of hearing and hearkning all blessings are promised If thou wilt hearken unto my Commandments all these benefits or blessings shall overtake thee And when God had sent his Son whom he promised long before to send the great Doctor and Preacher of his Church All the entertainment and receit of him all the reverence and respect called for is but audience ipsum audite Hear him Hear my beloved sons and it will make you sons dearly beloved Mat. 17. Hear then and your souls shall live If the Prophet should bid thee do some great matter saies Naamans servant to his Master wouldest thou not do it to be cleansed of thy Leprosie muchless when he bids thee but wash and be clean when he went away in a puff and snuf as too many do from the saving word So if God should command us and we his poor Ministers beseech you in his name to do some greater matters then wee do would you not do them to save your precious souls muchlesse would we hear and be happy Hear and our souls shall live hear him here whom we desire to see hereafter Beloved auditus est gradus ad visum Hearing is a degree to seeing if we will not hear God we shall never see him and therefore as John the Divine exhorts like a Divine so do I but in his words He that hath an ear let him hear and he that will not hear what the Church saith let him be anathema accursed Indeed omnis habent aures audiendi pauci obediendi All have ears to hear with but few to obey with ears of attention with Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth or like David I will hear what the Lord will say unto me or with Mary who sate at Christ's feet to hear his Preaching or like the Spouse in the Canticles Hark it is the voice of well-beloved We see in my Text what an honour and dignity God hath put upon his word to beget us to himself of his own will he begets us with the word of truth and shall not we willingly give it the hearing The Apostle in the next verse makes the only use and application of the Doctrin and lesson here taught Since the word of truth is the seed of our new birth therefore let every man be swift to hear of a tractable docible and meek spirit ready to wait upon God in his Ordinances and to receive with meeknesse the ingraâ—fed word which being so received is able to save the soul Jam. 1. 21. Again God takes not the tongue out of our heads but he takes away the sin and iniquity of the tongue within a man unregenerate is a world of wickednesse as St. James saith The world is not fuller of wickednesse than the tongue of sin if unreformed he takes away therefore in our regeneration and puls out the venom and sting and violence of the tongue which is indeed a small member but doth great mischief blasphemies oaths railings revilings curses imprecations lies perjuries dissimulation all corrupt communication filthy and froathy speeches which are not once to be named amongst Saints And as the holy Ghost when he came down upon the Apostles they spake with new tongues as the spirit gave them utterance So whom the holy spirit sanctifies and regenerates it gives a new and another language and though it gives them no new tongues yet it gives the tongues they have a new dialect their tongues are touched with a coal from Gods Altar neither have the gift given them of praising God and speaking well of their neighbour As the regenerate person will not listen to false tales or tale-bearers which are flabellum Diaboli flagellum justi the Devils Bellows and the Saints scourges for the tongue kils more then the sword the sword of the mouth more then the mouth of the sword as he will not receive a false report against his neighbour as David speaks and makes one of the ten notes of a righteous man of a Citizen of heaven So he will not rashly nor hastily judge him before he know him or hear him speak knowing that he that carries a false report and he that receives and believes it the one carries the Devil in his tongue the other in his ears And therefore they which are born from above will set a watch before their mouthes and guide the dore of their lips as the Kingly Prophet saith They will take heed to their waies that they offend not in their tongue and they will utterly purpose that their mouth shall not offend They will therefore open their mouthes with wisdom and guide their words with discretion as Solomon speaks of the good house-wife as she will keep her self so she will keep her words at home within her own dores The tongue indeed hath a double hedge teeth and lips to shew it should not easily or commonly straggle or wander or run over The law of grace as Paul saith will be in the lips of the righteous his mouth will shew forth Gods praise 'T is worth noting that David will take heed to his waies that he offend not in his tongue intimating that the safety and security of a mans waies of his whole life and conversation consists much in the government of his tongue Quâ— facile violat quae facile volat as easily sins as moves and it moves often too easily no arrow or bullet out of a gun or bow wounds more speedily or quickly or pierceth more deeply or deadly then a tongue primed with the powder and set on fire with the fire of hell And therefore James tels us that he is a perfect man that is in a great part regenerate that can rule it for it is the opinion of a Father That half the sins committed in the world are committed through the licentiousnesse and unrulines of the tongue Quâ—tidiana fornax is humana lingua The tongue of evil men is a continual Fornace wherein the names of righteous men are tryed And therefore to end this point The government of the tongue is an infallible note and evidence of some