which concerneth the end of the cretures and in that which concerneth the way to that end But if these bee too deepe for thee I will speake more plainly and point out to the will of God concerning us for thy better understanding
I must then tell you in so farre as it concerneth man it is of two sorts or rather considered by man in two divers manners First as it is hidde and couched up in Gods owne bosome And secondly as it is revealed to us either by his Vivâ voce or by his written word In the first sense it is called Gods secret will In the second it is called his manifest and revealed will Of the first to wit Gods hidden and secret will it is that which Paul saith O deepnesse c. Rom. 11. How unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Of the second it is said Not he who cryeth Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of God but hee who knoweth the will of my Father and doth it And of both conjunctly it is said by Moses that secret things belong to the Lord Things revealed to us and to our children that we may do them First then of the first point It may bee enquired if in this Petition we do or should pray for his secret will I answeare No for his secret will shall come to passe For hee dwells in heaven and according to the secret pleasure and counsell of his will all things in time and after time shall be moderated Is it not lawfull then in any condition to meddle with the hidden and secret counsell of God Yea surely providing it bee with modesty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. For first wee may enquire why it is so called 2. What is our duty in respect of it 3. And how farre it can have any fellowship with the evill that is in the world and with the sinfull actions of men Why is it so called I answere for two causes First because it is hidden from man who cannot reach to it untill God reveale it For no man knoweth the Father but the Sonne and hee to whom the Sonne revealeth him Secondly because when it is revealed man cannot comprehend it except hee be enabled from above For the reasons of Gods secret wayes exceeds humane capacity And the more that humane reason looketh on it the lesse it understandeth Why God loved Iacob and hated Esau Why he rejected Saul for one fault and forgave David many and why he condemned Iudas for selling of him and spared Peter that did forsweare him Enquire the reason hereof at man hee cannot give it you yea God hath revealed it I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and whom I will I harden And now as man could not give this reason untill God revealed it So now when God hath revealed it man cannot comprehend it For nature would say that it was injustice in God of two men equally evill by nature to choose the one and forsake the other Thus Gods will is called secret first because man knoweth it not and secondly because hee cannot comprehend it 2. What is our duty in respect of this will I answere it is our duty not to search into it too deeply Nam nonest curiose investiganda sed religiose adoranda whether God in his secret counsell hath ordained thee to be poore or rich high or low whether thou shalt die of a lent or a fervid Ague Since it is Gods secret counsell it is not fit thou shouldest enquire it Stoope under the abstruse and hidden secrecy thereof But to enquire of it ere God reveale it is but a torment before the time and sure I am it shall never be laid to thy charge in the day of Judgement how farre thou hast searched into the secret counsell of God But how farre thou hast obeyed the revealed will of God Thirdly concerning the secret will of God it may bee enquired since there is so much evill in the world how farre and in what sort God by his secret will concurreth and hath cooperation with the same for men looking on the evills that are in the world and finding them so frequent and fearefull and withall comparing them with the omnipotence of God against whose will nothing can bee done and not being able to solve this riddle have either with the Libertine cast over the cause of their iniquities upon God and made God the Author of sinne Or else fearing to speake blasphemously of God they have with the Manicheans invented two chiefe and prime causes of all things one of good another of evil both equally supreme and absolute in their kinde which is altogether false for God is only the supreme and absolute good but Sathan is not an absolute evill But for cleering of this question a little understand and know The evill is two-fold An evill of sinne and an evill of punishment and this is Tertullians distinction writing against Marcian lib. 2. cap. 180. Concerning the evill which we call the evill of punishment there is no question for it is not a true evill in it selfe it is but thought so of us for the punishment of sinne though it seemes evill to the offender yet it is no evill in it selfe for it is a good of justice The question is only concerning the evill of sin and how farre God communicates with it not being the author thereof nor tainted himselfe therewith This question is so much the more remarkable by how much Scripture seems to give way to it For it was a sinne in Pharaoh to harden his heart Yet Scripture saith that God willed it and that hee did it It was a sinne in Sathan to be a lying spirit in the mouthes of Achabs Prophets Yet Scripture shewes us that God willed it It was a sinne in Sathan to vexe Iob unjustly and yet Scripture sheweth that God willed it And it is a sinne in man to stoppe his eare against the truth and to beleeve a lie and yet Scripture sheweth that God willeth it For solving of this doubt there is a very good answere given by our Divines to this question whilest they say that wee must distinguish the action of the sinner from the sinne that is in the action And they make God the author of the action but not of the viciosity and evill that is in the action And this they cleere by the examples of the Sunne the Earth and the word of God This I grant is good but not sufficient But wouldest thou know O man how God willeth sinne and over-ruleth sinne and yet is free from sinne Then thou must know that sinne and the way of sinne hath a beginning a progresse and also an end God hath a will working on sinne and over-ruling sinne in all these three respects For shall we looke to sinne in the beginning thereof Gods will hath beene two wayes exercised First by way of inhibition in giving a law against it forbidding sinne in the thoughts of the heart in the words of the mouth and in the actions of the conversation By way of permission leaving a lawlesse man to a lawlesse way For it is a righteous thing with God when man knowing him to be God will not glorifie him as
life of the Christian as by his patience under the Crosse Looke to Ely to David to Iob to the Disciples and Martyrs who suffered not onely the losse of their name and the spoyle of their goods but also rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the testimony of Jesus Looke to Jesus Christ in his agony Not my will c. Last of all because these things O man cannot be gottē nor made so perfect in thee as they should be yet if thou canst sigh for thy deliverance and groane under the burthen of thy imperfection it is an evident assurance that hee who hath begunne that work of grace in thee will in due time perfect it for these sighs are not from nature but from the Spirit of grace for of our selves wee know neither how to pray nor what to pray but the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh request in us with sighs which cannot be expressed But thou wilt say to mee I have sighed and groaned yet I have had no audience I answer thee there is no reason why thou shouldest bee so heard thy sinne hath dwelt long in thee and thou art but chastised of late and from yesterday Is it reason that when thou cryest in the anguish of thy soule either for health or heaven that thou shouldest bee immediately obeyed No no God called long at the dore of thy heart but thou wouldest not heare him why then should hee so suddenly heare thee I tell thee it is not onely patience but exercise in patience that doth the turne Againe he hath more then reason to refuse thee for thou seekest to him not so much for the desire of glory as to bee eased of thy smart and therefore hee dealeth with thee as with Ionah that thou mayest say with Simeon Lord let thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene my salvation LECT 9. In Earth as it is in Heaven IN the handling of this Petition wee have already spoken of two things first of the word Will and secondly bee done Wee must now come and looke to the word Thy and in it consider whose will must bee done For understanding hereof wee must know that will is only truly properly attributed ascribed to three to sathan to man and to God I speake of will as it is a faculty of the reasonable soule and so do exclude from it the unreasonable creature to whom appetite and desire may be assigned but a will cannot truly bee ascribed To return then Sathan is the first to whom will is ascribed in Scripture for to him are applyed the words of the Prophet Isay 14.13 I will ascend into heaven and I will exalt my selfe above the starres of God as some expound But by abuse of this his will hee hath captived it both himselfe and his will to evill and in so doing hath lost the true priviledge of his will For howsoever hee willeth nothing but that which is evill yet he getteth not done all the evill that he willeth for God hath so thrust a bridle in his lips a hooke in his nostrels that without the bounds and limits of his chaine he neither dare nor can go 2ly Man hath a title of a will ascribed to him for as hee is a reasonable creature consisting of a soule and a body so also in his soule there are these three things An understanding holding forth light to him some affections delighting more or lesse in their object according to the light which is premonstrated thē And a will chosing or refusing freely the object set before him both according to the light of his understanding the delight of his affectiōs I have said that man willeth freely for unlesse will had the liberty free scope thereof it were no more a willing but a nilling power it were not voluntas but noluntas Now concerning this liberty or freedome in mans will the Church of Rome and we have had and do still as yet maintaine a long and serious debate yet not concerning the freedome and liberty of the will but concerning the object which the will of man chuseth or refuseth It is their errour to alleage that man in the state of corruption can