because if wee doe not deny our selves wee destroy our selves because when we yeeld to our selves wee yeeld to the disease and when wee yeeld to the disease wee destroy our selves this disease is the flesh every man is aeger inter morbum medicum now which is better for a a man to hearken to the Spirit the Phisitian or to the flesh the disease This reason is taken out of the sixt of the Galatians he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption but hee that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reape life everlasting He that yeeds to his flesh doth destroy himselfe for all the wayes of sinne leade downe to the chambers of death that is they bring death at the latter end that is the fruit and wages of it at the last but he that doth deny himselfe doth best provide for himselfe for he hath not onely the generall promise but also the particular promise there is noe man that hath left house or brethren c. Both in regard of our selves and in regard of God there is equity for it nothing is hard to a reasonable man when hee sees a reason that it is best for him to doe it hee is easily perswaded to it besides it is the greatest folly in the world to goe about to joyne God and our selves together God and sinne God and other respects for you loose both by this for God hates such an one and you finde no content in minde neither can you serve your selves perfectly if you joyne your selves with God and therefore you can have no absolute content and there will bee a reluctancy which way so ever you turne Againe suppose they should both bee joyned yet the more you gaine in the flesh the more you loose of God and the Spirit Now hee that hath any union desires more union with God and this cannot bee unlesse you have lesse union with the flesh Againe it is needelesse to joyne God and your selves together you may have enough in God you adde but a candle to the Sunne and water to the Ocean and then you goe about an impossible thing for you cannot serve two masters all your labour will be lost Amaziah walked in the wayes of God but hee lost all his labour because his heart was not perfect with the Lord. But now it will bee objected how is it possible that a man should deny himselfe In shunning sin may he not have an eye unto hell and in walking the wayes of God may he have an eye to heaven To this I answer that we deny not but that a man may love himselfe for its impossible that he should do otherwise for iâ—s impossible but that the will should bee carried to that which is good or apprehended to be good and it is a sinne for a man to hurt himselfe it is a sinne for a man to kill himselfe and every hurt is a degree to that and God would not command that which is sinfull and againe useth those as motives to seeke salvation Repent for the kingdome of God is at hand If you will come in behold here is a kingdome for you feare not him that killeth the body c. The wayes of wisedome are wayes of pleasure And lastly it is a plant that God himselfe hath planted in the hearts of men and such plants as our heavenly father hath planted no man ought to plucke up This is the worke of nature and that which is opus naturae est opus authoris naturae And grace doth not take away nature gratia non tollit naturam sed attollit it doth not take it away but it reformes it it doth not extinguish it but sets it in order it doth not dry up this streame but turnes it into the right channell it doth not extirpate these plants but as the horse rider takes not away the nature froÌ„ the horse but doth guide him so it takes not the desire of nature away but guides it aright and if wee doe it in all desires of nature wee must needs doe it in the chiefest desire in the desire of salvation but we would have a man to deny himselfe no further then the want thereof doth hurt him Now the way to hurt your selves is to make your selves the end but the way for a man to doe good to himselfe is not to follow his owne will nor to seeke himselfe but to seeke God when his will comes in opposition with any command of Gods for that is the difference betweene a regenerate and an unregenerate man the unregenerate man thinkes his best way to get comfort is to rely on himselfe and the creatures not to seeke it from God but the regenerate man seeing the vanitie of the creature and the fulnesse of God rejects these things and onely followes God and serves with a willing heart and minde Both seeke their owne good but a diverse way Is it so then that none can have interest in Christ without selfe-denyall then first wee make this use of this Hence wee see that both cannot stand together seeking a mans selfe and following Iesus Christ. Hee that will follow mee must deny himselfe there is an necessitie chuse you which you will have if you will follow mee you must you must deny your selves and if you will follow your selves you must not have me the words are put in a necessary disjunction therefore deceive not your selves in this to thinke you may follow your selves and yet follow Christ. To deny a mans selfe is if there bee any thing pleasing to him to part with it for Christ if there bee any thing pleasing if a man be not willing to part with it for Christ hee cannot have Christ and salvation If any thing bee evill and hurtfull which hee most shunnes and avoydes if hee cannot undergoe it he must goe without Christ. But if you aske what neede there shall bee of so generall denyall I answer