progresse and perfection in grace But a regenerate heart and a wicked tongue a sanctified heart and a virulent venomous blasphemous tongue never go together For if the spring or fountain the heart be clear and pure needs must the streams be so for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks When Socrates would know the disposition and condition of one that came to be his Schollar he bid him speak that all might know him Sermo virum indicat the speech shews the man it is animi index the interpreter of the mind We may easily know what is in the heart by that which comes out of the mouth He is of Galilee saith the girl of Peter for his speech bewrayeth him A man is easily discerned by his language what Countreyman he is of Canaan or Ashdod Certainly beloved a stinking and strong breath doth not more evidently declare ill lungs and corrupt inwards
as should be saved Act. 4 last Thus you see that God himselfe is the Authour and cause of our new Birth it is the proper and peculiar worke of God to beget voluntariè nos genuit of his will he begâ—te us And yet you may please to observe that as this act of regeneration is attributed to God the Father as it is in this place So sometimes it is attributed to God the Sonne as Esai 53. 10. Beleevers are called his seed that he might see his seed he made his soule a sacrifice for sinne Sometimes to the spirit of God as in Jo. 3 6. That which is borne of the flesh is flâ—sh and the winde bloweth it so is every one that is borne of the spirit It is God the Fathers will he begets us of his will Christ the Sonnes merit Gal. 4 4. When the fulnesse c. to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of the Sonne God the Holy Ghosts efficacy and power by the Spirit of Gods sanctifying and over-shadowing the Soule the new Man is quickned and made sometimes it is attributed to all the three persons in Trinity together as in that notable place Tit. 3 7. By his mercy he saved us by the renewing of the Holy Ghost which he abundantly shed in our hearts through Christ Jesus There we have the three persons together in two verses and here all the cause of our regeneration in one a parallel whereunto you shâ—ll hardly finde in the whole New Testament But God as I said he is the principall author and cause His Ministers but instrumentall yet as his Ministers they are and may very well be called Fathers And this near relation should warme the hearts of Ministers with an indulgent and paternall care and affection to beare great good will towards them and as Moses is commanded to carry them in his bosome And as Aaron when he went up to pray or to sacrifice he went up with the names of the twelve Tribes written upon his breast plate So the Ministers of the New Testament the Pastors of Christs Church according to that Typâ— ought to put up in all his devotion the prayers and supplications the wants of his people with his owne As Saint Paul calls his people his Epistle written in his hâ—art so shall the people be in their Pastours Aâ— S. Pauls â—â—â—â—ts desire and prayer to Israel waâ— c. Indeed the New Testament is nothing else but Jesus Christs Letter and Epistle writ from Heaven unto his Church the mind of God expressed to Man by Christ who sitâ— at the right hand of the Father making those Prayers and Petitions of ours which are imperfect in themselves to be more perfect by his mediation And as these instruments of Regeneration are called Fathers both in the Old Testament My Father my Father c. cryes Elisha to Elias Jehoram to him a wicked man yet hâ—s had more grace than some have now to call the Prophet his Father Worse names now must be digested So Saint Paul calls them Nurses or Mothers too 1 Thes 2. 7. There he putâ— upon himselfe the indulgence of a Mother as afterward the affection of a Father vâ—r 11. shâ—wing that as he did not occasionally forget to use the gravity of a Father in his exhortations and instructions so other whiles he puts upon him the meeknessâ— and softnesse and tendernessâ— of a Mother or of an affectionate Nurse Mothers and Nurses having a sympathy and fellow-feeling of their Childrens estates the Mother knowing by naturall instinct when the child is sick and diseased when it is distempered and pained and will accordingly apply her selfe to give it ease and not alwayes give it its humour nor what it cryes for So Gods Ministers should be willing to free their people from distemper and disorder from thâ— corruption and error of the times feeding them with wholsome and sound doctrine with the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby not with fancies and humours and their owne inventions and imaginations for with griefe be it spoken we are falne from the worshipping of Images to the worshipping of Imaginations which as it breeds sicknesses in young children to let them eaâ—â— what they will so it breeds factions and divisions and â—xtreame distemperatures in States when they are suffered to bâ— carryed about with every wind of doctrine and every windy doctrine as the Israeliâ—es by Aarons permission and sufferance worshipped the Cllfe of their owne making And it teacheth the people againe since they stand in so nâ—â—r a relation to their Ministers as Children to Parents to carry a filiall and dutifull affâ—ction towards their Pastours as they carry a loving carefull and paternall heart and eye towards them and their good The want of which reciprocall loving kindnesse and affection when Father and Children Mâ—nister and People Master and Servant have had a greater desire to have their humours fed than their soules edified have not onely caused great râ—nts and divâ—sions