will good and will it freely But wee on the contrary do averre that man in the state of corruption can onely will evill and that continually For clearing of this truth and that wee may bring the light of God out of this darknesse Wee must first consider the severall and different estates in the which man hath lived doth live or shall live Secondly wee must consider how farre his will did freely extend it selfe to good or evill in these severall postures or conditions of estate When I looke on the estate cōdition of man I find it threefold First an estate of integrity Secondly an estate of corruption Thirdly and an estate of reparation His estate of integrity is that in the which he was created to the image of God being perfectly righteous and holy in soule and body His estate of corruption is that wofull estate of sinne and misery in the which hee involved himselfe by his apostacie from God His estate of redintegration is that happy estate to the which hee is exalted in Jesus Christ whilst by the vertue of his death and the power of his resurrection hee is made partaker of the grace of God in this life and shall be also of his glory in the life to come Now these being the severall estates and conditions of man the question is what is the true onely or adequate object of the will of man good or evill To this I answer good is threefold There is a naturall good a morall good and a spirituall good The naturall good is that which serveth for the preservation of the naturall life such are eating and drinking sleep rest or refreshment The morall good is that which preserves the morall life or civill society of men such are to be a Judge to bee a Magistrate a Merchant an Artisan a Trafiquer c. The Spirituall good is that which serveth for the begetting and preserving of a spirituall life in man Of this sort are the preaching of the word the administration of the Sacraments prayer meditation c. Now if it shall be enquired which of these goods the naturall man by the power of nature can freely will I answer that in the estate of integrity hee willed them all In the estate of his corruption he may will and do the first two but not the last In the estate of grace he willeth the last yet not freely for God must first renew his will before hee can will any spirituall good And when hee hath willed it it is not fully and absolutely willed or done as it becomes him for the law of his body striveth against the law of his minde and captivates him to death In the estate of glory wee shall onely and continually will that which is good and spiritually good
for there wee shall bee exchanged into his image c. Thus the truth stands cleere That the naturall man as a naturall man and before hee bee renewed by grace can and may will both naturall good and a morall good But to will a spirituall good in that measure as that it may bee acceptable to God hee neither can nor may For howsoever he may preach distribute the Sacraments give almes pray and meditate yet are these not acceptable For the naturall man knoweth not the things that are of God 1. Cor. 2. Hee is dead in his sins and trespasses Ephes 2. Hee hath not the sonne of God and therefore can have no life in him 1. Iohn 5.12 Hee hath not the spirit of God in him and therefore cannot be the child of God Rom. 8.14 And finally although his workes were finished from the foundation of the world yet is hee but a stranger from the life of God For till his person bee first acceptable in Jesus Christ his workes shall never be approved Last of all a Sathan hath a will and as man hath a will so God also hath a will And to him chiefly and above all yea most truly and most properly is the liberty of will ascribed For hee willeth that which is good and that most freely most solely most absolutely and most perfectly because continually Gods will then yea and his revealed will being holy righteous and just in it selfe and of it selfe is that only which wee crave in this Petition But thou wilt perhaps aske me may I not say my will be done No no for as God is primumens primum agens so is he also Liberrimumens Liberrimum agens Hee is the first essence and the first agent and hee is the freest essence and freest agent that ever was No creature in heaven or in earth hath either a being action or will but that which is duely and truely subordinated to his Essence action or will Wouldest thou then crave a reason why thou must not intermixe thy will with Gods will The reasons are these 1. As thou art a naturall man there is great enmity betwixt thy will and Gods will The Apostle tells us this Rom. 8. The wisedome of the naturall man is enmity with God Hee saith not only that it is an enemy to it but enmity it selfe Now we know that it is more to be enmity then to bee an enemy for an enemy may bee reconciled but enmity never 2. It is not good that wee say my will bee done For if we get our will wee would many times will the things which would tend to our destruction Thus the children of Israel willed and desired Quailes in the wildernesse and they got their will but not their well For when their meat was in their mouth it came out at their nostrels 3. If wee got all our will wee should many times sinne against God willing the things which hee willeth not and nilling the things which he willeth Thus did Israel will their returne to Aegypt against the will of God leading them to the land of their rest And thus they would have a King and got one in Gods anger Thus I may say boldly that mans will should not bee sought but Gods For mans will differeth more from the will of God then the heaven differeth from the earth For it is mans will to live in wealth and prosperity but God willeth it not knowing that want is better for us For when wealth maketh mans wit to waver and prosperitie maketh him to misknow God want maketh him wise and with the prodigall child reclaimeth him from his errour Secondly wee would alwayes live at randome and be free from the Crosse but God willeth it not for hee knoweth that without the yoake we are but wilde heifers But when the Crosse is on our backe it will teach us to keepe his law Finally wee desire to live long and see many dayes God willeth it not And therefore cutteth off the thred of our life sometimes in the morning sometimes in the noone-tide and sometimes in the evening of our dayes And by so doing preventeth the growth of sinne in us Sometimes shutteth our eyes from seeing the evil that is to come and sometimes draweth us away from the love of the world that wee may bee invested with our Masters joy Thus by all these palpable documents hee cleerely teacheth thee to submit thy will to his and both in wealth and in want to say Not my will but thy will be done And truely till this time come and till thougrow up to this measure of grace A Scholler thou may be in the Schoole of grace but a perfect man in Christ Jesus thou art not For he that would be his Disciple must deny himselfe and take up his Crosse and follow him dayly The totall summe then of this part of the Petition is this O Lord since by nature we are created to thy image and since in that estate of our integrity we were sufficiently enabled to doe thy will But now since by our fall wee are so debilitated weakned as that we can neither know thy will nor doe it Wee runne to thee in the secret and sincerity of our soules And we begge of thee that by the grace of thy spirit thou wouldest so reenable us and strengthen us againe that thy will may not only bee done by us but also upon us That is to say that we may not onely doe that which thou commandest us in thy word but also patiently beare whatsoever crosse or calamity thou shalt bee pleased to exercise us with And so having ended the first part of the Petition wee come to the second The first part was materiall the last is formall Formatur we craved that Gods will might be done in us and upon us For manner we crave that his will may be done in earth as it is in Heaven To come then to the consideration hereof Whilst our Redeemer prescribeth unto us the matter of Gods obedience he prescribeth it in two subordinate periods of consideration 1. In the place thereof 2. In the patterne thereof The place hee will have it done on earth The patterne As it is in heaven We will first looke to the place of this obedience And it is earth By earth many divers men have meant many things diversly Tertullian by earth said our body was meant and by heaven our Soule Because our bodies are of the earth and earthly and our Soules a spirituall and celestiall substance And the ordinary glosse following Tertulltan writing on this place by the earth have understood the flesh and by the Heaven the spirit So that they make the meaning of the words to bee Let the flesh and the lusts thereof be subdued to the Spirit and the good motions of the same Cyprian by earth understands the unregenerate and such as doe not know God and by Heaven just men to whom God is knowne and by whom he is obeyed And he makes the
meaning of the words to bee Let them that are not yet called bee brought within the compasse of thy covenant and the bosome of thy Church that as wee beleeve so they may beleeve also and as thy will is done by us so it may bee done by them Both of these opinions are not only tolerable but also laudable For we are bound by religion not only to subdue the lusts of our flesh and to live after the Spirit but also wee are bound in charity to begge of God that all such as appertaine to his election may be in due time called justified and glorified That so there may be but one shepheard and one sheepfold and God may bee over all and in all blessed for ever But if I may speak it without the prejudice of so great lights Howsoever both these Petitions be requisite for the Christian yet doe not I thinke that either of them be here meant But with Chrysostome I doe thinke that this Petition differs nothing from that precept of the Apostles Collos 3.1 If yee bee risen with Iesus Christ seeke those things that are above By earth then I understand men that are on earth and by heaven the Angels of God and the Spirits of good and just men departed So that the meaning of the petition is Since it hath pleased thee O Father who dwellest in Heaven to make thy name knowne to us and be called upon of us And seeing thou hast honored us by the making us members of thy true Church and thy Kingdome of grace here on earth O let thy Spirit of Grace dwel so powerfully and plentifully in us that as thy holy Angells and glorified Saints doe thy will in heaven So we that are but weake and sinfull men may captivate our