these very words to deny a mans selfe shewes us so much for to deny himselfe is to deny the whole body of himselfe wee must not deny some part of our selves as pleasure and profit which are but some branches but we must deny all And therefore you see in Peter that was the profession that hee made Lord wee have forsaken all and followed thee If wee hold any thing betweene our teeth wee must let goe our hold of Christ. Hee that will seeke praise and credit among men must not have interest in Christ. How can yee beleeve which seeke honour of one another and seeke not the honour that commeth from God onely it will make him stâ—ll bee out of the way when any such thing comes in competition So the rich man in the Gospell because hee had set his heart upon his wealth Christ told him that time that he could not follow him The light of the body is the eye if the eye be single
GRACE TO THE HVMBLE AS Preparations to Receive the SACRAMENT Preached by the Late famous Preacher IOHN PRESTON Doctor of Divinity and Chaplen in Ordinary to his M tie Master of Immanuel Colledge and sometimes Preacher in Lincolnes-Inne LONDON Printed by Tho. Cotes for Michael Sparke Iunior and are to be sold at the signe of the Blue Bible in Greene Arbour 1639. GRACE TO THE HVMBLE The fourth SERMON LVKE 9.23 And he said to them all if any will come after me let him deny himselfe and take up his Crosse daily and follow me IN the receiving of the Sacrament our choise businesse is to remember the Covenant betweene God and us and that hath two Parts First The Promise on Godspart Secondly the Condition on our part The Promise on Gods part and that is the gift of Christ whom hee gives as freely as a man gives his Lands to his heire now Christ he comes not naked but he comes accompanied with these three blessings First Iustification and all that followes upon that Secondly Sanctification to whom hee gives Christ them he sanctifies with his Spirit Thirdly all outward things Now there is a Condition required at our hands and it is exprest by divers words in the Scriptures sometimes by the name of repentance Repent for the kingdome of heaven is at hand Sometimes by the name of Beleeving Beleeve me and you shall be saved And here it is set downe by following of Christ. All these are joyned together for if you Repent you Beleeve and follow Christ and none can follow Christ without Faith and Repentance Now the occasion of these words is this Our Saviour had told them a little before That hee must suffer many things he must die rise againe and then tells them the consequent of this that they must not looke for a temporall kingdome my Disciples follow me and I goe rough wayes So that the maine duty that hee gives them here is to follow him to this hee addes two Conditions or two causes without the which wee cannot by any meanes follow him First Hee must deny himselfe that is If a man will come to follow me the flesh will propound to him many things that are pleasing and profitable it will be as a rough byas to turne him aside and therefore he must deny himselfe and his owne flesh And againe he will meete with many afflictions and for those hee must not looke out of the way but hee must goe through these crosses hee must take up his crosse dayly The Doctrine is this That no man can have interest in Christ without selfe-deniall If any man will will be my disciple let him deny himselfe Although before you come to Christ there is nothing required but a simple and bare desire It is no matter for Sanctification yet when we do come he must then be our Lord and Master and wee must follow him denying our owne lusts and this cannot be without selfe-deniall and therefore it is that that those that have failed in this point have not followed him Demas followed him a great way but when he came to this selfe deniall then hee left him and embraced this present world and this was the reason why Paul followed him because hee was willing to deny himselfe What was the reason that Caleb followed God so constantly because hee denied himselfe and resolved whatsoever he saw to sticke close to God and his Commandements and so Abraham hee left his country and friends cleaving to God Indeede if our will and Christs Will were coincident then this might be without selfe-deniall but being at oddes we cannot goe together for wee cannot walke together not being agreed and therefore wee must conforme our selves unto Christ his Will must not be brought downe to ours but our will is out often and therefore it must be wound up to his Now the Question will be what selfe-deniall is To deny a mans selfe is not to make himselfe his end but God onely and to renounce himselfe as sorry hee is opposite to God and his wayes So that to deny himselfe ' is to deny the aversement the corruption illnesse of nature w ch is called the flesh the body of death and the old man and the old leaven which are a mans selfe and this the Apostle meaneth Wee preach not our selves but Iesus Christ that is I preach not for applause and vaine-glory to please my selfe by my selfe here he meanes his flesh which hee will not satisfie for when the Apostle had told them of his Vision and Revelation of such a man said he I would rejoyce of my selfe I would not rejoyce Why should hee not rejoyce of himselfe Because himselfe was nothing but a bundle of corruption in himselfe was no good but of such a man so renewed hee would rejoyce But why is flesh called