which with Râ—â—bens caused great grâ—efe and sorrow of heart but I dare say hath grâ—â—ved the blessed and holy Spirit of God the sole worker of our Regeneration and by whom we are sealed unto the day of Redemption the Spirit of God witnessing to our spirits that we are the sons of God Rom. 8. Thirdly this calls upon the great Fathers of the Common-wealth who are called Gods being next to him and Patres Patriae thâ— Fathers of this Country nay of the Common-wealth and State to see with what meat their Children their Subjects are fed for as I said they are Pastours and Fathers too Isaiah calls them Nursing fathers and Nursing mothers and prophesies that in the great Reformation Kings should be nursing fathers and Queens nursing mothers That is God would raise up the great Potentates and Princes of the â—arth to provide that the people should be fed with wholsome food that living waters should flow abundantly from the threshold of the Sanctuary and that all people should know the Lord from the greatest to the least Hence it followes necessarily that the Supreame Magistrate â—e seasoned with Religion and what a sweet perfume followes such Princes see in the â—xamples of Moses Joshua David Solomon Asa Josiah Hâ—zâ—kiah c. and not irreligious or Popishly affected but soundly and firmly grounded for which we may blesse God that he be a sincere worshipper and server of God the feare of God being the beginning of wisdome and a man being never truly intelligent untill he be obedient The best Plot is to save a soule For if that be true which they say in nature is true and certaine That what disease or infection the Nurse hath the sucking child will partake of and as the Parent is affected so for the most part is the Childs inclination and disposition Surely and without all question it will fare so in this If God please to give us a Magistrate which is godly and
wont in times past to be the comprimisâ—r and determiner of all Law-suits Let not us fall out for we are brethren saies Abraham to Lot the greater to the lesser What brethren and fall out No it is a good and joyfull thing for brethren to dwell together in unity It was the harlot would have the child divided the true mother would have it live they shew of what house they came of what discent they are who love to live in envy and malice in hatred and division you are of your father the devil saith Christ to the envioâ—â— Jews for his works ye do profess whâ—â—â—â—â—â—y all they have not God for their Father nor the Church of God for their Mother nor Christ for their Saviour who are enemies to peace for as I said True belieâ—â—â— are of one heart and of one mind of one soul Give me leave to give you a strong pathetical and effectual motive to love and peace the character of Gods children God is the God of peace Christ Jesus is the Prince of peace the holy Ghost is the Spirit of peace the Gospel is the Gospel of peace your calling in general is a calling of peace ye are called to peace Ours who are the poor despised Ministers of Christ is a calling and commission of peace and we are commanded nay charged into what house soever we come to preach and pray for peace to that house how well and faithfully some have done their errand let the world judge When Christ came into the world he brought it there was peace over all the world the Temple of Janus was shut and wars were ceased at every gate and the blessed Angels of heaven sang at his birth and nativity Glory be to God on high on earth peace good will towards men and therefore surely there is heavenly musick in it David saith God will give unto his people the blessing of peace So that peace is a blessing nay the blessing of blessings the sugar and sweetning of all blessings for nothing is a blessing without it what are our sweetest comforts our dearest and nearest relations our riches honour magnificence or any worldly accommodations if not enjoyed in peace It was therefore prophesied in Esay That when Christ should be born Christ the Prince of Peace the peacemaker that men should break their Swords into Ploughshares and their Spears into Pruning-Hooks that is there should be unity and peace in the world all animosities and hostilities should be laid aside and so they are where Christ is born in us Nay even the Souldier with a sword in one hand and fire in the other he cries and speaks aloud Sic quaerimus pacem Thus we look for and seek for peace peace being the end of war when Christ lived in the world he taught it Beati pacifici Have salt in your selves and have peace one with another And if a man smite thee upon one cheek c. And if he take away thy Cloak c. When Christ went out of the world he made peace his Legacy Peace I give you my peace I leave unto you and when he rose again he made it his salutation He came in unto them the dores being shut and said Peace be unto you and when he had so spoken he shewed them his hands and his side as if he had said see here my dear friends how dear your peace cost me even these wounds in my hands and side ne rumpatis eam break not that so easily which cost me so dear upon every poor and slight occasion or for the love of every base sin or pleasure make not me to bleed again Enough I think to coole the fiery spirits If this will not serve to take the sting of envy and malice out of the minds of many but still like Salamanders they will live in the fire and heat of contention I will send such down to the place of utter confusion for an argument of peace and they shall hear even the Devil himself pleading hard for that which he continually breaks Mat. 8. 