Christians worse then Pagans and in seueritie and crueltie against Christ and his Church more fierce and malicious and more exquisit tormentors of Christ in his members then Popish persecution euer a Pagan or a Turke would be The truth of this is euident in the example of the Martyrs who finde none more malicious against Christs Church then these who would bee counted Christians Well Pagans and Turkes shall finde greater case and lesse iudgement at the comming of the Lord Iesus then false Christians O their paines shall be vnspeakable To goe forward in the next verse hee sets downe another cause wherefore hee suffered Of the which Church saith he I am made a minister as if hee would say I fill out the rest of the afflictions of Christ in my bodie because I am bound and obliged thereto I am made a minister to it there is the meaning Marke the words I am made He saith not I was borne a minister nay no man is borne a minister howbeit euery man thinkes he may be a minister out of hand I am made a minister would he say of a very crooked wood as he testifies of himself 1. Tim. 1. 12. 13. He placed me in his ministerie when I was a blasphemer and a persecutor Looke what stuffe I had and whereof I consisted before I was made a minister And if this was good stuffe and a way to make a minister of me iudge ye I was of al sinners the first in persecuting Christ and his members and blaspheming of him But saith he God had pitie on me Euen this Christ whom before I blasphemed and persecuted hee shewed mercie and put me in his ministerie The Lord can make a minister of a blasphemer I am made a minister that is a seruant to serue the Church to stand and fill the cup and cary it to the Church Peter and Paul were none other 1. Cor. 3. 22. 23. All is yours saith he whether it be Paul or Apollo or Cephas ye are our masters and we are your seruants and ye are Christs So he is but a seruant to the Church and not a Lord ouer it It followes that Paul when he suffered hee suffered not The sufferings of the Apostles and Martyrs were not for the redemption of man as a Lord of the bodie but as a seruant neuer any suffered as a Lord but Christ onely Paul and Peter and the rest suffered as seruants Ye see a faithfull seruant will die for his master so the Apostle suffered for his master the Church what were the Apostles but the friends of the Bridegroome Of this it followes that Pauls suffrings was not for the redemption of man no but for his ministerie and dispensation of the grace committed to him It is a lye to say hee suffered for the redemption of man so it was neuer for the redemption and remission of sins to any y t Paul or any of the Apostles suffered For no man Christ Iesus excepted was able to abide a lot of y t suffring for redemption no not all the men and Angels in heauen and earth were not nor are not able to abide one assault of that suffring That fierce wrath shuld haue so seazed vpon thē that it should haue consumed and destroyed them He must bee an excellent personage God and man in one person as Christ was that will beare out that suffring otherwise hee shall not be able to abide one point of it Well not to passe by this I see a Minister is bound to dye for the Church Wilt thou be a Minister The Minister is boūd to dye for the Church if neede so require prepare thee to dye for the Church otherwise thou art but an hireling a false deceitfull seruant So art thou made a Minister thou art made a seruant to the Queene the Church she is greater then any Princesse in the earth Count thou of a Minister as thou wilt the faithfull Minister is in greater glory honor then al the seruants of Kings Princes in the world yea he shall be preferd to the great Monarches of the world themselues Call ye them vaine fellowes They are the Lords stewards the King of kings Chambermen and Counsellors But to speake to the Ministerie Art thou called to be a Minister thou must prepare thee for suffering yea there is no calling in the Church of Iesus Christ which is not to suffering Thou maist bee called to a politicall gouernment yet not to suffering but to take thy pastime and to be in honour but if thou be called to be a member to Christ thou art called to suffer as it were a sheepe to the shambles Set not thy head within this fold except thou think thou must suffer Peter saith We are called yea appointed to suffer 1. Pet. 2. 