a mans selfe Because it is so spread over all the faculties and powers of a man and is predominant as the forme over the matter for a man loves it as himselfe and fights against all things that oppose it and nourisheth all that nourisheth it But how is it possible that a man can deny himselfe for in denyall there must be one to aske and another to deny there must be one denying and one denyed himselfe must be denyed how can himselfe deny himselfe To this I answer that there is in every man that is in Christ a double selfe and the regenerate man hath three natures First a common nature neither good nor bad in it selfe Secondly a spirituall and renewed condition Thirdly the flesh and corruption The meaning then is this common nature guided by the spirit and renewed nature is to deny the flesh that is the corrupt natures petition when both stand in competition the flesh is to be denyed if the flesh desires honours riches and preferments beside the rule then the flesh is to be denyed but the Spirit is to be heard in all his requests and this is that that every man must doe if he will be saved and there is not onely necessity but much reason why wee should deny our selves as in every command of God there is much reason if wee could see it so here is great reason for this First in regard of God God hath no causes therefore hee may thinke himselfe the end but every creature hath an efficient and finall cause therefore it must not make it selfe its order it is against the order of nature and rule of things that the creature which is not of it selfe should make it selfe its end being mans efficient cause is out of himselfe therefore his end must needes be out of himselfe hee should make himselfe God and God an Idoll For if a man will set up himselfe that is will not deny himselfe he sets himselfe above God and makes a God of himselfe We doe not worship God as wee as wee ought without wee deny our selves In regard of our selves
the whole body is light but if the eye shall be darke marke what is said there of a single eye and what opposition is made An eye is sayd to be single in respect of the object that is if the eye bee single look only on God then all the body is light that is all his life is good God counts his sinnes but infirmities But if a man have a wicked eye the opposition is if the eye bee double but it is put in wicked because a double eye is a wicked eye that is looking partly upon God and partly upon himselfe then the body is darke and there is good reason for this For it is impossible if a man doe not make God his utmost end to be saved if he make himselfe his co-ordinate end he then makes himselfe joynt God besides this man will bee constant in all his wayes and therefore is not pleasing to God The reason why God regards them not is because they are not constant A double minded man is unstable in all his wayes who will regard him that is a friend to day and none to morrow God loves not such whose hearts are not perfect with him now no man is such that does not deny himselfe perfectly if there bee any sweet morsell that he keeps under his tongue and will not part with it If we have not interest in Christ without selfe-deniall then this should teach us to judge of things aright it may seeme to rectifie our opinions it should teach us what to thinke when wee begin to give up our names to Christ wee must not thinke to goe to heaven in a Feather bed where wee may have elbow roome enough as it was our Saviours precept we must lay the foundation before wee begin to build So it was his practise if any man came to him to tell him before what he should suffer afterwards So when any one comes to him saying good master I will follow thee hee presently answers him the Foxes have holes and the Birds of the ayre have nests but the Sonne of man hath not whereon to lay his head And when the young man came so prepared that Christ began to love him I but mistake me not saith Christ if you come to me you must deny your selfe and that which is most precious to you which was his wealth you must prepare your selfe for crossses and not for crosses which should come now and then but for daily crosses you must keepe your selfe for a rough way that is you must bee ready to goe up the hill you must be busie when your flesh would bee at ease you must endure infamy and reproach when your flesh would have an applause we must bee contented to bee hated among all men A course of Godlinesse is nothing but a continaull opposition of the flesh to doe something contrary to our selves To thinke upon this aforehand will helpe us much we are to resolve and say in the morning this flesh will put many sinnes against the Spirit but we must resolve to crosse our selves and at night let a man examine himselfe and say what is it that my flesh did desire and how have I denied my selfe This should bee the course of a Christian If you will doe no more then that you are willing to doe its no thankes Such as serve God with their ease so long as it stands with their flesh what thankes have they but wee must deny our selves and crosse the flesh neither must wee doe this of necessitie but chearefully but wee must bee content to part withall and thinke wee have a good bargaine too as the Mercant man sold all his possessions and went away rejoycing that is we must not onely doe a thing for Christ for necessitie because wee cannot otherwise have salvation but also wee must thinke