30. What have we to do with thee Jesus thou Son of God art thou come to torment or trouble us before the time They that trouble all the world you see would not be troubled themselves Enough to cool the fiery spirits of such as make division their musick and love to fish in troubled waters nay that firâ—t trouble the waters themselvs and then complain of the Lamb that comes to drink of them let me send such to meditate upon that speech of Christ That Belzebub is not divided against Belzebub if he were his kingdom could not stand That seven devils agreed in Mary Magdalen a legion in another whereas with grief be it spoken three scarce agree with us in a Family or ten in a Parish But were our State and Commonwealth as strong as the kingdom of Satan division and contention if continued must needs bring it to desolation and ruine As Joseph therefore when he sent his brethren home to their father gave them this godly advice Fall not out by the way the same I exhort and beseech in the bowels of our blessed peace-maker looking all towards Jerusalem let not Babylon have our hearts let us go on in love and peace and the God of love and peace will be with us O let not division of hearts hinder the building of Christianity as division of tongues hindred the building of Babel Filia dissentionis desolatio The daughter of dissention is dissolution yea and desolation The factions and divisions between Simeon Eleazar and Jehochanon foretold and prophesied by Christ and faithfully recorded by Josephus a fellow-sufferer and eye-witness laid the Temple and City and the houses of Jerusalem desolate and not one stone upon another The Temple of Solomon you know who was a Prince of peace and type of Christ was built in peace there was not the sound of an Axe Hammer or any other instrument heard in the erecting of it Indeed it was beaten down with Axes and Hammers as David dolefully complains but it was set up without them The mystical and spiritual sense you easily apprehend The spiritual Temple and house of God in us is or should be built in peace and unity without clamor stirr or noise we should as the Apostle saith edifie one another in love and peace for Si collidimur frangimur If we be broken and unbound we are undone signified by Scelurus faggot a known story Divisum est câ—â—â—orum jam jam interibunt saith the Prophet Their accord is gone their cord is untwisted they cannot stand Iscouedo the Spanish Poet being demanded by his Master Philip the third by what means he might become Master of the Low Countries he gives him this shrewd and subtile councel Divide them amongst themselves according to Machiavels precept to his Caesar Borgia Divide impera make a division and get the Dominion It is observed by many learned men and lameâ—â—ed by more that the unkind
and needless division of Christian Princes amongst themselves have added more Lands and Territories more Dominions and Principalities unto the Turks Empire then their own Sword and Bow As Phrahartes one of Pompey's chief Captains said of Julius Cesar's Conquests Nostra ruina factus est magnus By our ruine he is raised and made great his gain hath been our loss his rise our downfall our breaches and divisions which like Reubens have caused great grief of heart have been his utmost advantage Whilst we wory and fight and sheath our swords in one anothers bowels they say with the Edomites There there so would we have it they sing and laugh with Nero having set Rome on fire When I am dead let all the earth burn And therefore for conclusion of this point in which I have been something earnest and long being very seasonable and needfull to press in the condition we are in let us but advisedly and soberly consider the many mischiefs which factions and divisions have brought into the world and closely lay them to heart and it cannot but warm us with that heavenly fire of love the image of our Father and account it with David who though a fortunate and valiant Warrier yet a man of peace nay altogether for peace a man much vers'd in battel and sing it with him It is a good and joyfull or a pleasant and joyfull thing for brethren to dwell together in unity For our own particular let the men of our famous Nation give me leave to speak to them and put them in mind of their own strength and honour in intimating unto them the memorable words and observations of Henry the fourth the Champion of Christendom Monsieur Roan the Champion and Marshal of France in the beginning of the Reigne of Queen Elizabeth of blessed memory walking in his Gallery with Roan and being in serious discourse of the unity of the Queen with her Subjects of their unanimity and strength of the wealth and strong scituation of the Island which he said was impregnable and unaccessible being walled with a Wall of Brasse he meant invironed and compassed with Seas Roan answered like a prudent observer Angle le terra grand animal The Land of England is a strong and mighty body which can never die except it kill it self And surely they deserve more then one death who willingly and desperately goe about to be their own murthers with Nero to kill and rip up the bowels of their own Mother And to me it seems a mystery indeed the mystery of iniquity is in it that many have and will have order in their own houses and it is the Item and injunction they give to their servants when they hire them this is the order of my house and thus and thus you must doe and obey and yet would have none in the great House the Church and Commonwealth neither Magistrate nor Minister I will say no more to such than the great Apostle hath spoke before me If any man be contentious we have no such custome nor the Church of Christ and that God is the God of order not of confusion And how can he serve God that is the God of love and peace without peace and love His Name is love and his Law is love And therefore to conclude this Character of a Christian and strongly once more to move to unity and peace Take three pathetical and emphatical motives and perswasions from the Doctor of the Gentiles The first is 1 Cor. 1. 