21. Then when thou art clapt on the shoulder to be burned hanged headed yea and the skinne to be flaied off thee goe to it cheerefully for thou art bound thereto Well if euery common Christian be thus waies bound how is a Minister bound I say the more degrees thou gettest of Christ the greater preferment thou hast in Christs Church the more art thou obliged to die for Christ and his members Hee is a vaine man that thinkes when he is a minister that he is preferd to ease to greater pleasure The Ministerie no place of ease but of labour then the people no no. Is thine honour double first a Christian and then a Minister to serue the Lord Iesus Thou art bound doublie to suffer and to vndergoe the greater crosse for his sake and the Church I say if thou couldest be slaine a thousand times thou art bound to suffer more then a common Christian And if gladly thou be content to suffer thou gettest double honour first as a Christian and then as a Minister and thirdly as a Martyr Many haue been Ministers but few haue gotten this honor that the Apostles got Acts 5. 41. when they were persecuted they departed with such ioy with a song that they were thought worthy to suffer for Christ I speake this to make vs ready to suffer that with ioy It is no ignominie or shame to thee to suffer if it were the most vile death for Christs sake and thy Creator sake Immediatly after that thou shalt suffer thou shalt be translated from paine and miserie to euerlasting ioy yea and in the chiefe time of thy suffring thou shalt Ioy vnder the crosse finde exceeding great ioy as the holy Apostles and Martyrs found When he hath spoken of his Ministerie he fals out into a description of it and that to this end that we may see the worthines of this Gospell First he calles it a dispensation and stewardship then there must be a familie if he be a steward it must be a great calling Ye thinke to be the master of the Kings household is a great office but to be a Minister a steward in the house of the King of kings
the Gentiles therefore in that that I suffer it is for your cause that the Gospell of Iesus Christ may haue place amongst you as among the other Gentiles The second argument In the middest of my afflictions I The second argument The vse of affliction reioyce to testifie my loue towards you for except I had loued you I would not haue suffered with ioy for you Brethren of those that suffer affliction first it is required that it be for a good cause for Gods cause for his truth and for his Church sake Suffer not like a theefe or a murtherer as an harlot or an euill doer in any wise Alas it is a paine yea of all paines in the world the greatest to suffer for euill doing Secondly it is required of him that suffers that he suffer for a good cause with ioy cheerefully and with patience otherwise thou losest thy trauell and praise suffer as thou wilt It is not the good cause onely that makes martyrdome but it is Martyrdome the ioy cheerfulnes and patience ioyned with the good cause that makes thee in suffering to be a Martyr It is hard to flesh to digest this how can there be ioy in the paines of most exquisite torments Brethren Paul at this time is lying in bands at Rome and yet ye see he vtters that in his bands he hath ioy and no question when he came to the very point of death for 2. Tim. 4. 6. 7. 8. he was martyred he had great ioy And certainly I am compelled to think that there is more shrinking and sadnes at the remembrance of the affliction to come then there is in the More grief in the remembrāce of afflictiō then in suffering it when it comes chiefe time of affliction The minde will be more troubled thinking on it then when the person is afflicted For out of question whē the Lord giues a man cōstancie to suffer he will giue him patience ioy which shall swallow vp all the paine and the experience of Martyrs hath proued this Stir not howbeit thou shrinke at hanging heading scalding burning and whatsoeuer paines most cruell exquisit deuised for thee yet stir not for if the Lord giue thee constancie all the paines shal be swallowed vp and thou shalt be armed to suffer with ioy To goe forward The third argument whereby he remoues the offence they might haue taken at his bands is this I saith he fulfill the rest of the afflictions of Christ Iesus as if hee would The third argument say mine afflictions are not so much mine as they are my Lords afflictions how can ye then be offended at them You cannot chuse if you bee offended at my afflictions but you must be offended at Christs afflictions because my affliction is nothing else but the afflictions of Christ and the fulfilling of them Then all these afflictions that are laid vpon the members of the bodie of Christ they are all Christs afflictions and when they are afflicted Christ is afflicted And the Lord counts it his owne persecutions when the members of his bodie Christ must suffer in his members which is his Church are persecuted Saul Saul saith hee Acts 9. 