wils to thy obedience here on earth Well then by Earth wee must understand not only earthly men but also the place where Even on earth and while we live in it But let us remarke the word for it is generall Our Saviour teaching us the person the time and the place of Gods obedience saith not Thy will be done in the field in the city in the sea or in the dry land but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per universum terrarum orbem Through all the whole world And as David sayes in his 97. Psalme Make thy way knowne on earth and thy saving health to all Nations The persons then by whom he will have Gods will done are men who are of the earth and to the earth returne again And the place where in the earth and whilst wee live in it For unlesse wee doe the will of God here wee shall not enter into our Masters joy hereafter In the second roome wee must looke to the patterne and it is called heaven by the which as I told you already Augustine and Chrysostome do understand the holy Angells of God and the glorified Spirits of men These are said to bee in heaven But by these alone the word is not only understood For as there are more heavens then one so are they more that do the will of God in heaven then those blessed Spirits alone I say there are more heavens then one and it is cleere For it is said in the preface of this prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plurall number and it is knowne and manifest in nature For this expansum or void wherein are the fowles is called a heaven and they the fowles of the heaven Againe these seaven subordinate spheares in the which the seaven Planets doe raigne are called heaven also Againe that place wherein are the fixed Starres is called a heaven also And finally that place of felicity which is above all of these is called heaven and the third heaven and the heaven of heavens and the Paradise of God Now as all of these are furnished with their severall host and inhabitants So is the will of God done in all of these by their severall host and inhabitants For in the lower heavens which we call our firmament the will of God is done by the fowles of the ayre and by the treasures of windes raine snow haile and the thunder In the second heaven the will of God is done by the Sunne the Moone and the Starres In the third heaven also the will of God is done by the holy Angells who have kept their originall integrity and by the congregation of the first born who rest from their labours and have entred into their Masters joy The words then are cleere By earth is meant man made of earth returning to the earth and living on the earth By heaven is meant all the host and inhabitants of the whole heavens of God whether they be the first second or third heaven But chiefly the third Now the resemblance and parallel of the obedience is remarkable As it is in Heaven For it may be enquired how doe the Angells and Saints departed obey the will of God in heaven I answere they obey it five manner of wayes Speedily Cheerfully Fully sincerely constantly and perfectly Speedily and without delay cheerfully and without murmuring fully and without omission sincerely without dissimulation constātly without wearying and perfectly without halting Now is it possible for man so to doe Gods will No certainly wee cannot doe it speedily for like Lot we linger to goe out of Sodome We cannot doe it cheerfully for like Israel wee grudge and murmur in the way to our rest We cannot doe it fully for the good that wee would doe we doe not c. We doe it not sincerely and without dissimulation for although wee honour him with our mouthes our hearts are farre from him We doe it not constantly and without wearying for to day we are fervent and to morrow wee are lukewarme neither hot nor cold Neither doe we it perfectly for we know but in a part and see but in a part and our perfection is laid up for us in the life to come But why doe we then pray for it since wee cannot attaine to it I answere though we cannot attaine to it yet wee should strive after it For there is a time comming wherein we shall obtaine and attaine to that perfection wee aime at And that is our last moment and day of our dissolution Like Israel compassing Jericho And Sampson groaning under his blindnesse Vse Now the use of all this When God made man he made him conforme to his patterne for he made him like to himselfe and to his owne Image When God commanded to build him a Tabernacle he gave a patterne to it in the mount and never a pinne was in the Tabernacle but what was commanded So it is here when Christ Jesus desireth us to doe Gods will he writeth to us a copy doe it in earth as it is done in heaven Not that we are able to attaine to it but that we must strive after it Let us looke but to a naturall Parent Hee calleth upon
secondly for instruction It serves for rebuke to the Church of Rome who by the imposition of their extraordinary and unnecessary fastings hope to enter into the kingdome of God But to those I say yet not I but Jesus Christ for me Fooles and hypocrites you make cleane the outer side of the cup and the platter but within all is foule and full of ravening Foole dost thou thinke that the kingdome of God standeth in meate and drinke or in apparell No no it standeth in righteousnesse peace and joy in the holy Ghost What careth God I pray thee for a bit of meat that goeth into thy belly or for that rag of clothes that covereth thy nakednesse When he is hungry will he tell thee or when hee is thirsty will hee that thou shouldest give him drinke or if he were cold or naked would hee begge the use of thy garment No surely those things are not for him but for us and for our use Hee made our bodies of the earth earthly hee hath breathed the breath of life in our nostrils that by it wee may live in the body he hath given us also the use of his creatures for the preservation of that sparke till hee recall it What is it then should make man so bold to inhibit the use of that thing which God hath licenced or what art thou O man that darest pollute that which God hath sanctified to thee Well hath the Apostle Paul fore-prophesied of thee that in so doing thou hast a shew of godlinesse but in effect thou hast denyed the power thereof for these things may have a shew of wisdome in a will-worship and neglect of the body but in effect they are but the rudiments of the world and the ordinances and traditions of men for they hold not of our head which is Christ Jesus I graunt indeed it fareth not with the soule and the body as it fareth betwixt an evill matched man and his wife the thing that the one willeth the other willeth not and if any neighbour shall pacifie the strife with reason hee hath gained a soule It is even so with the matter of fasting if whilst the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit fighteth against the flesh wee can beate downe our bodies and bring them in subjection it is more then requisite But if wee shall think hypocritically by so doing to merit or procure to our selves the Kingdome of heaven wee deceive our soules and our labour is in vaine for the kingdome of God standeth neither in meat drinke or apparell but in righteousnesse peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Vse 2. And as it serves for rebuke of the Church of Rome so doth it also for instruction to our reformed Church and that in a twofold manner for it teacheth a lesson to the rich man and another also to the poore man It teacheth the rich man to eschew covetousnesse for if God give him bread hee giveth him all that hee oweth him wee cannot bee content till our table be richly decked and our cup overflow but alas these things ought not to be so for we came naked into the world and naked we shall returne againe If wee get therefore food and rayment it becomes us therewith to be contented Nature is not curious in herd yet nor chargeable in her fare shee can say with the Poët Vivitur parvo bene all that she craveth is but bread and water a clout to cover her nakednesse and a hole to hide her head in when God sendeth more she can use it with sobriety when God denyeth it shee can bee thankfull and say with Iob The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken c. And when she seeth the best chear in the world set before her she accounteth it all but bread The crummes of the rich mans table was bread although refused to Lazarus and the rich mans sumptuous fare was but bread Daniels pulse and water was bread and the Kings royall fare was but bread the huskes of the swine was bread to the prodigall child and his fathers feast was but bread Thus the true christian in all things is content hee canne bee abased and hee can abound he can bee hungry and he can bee full he can want and he can have Philip. 4. And in the midst of his fulnesse hee is carefull of nothing so much as that the Lord send not a leannesse upon his soule Secondly as it teacheth the richman to measure the things of this life not by the ell of his desires which have no end but by the ell of nature which is short soone contented so from this the poore man hath a lesson of content When hee looketh to his neighbour and seeth him better cloathed better fed better followed and better favored then himselfe truly nature would grudge and murmure in a naturall man But if thou bee a christian let mee exhort thee in the name of Jesus whose name is called upon by thee represse these fond imaginations Consider that God hath taken nothing from thee but what hee gave thee And that in wisdome hee holdeth thee short of those things that hee himselfe may be thy portiō Blessed art thou if he be so to thee It may be for a time thou hunger and thirst but thou shalt bee satisfied and it may be for a time that thou mourne and weepe but thou shalt be comforted The way to procure thy content it not to measure thy want with other mens wealth No no but looke to the woe that their wealth hath bred them and consider how ease and fulnesse of bread hath made their hearts fat and hath lulled them into the lethargie of a giddie minde whilst by means of thy want God hath preserved his life in thy soule Wouldst thou then change estates no doe not if thou be wise for they who possesse those things stand in slippery places they seldome or never leave their owners without a fall How many this day are in hell who would goe naked to bee partakers of the garment of righteousnesse who would be still hungry to get a poore crumme of the booke of life and dye a thousand deaths for thirst to get one drop of that water that could coole the heate of that flame which they sustaine but oh they cannot obtaine it they have lost their time and their judgement is sealed While therefore thou hast time in time redeeme the time for the daies are evill and if thou get food and raiment learne therewith to be content and if thou be greedy of any thing in the world be greedy of grace for if thou hast the grace of God thou art richer then Cresus because thou hast Christ who when hee was rich became poore that in his povertie thou mightest be made rich LECT 11. Give us this day our daily bread THe second thing considerable in these words is the person of whom wee aske this and it is of God for whilst in the preface wee say Our