wee have got a good purchase many will say rather then I will goe to hell I will deny my selfe But wee must labour to see an amiablenesse in Christ a worth in Christ to draw us along or else wee shall faint and count it an hard way we must think the gaine of Christ with the losse of all a good bargaine But how shall a man bring his heart to this hard thing it seemes almost impossible but if we were inlightned and could see things as they are wee should doe it willingly for that amiablenesse that is in Christ. There are foure considerations why we should doe this and thinke it a good bargaine Consider the equity and justice of it how unreasonably and unequally you deale with Christ if you doe it not Christ hath bought us of our selves not onely of the world and the devill but also of our selves Wee are not our selves we are bought with a price wee are the temples of the living God as God hath sayd I will dwell in them and I will walke in them and they shall bee my people and I will be their God If a man will goe and sell himselfe to another man hee must not doe his owne worke for then he shall wrong him that bought him But I make no such bargaine with Christ you will say You have or ought to doe it you have done as much in effect for Christ hath shed his blood for every man in this sense so that it is propounded before all and every man shall answer for the neglect of it as it is 2 Pet. 2. there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them bring upon themselves swift destruction Destroy not thy brother with thy meat for whom Christ dyed So for every man that it lies exposed to him and he commits a double sinne that doth not receive him c. 1. He doth neglect him 2. He doth not as hee is commanded In the Leviticall Law if one bought a servant and he in punishiâ—g him dyed under his hands there was no Law against him for he was his mony So wee may say of every man to whom the Gospel is revealed that hee is Christs money yea Christs blood for that is the price that hath beene payd for him and layd out for him and it is his fault that hee takes it not and hee shall be accused one day for one that tooke such a great price yet would not serve the Lord Iesus Christ For as much as yee know yee were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and Gold from your vaine conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the pretious blood of Christ. When Christ saw you walking idle in vanity hee comes and buyes you to his service not with silver and gold but with his owne blood and this hee hath done to redeeme you from your vaine conversation but if any man walke vainely still and does not follow Christ hee rejects Christs price and at the last day it will bee objected against him that hee did
not serve God for the price that hee had received Therefore let this move you to serve Christ. But you will say I see there is reason and necessitie for this but I will not doe it yet I will doe it hereafter But consider Christ hath payd the price for you and hee hath bought all your life not some one part and as a man hired for a day doth not begin it til noone hee doth the man wrong that hired him So every man that doth not serve God in his youth wrongs God let us not therefore deferre it but doe it as sodainly as we can It is good for a man to deny himselfe for his life is more preserved in God then in himselfe for else there were no reason for that commandement love me more then thy selfe and againe the perfection of every thing is in the end every thing is then perfect when it attaines its end now God is that end of every thing and therefore of man and man is to serve him though it bee with the losse of goods and losse of life yea of life eternall for yet mans happinesse consists in the attaining of God his end and so those places of Moses and Paul are to be expounded If thou willt not forgive them blot mee out of the booke of life so it may bee to Gods glory So Paul I could wish that my selfe were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen in the flesh so long as any advantage would come to God they cared not what became of themselves and besides if a man should seeke his good in himselfe he could not get it for there is no bottome And againe besides thâ—se reasons the Scripture is plaine for it if a man would loose his life for me he shall finde it This is the best way to provide for himselfe the best way for a man to doe good to himselfe is by way of reflection to serve God and man with his fatnes so he shall have a full recompence a measure pressed downe and running over so that if a man would thinke with himselfe what shall I doe now to get happinesse in this world the way is not to get honour and riches but to learne to deny my selfe and how I may honour God and how I may spend my life for his glory and his service this is the wisest way to make our selves happy labour therefore to bee perswaded of this and you will easily be perswaded to doe it Consider the emptinesse of these things that draw us out of the way that sue to us and are the byasses of our life that carry us wrong the sight of their emptinesse is a great helpe to us to deny our selves for a man should consider what hee seekes and that is happinesse and where it is to be found certainly not in our selves for how many thousand are there who are still seeking to other creatures and if wee finde nothing in our selves then surely in nothing below our