4. why persecutest thou me He speakes this to Paul when he was not persecuting him but his members This he calles his persecution for it was ordained from all eternitie that the Lord Iesus who is the head of the Church should not onely suffer in his owne flesh but also that hee should suffer in the members of his bodie which is his Church So that none of that bodie should be free from suffering no not from the greatest to the least yea euen to the little finger all should suffer and the measure hereof was measured and ordained in that counsell from all eternitie Sufferest thou much or little It was measured to thee ere euer the world was It was not appointed that euery particular person should suffer al and euery sort of affliction no no but as the head should suffer one kinde of affliction proper to himselfe so the rest in the bodie should suffer some in one sort and measure and some in another All shall suffer one thing or other prepare thee for it and it is a token that thou art in that bodie if thou suffer something for Christ But to sticke to the words he calles them not simply the sufferings of Christ but the fulfilling or accomplishment of the afflictions of Christ I saith he fulfill the rest of the afflictions of Christ Marke the word well Euen as the Church of Iesus Christ is the accomplishment and fulfilling of him to make him a perfect man so it is called Ephe. 1. the last verse Euen so the afflictions that the Church and her members suffer they accomplish and fulfill the sufferings of Christ And as the glorie of the head Christ is fulfilled and accomplished in suffering euen so the sufferings of his members they accomplish and fulfill the glorie of Christ Wherein wee haue to marke a loue that Christ beares to vs that cannot bee spoken of The Lord Iesus is perfect in himselfe and he needeth vs not no he hath no neede of me of thee nor of no flesh to make him perfiter The loue of Christ then he is alreadie in himselfe He is full and he fils all in all yet such is his loue to me and thee and to the whole body that he cannot thinke that he is perfect till he haue thee ioyned with him yea the least member of his Church hee will haue to be ioyned with him or els hee counts that his glorie and sufferings are not fulfilled So his afflictions are perfect and hee needes not thee to fulfill any part thereof yet such is his loue that hee will not haue his afflictions perfect without thee He will haue thee made like to himselfe in affliction howbeit his glorie be perfect now at the right hand of the father yet he cannot thinke that he gets the perfection thereof till he get all his members glorified with him in heauen This is his loue Rom. 8. Now let vs see how we account of this We count it a benefit and a grace to be ioyned with him to be the members of his bodie and to be glorified with him but when it comes to the What a great benefit it is to suffer afflictions sufferings there is the shrinking there is none that can accord or be content to be like him in sufferings but they will flye backe there we faile and we cannot thinke that it is a benefit to suffer but rather that it is a curse So ere thou count it a benefit to suffer thou must haue more then flesh and bloud thou must haue the spirit of Iesus It is not onely a benefit to beleeue but also to suffer Philip. 1. 29. And Philip. 3. 10. Paul counts it a blessing to suffer calling it the communion or fellowship of his affliction There he counts it
in the Church of Rome sitteth the Antichrist There he sitteth shall sit vntill he be abolished by the breath of the Lord Iesus This for this point of false doctrine In the 22. verse he falleth to and refuteth this doctrine and he bringeth in two forcible and pithie arguments and first he reasoneth from the perishing nature of these things what are they They are corruptible things Who will set downe rules about things that perish as though religion were in them Paul 1. Corinth 6. 13. in handling this same matter he saith Meates are ordained for the bellie and the bellie for the meates but God shall destroy both it and them As if hee should say both the meate and the bellie shall perish Now this argument taken from the corruptible nature of these things hee aggrauateth when hee saith but in the vse they perish When they are in the hand and mouth they perish It is true that all these earthly things appointed for this mortall life passe away all goeth away that is appointed for the sustenance of man yet there are somethings more lasting and more durable then others but as concerning meate and cloath and such things they all weare away by the vse So the Apostle would say that of all vanishing things meate is the most vanishing thing that is Then note this Religion godlines and the worshipping of God it is not in things corruptible it is not in things indifferent as meate drinke daies cloathes and the rest of these vanishing things but true religion standeth in things permanent and in things necessarie I giue thee an example To eate this and not to eate that I will not count thee the more godly or religious for that is to be in the kingdome of Antichrist but to honour one God onely the true God sincerely that is religion And so goe through the whole