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
and that which is infinite eternall and incorruptible Woe bee unto that man that shall be thus audaciously blasphemous as to say hee hath merited any thing but condemnation For that man appearing before God and wanting his wedding garment the righteousnesse of Jesus shall surely be stripped naked and his nakednesse shall be seene of men and Angels But thou wilt enquire If man bee not able to obey the Law how can God in his justice give him a Law or correct him for the breach thereof To the first I answer thee out of naturall reason Although thou hast rendered thy selfe unable to obey what injustice is it with God to exact thy obediēce for he created thee able to obey whatsoever hee required of thee Is it not so amongst the sonnes of men in civill actions but what is more God giveth thee although thou be unable a law to square thy life by for three causes Vt scias quid acceperis ut videas quid amiseris ut intelligas unde repetendum sit quod amiseris and as he requireth the obedience of his law of thee for these 3 causes so doth he also correct the breach therof for 3 causes 1. Ad ostētationē debitae miseriae 2 ad emendationem labilis vitae And 3. ad exercitationē necessariae patientiae Vse Since in the tenour of the Law and the Gospell the revealed will of God is shut up as in a treasury or store-house Why is it that man delights in ignorance for from the knowledge of the will of God in these there ariseth light to the understanding and sanctification to the affections If it bee so why then doth the Church of Rome inhibit her followers the reading of the Scriptures and injoyne to them an implicite faith Is this any thing else but to make the blinde lead the blinde that both may fall or is it any thing else but to shut up the key of knowledge and neither enter themselves into the kingdome of God nor suffer others to enter And finally is this any thing else but to keep captive in chaines of darknesse the poore people making them by the tradition of men to account the will of God of no effect The Lord open their eyes to see the vanity of the way wherein they walke and the Lord establish our hearts in the obedience of the light revealed to us lest this be our condemnation that light hath shined but wee have continued contemners of the light because our workes were evill The second thing offered to our consideration is what are the points of his revealed will and what are the duties which hee requireth to bee done of us To this I answer It were a tedious worke to runne over all the duties of a Christian required of him in this word yet for an instance the word of God requireth of us 1. The knowledge of Gods will 2. Faith in his word 3. Obedience to the word beleeved 4. Suffering for the testimony thereof when wee shall be called to it 5. And finally an hungring after our dissolution because we cannot get these things done I say first God requireth of us to know him for thus it is written This is life everlasting to know thee to bee the onely true God And againe I have decreed to know nothing but Iesus Christ and him crucified But thou wilt say how shall I know God I answer God is knowne by nature for the naturall man although hee know not the true God yet by naturall knowledge hee propoundeth something to himselfe for a God And this shall serve for a witnesse against him for whilst by nature hee doth the things of the Law he becommeth a law to himselfe By his workes God also is knowne For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are knowne in the workes of his hands Yet this is not sufficient to salvation For the more a man knoweth of the works except hee bee sanctified the more hee evanisheth in the vanity of his owne imaginations and his foolish heart is the more replenished with darknesse By his word hee is knowne for in the Law hee sheweth what wee ought to doe And in the gospell what we should beleeve For the Law was but a pedagogue to Jesus Christ and all the ceremonies figures and types thereof were but shadowes of things to come the body was Jesus Christ and whosoever in his difficulty hath not recourse to the Law and to the testimony it is because there is neither light nor life in him By grace God is knowne for all the knowledge that man can have of God either from the Law or from the Gospell is in vaine unlesse our hearts bee inclined by the spirit of grace to obey or beleeve for it is written As many as are lead by the Spirit of God are the Sonnes of God and heires of glory By glory wee shall know him fully for here wee know but in part but there we shall see as wee are seene and know as wee are knowne being exchanged to his image from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. The second thing that God in his word willeth us to do is to beleeve in him for there is a faith that beleeveth God to be there is a faith that beleeveth God to bee true and there is a faith that beleeveth in God Every faith is not a saving faith this onely saveth when we beleeve in God and rest upon him for the life of our bodies saying Give us this day our daily bread And for the life of our soules saying Forgive us our sinnes So that in faith there must bee three things Sensus assensus appropriatio sense assent and appropriation Now it is the applying faith that saves for it is written Thy faith hath made thee whole The third thing God requireth of us in his word is a sanctified obedience of that which we know and beleeve For it is written This is the will of God even your sanctification Againe Be ye holy as I am holy who hath called you And againe Let your light so shine before men c. For it is not hee who cryeth Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdome of heaven but hee that knoweth the will of my Father and doth it It is the will of God that wee suffer for him for it is written Let him that would follow me deny himselfe and take up his crosse and follow mee Brethren this is a lesson the hardest of all for man to learn concerning God for man would learne to know God out of curiosity that he might dispute and reason concerning him Man would beleeve both Gods word and Gods worke out of necessity when they cannot better do Like Pharaoh and his Magicians confessing the finger of God Man also out of custome for civill shame will some time obey God for feare of punishment more then for filiall affectiō but let these all be knit together they shall not so evidently demonstrate 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