selves as riches pleasures and honours therefore wee must seeke something above ourselves and that is God those things are called vanitie and emptie things that seeme to promise something and performe nothing as those things are sayd to bee emptie which promise some satisfaction but deceive us as an empty well and empty clouds that seeme to promise raine but there comes none so it is with the creatures all the world looke for some thing from the creatures but that which wee seeke for is not in them and God calls them empty So the multitudes of them will shew that there can bee no perfection in them for if they had any perfection they neede not be so many and though they would have contentment in them yet they are but brittle as glasse holding some comfort in them which is quickly broken and then our comfort falls like water upon the ground which cannot bee gathered up againe Now if wee would bring our hearts to be perswaded of the emptinesse of these things then surely we should doe it with ease it was easie with Salomon to deny himselfe in repenting for hee saw the vanitie of all things no argument will make us doe this but onely the Spirit of God when we are convinced by it and then wee shall doe it with ease By denying your selves you shall weaken the flesh and strengthen the Spirit that is the more you yeeld to the flesh the more you strengthen it and the more you resist it the weaker it growes and the more the Spirit is strengthned that is the renewed qualitie that is in you I but what motive is this what though the flesh doe get the superioritie and the Spirit decay O but if you had eyes of judgement to see the excellency of grace and renewed nature and the basenesse of the flesh it would bee a very good argument Paul thought he had said enough to enforce the Galatians when hee had told them that the workes of the flesh were adultery fornication uncleannesse wantonnesse Idolatry c. This is enough to make a man strive against the flesh for the workes of it are vile not worth a man but the worke of the Spirit it is love joy peace c. Some men seeke excellency in health wealth earthly wisedome but yours lies in the Spirit the more you enlarge the health of your soule and the more you deny your flesh the more you weaken your disease for the flesh is but a disease and therefore Christ is sayd to come and heale the sicke and the word of God is called balme now where there is mention made of a Phisitian and a remedy there must bee a disease and that disease is this flesh And the more you begin to deny this flesh the more you escape that which you most abhorre and are ashamed of namely death and sinne first sinne what fruite have you then of those things whereof you are ashamed for the end of those things is death Shame indeede is the correllative of sin and where sinne is there is shame and no where else the second is death and sicknesse and death and trouble and all steps and degrees thereto but if you walke in the Spirit you have glory and life eternall and all the comforts of this life as steps and degrees thereto to conclude all therefore resolve to deny your flesh and all his requests And know thus much that it is a very difficult thing for the flesh is very neare and deare to us It s hard to deny a stranger or a friend harder to deny a childe or a wife and therefore much more hard to deny our selves Againe the flesh is importunate comes with a bribe in his hand as ease or profit or pleasure or such like our hearts are quickly drawne to such as Iron to the loadstone againe it s cunningly helped by the slight pollicy of the divell and therefore it is that S. Iames calleth sensuall wisedome
devilish wisedome because the divell joynes his wisdome with it Therefore goe about this as an hard worke deale hardly with it as the Prophet bids them with the messenger that came from Ahab shut the dooers on him admit no conference with him shut thy eares against the perswasion of the flesh and wicked men give it no hearing The flesh is ready to suggest reasons but we must not hearken to it So Paul when hee was to goe about a hard matter I did not conferre with my flesh saith he we see that it was his practise when his friends entreated him not to goe up to Ierusalem what meane you to weepe and to breake my heart for I am ready not to be bound onely but also to dye at Ierusalem for the name of the Lord Iesus he would admit of no conference with them So David when Ioab and Abishas would have taken off Shimeihs head for cursing him what have I to doe with you yee sonnes of Zerviah saith he And so did Iesus Christ when Peter came to him Master pitty thy selfe what have I to doe with thee saith he thou knowest not the things that belong to God he would admit of no conference with him the best is to deny our selves to give peremptory deniall have no more strength then our Mother Eve shee was tempted by admitting plea wih the divell and the flesh If wee thinke of our sinnes Sathan will bee ready to suggest reasons distinctions and evasions to make us walke upon the brinke side and then wee fall unawares into the pit So the Prophet which God sent to Bethel when hee had conferred with the old Prophet hee was enticed to come backe and eate with him which was his destruction when as indeede hee should not have conferred with him kept himselfe close to the commandment of God nothing is worse then a peremptory will in a bad cause and nothing better in a