commaundements and if thou finde thy heart sanctified to obey God in his word and to follow him onely then I say to thee thou art truly religious Eate what thou pleasest all is sanctified to thee and to keepe temperance in the vse of them that is acceptable to God But to eate or not to eate that is no religion if thou haue not the warrant of the word of God for thy religion I will not giue a poynts end for thy religion for there is no religion but that which the Lord hath commaunded And therefore Paul to the Romanes chap. 14. vers 17. he saith that the kingdome of God is not meate and drinke religion consisteth not of these things but in an vprightnes peace with God and with thy neighbour and ioy in the holy Ghost Albeit thou shouldest fast all the fridaies and wednesdaies in the yeere yet if thou be a wrangler with thy neighbour thou hast no religion thou art an hypocrite Ye see the religiō of the Papists standeth in things corruptible goe to Rome and Spaine ye shall see this their religion standeth in wearing this cloathing and that cloathing in abstaining from this meate and eating of that and such other trifles wherewith they haue troubled the world Fie on them will they neuer be ashamed of it Thus for the first reason of the refuting of this false doctrine now followeth the second What are al things saith he againe but the doctrine of men This doctrine Touch not taste not handle not was not the doctrine of God and therefore saith the Apostle it auaileth not For euen as these things corruptible as meate drink with the rest of that sort they are no matter or subiect of religion euen so the commaundement of man and the doctrine of man that commeth from his braine is no rule of religion Liuest thou after the doctrine of man I affirme thou art not religious Liuest thou in abstinence at the commaund of man Ha ha there is a faire countenance in thee but I say to thee all is superstition which is ruled by the doctrine of men In one word take all that religion in that Church grounded on the braine of man not to be religiō but superstition Thou shalt find out a superstitious Friar by his habit goe through all their Cloysters ye shall finde nothing but the doctrine of man and the doctrine of man will neuer make a religious bodie Secondly The doctrine of mē cannot make any religious I perceiue in this place and such others that men in all ages haue busied themselues to set downe doctrine about things indifferent Looke the doctrine of the Romane Church ye shal finde this true This testifieth whereto the wit of man inclineth to wit to be religious in vanities in eating drinking cloathing and to let thee liue as thou wouldest As for other necessarie points it will not acknowledge them as for the honour of the parents thou wilt passe by that O the wicked nature of man it hath no inclination to any thing but to vanishing things and it will haue a religion of these things in any case To come to the last verse hauing thus confuted this false doctrine concerning meates by these two arguments the false teacher might haue excepted and said O yet there appeareth some reason in this doctrine of abstinence because it hath a shew of wisedome Secondly it hath the appearance of the submission of the minde and thirdly it is a mortifying of the The third obiection bodie it spareth not the bodie but it humbleth the body and therefore this doctrine must haue some reason and shewe of wisedome The Apostle graunteth this but he saith it auaileth not because this doctrine is about fleshly things the filling of the bellie c. But briefly to examine the words which indeed hath the shew of wisedome Marke first a false teacher a Sophister howbeit there be no wisedome in his doctrine yet if it haue a faire shew and a glance it is enough to him This is the nature of a Sophister he is well contented with a shew of wisedome and beguileth the world with this And the people are naturally as vaine as he If thou get a shew of wisedome thou wilt be content with it And why The heart is vaine and vanitie may serue a vaine heart a vaine emptie heart that hath no soundnes will drinke in vanitie greedily as a man drinketh in water 2. Thess chap. 2. vers 10. 11. Therefore brethren wonder not to see this world wander after vanitie wonder not to see so many Papists and superstitious persons to spread abroad and the people to follow them no wonder because the world inclineth to drinke in vanitie and the world is content with a shew of truth but thanke God if hee hath made thee able to discerne betwixt a shew and a solid thing for thou hast gotten a great grace And therefore if thou heare of Phil. 1. 9. their vaine arguments thanke God that thou hast that heart to consider of them aright and that thou hast an eye that can rightly discerne thereupon for few hath gotten