10. Now I beseech yor brethren by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by which you are named or called that you all speak the same things and that there be no divisions amongst you but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and the same judgement Love and unity are the Cement and Glew of Christianity and Religion the unity of the spirit is best kept in the bond of peace The second is Phil. 2. 1 2. If there be any consolation in Christ any comfort of love any fellowship of the spirit any bowels of mercy fulfill my joy and be ye like minded hrving the same love being of one mind and of one accord and let nothing be done in strife or contention for that undoes all God came to Adam in the cool of the day and to Elias not in the thunder or fire or storm or tempest but in the quiet sound 1 Kings 19. 11. And it is worth your noting upon what persons and at what time the holy Ghost came down Acts 2. 1 2. He came down upon the Apostles whilst they were all in supplication and prayer and of one mind in an upper Chamber in Jerusalem The spirit of unity descends upon none but upon such as have unity of spirit Beloved if ever we find an enlargement of spirit or feel the descent of spiritual blessings in an ample and plentifull manner we shall find it to be when we are in unity and unanimity And therefore if we will have a sensible apprehension of the spirits communion and benediction let us in the name of God meet in one Assembly in the same mind of those primitive Christians â—to which we pretend did and be in the same posture and devotion they were Acts 4. 31. Who being of one heart and of one mind the place moved where they met When we hold one of Paul another of Apollo another of Cephas are we not divided and divided prayers are fruitlesse when the River is divided into many streams and currents it cannot carry our Vessels our hearts wanting love and unity and our Altar fire the incense of our prayers cannot ascend 3. Note that place well 2 Cor. 13. 11. Finally my brethren farewell be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you and if God be with us and for us we need not care who can be against us God is the God of love and peace and the Godly are peaceable and loving By those characters men shew their heavenly birth their birth from God whose name is Love and whose Law is Love 3. In our first birth Generatio unius est corruptio alterius the generation and begetting of one is the death and corruption of another untill the old man be dead the new man cannot quicken As it was prophesied of Jacob and Esau when they were in their mothers womb that the elder should serve the younger So untill the elder man be brought into subjection to the younger there can be no peace in the members neither is this work wrought 4. In our first some are more easily conceived and brought forth into the world some with much more difficulty and pain with greater sorrows and anguish with many throbs and throws crying and roaring and being pained with the woman in the twelth of the Revelations ready to be delivered Thus it is in our second birth some are more easily converted and turned to God as
the word true and a great deal of feign'd and false holinesse in the world The Axiom of the Polititian being too much in request Religio ad morem non ad rem attinet True religion is for the manners not for the main t is something for his credit nothing for his profit Machiavels lesson is learned over and over the shew of goodness and vertue is profitable and needfull but the use and practice a trouble it doth aggravare animam burden the soul and hinder mens projects too much Beloved it will ask a long time and much labour in many to unlearn those two Lessons But this let me tell them who live by them Dediscere quod malum est est doctrina optimo To unlearn what is evil is the best learning and without all question Piety is the best Policy or as a King once said Honesty is the best Policy and as David though a man after Gods own heart saith that the best wisdom is to be wise to salvation The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have they that do thereafter A man never begins to be intelligent untill he begins to be obedient and the best plot is to save a soul to lose which he that knew the price of souls well tels us the gain or purchase of the whole world cannot recompence he that to gain the whole world would lose his soul makes but an unwise bargain which bargain was wise enough were not the poorest despised soul of a greater value the regenerate and true Christian knows the value and worth of his soul and therefore desires to be renewed in the spirit of his mind and he desires to know what the good and acceptable mind or will of God is And indeed in the mind or spirit of the mind the work of regeneration is first wrought as God in the creation began first with the light Fiat lux Let there be light so in our new creation he begins with illumination he first strikes up one light into the mind and they that were once darknesse are now light in the Lord Christ Jesus speaking to the mind and understanding as he did once to the blind man in the Gospel Ephatha be opened and this new created light instantly banisheth all the darknesse of the mind and understanding blinded before by the god of the world as the rising of the Sun dispels all foggs and mists and as the Apostle speaks in another place Phil. 3. 