good cause Casta est quam nemo rogavit shee is a chast woman that carries herselfe so as that shee admits of no man to sollicite her So wee should carry of selves so that the devill dare not to attempt us Thinke that you shall be overcome it is hard and difficult it is good to bee jealous over our selves in doubtfull things If all that are Christs disciples must deny themselves hence then this will follow that our selves are prone exceedingly to evill we are ready in every thing to act our selves wee are ready to preach our selves our flesh will have one hand in every thing it will have an Oaer in every Boat There is nothing to doe but the flesh will put it selfe forth what the Apostle saith of envy the flesh lusteth after envy wee may say of every sinne that the flesh lusteth after it Take heede therefore to your selves as our Saviour bids us take heede of men So we must take heede of our selves nothing will â—eceive us so soone as our owne hearts The heart is deceitfull and wicked above all things who can know looke on the most deceitfull thing that is the heart is more deceitfull then that If you have a servant that will deceive you you have an eye continually upon him If there be any thing wherein you may get applause and credit how ready are wee to doe it but if there be any things that appertaine to the glory of God how backward are we how ready to finde out excuses twenty Lyons are in the way in such a case if wee have a minde to doe any thing though the lawfulnesse bee doubtfull yet we have distinctions and evasions for it otherwise Christ would not command us here to deny our selves I but you will say how shall I come to discerne this medling of the flesh It is true some things are evidently good and some things evidently bad but in things ambiguous it is hard to discerne the flesh a man may desire such a preferment and think he does well but yet this desire may be from the flesh and therefore there are some rules whereby wee may discerne whether our desires come from the flesh or no and how wee may doe them If you finde the desires turbulent it is a signe they come from the flesh for the desires of grace are like them that come from pure nature as Rachels desire give mee children or else I dye The vehemency shewes it came from the flesh When the desires are hasty it is a signe they come from the flesh for it is the property of the flesh to runne without his errond to goe without his rule the foole rageth and is carelesse where is a wise man saith Salomon that ponders his wayes we cannot goe about that which is good without consideration I considered my wayes saith David and turned my feete into thy testimonies If our nature were good the more hasty it is to any thing the better it would be but being our nature is bad it is likely the hastier it is to any thing the worse the things If you finde the thing desired to strengthen the flesh it is from the flesh if it strengthen the Spirit then it is from the Spirit if it weakens the Spirit and workes in us any indisposition to doe any good as to pray toward the word and such like then it doth not come from the Spirit Consider what you doe in like cases where you have no selfe respect wee may do many good things and yet have selfe respect in them for example Iehu was zealous enough for God so long as he expected a kingdome that pricked but when it was gotten he fell to Idolatry And so those they were ready to fast and pray but there was selfe respect in it They assemble themselves together but the Prophet saith it was for corne and wine and so they were ready to follow Christ but it was because they eate of the loaves and were filled many in sicknesse and trouble are ready to pray and to seeke God but when the storme is blowne over what doe they then by this wee may learne somewhat to judge whether the desires come from the flesh or no. Hence learne how to judge of your condition whether you are in Christ or not Christ puts it as a necessary condition to deny your selves It is a sure rule if you deny your selves you are in Christ if not you have no part in him but here every man as it is the part of the most unsound to flatter themselves will say he doth not professe himselfe no body will grant that hee doth please himselfe Therefore for the tryall of this take these rules If you will know whether you deny your selves or not first consider whether you are throughly humbled vile little in your owne eyes such a man is not angry because hee hath no more grace but wonders he hath so much He lets God deale with him as hee lists if hee will have him to
in one livery so God will have you like his eldest Sonne he will have no iniquality Indeede there is inequality for degrees but God will have an equality for fashion hee will have a perfection for parts though not for degrees that hee may bee the first borne among many brethren that is every man that will bee saved must looke what Christ did that must hee doe As Gideon sayd to his Souldiers looke what yee see me doe doe yee likewise for I am your guide and captaine whom you must follow when you see me blow the trumpets and when yee see me break the pitchers doe you so So when Abimelech cut downe bowes all his people did doe the like so saith Christ whatsoever you see mee doe that doe yee for he is our Captaine he is our Prince hee is the Generall of the Army and all that will bee victors must bee obedient unto him as Souldiers are unto their