12. vers 9. What Idolater Luk. 12. had greater confidence in any thing then this man had in his riches The auaritious man then can haue his confidence in nothing but in his riches Therefore in the first to Timothie chap. 6. vers 17. the Apostle saith Charge the rich men in this world that they be not proud nor put their confidence in vncertaine riches And Dauid in the 62. Psalme vers 10. saith If riches abound set not thy heart vpon them Dauid knew well that man would make a God of his riches Well if he put his trust in his riches and doth worship and honour them he is an idolater For wherein standeth the worship of God but in putting of confidence which is the inward worship of God in him Doest not thou then honour riches when thou puttest thy confidence in them yea certainly yea I say none will goe beyond him in that Looke to him that will put his confidence in an Idoll most an auaritious man shall goe beyond him and ouermatch him Ye will moue another question Is there no other vitious man an idolater Is not the ambitious man an idolater puts hee not his confidence in his honour and the belly-god in his bellie and some in the arme of men put not all these sorts of persons and many more then these their confidence in their seuerall vices like Gods are not these idolaters also I answere it is true indeede thou that art ambitious art an idolater thou that art a belly-god art an idolater and thou that puttest thy trust in the arme of man art an idolater but I say certainly not without cause hee termeth the auaritious to be an idolater before all other euen because it is most common and least counted of by reason that men most naturally are inclined thereto What is he that cannot cloake his auarice It is thriftines will the auaritious man say and why should I giue out my goods to this that why should not I keepe them well when I haue them And so they are most readie to cloake it with a colour And therefore the Apostle to let them see it is but vaine so to doe termeth this vice the greatest and more like to idolatrie then any other So that idolatrie is first and then auarice that is likest to idolatrie succeedeth and then ambition and the rest And to speake the truth it is an harder thing to draw the heart of an auaritious man from this world then it is to draw the heart of any man yea it is easier to winne the idolater from his idolatrie then it is to winne the couetous man from his couetousnes for couetousnes is bred in the marrow of thy bones Then I say againe this vice hath most neede to be insisted vpon and aggrauated For all the world will not satiate the heart of man it is onely the spirit of Iesus that will fill it Now one thing note here and so I will goe forward Certainly this aggrauating of auarice calling of it idolatrie lets vs see that the chiefe sinne in the world is idolatrie When he would make one sinne greater then another he will take the greatest sinne and set with it as here to shew that auarice is a great sinne Auarice and idolatrie compared and greater then many others he setteth it downe with idolatrie that is greater And therefore it must follow that idolatrie is the greatest sinne for that sin that is next to the greatest sinne must needs make that that sinne which is before it to bee the greatest sinne But so it is that couetousnes is next to the greater sinne which is idolatrie therefore idolatrie is the greatest sinne And therefore fie on them that leaue the true God and set vp an Idoll to worship it O that true God Idolatrie shall not leaue of to pursue them while they come home again and all the Kings of the earth shall not make them to prosper except they come home againe O then come home come home or els I pronounce it shall not be the Pope that shall be able to saue thee from damnation It was easie to win the idolatrous Gentiles but to winne false Christians from their Hard to cōuert Papists from idolatrie idolatrie of al things of the world it is one of the hardest Wilt thou not be wonne by the light and truth of the word that iron rod shall bruse thee together Now to speake something of these members will ye see the obiect of these-foule affections The obiects are two in number The first is pleasure the very pleasuring of the flesh The second is profit and gaine There are the two The lust is occupied about pleasure and this desire is occupied about profit and so the two obiects are pleasure and profit Now it is true the Lord that hath created all things hath created thee with these affectations of pleasure and desire of these things in this world so that it is natural to desire the things of this world and to take pleasure in them And the Lord that hath created thee so hee hath giuen thee pleasure and profit and such is his liberalitie towards thee that hee alloweth that thy affections be satisfied so be it that thou vse all to his honour and worship whether thou eate or drinke or whatsoeuer