10. He presently puts off the old man with his deeds and puts on the new man which is created in knowledge after the image of God Oportet enim eum qui alteram vitam incepturus est pecori fineas imponere It behoves him who is beginning a new life to put an end to the old And give me leave I pray you a little seriously and earnestly to insist upon this Point this saving Point Conceive I pray you that to be regenerate and new born to be a new creature or as my Text saith the first fruits of Gods creatures is not to become new in substance but in qualities and doth not consist in multiplying bodies by generation but in changing of souls or minds into a new form For non nascimur sed nascimur Christiani nec tam generatio quam regeneratio spectanda est We are not born but we are made Christians neither is generation so much regarded as regeneration because in our new or second birth we are not made the sons of man but the sons of God As when the spirit of magnanimity and valour and Princely Government came upon Saul it carved him into a new man So when the spirit of sanctification and holinesse descends upon any it quite changes and turns them into new creatures it makes them as we say new men and they will answer their former sins and pleasures their wanton and vain Dalilahs with whom they have formerly spent too much of their precious time as that young Convert answered his enticing and tempting Mrs solliciting him to their wonted folly Ego non sum ego I am not I I am not what I was I was not what I am he was changed in his mind or his mind was changed in him They will resolve with St. Peters converts The former part of our time or the time past of our lives is enough to have spent or rather misspent after the lusts of the Gentiles we will spend the rest of our time to the honour and glory of him that died for us Beloved Christians thus is a man in his regeneration converted and changed quite and clean into another man as Christ when he gave sight to the blind man in the Gospel he made him no new eyes but gave sight and light to them he had and as when he raised Lazarus and the widows son one out of his grave another going to it he created no new bodies but put life and spirit into the sad So in our regeneration and new birth God makes us no new souls or bodies but renews reforms amends and changes them we have He takes not the eyes out of our heads but the vanity lust and sin of the eyes moving us inwardly to make a covenant with our eyes not to look upon any tempting object and we will pray earnestly with David Turn away mine eyes lest they behold vanity and indeed David might well pray to God to turn away open or amend his eyes for both were naught One was bloudshot with the murther of Vriah and the other had Bathsheba the Pearl in it and indeed occuli sunt in amore duces as in love so in lust the eyes are as leaders or windows to let sin into the soul Eve saw the beauty of the fruit before she lusted after it and Achan the wedg of gold and the Babylonish garment before he câ—veted it Not our ears but the pravity and sin of our ears the deafnesse and dulnesse thereof and to say truth the first sense sanctified in our regeneration is the sense of hearing because it was the first that was corrupted our first parents by hearkning and listning what the Serpent said were brought into a love and liking of sin and a regenerate Christian by hearing what the spirit saith is brought into an hatred and detestation of sin These are the senses of discipline and knowledge therefore of grace God opens our ears before he opens our eyes if we will not hear God we shall never see him The ear is the principal sense sanctified to receive spiritual and saving instructions as you may read in the Proverbs and St. Paul makes it an impossible thing to believe if we will not hear The speech of Lactantius is worth the noting and quoting too Plus est in auribus quam in oculis situm quoniam doctrina sapientia percipi auribus sâ—lis potest occulis solis non potest The Lord begins his Sermons to his people Hear ô Israel Deut. 6. and upon the condition
Israel is hâ—linesse to the Lord. They are his treasure the people that he onely looketh at and after upon whom he sets his love his eyes are always upon them for good The eye of the Lord is over the righteous and his eares are open to their prayers The World are his goods thâ— Earth is the Lords and all that therein is the round world c. But they are his treasure and as where a mans treasure is there his heart will be so is Gods heart upon his treasure upon his secret ones upon his peculiar He writes them upon the palm of his hand he sâ—ales them upon his heart they are as deare and near unto him as the Apple of his Eye A book of remembrance is written for them that feare the Lord Mal. 3. 16. God will certainly remember the services of his children and not forget the labour of their love nor the good they doe Heb. 6. 