upon the Sunne in his strength doe usually call for a vessell ful of water wherein they may boldly behold his Image without dazeling of their eyes so we cannot fully know how God is our father unlesse wee looke on our earthly fathers and from them draw some weake resemblance of the expression so farre as a finite creature may expresse an infinite Creatour To understand this amongst the sons of men there bee three sorts of fathers naturall civill and ecclesiastique A naturall father is he of whom wee have our naturall being from whose loynes wee are powred out like milke and of whose substance we are crowded together like Cheese The civill fathers are those Magistrates whom God hath set in place and preferment above us and of those it is said Honour thy father and thy mother The Ecclesiasticke fathers are the Ministers and Preachers of the word by whom as being the Instruments of Gods worke the life of God is begotten in our soules and of this sort it is that the Apostle sayes Though you have many fathers yet I have begotten you to bee the sonnes of God by the Gospell Now all of these wayes God is our father our naturall father by creation our civill father by providence and sustentation our spirituall and ecclesiasticke father by adoption God from the beginning of time hath beene the father of mankinde but the nearer it drew to the fulnesse of time he became the nearer and the dearer father unto us He was Adams father was knowne to him by his name Gnaliion The most high a comfort answerable to Adams fall He was Abrahams father and knowne to him by his name El-shaddai The all-sufficient and this was a corroborative against Abrahams doubting Hee was Moses father and knowne to him by his name Iehovah which signified a being for in his time hee begun to give a being to his promises made to Abraham Isaac and Iaco◠under this name he was knowne to the Iudges Kings and Prophets of Israel but when the fulnesse of time came God sent his owne Son made of a woman and made under the law and to him hee is made knowne by the name of a Father This is my beloved Sonne and in him our Father also his by nature ours by adoption as it is written Because you are sonnes God hath sent the spirit of his Sonne in your hearts whereby you cry Abba Father And againe To as many as come to him hee gave this prerogative to bee called the sonnes of the living God The knowledge of this that God is our father teacheth us foure things affection faith obedience and true understanding First affection for now I pray not to a severe Iudge nor to a cruell Tyrant nor to a mercilesse stranger but by the contrary to my kind and gracious father who knoweth my neede before I aske and prevents my suite by his favour for he meeteth me kisseth me clotheth me and killeth the fat Calfe for me Secondly faith for what will a kinde father refuse to his begging child The Prophet Isay telleth us 49.15 Although our father that begot us should forget us and our mother should not remember us as the fruit of her wombe yet I will not forget thee for I have graven thee on the palmes of my hands and thy vowes are alwayes in my sight Let us therfore goe boldly to the Throne of grace we shall surely bee heard in that which wee feare for as Ambrose telleth us Dum ex malo servo factus sum filius praedicare quid acceperim fides est non arrogantia non est superbia sed devotio Thirdly obedience For whilst hee sheweth himselfe our mercifull father hee tyeth us to be dutifull children else even then when wee call him father if wee doe not intend a filiall obedience in stead of a father we provoke him to become our Iudge as sitters in the chaire of the scorner for it is written If I be your father where is my honour and if I be your master where is my feare for there is mercy with me onely that I may be feared Fourthly true understanding of two things 1. To whom wee should direct our prayers 2. In whose name To whom not to Angels in heaven nor to Saints departed nor to any Image of wood or stone whatsoever but to him who being the father of eternity is become our father in time and whilst wee doe invoke him it should not bee by the intercession of any Angel or Saint departed or in the name or accompt of our owne merit but onely in the name of Iesus and for his merits sake who not knowing sinne was made sinne for us that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him LECT 2. Our Father which art in heaven IN our last Sermon wee looked on the person upon whō wee call in that reference wherein wee call him Father We come now to see by what reason we call him Our That wee may understand this the better know this I pray you that our Redeemer Christ Iesus comming into the world not for himselfe nor for his owne sake but for us and ours who were by our sinnes estranged from him hee hath taken our burden upon him that by his super-abundant satisfaction our ransome might be fully satisfied and by the blood of his Crosse all things might be reconciled againe to the Father even all things in heaven and in earth But because there is nothing done by God in time which was not preordained to bee done before time That Christ Iesus should bee our head in time could never have beene duely accomplished unlesse before time he had beene preordained to be our head and we the fellow members of his body Now as in the fulnesse of time he came in our flesh to be our head so here by his example he teacheth us how to carry our selves as dutifull and decent members of his body The truth of this is cleare out of all these Petitions which Christ hath registred to us in his Word before hee suffered in Iohn 17. when hee suffered when hee rose againe and ascended In this hee was our true high Priest carrying our names into the holy place and there preparing a place for us that where he is there we may be also The Vnion therefore of the which he was ordained to be the head before all time made him carefull in time to recollect and gather together the lost and straying members of his incorporatiō and by his example teacheth us not onely to adhere to him by faith as our head but also by love to adhere to others as members of one body But thou wilt say to mee O man where in doth this Vnion consist or how shall I know if I have part in this Vnion For answer hereto let mee tell thee O man What was before the world but Vnion what is in the world but Vnion what shall bee after the world but Vnion Before the world nothing but Vnion one God