but overcoming evil with goodnes may bee perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect Now this being spoken concerning the persons for whom we offer up this our supplication we must come consider the reason wherfore we must pray so and the reason is because our sins are ours Our Take heed I pray you to this my brethren The reason why wee crave pardon of our sinnes is because sinnes are ours and besides these nothing else in the world is ours I have said that sinne is truly ours This shall serve for the doctrinall part And that nothing in the world is ours besides sinne this shall serve for the morall part First then sinne is truely ours in three respects first in respect of patrimony secondly in respect of practise thirdly in respect of purchase In respect of patrimony The sinnes of our first parents Adam and Eve are ours In respect of practice our actuall sinnes are ours In respect of purchase the sinnes of our neighbours are made ours The sinnes of our first parents are ours for they not onely sinned for themselves but for us also they before us wee in them and after them Do wee not impute the bitternesse of the streame to the fountaine the rottennes of the branch to the root yes surely so is it with us hee was the root wee are the branches he the fountaine we the streames and to expresse this more clearly let me aske you that are acquainted with the art of numbers if that any figure in the first place doth signifie any more but it selfe onely yet by the addition of a cypher 1.2.3 or 4 multiplyeth the signification from ten to hundreds from hundreds to thousands and from thousands to millions It is even so with us Adam Eve sinned and being considered in their own place sinned alone for thēselves but being considered with our addition as being in their loines wee as cyphers have multiplied their burthen they as figures have made us significative they then have not sinned alone but we also in them and with thē their sins are not theirs alone but ours also by copartnership Secondly sin is ours by practise for as our first parents sinned and by their sinne made sinne ours originally so wee also by walking in the footsteps of our fathers and sinning after their examples have made that which was ours by descent from our fathers to be ours actually for as by one man sinne entred into the world and by sinne death so death hath universally runne over all men in respect that in one man all men have sinned yea further because wee have actually built up the sepulchers of our fathers therefore tribulation and anguish is upon the soule of every man that doth evill to the Jew first and also to the Grecian Lastly I say sin is ours by purchase by drawing on us the guilt and punishment of ours neighbours sinne And now thou shalt enquire of mee how a man can bee guilty of his neighbours sinne I answer it may bee done five manner of wayes 1. By connivence 2. By negligence 3. By assent 4. By example 5. By provocation By connivence winking at other mens faults when wee should reprove them to this effect it is written Levit. 19. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbours sinne lest thou beare sinne for him By negligence in not correcting such for sin as are under our authority This was the sinne of Eli in sparing his sonnes and this is the threatning of Ezechiah in case of silence at the sinnes of his people Ezec. 3. By assent Thus Aaron was guilty of Idolatry when he assented to make the golden calfe By example thus Ieroboam is marked that hee made Israel to sinne And David that hee made the name of God to bee ill spoken of amongst the Gentiles Last of all by provocation this was the sinne of Lots daughters to their incestuous father and Baalams sinne to Israel with the daughters of Moab This then being the doctrinall part shewing how sinnes are ours the morall part succeedeth in which we must cleare this That nothing is so really ours as sinne That wee may the better understand this we must know that there is no creature on earth so naked and indigent as man for naked hee was borne and naked shall he returne againe and hee hath no peculiar or proper thing in the world that hee can justly call his but sinne and infirmity To prove this let us take a survey of all the things in the world Is wealth ours No for riches are painfully gotten carefully kept and wofully lost and yet when we have most adoe with them like an eagle shee takes her wings and flies away so swiftly as she cannot bee recovered and though they bide with us till the end of our dayes yet then they take their leave and wee reserve nothing saving a wounded conscience for the abuse of them Is beauty ours No surely let but a dayes sicknesse take thee by thy hand and loe thou shalt find nothing but age wrinkles the lineaments of death the characters of deformity which shall make thee affraid of thy selfe Is honor thine no surely it vanisheth as the morning cloud as the smoake of a chimney is liker to nothing then our Sun dyalls which point out the houres so long as the Sunne shineth but if a cloud shall intervene serve for nothing but are a dimme statue Is strength thine No let God but write one line of toleration and put it in the hand of thine and straight like Beltazzer thy knees shall beat one against another And with Iob thou shalt scrape thy sores with a potsherd on the dunghill Finally is that breath that wee draw into our nostrels ours no surely it is but sucked up and borrowed from the next aire If God lend thee power thou canst both exhale and evaporate it but if he say not Amen it shall choake thee in the passage Or is this body that thou bearest about thee thine No surely it is of the dust and to the dust it shall returne againe Pittifull wretched man that thou art what is thine nothing but sin and a wounded conscience for sin these are ours by patrimony by practice and by purchase of the which we can never be freed till we put off and change our patrimony practise and purchase Our patrimony by shewing our selves heires not to the first Adam but to the second Our practise by walking no more after the flesh but after the spirit for if wee walke after the flesh we shall dye but if wee walke after the spirit wee shall live Our purchase whilst wee crucifie our selves to the world and the world to us that the life of Jesus may bee made manifest in our mortall bodies and whilst wee forget the things that are behind us c. and account all things as dirt and dung to us in respect of the advantage that wee have in the crosse of Jesus Christ The
by an indeleble character shall man seale to himselfe the assurance of Gods mercy if hee himselfe can bee mercifull For it is written Condemnation mercilesse shall be to the man that will not shew mercy but mercy rejoyceth against judgement Againe on the other part whilst St Luke forbeareth the word As for feare of wounding the weake conscience and useth the word For it is not to make the word causall but cōmiserative for he setteth not down that word as a cause or meritorious occasion procuring and adjuring God to bee mercifull unto us but the word is a word of commiseration and pitty drawing the argument from the lesse to the more and importuning God onely with the remembrance of our weaknesse as if hee should have said If we who are evill can forgive in any condition O thou who art rich in mercy forgive us fully freely and finally I have looked thus upon the word in the native genuine signification thereof freeing both the wounded conscience from the terrour of severity and withall putting a bridle in the lips of the presumptuous man lest at any time hee should runne out It resteth now that wee make use of the word in the true signification thereof Vse The use wee make is this I see heaven is so good a thing that all men would be at it and mercy so sweet that every man would have a part and portion in it Yet O behold the vanity of man whilst wee all ayme at the end wee are forgetfull of the way and whilst we gape after the felicity of the covenant wee forget the condition Will you enquire the cause It is this the covenants of God are peacefull and the promises of his rewards are rich and plentifull but the way to their fruition is thorny and hard Hee covenanted with Adam the dominion over his creatures and the fruition of all the garden but when the Impostor came hee made the condition hard and in so doing hee shut them up from the knowledge of good and evill Hee covenanteth with Abraham the possession of the land of Canaan but the condition was hard Offer to mee thy first borne of the free woman Isaack Hee covenants with Gedion the deliverance of his people from the tyranny of Midian but the condition was hard Cut downe thy fathers grove c. neither are these termes hard as being the voice of the Law but what is more they have beene of the very like and equall severity under the Gospell For will you consider to whom it is that Christ Jesus promiseth comfort it is to them that mourne To whom promiseth he the kingdome of God but to them that are poore in spirit To whom satisfaction onely to those who hunger and thirst after righteousnesse And finally to whom doth hee promise ease and relaxation from their sinnes onely to those who are weary and laden and to such as take up their crosse and follow him daily O then what a folly is this amongst the sonnes of men to snatch at the grace of the covenant with the mis-prise of the conditiō yet behold for reformation of our weaknesse in this point it hath pleased our Redeemer to annexe the condition to the covenant shewing us that unlesse we be carefull of the restipulation wee cannot bee able to crave the benefit of the first bargian for as it is generally holden amongst men that our one handed contract cannot stand so is it also with God and us Hee never broke his part of the covenant hee made nor forfeited at any time his part of the obligation the forfeiture is onely ours for though hee keepe wee breake and though