to direct them grace to renew them grace to strengthen and comfort them so that there is no life like theirs For as the life of a man excels the life of a Beast so the life of a gracious man excels the life of a naturall man c. See more fully Topsals Preface to the Book of Ruth and Master Baxters Saints Rest 4. Part Sect 4. p. 56. Now lay all these Motives together and then put the question to your selves as Saul did to the people in another case 1 Sam. 21. 7. Can the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards and Ratione homines iumentis religione homines bominibus antestant Boet. See more Will. Burton Serm. on Prov. 7. 1. p. 372. c made you all Captains of Thousands and Captains of Hundreds So say I Can the world give you peace joy contentment in all conditions Can your riches houses carnall friends c. give you comfort when you come to die or will they not rather like false friends then leave you and forsake you But holinesse like a faithfull friend will never leave you nor forsake you but in the very pangs of death will yeild you comfort Isa. 38. 1. 3. and at last Vestite vos seriâ—… pâ—…obitatis byssino sanctitatis purpurâ pudicitiae c. Tertul. de cultu faem c. 9 bring you to everlasting happinesse Oh then let us cloath our selves with the silk of honesty with the lawn of sanctity and the purple of chastity Et taliter pigmentatae Deum habebitis amatorem So shall the King of Kings See twelve Motives more in Bifield on 1 Pet. 1. 15. p. 123. take pleasure in our beauty and we shall be lovely in his eye for ever CHAP. IX IF any now seeing the necessity and excellency of holinesse shall cry out as those Acts 2. 37. Men Brethren What must we do that may be holy A. The Means to attain it are The means If you would see more Direct peruse Bifields Marrow p. 448 c. plain and easie to those that have hearts to practise them 1. You must pray unto God for it it is his Prerogative Royall to be The Lord that sanctifieth us Ezek. 20. 12. He is both the Authour and the finisher of it and though he hath promised to bestow it on us Ezek. 37. 25. 26. yet v. 37. he will for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them You must ask if ever you would have Spare to speak and you shall never speed What the Apostle saies of wisdome is true of sanctification James 1. 5. If any one lack it let him ask it of God Spread your uncleannesse and lament it before the Lord cry as the Leper Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Oh when shall it once be Lord thou knowest that the way of man is not in himselfe but t is thou who art the heart-making that must be to me the heart-mending God c. It is therefore observed that the men of most prayer have been the men of most holinesse as Moses Samuel Job Daniel Paul c. True it is we must use all other means but without praier they are all but vain This must come in the Reare of all and be added to all other means that they may become effectuall When the Apostle had directed the Ephesians to put on the whole armour of God he addes in the close of all Praying allwayes c. Ephes. 6. 18. This is like Goliahs sword none like that and therefore Gods servants being sensible of their own uncleannesse by prayer have made out unto God for it Psal. 19. 12. Cleanse me from secret sins And 51. 10. Create in me a clean heart And 119. 133. Order my steps aright and let no iniquity have dominion over me And Paul praies for his Thessalonians that God would sanctifie them wholly 1 Thes. 5. 23. Nor is it all praying or seeking that will prevail But we must seeke it 1 Early 2 Earnestly 3 Constantly And to encourage you know That none ever sought God thus but he was found of him Many ask but it is amiss either they seek it not early in their youth or they seek it not zealously and earnestly with their whole heart or they cannot wait but give over presently no wonder if such ask and have not because they thus askamiss 1 Then you must seeke a gracious frame of spirit * See eight Reas. for this Gatakers Ser. on Matth. 6. 33. fol. p. 43. c. early in the morning of thy youth whilst the day of thy visitation lasts to such the promise runs Pro. 8. 17. They thatseek me early shall See more fully M. Ant. Burgess Ser. 75. finde me There are certain seasons of grace when the Lord makes tenders and offers of grace to the soul happy those that observe those seasons and know in this their day the things that concerne their everlasting peace There is a time when the Lord will be found of his people observe that season and improve it seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him whilst he is near Isa. 6. Remember thy Creator in the daies of thy youth before the evill daies come Fly betimes from the lusts of youth such as pride fornication self-confidence rashnesse sensuality voluptuousnesse c. 2 Tim. 2 22. God takes it kindly when young persons will so farre deny themselves that they can follow him through a wildernesse of temptations and oppositions in a Land that is not sown A hypocrite may follow him in a Land that is sowen with pleasures profits honours c. but to follow him in the want and losse of these argues some sincerity and makes us dear to God Jeremy 2. 