thou doe and that in vsing thy libertie with an vncleane heart thou defile not the good gift of God otherwise of necessitie these foule affections must be double sinnes Thou sinnest doubly not onely in thy lust but in the liberalitie of God thou sinnest in harlotrie and in ingratitude against God The Lord hath permitted thee to haue riches And the Lord shall say to the harlot permitted not I thee to haue pleasure but thou wouldest not take it as I commaunded thee but thou wouldest perseuere in whoredome from one to another and Inordinate affection so pleasure thy selfe in vncleannes which I haue forbidden thee And likewise he shall say to the auaricious permitted not I thee to haue riches but what hast thou done Thou hast made a god of thy riches and serued them whereas thou shouldest haue knowne me for thy God and me onely shouldest thou haue worshipped and therefore thou and thy lust and thou and thy profit shall both to hell in my hot indignation and as one affection that is foule bringeth many sinnes with it so it bringeth double iudgement with it Beware then and marke well these affections that they bee not in excesse and passe measure This inordinate affection to the foule lusts of the flesh and the gaine of the things in this world telleth vs that the corruption of nature and of these affections is more bent to an excesse passing measure then to a defect in nature There are some things that are in excesse and some in a defect but this corruption that is in man tendeth more to an excesse then any other thing Man is readier to offend in ouer great
heard The third and last is lying speaking when we speake not the truth to our brother but thinke one thing and speake another with the mouth That is as euill a vice as was yet any Now then brethren because this sinne of lying is so common and naturall to man and woman for all men are lyars saith the Apostle Rom. 3. 4. by nature The diuell began it and in the fall of man he spued that venome into him so that al men naturally from the beginning are lyars Therefore we will speake to you of lying howbeit not so amply as it would require yet for your satisfaction to open to you the greatnes of this sin and to begin at the word To lie it signifieth to take the meaning of the word to speak The sinne of lying one thing and thinke another in the minde It is a variance and disagreement betwixt the minde and the mouth Alas all should goe together The minde of God and his mouth goeth together and if thou be reformed to this image all will go together in thee also Now this variance proceedeth of a disagreement First it goeth asunder within the man The minde shewing the truth the will repining Now you must vnderstand that the tongue is chiefly commaunded by thy will and the disordred appetite of man and not by reason for if reason ruled it it would not speake so much wrong as it doth The second thing that wee should obserue is this To lie to speake one thing and thinke another is a sinne against God Supposing there were no more euill that followed it and that thou iniurest no bodie yet that same contradiction betwixt the minde and the tongue is a sinne against God and thou iniurest God himselfe by thy lie There is nothing then more vnbeseeming a Christian man and that is more vnworthie of the Lord Iesus then is lying For what saith he of himselfe I am the truth Ioh. 14. 6. and wilt thou then be a liar looke how thou agreest with Christ But brethren there is yet more in a lie to wit the end and respect that the lyar hath before him when he lieth and by this hee maketh the sinne the greater for this is most sure all lies are to deceiue Thou that liest to thy brother thou wilt deceiue him and oftentimes the end of thy lie is either to hurt him in his bodie or goods and substance And therefore the Apostle saith Lie not against him to hurt him Yet there is more Supposing a liar be not set to hurt his brother but to profit him As for example when a Phisition will say to the patient the medicine is sweete when it is bitter when thou art set thus way to profit him as thou profitest his bodie thou hurtest the minde for there is no wrong information but it hurteth the minde if thou make me to beleeue that that is not hurtest not thou my minde But brethren to goe forward Supposing the lyar hurt not his brother by his lie neither in bodie or goods nor minde neither one way or other yet it commeth backe to thine owne hurt Let profit come to thy neighbor as it will by thy lie yet thou hurtest thy selfe and that is a simple aduantage to pleasure any with thine own hurt and especially to displease God with the pleasuring of thy neighbour if there were no more but this thou shouldest not lie If thou get an habite to lie thou canst not speake one true word and if thou speake the truth thou wilt Simile mingle it so with fallehood that scarsely