hee covenant mutually yet wee scorne the restipulation but alas wee do pittifully deceive our selves it shall not bee so with us as it was said to Simon Magus in the case of his bribery when hee thought to purchase the grace of God by money Peter answered him Thou hast no part nor portion with us in this inheritance because thy heart is not upright in the sight of God but thou art in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity Act. 8.21 So shall it be said to us in the time wee deprecate our iniquities thou hast no part nor portion O man in the worke of mercy because thou wilt not bee mercifull and I will not forgive thee shall God say because thou wilt not forgive thy brother From the particle of simimilitude wee come now to the persons to whom this similary practice of pardon is imposed and the word is plurall and indefinite plurall Wee indefinite tending and extending it selfe to all sexes sorts and conditions of men whatsoever When I reade and ponder these words I cannot but call to minde some other places and passages of Scripture in the which the like peremptory dealing is expressed to us I remember Iacob on a time wrestling with the Angell of the covenant the great Angell seeing that he could not prevaile said to Iacob Let mee goe I pray thee but Iacob answered I will not let thee goe till thou blesse mee Likewise Ioshuah being desired to goe up with Israel to the land of promise answered I will not goe on forward except thou goe with mee And as it hath beene the wisedome and care of the children of God to wrestle with him for the attaining of his blessing so it hath beene alwaies the care of God to wrestle with his Saints in the day that hee would blesse them to propound unto them a condition of difficulty by the obedience whereof hee might draw them from themselves to an absolute reposing and relying upon his mercy This is his practice also here wherein howsoever he be a God rich in mercy slow to anger and of great kindnesse forgiving transgression iniquity and sinne yet when hee dispences his pardon and disposeth his love mercifully towards us that hee may seale the assurance thereof to us hee will wrestle with us a little while in controlling the humour of our corrupt nature that when hee lets us see our corruptions subdued to him wee may by way of argumentation from the lesse to the more assure our selves of the riches of his favour towards us So that the meaning of the word is this Man wouldst thou have favour surely I thinke thou wouldst beginne thou then first thou madest the first fault make the first amends for it is reason so to bee What art thou in respect of mee or what is thy pardon in respect of mine What art thou I say in respect of mee Dust and ashes and to dust and ashes shalt thou returne againe But loe I am a great and incorruptible God before whom the heavens are not pure and in whose presence the Angels doe cover their faces as uncapable of my glory And as there is a difference betwixt thee a finite and corruptible creature and mee an infinite and incorruptible Creator so is there also as large an extent of difference betwixt thy wayes and my wayes
the valley of Meseck and in tents of Kedar And the Apostle Saint Paul could say O miserable man that I am who shall deliver mee from this body of death Finally the flesh is an enemy exceedingly politique for howsoever the power of the flesh be great yet the policie thereof is greater because it is not a publique enemy but a home-bred and domestique traitor therfore by the subtile sleight cunning undermining thereof many times we fall and are overthrowne From hence it is that the Prophet Ieremy forewarneth us of the policy thereof whilst hee saith The heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitfull above all things none can know it but the Lord that made it Wouldst thou know and try this O man go home to thy heart and see how it dealeth with thee The world is a great temptation and a great tempter Sathan also hath many temptations and is an arch tempter but what can the temptations of the world do to thee or what can all the temptations of the devill do against thee except thy owne heart and thy owne flesh deceive and betray thee for as Sathan said to Christ Cast thy selfe downe c. and as Iohn said to Iesabel Who is there on our side c. so doth Sathan say to man whilst by the flesh hee tempteth him except wee cast our selves downe except the flesh be on his side within us neither prosperity nor adversity famine nor nakednesse life nor death can ever prejudice us But if in these baits hee can hire our owne flesh against us wee are easily overcome and like another Aza hyring a Benhadad against us Israel getteth the foile and the best treasures of Gods house are but a prey to him Vse Thus having deciphered our inbred enemy it becommeth us carefully to watch over it for the spirit may well bee ready but the flesh is weake Let us therefore deale with this our domesticall adversary as the citizens of a besieged city do with their inbred traitors if any city were besieged with forraigne forces and they knew that they harboured a traitor within their bosome they would give no rest to their eye-lids nor slumber to their eyes till they should apprehend disarme condemne and put him to death So is it with us our citadell the soule is besieged by a fierce and for raigne enemy wee have a traitor lurking in our bosome our owne flesh Let us therefore with all speed rise up against it disarme it by fasting and prayer let us beate it downe and bring it in subjection and let us mortifie the lusts thereof by the spirit and wee shall be sure that God shall shortly tread it under foot and give us the victory for it is written The elder shall serve the younger The last enemy we have to fight against is the Devill a chiefe and arch enemy for he goeth about cōtinually seeking how hee may devour us No time can free us from his temptation the morning the noonetide of the day or the midnight of darknes No place not the throne of judgment nor the street of our trade nor the cabinet where wee rest No person also is free from him he spared not the first Adam nor did hee spare the second Adam How are the sonnes of the first Adam according to the flesh and the sonnes of the second Adam according to the spirit free from his assaults No surely wee may not nor cannot be free from them But wouldst thou know O man the manner of his fight Know that the temptations of Sathan have three gradations even the same which every voluntary action of man whether good or bad hath in it For in the soule of man there are 3 faculties one sensitive another appetitive the third locomotive And the actions of these three faculties are accordingly three sense appetite motion For first a man sees or heares an object presented to his eyes or eares the sense representeth the object to our appetite or delight the delight or will either imbraceth or refuseth the object and this wee call the motion Now as it is in every action so is it in the temptations of Sathan for first hee bewitcheth the sense secondly hee inflameth the appetite and thirdly hee procureth the action Would wee have this made more cleare I will Looke on David when hee fell in adultery how playd Sathan the souldier with him Hee first fascined or bewitched his sense for it is written Hee saw a woman washing her selfe and the woman was beautifull Secondly inflamed his delight for it is written Hee sent messengers and enquired after the woman and shee came in unto him Thirdly by both of these and from both of these hee procureth and propagateth the action for it is written And hee lay with her Againe if this one example sufficeth not behold another When the woman saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to bee desired to make one wise shee tooke of the fruit and did eate Behold here also a third It is confessed by Achan when hee saw amongst the spoyles a goodly Babilonish garment and a wedge of gold of fifty shickles then I coveted them and tooke them These three then sense desire and motion as they are in every action so they are in every temptation For Sathan in his temptations first besiegeth our senses and seeing they are the gates of the soule these being opened hee windes himselfe into our delight and appetite and being there shall wee thinke that he who hath taken paines to gather so many stickes together will not take paines to blow a fire to warme himselfe No no hee is an angell of darknesse but there hee transformeth himselfe into an angell of light there he speaketh evill of Good and good of evill and there hee putteth bitter for sweete and sweet for sowre Last of all when by the abuse of our senses hee hath captivated our affections thinkest thou that hee will leave that fire which hee hath blown so much untill it burn No no I tell thee he will not leave it till it burst forth in a flame and till thou burne in the midst of it Will the husbandman when hee casteth his seede in the ground fall too and plow up the ground againe without hope of harvest No surely in patience hee will wait for it and first let it come to a blade then to a stalke then to an eare then to be ripened and last of all hee cutteth it downe and bringeth it into his barne I will assure thee it is so with Sathan for though hee bee not a husbandman yet hee is an envious man and whilst the husbandman sleepeth hee soweth tares amongst the wheat And though he seeme to mis-know it yet is not he carelesse of it but by all meanes hee watereth it with the stolne waters of pleasure untill hee bring it to harvest and maturity Hee can say to the young man Rejoyce O yong man in thy youth and let thy heart cheere thee