2. I remember the kindnesse of thy youth the love of thine espousals when thou wentest after me in the wildernesse in a Land that was not sown It was Josiahs commendation that when he was but sixteene years old he began to seek serve the Lord 2 Chro. 34. 1. 3. And Obadiah feared the Lord from his youth 1 King 18 12. You must be good young if you would be good long Seldome doth a devil in youth prove a Saint in years the time of conversion as one well observes is usually between 18. and 28. and he that mispends that flower of his time is seldome good The devil indeed hath a Proverb A young Saint and an old devil But Gods Spirit tels us the contrary Prov. 22. 6. Train up a child Angelicus juvenis senibus Satanizat in annis in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Train up a child vertuously and usually he will See Childs Patrimony ch 2. Harsnet on Rep. p. 260 278 c. continue Youth is our seed time our harvest and our hopes depend upon our care and diligence in this plowing and sowing season Every thing is Opportunitasâ—… plurimùm potest
maerore afficieâ—…atur talis fuit perturbatio qualis est in morbis paroxâ—…smus Are 〈◊〉 tius Acts 17. 16. is troubled at the Idolatry of the Athenians and weeps Phil. 3. 18. to consider the sad condition both of the Seducers and the seduced 6. The two witnesses prophesie in * sackcloth mourning to see so many bewitched with Antichrists delusions Externo habitu vili et sord do sunt testaturi amaritudinem et dolorem aâ—…imi sui ob vastitatem ecclesiae et horribilem mundi coecitatem Paraeus Rev 11. 3. Such mourners are dear to God he hath a speciall respect unto them and care over them in times of common calamity Ezek. 9. 4. They mourn not for worldly losses but for the abominations of the Land not for punishment but for sin not for one or two sins but for All the abominations these must be marked for mercy in the midst of misery God hath an Ark for righteous Noah a Zoar for Lot a grave to hide mourning Iosiah from evil to come a Prison to hide mourning Jeremiah in when merry Jerusalem is taken and the Kings eyes put out Ier. 39. 6 7 11 12 c. And if ever this duty If we cannot mend the things that are amisse yet mourn Dalachrymulam Dulce decoâ—…um est pro patria flere Disputare malumus quam vivere Nimium altercaâ—…do amittitur pietas veritas See M. Ant. Burgesse Ser. 22. Ser. 51. were in season 't is now when sin like a flood hath overspread the Land and holiness is turned into hollowness and hypocrisie Piety is vanisht into Disputes we are now all for disputing pious living is out of date We have wrangled so long about niceties and vanities that verity and sanctity are almost banisht What Iob 28. 12 13. speaks of wisdom may be applied to sanctification where shall purity be found and where is the place of sanctity Our families say it is not in us our Towns and Cities say it is not in us our Counties Courts say we know it not It is fled to heaven and hath left the earth The holiness and integrity of men is invisible but their wickedness and impiety is visible Drunkenness swearing forswearing cursing lying whoredom adultery blasphemy heresie pride divisions censoriousness covetousness oppression atheism malice envy hypocrisie bribery extortion cruelty idolatry apostacy gluttony prophanation of Sabbaths and all holy things ignorance ingratitude murder incorrigibleness unrighteousness barrenness under the means of grace contempt of the Gospel contempt of holy Magistrates contempt of holy Ministers contempt of the power of godliness neutrality and lukewarmness superstition and will-worship besides a numberlesse number of Anabaptists Sicut in sentinam profundi maris colluviones omnium sordium sic in mores nostrorum quasi ex omni mundo vitia fluxerum Salvian Arminians Socinians Familists Separatists Arrians Antinomians Mortalists Enthusiasts Perfectists c. Our Land is become the very sink of all abominations a sign we are fallen into the last and worst times of which this is one character amongst those nineteen â—…ins of the last times men shall be unholy 2 Tim. 3. 