10. Saint Peter as you you have heard gives the Jewes an eminent and transcendent Title having honoured them with these Denominations a chosen generation a royall Priesthood a holy Nation he adds what the Apostle here intimates a peculiar people populus acquisitionis a peculiar people And two reasons may be given of this appellation 1. They are a peculiar people because God hath every way fashioned them for himself 2. Because as I told you they are a peculiar people or the first fruits of his creatures set apart and consecrate for his service and worship They are his treasure his onely treasure all he hath the righteous comprehend all Gods gettâ—ngs All other men are Gods creatures but these are the first fruâ—ts of his creatures and as they are consecrate to him so they often consecrate and blesse them and I am sure if they be not bettered by their conversation they are blessed by their protection 3. Which is a bold assertion it is a dignity above the Angels to be the sons of God by regeneration and to be redeemed by Christ For 1. The Angels fell he lets them lie in their fall he reservâ—s and keeps them in chaines of darknesse till the judgement Man fell and God presently sends him nay gives him by word of mouth a promise of a Redeemer That the seed of the woman c. So that God did more in our restauration and redemption in our regeneration than he did for the Angels of Heaven 2. To which of the Angels said he Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee He that is Christ took not the seed of Angels but the seed of Abraham And again He was made of the seed of David Rom. 1. 3. He in no sort took the seed of Abraham Heb. 2. Christ to fit himself for Mans salvation took upon him an humane body the nature of Man and in this kind dignified and honoured Mans nâ—ture above the Angels And this I dare say seemeth to be a greater preheminence and dignity of the children of God above the Angels in regard there is a neerer conjuâ—ct on between Christ and us than between Christ and the Angels I meane in nature and person not in place In place indeed the Angels are neerer unto God than Man being in Heaven and seeing the face of God his glorious face but in nature the children of God are nearer than they are for you have it expresly said That Christ was made of the seed of David 3. Adde hereunto that he took upon him this seed in the womb of the blessed Virgin in his Incarnation so that by his Conception and Incarnation he was made one with us and we wâ—th him And why did he take our nature upon him and not ouâ— nature onely but the contumelies of our nature so base and meane that they are not to be named why did he this but to redeeme us that were lost when our fall in Adam made us liable to eternall death and left every mothers child of us in the merit and guilt of condemnation When he took upon him to deliver Man he did not abhor the Virgins womb Surely the Virgins womb was not so puâ—e or cleane a placâ— but the glorious and great God might have abhorred and despised it but when he took upon him to deliver Man he did not Blessed be his Name therefore who was borne that we might not die who was made the Son of Man that we might be made the sons of God Ideâ— Filius Dei factus â—st homo ut homines faceret filios Dei Adde hereunto that the Angels of Heaven desiâ—e earnestly to look into this mysterie of our Redemption and doe attend it 1 Pet. 1. 11. it doth them good at the heart to see their places filled and supplyed by men from which the evill Angels by their Apostasie and pride fell Lastly to honour the Regenerate yet farther the Angels are charged and commanded to attend and wait upon them He hath given his Angels charge over thee c. Psal 91. 11. They are not onely Fellow-servants with the Angels as Iohn the Divine calls them but they are servants to the children of God for it is said They are ministring spirits sent forth to minister to them that are heires of salvation Heb. 1. last Thus have you seen the dignity of the Regenerate the superlative honour of the children of God in some kind above the Angels For 1. Christ took not the seed or nature of Angels but the sâ—ed of Abraham and David men subject to infirmities 2. He was conceived in the womb of a Virgin and in the fulnesse of time made of a woman and made under the Law c. So that by his blessed Incarnation he is made one with us and we with him he sits at the right hand of his Father glorified and blessed in our nature Vexit in coelum carnâ—m nostram c. He took our flesh into Heaven with him as the pledge and token of his love and favour and hath sent downe his Spirit unto us as the pledge and seale of his love Now Gloria capitis est spâ—â— corporis The glory of the Head is the Members hope and if the Head be crowned the whole Body is honoured 3. The glorious Angels and them blessed Spirits in heaven desire to look into the mysteriâ— of our Redemption and indeed they themselves receive some benefit by it for they are thereby confirmed that they cannot fall 4. The Angels are commanded to be our Guardians and Protectours Never had any King or Prince such Protectours as the sons of God have For the heavenly Angels pitch their tentâ— about them Psal 34 11. and they have charge given them of their Father which is in heaven to bear them up in their hands that they dash not their feet against a stone Oh how fearfull should we be to offend having such eyes over us and such hands under us and such glorious spirits about us Who cannot but admire the great love and mercy of God in the words of Daâ—id