in thy young dayes Hee can say to the covetous man Pull downe thy barnes and make them more large and then cry a peace to thy soule Hee can say to the furious man Smite him at once that thou may not smite him the second time And What thou dost do quickly And in a word whatsoever seed of iniquity or bitter root of corruption hee soweth or planteth in our hearts this is his policy hee first bewitcheth the sense then enflameth the appetite or desire and last of all he bringeth sinne to accomplishment Vse In respect hereof it becommeth us carefully to watch over our senses as the gates and dores of our soules Secondly to keepe a guard about our affections that though our senses be infected yet our hearts be not affected Psal 139. And last of all wee should be earnest and carefull to mortifie both of these least their infection prevayling sin in thee come to a maturity and thou reape as thou hast sowne for hee that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption and hee that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reape life and glory and honor and life immortality Thus whilst wee seeke to bee free from temptations wee seek to be freed from the temptations of the devill the world and the flesh And if God at any time shall suffer us to fall into these temptations wee then begge of him that wee may not bee overcome of them Non enim petimus ut non tentemur sed ut a tentatione non vincamur Now followeth the third thing remarkable in the words and that is who are the souldiers that must fight the battell To this I answer all those that are subject to temptation the whole have no neede of the physitian but the sicke if any man therefore thinke himself free from the dint of temptation forbeare to say Lead us not into temptation but if none can exempt himselfe then what I say to one I say to all Watch and pray that yee enter not into temptation But that I may speake more clearely The souldiers of this Christian warfare are all those who are members of the mysticall body of Jesus To what end else hath hee clothed them with his livory put his badge on them given them their earnest and covered them under his banner hee hath clothed us with his livory whilst he hath imputed to us his righteousnesse hee hath put his badge on us whilst hee hath baptized us in his name hee hath given us earnest whilst hee hath given us the first fruits of the Spirit to dwell in us and hee hath convocated us under his banner whilst hee calleth to bee within the pale and precinct of his Church But this is not all thou wilt enquire yet who are those to whom hee hath concredited these endowments I answer the Saints militant and tryumphant By the Saints militant I understand men and women on earth By the Saints tryumphant I understand those who fought the fight finished their course and now are entred into their masters joy But here two questions may arise the first is this Have none beene tempted but the sonnes and daughters of men I answer none for howsoever it be true that Jesus Christ was the Sonne of God yet as the sonne of man hee was also tempted with us and that for these foure causes First Ad cautelam 2. In auxilium 3. Ad exemplum 4. In fiduciam The sonne of God was tempted in our flesh for our caution and for warning sake that looking on him no man might thinke himselfe set free from temptation for if hee hath not spared the Cedar of Lybanon how shall hee spare us poore Isop bushes Secondly hee was tempted for our assistance and aid for what shall it availe a man to know that his enemy approacheth against him unlesse hee be able to resist him therefore Christ came and in our flesh was tempted also that hee might deliver us in all our temptations both from the feare of death and from him who had the power of death the devill Thirdly hee was tempted for our example for as hee said of himselfe learne of me for I am mecke and lowly and as the Evangelist St Iohn saith of his washing of his disciples feet I have given you an example that you should do one to another as I have done to you So also hath hee suffered our temptations and was tempted like unto us that hee might leave us an example to follow his foot steps 1. Pet. 2.21 Fourthly hee was tempted for our comfort and assurance of victory for it is written Heb. 4.15 Wee have not such an High Priest as cannot be touched with our infirmities but hee was tempted in all things like unto us yet without sinne Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace and wee shall finde grace to helpe us in the time of need The second question is this Who are those amongst the sonnes and daughters of men who can truly say that they are tempted to this I answer If temptation be a fight those onely are truly said to be tempted who do bravely couragiously resist and fight against their adversary It is not the sluggard that lyeth down to sleepe nor the coward that rūneth away nor the feeble hearted that yeeldeth that can truly be called the souldies of God but they only who hold fast what they have received who stand fast within the liberty wherewith they are made free and who continue constant unto the end that as the good souldiers of Jesus Christ shall receive the crowne Seeing then amongst the sonnes of men there are some who are in the gall of bitternesse who are taken captive of Sathan at his will who are given over to their vile affections and to the power of error 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sure I am these are not worthy of the title of this fight nor to have their names billeted for the souldiers of Jesus onely they then in whom though sinne dwell yet doth not raigne are the true soldiers of Jesus who can with Abraham refuse to be enriched from Sodome and with Moses refuse to leave a howfe behind him are worthy and shall be clothed in white and receive a white stone and in it a new name which no man knoweth but hee that possesseth it Vse Now what shall I say concerning man the Christian souldier and the necessity of his resistance Alas there is so much in man enemy to man and so little left in him that is able to resist or fight for him much lesse to triumph and conquer or subdue his enemy to him I thinke I can onely intreat man to looke continually on his captaine And yet because hee must either fight or else never tryumph there are two things of which I would advertise him First let him not thrust himselfe into temptation unlesse as David said There be a cause And that with Jesus hee bee led with the spirit For our adversaries are
many malicious powerfull and politick And like the sons of Zerviah too mighty for us unlesse that hee who commandeth us to fight fight in us and for us wee cannot be victorious Secondly when hee is called to battell let him not bee a coward for hee hath more then good company his God for a Captaine watching over him his Redeemer his elder brother fighting for him the holy Ghost his comforter fighting in him his fellow brethren standing on his one hand and all the Angels of heaven on the other and who would not fight with so good company No no my brethren let us lift up our faint hearts and strengthen our weake knees though the conflict be hard the conquest is honourable for God will shortly tread Sathan under our feet through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen LECTIO 20. Lead us not into temptation c. ACcording to the tenor of of our first proposed method wee have already spoken unto you of the first three things that were remarkable in this Petition to wit of our calling temptation of our enemies the world the devill and the flesh And thirdly of our fellow souldiers Jesus Christ in the dayes of his flesh our fellow brethren now Saints in heaven and our fellow brethren here militant on earth It resteth now that wee consider and ponder aright the fourth and last thing remarkable in them to wit who is our Leader and it is God for to him and to him alone it is that we put up supplication and say Lead us not into temptation Now in handling of this point three things are chiefly remarkable First who it is that is our Leader and why it is that hee is so called Secondly how it is that hee leads us into temptation And thirdly whilst hee leads us into temptation whether hee be guilty of sinne or no The first thing observable is Who is our leader I answer God and that very God who being one in essence is three in persons the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost God the Father is our leader and therefore hee is called the Lord of Hosts God the Sonne is our leader and therefore tooke upon him our flesh that in it hee being first a souldier might thereafter become our leader Finally God the holy Ghost is now by deputation become our leader and therefore it is written That as many as are led by the Spirit are the Sonnes of God God the Father is our leader and for that cause is stiled the Lord of Hosts Dominus exercituum this is his name for ever and this is his memoriall unto all ages Of all the titles that God hath in scripture there is not one so often used by God himselfe as this For shall wee looke but upon two Prophets Isayah and Ieremiah and in them alone this title is attributed to God above an hundred thirty times It is not a title then likely to bee looked upon but with deepe and due consideration let us then looke upon it Our leader God is called the Lord of hostes in these respects first in respect of the generall frame of all his creatures who being viewed and considered in a masse together are nothing else but a pitched field and a battell set in aray fighting for the honour of God and the obedience that is due unto him For in the heaven of heavens there is an host of blessed Angels covering their faces and bowing their knees before his Throne singing a deepe Halleluiah and casting their crownes downe at his feet And this company is called an host for Luke 2. whilst they appeared to the sheepheards at the birth of Christ it is written of them There was a multitude of Angels and an heavenly host praising God and saying Glory be to God on high and to men on earth peace and goodwill Let us from that place looke a little lower and behold the starry firmament that is above our heads and there wee shall finde that hee is the Lord of hosts also for there the Sunne moone and Starres are his souldiers they fight for him and against his enemies as it is cleare out of the history of Ioshuah and Iudges and of these the Prophet Isayah saith 45.12 speaking of God I even I have stretched out the heavens and their host I have commanded but let us come a little lower and looke to the cattle that walke and the creeping things that move on the face of the earth and all of these are both the host and army of God fighting for his obedience and treading under foot those that rise up against him as is cleare from the dust and ashes of Egypt fighting against Pharo Againe if wee shall withdraw our eyes from the unreasonable creature to man who is indued with reason What I pray you are all the battells armies conflicts and skirmishes of nation against nation of kingdome against kingdome of country against country of people against people but the armies and battells of the Lord the rods of his indignation and the staffe of his wrath punishing the land because of the sinnes of them that dwell therein and man by the sword of man for his iniquity for the sword of a stranger is the revenger of the quarrell of Gods covenant Thirdly will wee looke on these our native and domesticke armies of flesh that are in these our mortall bodies I meane the ague the webbe in the eye the paine in the tooth the consumption of the lungs the shortnesse of the breath the stone in the reines the tympany of the belly and the gout in the feet what are all these but the armies of God and host of the Almighty fighting in man against man because man hath fought against God who was his leader Last of all hee is Lord of hosts also in a spirituall sense for he is our Captaine and leader in our spirituall warfare against the devill the world and the lusts of our owne flesh For it is by him and by his grace alone that wee have either courage to encounter strength to stand fast or patience to persevere unto the end And as in this hee is our leader and Captaine so doth he also hold the reines of our enemies chariots it was hee that made the wheeles of Pharoes chariots to fall off It was he that threw the stone at the fore-head of Goliah It was hee that smote the Philistines with the jawbone of an Asse It was hee that thrust the dart through Achabs brigandine and it was he alone that put a bridle in the lips of Zenacharih and a hooke in his nostrels and finally it is hee and hee alone who for our sakes by death hath destroyed him who hath the power of death that is the devill and hath put into our mouth that tryumphant song of victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Blessed be God the Father through Iesus Christ our Lord in all these things we are more then Conquerers because our leader hath