1 2 3 4 5. Amongst us you may finde the Drunkness of the Dutch the lust of the French the Italians ambition the Spaniards treachery the Lap-landers witchcraft the coveteousnes of the Jew the cruelty of the Turke and the Monsters of Munster c. Of these unholy ones there are four sorts First Some are openly prophane they have neither good outside nor good inside they have neither good hearts Hi dicuntur Christiani ad contumeliaâ—… Christi Salv. nor good hands but are open swearers open drunkards open hereticks Gods holy Sabbaths they mispend his holy Name they blaspheme his holy word they scorn his holy Sacraments they defile his holy ones they persecute and revile they declare their sin like Sodom they hide it not Isa. 3. 9. wo unto them for they have rewarded evil to themselves God will one day bâ—… terror to all such prophane wretches who instead of confessing do professe their sin without either fear or shame These are directly opposite to the most holy God and he to them they abhorre him and he abhorrs them Zach. 11. 8. Mal Quam vis Deus propter immensitateÌ„ essentiâ—… non possâ—…recedere reipsa recedit tâ—…men tum â—…ffectu tum â—…ffectu quia odit tale â—…abitaculum Lessius 4. 1. God loaths such an habitation he will not dwell in such a swine-sty and brothel of uncleannesse he will not pour the oyl of grace into such fusty vessels nor his precious balsom into such nasty sinks the most holy God will have no communion with any but holy ones What Solomon saith of the froward is most true of all the wicked Prov. 3. 32. they are an abomination to the Lord not only abominable but abomination it self in the abstract therefore he cast the Angels from heaven Adam out of Paradise drowned the old world fired Sodom ruined Jerusalem A wicked mans heart is nidus diaboli a den for devils to dwell in the pure Spirit of God loves to dwel in a pure house Holinesse becomes his house for ever and therefore if we will have his Spirit for our guest we must keep our selves pure not only from the blots but also from the spots of the world James 1. 27. for if rotten and unsavoury speeches do grieve Gods Spirit Ephes. 4. 29. unholy actions will much more I would advise such to consider 1. That if such as professe Religion pray reade hear the Word observe the Sabbath c. may yet come short of heaven what will be their condition who do none of these things If the figtree that had leaves of profession were cursed what will become of those that have neither leaves nor fruit neither form nor power neither shew nor substance but are impure without and impute within If Herod who 1. Heard Iohn Baptist though he was a sharp reprover of sin 2. He heard him gladly 3. He reformed many things Mark 6. 20. but not all he abstained from some sins though he lived in others yet if he missed of heaven what thinkest thouwill thy end be who railest on such Ministers as sharply reprove sinne neither hearest them gladly nor reformest any thing How many of our people fall short of See how far a reprobate may go Perkins on Mat. 7. 21 p. 244. c. those that fall short of heaven that never confesse their sin with Pharaoh nor weep with Esau nor desire Gods Samuels to pray for them as Saul did nor M. Ant. Burgesse in his last Ser. p. 13. Ser. 3. Ser. 21. Ser. 90. be zealous as Iehu nor repent as Iudas nor tremble with Felix nor are almost perswaded with Agrippa not have good desires with Balaam nor humble themselves with Ahab c. and yet all these were reprobates and came short of heaven 2. Consider That this thy wickednesse makes thee like
hath defiled and corrupted all the powers and parts of soul and body so all must be renewed and sanctified Burnt offrings must be whole not a head or a leg but all must be sacrificed Levit. 1. 8 9. Not that the substance of our bodies or souls are changed but the qualities corruption is purged out and 〈◊〉 non est mutatio naturae sed qualitatum non mutat substantiam sed corruptioneÌ„ non in nihilum sed in ordinem redigit affectus siquis naturâ fit 〈◊〉 non tollit tristitiaÌ„ sed moderatur c. Sibel 〈◊〉 IudaÌ„ p. 41. grace is planted in its stead our understandings which before were darkened now they are light in the Lord our judgements are rectified 1 Cor. 2. 15. our memories are renewed and made more retentive of the best things our wils are flexible and conformable to Gods will our affections are subdued and set on right objects Gal. 5. 24. 2. The body and all its members are sanctified and renewed sinne doth not reign there Rom. 6. 