art thou hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I did forbid thee Thirdly a worke of conviction Cursed bee thou for thou hast not continued to obey the things written in the Law Fourthly a worke of contrition making thee to water thy couch with teares and to goe out weepe bitterly Fifthly a worke of consolation Goe thy way home thy sins are forgiven thee Sixthly a worke of adoption whilst by his spirit hee cryes in thee Abba father Seaventhly and lastly a worke of confirmation and perseverance whilst hee keepes thee by the power of his spirit through faith to eternall salvation What do we here pray for this that Gods Kingdome may come and why so because wee can never goe to it except it do first come to us for such as is his eternall knowledge his eternall love his eternall election such is the dispensation of those his graces in time and their remuneration in glory after all time what is then thy duty Oh man herken and I will tell thee Since God hath made his Kingdome ready for thee make thou thy selfe ready for it I say hee hath made his kingdome ready Omnia enim sunt parata All things are ready Matt. 22. Paratae sunt nuptiae the marriage is ready Parata est coena his supper is ready Paratum est cubiculum his marriage chamber is ready Paratum est cubile his bed is ready Paratum est regnum and his Kingdome is ready Now are all things on his part ready and thou art not ready Then woe bee unto thee that ever thou wast borne for Gods sake then dresse and trimme thy selfe in time and say Paratum est cormeum My heart is ready Psalm 57.7 and learn with the spirit in the Revelation to say The day of the Lambes marriage is come and his bride hath made herselfe ready Blessed is the man who in that expectation can so say surely hee shall not want his reward and it shall be said to him Come ye blessed of my Father possesse the Kingdome prepared for yon And when you are come in it shall be cheerfully said to you eate and drinke my friends make merry my well beloved And now having spoken concerning the matter and manner of the Petition it resteth that wee speake concerning the copulation of the one with the other Thy This word is very well inserted here for as none can truly say Our Father but hee who is borne of God and is a fellow member of Christs body so none can desire Gods Kingdome to come but hee who is a member thereof and a fellow heire annexed thereto by Christ Jesus yet the words would be well remarked for Meum and Tuum hath made all the world adoe Man whilst hee keeped the Image of God might have justly said of all the world it is meum but when he fell he could say nothing but turning over the right to God say it is tuum man being begotten againe to the hope of glory in Christ Jesus may justly say to and of all the world it is meum jure adrem but not jure in re for hee oweth all things yet possesseth nothing Looke to Christ to his Apostles and to all his Saints Hebr. 11. What shall wee doe then but since by mastery our Kingdome is taken from us looke for one to come and sigh in our selves saying to God Adveniat regnum tuum Meum tuum cost Abel and Naboth their lives But God would not have it so in Christs Kingdome for there is no Kingdome but his and to him alone wee must justly say Thy Kingdome come Vse What right then hath the Pope to enthrone or dethrone Kings since hee is no universall King himselfe Neither in the matter of power for his breath is not his owne nor in the matter of Grace For hee cannot renew nor redeeme his brothers soule it is a price too great for him to pay nor in the matter of glory for he is the child of perdition hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hee goes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly why strugle men for soveraignty and can never be contented since the earth is the Lords and all Kingdomes are his Let us seeke the Kingdome of God and our necessities shall bee cast to us Thirdly and last of all let us beware how wee utter this prayer for it appertaineth not unto the wicked but to the godly not to the wicked for if God should take him at his word his condemnation should come upon him at unawares Perversum est enim optare ut veniat quem times ne veniat Augustine Psalm 97. dicere veniat regnum tuum cum times ne exaudiaris Aug. Psalm 147. It is onely the child of God who as the Hart brayeth for the well-springs of water can truly thirst after God and say I desire to be dissolved And again Come Lord Iesus come quickly Revel 22. LECT 7. Thy will AS in the former Petitions so in this also wee will first looke to the reason why it is so placed and next to the matter of the Petition The placing of it is remarkable both in respect of the Preface as also of the preceding Petitions When wee looke to the Preface this followeth exceeding well upon it For there is propounded to us that Summum bonum and chiefe good which the Sonnes of men doe aime at God himselfe knowen by faith communicated by love and expected by hope of consummation to the which wee can never attaine but by doing his will For the Kingdome and inheritance of God is not given to rebells nor disobedients but to Sonnes and obeyers For none shall enter into the Kingdome of God but they that know the will of their Master and doe it And as it hath this reference with the preface viz a reference of instruction So when you looke upon it in the reference it carieth with the preceding Petitions you shall finde the reference and relation demonstrative For as God in all things and above all things he hath care of his owne honour and the glory of his name For it is written My Glory I will not give to another Againe as he is the suprem soveraign of heaven and earth c. Having therein a Kingdome of power of grace and of glory So here wee have the evident demonstration of our confidence and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For hee subjoynes this as a touchstone to try whether ourzeale to his honor or our thirst for the righteousnesse and approach of his kingdome be true and sincere or not And by this to see whether wee doe his will or not Desiring us thereby because of the flattery wherewith we flatter our selves in the use of that common proverbe Ad Deum omnes ire volunt post Deum pauci to try and examine our selves whether wee bee truely of that number or not who can say Thy Kingdome come For it is not the hearers but the doers of the law shall bee justified Vse Now from
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
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