should it also comfort us in the day of our spirituall conflict For as the marches of Israell were ordered in the wildernesse so should our marches be ordered here on earth When they were to march by day the Lord went before them in the piller of a cloud and by night in a piller of fire When they marched it was said Arise O God and let thine enemier be confounded And when they rested it was said Returne O Lord to the thousands of Israel Their walke was long their journey was wearisome but this comforted them that they had a good leader It is even so withus wee are brought blessed bee God from the bondage of an oppressing Pharo and a turmoiling Egypt where our way is thorny and our adversaries are many and surely unlesse our eyes were towards our leader there should bee no more spirit left in us But this is our comfort in which we should alwayes joy and continually rejoyce that our God the Lord of Hosts is our leader That our Redeemer Christ Jesus hath beene our fellow souldier and is now our Captaine And that the holy Ghost the Comforter is our Generall and goeth out and in before us and fighteth in us and for us Why should not wee then submit our selves to this Regiment The world is led by another spirit for the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth after envy But blessed is the man who is led by God and his good Spirit for whosoever are led by the Spirit of God are the Sonnes of God and if wee be sonnes then also shall wee bee heires and fellow heires with Jesus Christ and made partakers of his glory But now my brethren pardon mee for I have spent a great deale of time in teaching you who is your leader The second question is how he can lead us into temptation The answer hereof ariseth from the word by which our government and leading is represented to us For it is thus in the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where if wee shall looke aright on the word wee shall finde it composed of two severall particles of compositition and an originall verbe subjoyned to them The particles of composition are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the verbe is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to lead but the particles of composition added and prefixed to it altereth the signification thereof very much The first particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth to the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth in So that whilst this manuduction and government in the day of spirituall combate of a Christian is attributed to God it importeth three things unto us from the word it selfe First a leading into temptation Secondly a leading in temptation Thirdly upon the which from the necessity of his goodnesse must follow a leading out againe according to that which is written Hee suffereth us not to bee tempted above our power but with the temptation hee giveth us the issue that wee may be able to beare it The first part of this conduct is safe the second is gracious the third is glorious without the assured support and presence of God these three are like the waters of Marah turned bitter or like the potage of the children of the Prophets There is death in the pot For if man or Sathan lead to temptation it is doubtfull if they shall lead into temptation it is dangerous and if they cannot lead out of temptation it is desperate Opposing therefore the weaknesse of man to the strength of God and the malice of Sathan to the love of God it cannot but bee well said by man to God Lead us not into temptation not deprecating any part of the composition but his desertion in the verbe To cleare this know that to lead a man into temptation is safe for this cause St Iames saith My brothren count it for exceeding joy when you fall into diverse temptations for this is onely to present anobject of temptation to man or to lead man to encounter with an object of temptation Against this we do not al waies pray for it is safe good for us so to be exercised at sometimes it maketh us watch over our senses to make a covenant with our eyes and with David to pray Lord turne away mine eies from beholding vanity To lead a man into temptation is gracious for as meat is to the hungry or drinke to the thirsty or light to the prisoner so is helpe and support to the cōbatant What other comfort I pray you had David in his conflict with Goliah then this that God was with him in his temptation I come not against thee in mine owne name but in the name of the Lord of Hosts who delivered into my hand the Beare and the Lyon hee will also deliver thee this day into my hand But O take heed my hearts howsoever to be led to temptatiō may be safe to be led in temptation be gracious yet except God lead us out again it cannot any way bee glorious for us for if hee lead us not out againe hee leaveth us in it and woe bee to us when hee so forsaketh us and leaveth us to our selves for in so doing wee shall surely forsake him and perish So that this is sure whilst we say Lead us not into temptation wee do not begge of God that hee would not suffer the objects of temptation to bee presented before us but this only that whilst we are in the conflict hee would not leave us alone but rather that hee would say to us as Iacob said to his sonne God a troop shall fight against him but he shall overcome them at the last But thou wilt say to mee O man How or by what meanes can or doth God lead a man to temptation I answer by foure meanes First by a procured desertiō Secondly by a continuall subduction Thirdly by a righteous tradition Fourthly by a necessary induration By a deserved desertion for whilst wee quench and grieve the Spirit of God by our sinnes it is a righteous thing with the Lord to draw his grace from us that by our falls we may learne to intertaine his grace by which wee stand Secondly by a continued subduction which howsoeit bee but one and the selfe same desertion yet is different in degree and more fearefull because of the continuance Thus hee dealt with the Gentiles Rom. 1. Thirdly by a righteous tradition when men have abused his long suffering patience he gives them over to the efficacie of errour and to the malice of Sathan to bee led by him at his will so hee dealt with Saul 2. Sam. 24.4 And last of all by an uncurable induration for Sathan having gotten entry in a sinner thus walking in the way of errour hee maketh his heart daily harder and harder till out of the hardnesse of his heart that cannot repent hee heape up wrath to himselfe against the day of wrath But thou wilt yet enquire why doth God lead
teacheth them to be rich in grace their nakednesse to bee clothed with salvation and all their crosses and corrections whatsoever sealeth to them their adoption increaseth their patience and assureth them that their soules shall be safe in the day of the Lord Jesus Last of all the evill of evill is that damage and harme which the wicked sustaine by suffering the evill of this life for by the evill of sinne their hearts are hardened the custome of sinne taking away the conscience of sinne and by the evill of punishment their condemnation is sealed to them for whatsoever they suffer in this life is but an earnest penny of their after suffering and a sure fore-runner of that worme which dyeth not and of that fire which goeth not out againe So that whilst wee say Deliver ui from evill our meaning is deliver us O Lord from Sathan the author of sinne from sinne it selfe the first borne of Sathan and from condemnation the stipend and wages of sinne And as for the outward rods compose them so to us that they may not harden our hearts in sinne nor seale to us our condemnation And to this interpretation of evill antiquity giveth assent for St Chrysostome writing upon Matth. 13.19 where Christ calleth the devill The evil one saith Malum hic diabolum vocat docens nos cum eo praelium habere nullo unquam tempore dirimendum cum tamen non sit natura St Ambrose expoundeth it both of the devill and of sin Libera nos à malo dum hoc petimus petit unusquisque ut à malo hoc est à diabolo peccato liberetur Finally St August is of the same opinion whilst hee telleth us Christus non liberabit nos a barbaris sed à diabolo peccato peccati stipendio Now having spoken at length to you concerning our captivity to Sathan sinne and condemnation It is requisite that wee looke on the captives and these are wee for wee say deliver us For the better understanding whereof wee must know that captives are of two sorts either Captivi nati or else Captivi facti captives are either borne so or made so The native or borne captives were the children of such parents as being captives themselves were mancipated and sold for servants and slaves to others These by the Law of God were the possession and true inheritance of their master Levit. 