canst thou be beleeued and that is a foule fault Ye see this by experience Well then euill custome is euill And besides this thou losest thy credit amongmen howbeit at times thou speake the truth For this is true Quisemel malus semper praesumitur malus He that is once euill it may be presumed he is euer the same But what mattereth this Know yee not that a lyar procureth the wrath of God Among the rest whom God hateth Salomon saith in his Prouerbs The Lord hateth a lyar To conclude a lie of whatsoeuer sort is a sin against God yet y t ye may vnderstand this better ye shall know there are sundry sorts of lying One is pernitious tending to the hurt of thy neighbour The second is an officious lie for the good of thy brother and the third is a merrie lie for the delectation of thy brother There is none of these but they are euill howbeit they be not alike That lie that serueth to the good of thy brother is a sinne to thee and again to deliuer thy brother with a lie it is a greater sin but the pernitious lie is the greatest of all Now all commeth to this all is sin Would ye haue me insist in probation If there were no more but the commaundement Thou shalt beare no false witnes it may serue for this commaundement teacheth thee that all sorts of lies are euill in their owne nature And Paul to the Romanes chap. 3. vers 7. 8. Doe no euill saith he that good may come of it This telleth thee that that is That which is euill in his owne nature can neuer be good euill of it owne nature and forbidden by Gods commaundement that thing will neuer be made good by any circumstance in the world lay to it the sweetest salue thou wilt it will neuer be good yea if it were to saue the life of thy brother if thou lie it will not be good to thee yea though thou were able to alter the nature of a lie it is a sinne and it is a follie to thinke that the pretence of a good end will make an euill thing of it owne nature to be good Augustine saith If wee looke not simply to the nature of the action as to the end then the euill may haue a defence Therefore saith he looke euer to the action put all other things aside if it be not good say not that that action is good how beit the best thing in the world should follow it it will euer abide a sinne Further if there were no more but this naturall conscience in man it telleth thee that all sorts of lies are euill I appose thine owne conscience if thou hast any Thou wilt not so soone lie but thy conscience will admonish thee and will say to thee Thou hast sinned Brethren there is no man that will seeme to lie and confesse it but he will be ashamed of it What meaneth this but that the cōscience telleth them it is a sin Look to the children they will blush when they are challenged with a lie What is the cause of this but that the conscience sheweth them they haue sinned Ye see that a man thinketh he cannot haue a greater iniurie done to him then to say to him hee lieth This telleth him that there is a conscience within him that abhorreth a lie and that it is vnworthie of the nature of man
in the faith and may be iustly called sonnes and this is that which the Apostle saith in the Corinthians that though they had many teachers yet they had but one father which was himselfe who also had begotten them vnto God through the Gospell 1. Cor. 4. 14. But when that worke hath increased in them and that they are become strong men in Christ then hee doth euery where and so may wee acknowledge all sound beleeuers to be our brethren as who are indeede the sonnes of one and the selfesame father to wit God in and by Christ the first begotten brother of vs all and in whom the whole familie is named both in heauen and earth Secondly he commendeth Onesimus vnto them by these termes that he was one of them that is as wee would say their countriman and had the fellowship of the same countrey or nation with them and that not onely generally as Grecians neither yet more particularly as people of Phrygia wherein Colosse stood but it may be of the selfesame towne and citie Whatsoeuer it be we may learne here many good lessons and doctrines And first that no mans sinne which hee hath truly repented of before God and the Church should be any disparagement to him in subsequent times no more then Onesimus fraud and flying from his master was to him nor wee thinke neuer a whit the worse of him nor haue him in lesse esteeme then Paul had Onesimus for seeing God hath forgiuen it as repentance is a true pledge thereof and the Church hath receiued him as it ought vpon vnfained amendment what reason that priuate and particular persons should refuse them or thinke euill of them vnlesse they will be more wise and iust then God or more seuere then the Church and I think neither the one nor the other is fit for priuate men And yet we see amongst vs men so peeuishly pettish and wayward towards I will