12 19. It s become a Temple for Gods Spirit to dwell in all its members are become servants of righteousnesse unto holinesse 3. The actions and outward conversation Nee satis est cor sanctificatum esse nisi tota nostra vita externa conversatio internae sanctitatis animi sit signaculum Sibel M Ant. Burgess Ser. 115. Our words and works which before were vain and sinfull are now sweet and savoury tending to Gods glory and the good of others So that all such as are truly sanctified are wholly sanctified Old things are past away and all become new new mindes new memories new judgements new affections new desires new fears new love new joy new sorrow new food new raiment new language new company new ends and aims c. He now answers as the young penitent man in Ambrose answered the courting Minion Cur non respicis ego sum Hearken 't is I Sed ego non sum ego Though you be still the same woman yet I am not the same man As an old Ale-house while a drunken tenant lived there 't was never empty of drunkards theeves whores c. But now an honest tenant is come in down goes the sign and when old guests call there 's no room for them for there 's another man dwels there Now the parts of sanctification are two 1. Mortification or dying to sin by the Robur tyranâ—…s vires peccati debilitantur paulatim abolentur Siâ—… spirit they mortifie the deeds of the flesh Rom. 8. 13. Col. 3. 3 5 9. 10. The death of Christ is the death of their sin sin is an underling in the soul it reigns not there This is called in Scripture a pulling out of the eyes a cutting off the hands a keeping under our bodies denying our selves purging out the old leaven putting off the old man 2. Vivification or living unto righteousnesse Generaâ—… unius est destructio alterius Aust when Gods Image is restored and we are made conformable to his will so that what pleaseth him pleaseth See both these parts fully handled â—…n Mr. Dovvnams Warf p. 285 Mr. Ienkyn on Jude 1. p. 21. to 46. us and what is displeasing to him is displeasing to us they do not only fly evil but they do good they have their part in the first resurrection therefore the second death shall have no power over them Rev. 20. 6. They draw virtue from Christs resurrection whereby they rise from sin to newnesse of life Colos. 3. 9. 10. Rom. 6. 10. 11. Now I come more particularly to the signes of sanctification and these call for our more special observation they are seven 1 Sign A holy man hath an holy heart he first makes clean the inside The heart wins all the Cards yea though it be the knave of Clubs with all his Ceremonies Latimer he knows that God delights most in a pure heart and commands us to keep that clean Isa. 1. 18. Jer. 4. 14. 13. ult Prov. 23. 26. Iames 4. 8. therefore his greatcare and desire is to keep it pure as becomes the Temple of God The hypocrite is all for externall holinesse to be seen of men the Pharisees could cleanse the outside but within they were full of wickednesse therfore Christ denounceth such woes against them Matth. 23. 25. 26. Amaziah did much but lost all because his heart was rotten 2. Chron. 25. 2. it ruined him v. 14 15 16. True holinesse is a plain and an even thing without false-hood guile perversnesse of spirit or starting aside it hath one end one rule one way one heart when hypocrites and double minded men they pretend to God but follow the world If ever then we would be truly holy we must put in practice the councell of the Lord Ezek 18. 31. We must cast away with an holy indignation not lay them aside for a time 2. Not some but All our transgressions great small profitable pleasing c. 3. Get a new heart A morte temporali spirituali Deus solutionem promittit modo de puriori vivendi ratione serio mediâ—… tentur Sanct. in loco sanctification must begin within if the heart be changed the outward man will soon follow 4 A motive from the danger Why will ye endanger the â—…ternall salvation of your souls by resisting the motions of Gods holy Spirit 2. His language is pure When the man is changed his language is changed God gives to pure men a pure language Zeph. 3. 9. He is now a good Qualis vir â—…alis oratio Loquere 〈◊〉 tâ—… videam man and therefore out of the good â—…reasure of his heart he bringeth forth good things as the wicked man out of â—…he evill treasure of his heart brings forth swearing cursing lying slandering c. Matth. 12. 34. 35. You may ghesse at a man by his talke a rotten man will have rotten talk Ephes. 4. 13. a gratious man hath gratious language 3. His waies are pure not only his Burgess last Ser. Ser. 94. words but his works are holy A hypocrite may have fine words but his Hypocrita odit peccatum non quà peccatum sed quà morbum poenam works are naught he may hate sin as it makes him sick or poor c. but not as it is sin and displeasing to God he hates not sin but he loves not burning A mans works and walking discover what he is a swine is known by his delighting in dirty puddles but a sheep loves fair pastures A holy man loves to keep communion with God by constant prayer but the prophane man will not once call on him Psal. 14. 4. for prayer will either make him leave sin or sin will make him leave praying He is jealous over himself fearfull to offend shuns the occasions of sin willing in all things to live honestly hating See more Harsnet on Repent p. 125 to 145 c. not one but every false way he