25.45 The captives that were made so are of two sorts for they were either made so by others or by themselves By others whilst being taken in battell and preserved from death they were sold as servants bond-men to others Captives made by themselves were such as without any outward violence imposed on them did for reliefe of their poverty and necessity sell themselves as slaves and servants to others Now these are but bodily captives Answerable to these there are three sorts of spirituall captives and of the captivity of the soule The first are captives by birth and so borne from their mothers wombe such are all men by nature and naturall corruption for wee are all of us borne dead in our sins and trespasses c. And what David said of himselfe all of us may say of our selves In iniquity was I shapen and in sin hath my mother brought mee forth Now in the second place captivity begets captivity as one deepe calleth on another Our originall captivity under which we were born hath lead us violently captive unto actuall sin and rebellions For having brought nothing into the world with us but an uncircumcised heart from thence in all our life time springeth nothing but abominable corruptions Last of all there bee some men who to both their naturall and violent captivity have added a voluntary captivity making themselves captives to sinne and Sathan with a greedy appetite and up lifted hand and these are the children of disobedience from the first sort of captivity it hath pleased God to redeeme us in our baptisme by the lavacre of regeneration and washing of the new birth From the second captivity though wee cannot bee fully delivered so long as wee are in this life wee having received but the first fruits of the spirit yet notwithstanding Jesus Christ our Redeemer hath delivered us by his death the power of his resurrection and fellowship of his afflictions for it is written Wee have not received the Spirit of bondage to feare againe but the Spirit of adoption whereby wee cry Abba father And againe Therefore we are no more servants but sonnes From the last sort of captivity there is no redemption at all for if Sathan the devill hath right enough to a man by nature man shall adde to that captivity a greater by selling himselfe like Achab to commit iniquity There is no more sacrifice reserved for that mans sinne but a fearefull expectation of judgement and of that fire which shall devoure the wicked Now my brethren of this which hath beene said concerning our captivity I would gladly that in a word or two you should make some use Vse There are many captives in the world whom we cannot get delivered notwithstanding wee will labour to extend some of our supply to them For first wee can upon the first hearing compassionate their captivity and beare a part and have some sympathy with them in their distresse Secondly we can sometimes goe further then this for we can goe knock at the prison dore and call for them and goe in and visite them and comfort them with our best consolations We can goe somewhat further yet and besides our comfort wee can helpe them with some of our meanes wee can buy bread to their hunger and drinke to their thirst and clothes to their nakednesse And last of all we can engage our selves for their deliverance and by our engagements set them free Are not these good offices of charity and true straines of mercy Yes surely they are so Art not thou then much beholding to Christ whosoever thou art that art set free from the bondage of sin for he hath done al these to thee whilst thou wert in daaknesse and bondage under sinne and Sathan Hee did first pitty and compassionate thee when thou hadst no pitty on thy selfe and even then when thou wert a stranger and enemy to him hee spread his skirts over thee and covered thy nakednesse Secondly hee hath visited thee as he came downe to visit Israel in her affliction not in judgment as Sodome but in mercy and in a plentifull compassion and therefore Zachary blesseth him for that hee visited and then redeemed his people Thirdly hee became beneficiall to us not onely giving us wine to make the heart glad and oyle to make the face to shine but also in comforting our soules Hee hath given us his flesh for meate his blood for drinke his righteousnesse for our â—…ing his word for our instruction and his Spirit for our guide Fourthly and last of all hee hath taken our debt upon him and paying
mee unlesse it were given thee from above Unto this the Apostle Paul subscribeth Rom. 13.1 There is no power but of God and the powers that are ordained of God Now this title of Gods power Christ bringeth in here as an attribute by which hee may underproppe our weakenesse And his meaning is O man why doubtest thou and why art thou fearfull to come to God and pray to him How many evidences hast thou of his power manifested to thee for thy protection Is it not by him and by his power that thou livest movest and hast thy beeing was it not by him by the word of his power that all things were made of nothing Is it not by him and by the might of his power that all things are preserved in that state order and frame in which they now are Was it not by him and the might of his power that fire came downe to destroy Sodome That the seadrowned Pharo the earth swallowed up Corah Dathan and Abirom That Ieroboams hand was dryed up that the mercilesse fire had mercy on the children and the hungry lyons fed not on Daniel That the windes and seas are stilled and calmed and finally that the very devills of hell are curbed that they cannot goe beyond the chaine of his power and good pleasure These things are all evidences of his power But his power is yet not knowne in things that are spirituall Looke to our eternall election our temporall redemptiō our effectuall calling the resurrection of our bodies and upon the glory bestowed both upon soule and body and from thence let us never doubt of his power Hee of himselfe is able to do all things and by his power wee are able to do all things and hee hath manifested his power towards us that by it wee may be instructed by it comforted and by it corrected In a word it serveth for our instruction correction and consolation For our instruction in the path of charity for our correction in the way of our presumption and for our consolation in the day of our trouble First for our instruction in the path of charity For wee do no sooner see our neighbour fall but straight way we are precise and prejudicate censurers not remembring our selves lest wee also bee tempted Nor yet remembring the power of God who is able to ingraffe those againe Rom. 14.4 Secondly it serveth for our correction in the way of our presumption for wee thinke if man can befriend us wee are safe and sure but as fooles wee vanish for the Egyptians are but men not gods and their horses are but flesh not spirit When Ephraim saw his wound and Iudah felt his soare they ranne to Iacob and Ashur but their wound was not healed for there is no helpe but in the Lord And whosoever shall seeke helpe beside him may aske counsell at his stocke but his staffe shall answer him for the Lord shall meete him as a lyon and as a lyons whelpe shall teare him in peeces and none shall deliver him Last of all it serveth for our comfort in the day of trouble Man beare thou the crosse that God hath laid upon thee for thy haires bee numbred thy teares be put in his bottle be thou assured that the Lord will deliver thee in the day of trouble when thou art incompassed with the waters of affliction The second attribute of his kingdome is glory which hath many severall significations in Scripture First it is taken for the majesty of God which whilst man doth celebrate it is said they shew forth his glory Thus did the sheepheards heare that sweete Haliluiah sang by the Angells Glory bee to God on high And David Psalm 8. The heavens declare the glory of God Secondly by the glory of God in the time of the Law was meant the Arke of God 1. Sam. 4. The glory is departed Thirdly it signifieth the visible testimony of Gods presence in a cloud Exod. 16.8 Fourthly it is taken for the light of the Gospell 2. Cor. 4.4 Fifthly by the glory of God is understood the image of God according to which man was created Rom. 3.23 All flesh have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God Vse First bee carefull of the glory of God that his name bee not ill spoken of because of thy bad conversation Secondly suffer for him For all the sufferings of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed in us Thirdly sigh and groane for Christs appearing for it is the day of the revelation of thy glory For ever and ever Amen THis is life everlasting to know thee to bee the onely true God and whom thou hast sent thy Sonne the Lord Iesus This is the absolute excellencie of mans knowledge But to attaine hereunto the way is hard for No man hath knowne the Father at any time save the Son and he to whom the Sonne hath revealed him And till the Sonne hath revealed him in his beeing by delineating to them the back-parts of the Father for No man can see God and live It is true indeed if wee shall compare our knowledge of God who live under the Gospell with those who went before us under the Law wee cannot but confesse that our light in regard of theirs is before the light of the Sunne compared to the morning starre for it is written They saw but from a farre and under a vaile but wee behold his glory with open face And yet notwithstanding this our illumination we are imperfect our perfection may bee full in respect of parts yet is not in respect of degrees For our helpe therefore whilst wee dwell in the valley of Meseck tents of Kedar he is pleased to manifest unto us though not absolutely what he is that is to say his nature yet who hee is that is to say what are his attributes for by this hee teacheth us to know both who hee is in himselfe and how he carries himselfe to us Now thus we may know him in his wayes and dispensations towards us Hee hath revealed himselfe three manner of wayes Per viam negationis per viam causationis per viam eminentiae By way of negation by way of causation and by way of excellency By way of negation or denyall hee makes himselfe knowne to us while hee denies the imperfections of the creatures to appertaine unto him as creator and therefore it is said of him that he is immortall invisible immutable that hee cannot lie that hee cannot repent By way of causation while hee makes himselfe to bee knowne to be the cause of all things that are for it is written By him were made all things and without him was made nothing that was made And againe In him wee live wee move and have our beeing And againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By way of excellency while as we looking on the excellencie of the creature are lead to consider the supereminent excellencie of the creator in his wisdome power strength