Generall which is the strictest obedience that is they must keepe their watch and stations oppose all dangers fight when hee will have them turne this or that way as hee commands and every relation that replies following is found in him hee is the guide the guide of our feete our Lord our Master our Captaine our Father our Husband Hee saith this to all his Disciples follow mee that is as if hee should say there are two sorts of men in the world some stragling people as sheepe without Shepherds Malantes milites as Souldiers without a Captaine Masterlesse servants as wandring beggars of which not onely our high wayes but also our cities and streets are full that is they are idle persons that make a conscience of nothing that sweare that breake the Lords day They are priviledged persons they may doe what they will I have nothing to doe with them But there are another sort of men that have given up their names to Christ to be his servants such as you are must follow mee you have a rule to goe by that is Christ. But is Christ our rule the Law is our rule have we two rules It is true the Law is our rule but Christ is the rule of that rule Christ and that Law differ as Christ and the example as in our Grammer and Logicke you have the rule and the example So it is here the Law is the rule and Christ is the example But Christ is an high example he is to high for us wee can never attaine to him and take away the hope and take away the the indeavour Tolle spem tolle conatum To this I answer that though it bee so that wee shall never attaine to him yet it is best that there should bee an high example for the best coppy is the best helpe And so those that learne to write wee set the best coppy to them that begin to write and there is reason for it because a man cannot hit the marke therefore shall I set him a wrong marke so because a man could not doe according to the rule therefore shall I set him a false rule And againe it is necessary that wee should have him for an example though hee be so high that wee may bee still on progresse goe on further still in godlinesse and it is not expected that wee should doe all at the present but that we should be still mending and turne to the right rule and last of all it is needfull you should have such an example set you that you may bee kept humble it will shew us our defects when wee compare our selves with our selves or other men we thinke somewhat of our selves But when wee compare our selves with Christ then wee are humbled as Peter when hee once saw him in his purity and his majesty that confounded him Lord I am a sinfull man I am not worthy that thou shouldest come to me But you will object it is â—â—ue indeede if Christ had â—ived among us as among â—he Apostles if hee would â—ead us by his hand but he is taken from us and how should we doe But to answer to this know that though hee bee gone he hath left his Spirit and that Spirit is put into your hearts and that Spirit will guide you that is it will be as a monitour behind your backes to tell you this is the way walke in it when we are stragling out of it it lusteth against the flesh this Spirit all those that are in Christ have because you are sonnes God hath sent the Spirit of his Sonne into your hearts If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ hee is none of his that is every man that comes to him though hee be taken from him yet he sends his Spirit into his heart and tells him the way the Spirit shall leaâ— you into all truth Though in speciall it led the Apostles yet in fundamentall points it shall lead them all that are the servants of Christ. But this is an uncertaine rule I may bee deceived in it I may take the suggestion of the Divell for the evidence of the Spirit But to try you have the word for a rule the Spirit dictates nothing but agreeing to the word if it agree with the word it is from the Spirit But yet you will say the words of the Spirit are but remote guides they are but intellectuall things Therefore there are more sensible guides the lives of the Saints which are written for our instruction and wee have many living Saints the present Saints that live among these are helpes to you these are companions in your wayes these are good lights to follow God hath not left himselfe destitute but hee hath Saints in every nation where the Gospell is preached But this caution you must take that the Saints may erre from the way and straggle a little from it Therefore you must follow them as that you must fix your eyes upon Christ because he onely is the Author and finisher of your faith that is as hee began the doctrine of faith and taught us the rules of it so hee hath consummated it and left us examples to follow it is not so with men for that rule is most true Non est ejusdem invâ—nire preficere artem Take the most learned man though hee found out an art yet he never finished it yet Christ hath done this Therefore looke to him though there be a cloud of witnesses as a cloud went before the Egyptians yet Christ is the surest guide But further to explaine this I will shew you two things First what it is to follow Secondly whom you are to follow first the act and then whom you are to follow First what it is to follow and thus I may briefly describe it to you To follow Christ is nothing but to resolve to doe and suffer willingly and withall our heart what hee commands c. There are foure difficult things put together in this