not say offending parties howsoeuer they offended but repenting persons that after a sinne is once discouered they will neuer be satisfied but alwaies suspicious hauing for a ground of their surmises a maxime of the Ciuil law He that is once found to be euill is alwaies supposed to be euill but forgetting the rule of the Apostle 1. Cor. 13. that charitie is not suspicious and that they proceede by another rule towards offending yea repenting persons then Iwis they would haue practised towards them if they were in the like case But let vs cast away from vs this and all other corruptions that so wee may walke more religiously towards God and more charitably towards his seruants Secondly obserue that Paul not thinking it enough to haue commended Onesimus for his brotherly loue and coniunction that he had with him in Christ but adding also that hee was of the same nation countrey yea it may be citie with them in which respect also he speaketh afterwards of Epaphras vers 12. of this chapter and of this very Onesimus in his Epistle to Philemon vers 16. he declareth that hee should be so much the more deare to Philemon because he had been his seruant Obserue I say and gather from hence that these naturall and ciuill familiarities and friendships in which men partake one of them with another as for example consanguinitie affinitie nation countrey citie c. should be vnto them which through faith are ingrafted into Christ more strict causes and occasions of mutuall loue one of them towards another in the Lord. We denie not but that that spirituall fellowship and communion which we haue in Christ is indeed very necessarie because by it wee are all in him made brethren one with another yea that without it there can be no true or sound loue although men otherwise may be very strictly ioyned together The reason is that whatsoeuer is in men without him is but naturall and humane And indeede to say truth there cannot be any synceritie of the heart without Christ and yet notwithstanding if vnto that spirituall coniunction there be added some naturall or politicall coniunction there will also be a greater degree and further step of loue in so much that the faithful people may more tenderly loue and regard them which both in faith and flesh are linked to them then those that are knit to them onely in the fellowship of the same religion Which as the Apostle himselfe meaneth 1. Timoth. 5. 8. saying If any man prouide not for his owne and specially for them that are of his household he hath denied the faith and is worse then an Infidell so it is not obscurely signified in that rule Galat. 6. Do good vnto all specially to those that are of the household of faith And if nature must giue place to religion then religion and it being ioyned together men are and must be more strictly tyed And yet we see that vnder the colour of kinred religion is destitute and some vnder pretext of relieuing the religious destitute their owne flesh The truth is that both must be performed if God himselfe giue abilitie and when we lack power to doe to all alike then to preferre them that concerne vs in flesh and faith And let this suffice for the persons as they are distinctly commended to the Colossians Now a little of them coniunctly He saith that he sent Tychicus to them and with him Onesimus There are two causes as it should seeme for which hee sent them For though vers 8. hee seemeth to speake of Tychicus onely yet he expressely mentioneth Onesimus vers 9 and laieth almost the same burthen vpon him specially as in regard of priuate affaires that he doth vpon Tychicus I say therefore as I said there are two causes of this mission or legation One that hee might by them vnderstand in what termes the affaires of the Colossians stood specially for their Church causes for otherwise though hee wished them well in the world yet he medled not much with their worldly busines The other that knowing how weake and faint good mens hearts be he might by the comming and presence of these two comfort and incourage the Colossians Which though most properly it were the worke of Tychicus as of the minister of the word yet no doubt Onesimus as a particular member of the Church might in his measure performe it yea and did in his measure To these two causes he addeth a third and the same of no lesse moment then the former namely to cause the Colossians to vnderstand in what state he and his matters were Because as the good condition of the Colossians would make the Apostles heart glad so the Apostle being well who had been their gracious and good teacher they could not but reioyce From all which wee may obserue that though Paul were in his enemies hands and were fast bound in chaines as we say yet he thought it not enough by writing this present Epistle to the Colossians to confirme and strengthen them in the faith but also sendeth