Lord what is man Psal 8. Thou madest him little lower in some degrees higher than the Angels and hast crowned him with dignity and honour And in the wordâ— of Iohn 3. 1. Behâ—ld we love the Father c. Well considering our transcendent and high Dâ—gnity let us observe now some duties yet for surely that God that so much honours us we ought by some duty to give him the honour due unto his name Since he hath done so much for us let us doe something for him namely give him our homage and service for Christ will be a Jesus and Saviour to none but to such to whom he is a Lord and King Magnes amoris amâ—r The load-stone of Love is Love and Durus est qui amorem non rependet He is hard-harted who will not returne Love for Love 1. Then let us doâ— nothing to make our heavenly Father ashamed of us It is not for Kings O Lemuel it is not for Kings to drinke wine nor Princes strong drinke Prov. 31. 2. It bâ—seems not Saints to be sinners it becomes not us to call God Father as the Jewes called Christ King and spit in his face and revile him You know how Jacob chid and reproved his Sonnes comming from the murther of the Sâ—châ—mites You have made my name to stinke Gen. 34. the last Num est haec tunica fratris vestri saith Jacob to his Sonnes Is this your brothers coat Is it the Livery and guise of Brethren of the Sonnes of God to be hard-harted and cruelly minded one towards another When Caesar was stabbed in the Senat house â—y Brutus and Cassius he cryes out unto Brutus what wilt thou my Sonne as if he had said The cruelty of others I regard not I care not for so much but for Brutus my adopted Sonne one whom I have made my heire for thee to lift up thy hands against me O hold thy hand thou killest me without a blow So for Indians and Pagans Turkes and Barbarians and such as were heard of Christ for such to deny and blaspheme him and so shoote out their arrowes oathes are bitter words as they say the Indians doe at the Sun because they feel no heat of it at noone day it is not so much But for Christians for professed Christians such as call God Father to abuse the name of their Father in cursing and swearing and fearfull imprecations and lyes and perjuries how unfit and uncongruous is it to them 2. If we be the children of God we will meekly beare our heavenly Fathers corrections we will as I said kisse his rodde and embrace his chastisements upon our knees for if we endure chastening and deale with us as with Sonnes for what Sonne c. Heb. 12. 7. There is no Sonne whom the Father chastiseth not Even the beloved Sonne the Sonne in whom he was pleased was Vir dolorum the man of sorrow and one experienced in infirmity Vnicum Deus habet filium sine peccato nullum sine flagello God had one Sonne without sinne but never had he Sonne without sorrow even Christ the Sonne of Gods love and of his desires Qui peccatum non novit Qui peccatum non fecit He that knew no sinne nor did no sinne knew sorrow enough from his Cradle to his Crosse from his Birth to his Grave and he learnt and taught us obedience by those things he suffered although he was the Sonne Now shall the Generall suffer nay bleed and shall we that fight or at least pretend we fight under his banner goe free shall the head suffer and the Members scape No pudeat membrum deliciari sub capite spinis coronato It is a shame for the members to sporâ— and play under the head which was crowned with Thornes A delicate and fine member doth not well agree with a crucified head If then the world crowne Christ with Thornes shall we thinke it will crowne us with Flowers If it Crucified Christ do we thinke it will glorifie us No he that is exempted from the number of them that are corrected he is exempted from the number of Sonnes and they are not Sonnes but Bastards whom our heavenly Father chastiseth not Heb. 13. Afflictions are sure evidences of our sactification 3. If God be our Father and we his children let us live as alwayes in Gods presence and so living feare to offend him we must observe this towards our naturall and civill parents that we dare not offend bâ—fore their face No man will steale in the face of his judge who hath power authority to punish him and fools as we are doâ— dare commit sinne in the presence of our heavenly Father commit any evill in his sight who will certainly bring every work into judgement c. we dare do that in the face of Heaven which we dare not doe if a child sâ—es â—s It was a holy practice of David I set the Lord alwayes before my eyes therefore I shall not fall And it was Asephs holy and pious resolution How can I doe c. Gen. 39. It is without question a strong Bit and Bridle to restraine the most licentious and wicked man living from sinne when he considers that he sees him that shall judge him and that he acts and does all under his Fathers eye God is in this place saith Jacob and I was not aware of it so God sees us though we will not see it nor know it Went not my heart with thee whilst thou wentest after Naaman for a bribe saith Elisha to Gehezi 2 Kings 5. So goâ— not Gods eyes with us whilst we goe into such and such places and about such and such sinnes Quaere locum saith Austin seeke out if you can O sinneâ— a place where God sees you not and sinne and spare not But if Gods eyes be in every place his 7. eyes goe throughout the world As a well-drawnâ— picture which seems to eye all in the room God lookes upon and beholds all the world Cave quid agas Deus tâ— vidiâ— Take we heed what we doe for God â—ees us and what need we care if no man sees us doing any evill when he sees us that shall Judge us 4. If God be our Father and we his Children let us often pray unto our heavenly Father fall upon our knees and aske him blessing we expect this and teach it our children daily to crave our blessing shall we expect and desire that from our children which we will not doe to God looke that our children should doe it daily to us and we doe it so seldome to him God loves to see us daily and constant suppliants to behold us upon our knees and if we know not how to pray as we ought his spirit will helpe our infirmities c. Rom. 8. He that bids us take words into our mouths puts words into our mouthes and bids us say no more than this in faith and full assurance or to this effect Take away our iniquity and receive us