scoffer at religion and religious persons which cries downe all holinesse and feare of God vnder the colour of a hell inuented nick-name ceasse from his Ismaelitish mocking lest his bonds increase Let the couetous person ceasse from his couetousnesse considering that it is not frugality or good husbandry as the diuell would make him beleeue but it is idolatrie odious to God hatefull to men and in it selfe damnable as the Scripture speaketh Let the proud person ceasse from pride both in heart and countenance and speech and apparell both in respect of outward gifts and inward gifts and the rather first because pride is one of the sixe things which God abhorreth Secondly because God will visite the sin of pride in apparell euen in Princes children and much more in others which will content themselues with no fashion in apparell nor with any naturall countenance but will needs haue a painted face of their owne making because they like it better to be like vnto that strumpet Iesabel then to conforme themselues after the modest manner of holy women Let the malicious person ceasse from his malice knowing that it is murder in the sight of God let him ceasse to hate his brother in his heart let him ceasse to curse another lest it light vpon himselfe let him ceasse to seeke reuenge either cunningly or openly either vnder pretence of law or otherwise knowing that vengance belongs to God and he will repay Let the deceitfull person ceasse to liue by his wits as he termes it let him not get his liuing by carding dicing bowling cosening periuring and such like forged cauillation knowing that God is auenger of all such things Let the vsurer learne to forsake his vsury though it be a gainefull sinne First because he hath no warrant for his practise from any one place of Gods word truly and faithfully vnderstood Secondly because the word of God doth expresly condemne his practise in diuerse places as in Psal 15. 5. Ezekiel 18. 13. Luke 6. 35. and in many other texts of holy Scripture Thirdly because it is a matter of euill report and euer was so both amongst Christians and heathens Fourthly because it is maintained with a trembling conscience many vsurers doubting some vpon their death-beds repenting and others after conuersion turning from the practise of vsuty acknowledging that when they were vsurers they were in the way to hell and destruction Fiftly because the vsurer liues by the sweate of another mans browes whereas it were Christian honestie for a man to liue by his owne labour Sixtly because vsury is the cause of idlenesse it is the cause that men giue ouer their lawfull trades and commendable employment in the common wealth and liue idlely or else giue themselues to running to stageplayes or bowling or vicious life or to such like epicurisme I do not purpose solemnly to handle this controuersie concerning vsury in this short Treatise For otherwise I would see what could be pleaded for this Baall and would easily as I hope giue a Christian answer vnto such as desire not to be contentious but to be resolued in the case of their conscience But I may not stand vpon this point at large at this time I rather aime to speake at large vpon the point of vsury if I liue to come to the handling of the eight Commandement whereof vsury is a breach In a word let the factious person auoid schisme let him pray for and endeuour the peace of Ierusalem Let the hypocrite auoide his hypocrisie knowing that God is not mocked yea let him be assured that God will bring all things to iudgement yea euery secret sinne Let the slanderer ceasse from slandering knowing that he which smiteth his brother secretly is accursed Let vs all cast away all our transgressions whereby we haue transgressed Thus much of the first doctrine or instruction And make you a new heart and a new spirit Now we come to the second branch of the diuine counsell giuen vnto the Church in this text and that is the grace which the Church must labour for to wit a new heart and a new spirit And the doctrine hence to be noted is that It is the part and dutie of euery true Conuert not onely not to fauour himselfe in any one corruption whatsoeuer but also he must become a new creature in true sauing grace And this blessed renouation must not onely be in the reforming of the outward man as of the speech countenance apparell behauiour and such like but it must be in the inner man in the vnderstanding memory will affections and conscience it must be in the heart and in the spirit For indeed God requireth truth in the inward parts And howsoeuer man looketh on the outward appearance and contents himselfe with it yet God beholdeth the heart No seruice will please God vnlesse it be in spirit and troth To this purpose also Paul speaketh notably in Ephes 4. 22. That ye put off concerning the former conuersation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse And vnto this may be added that other place in 2. Cor. 5. 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new By both which places it is manifest that it is not sufficient to ceasse to be old but there must be also a renewing It is not sufficient for a Conuert to cast away all his transgressions whereby he hath transgressed but also he must make him a new heart and a new spirit Now concerning the new creature or state of renouation which is a great Euangelicall mystery I propound these necessary points to be considered of First what necessitie there is of this renouation Secondly by what meanes it is wrought Thirdly by what degrees Fourthly what be the concomitants of it Fiftly concerning the constancie Concerning the necessitie of this inward renouation or regeneration we are to consider first that without it no flesh can be saued for Christ himselfe saith Except ye be conuerted and become as litle children ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen And againe he saith Except a man be borne againe he cannot see the kingdome of God Againe we are all vassals of Satan by nature and are taken of him at his will and therefore it is necessary that we should be set free out of spirituall bondage by vertue of regeneration Againe by nature all the faculties of our soules are out of frame our members being the members of vnrighteousnesse and therefore it is necessary that we should be set in ioynt againe by regeneration Lastly without regeneration our very sacrifices our prayers our hearing the word our almes our ciuill liues are vnpleasing to God
witnesses let vs lay aside euery weight and the sinne which doth so easily beset vs and let vs runne with patience the race that is set before vs. By all which places of holy Scriptures and by many other it is cleare and manifest that it will not serue our turnes to forsake some sinnes vppon our conuersion but we must be content to part with all yea with our best beloued sinnes For further euidencing of this necessary truth consider we the examples of former Conuerts when the Corinthians were conuerted they washed themselues by the cleane waters of Gods Spirit from their vncleannesse theft couetousnesse reuilings extortions and the like When the Thessalonians were conuerted they turned from idols to serue the true and liuing God and to looke for his Sonne from heauen And so for particular persons When Mathew was conuerted he left the receipt of custome when Zaccheus was conuerted he left his forged cauillation when the hard hearted iaylour was conuerted he ceassed to deale cruelly with poore prisoners when Moses was conuerted he abhorred the vanities of Pharaoes Court. By all which examples and many other mentioned in the word of God it is euident that a true Conuert or penitent person must turne not from some but from all his sinnes And great reason there is that a man or woman should turne from all iniquitie First in respect of God himselfe for Iehouah is a God of purer eyes then to behold euill he cannot looke on iniquitie as saith the Prophet He abhorreth all iniquitie his iealousie smoaketh against all sinne and especially against that sinne after which we haue gone a whoring from God And therefore whosoeuer they be that desire to get into Gods fauour they must of necessitie forsake their beloued sinne which is Gods corriuall Secondly a Christian must forsake all sinne For euery sinne is the transgression of the Law and he that shall keepe the whole Law and yet offendeth in one point he is guiltie of all For howsoeuer he breakes not euery linke of the chaine by this or that particular sinne yet he may be truly said to breake the chaine if he breake any linke at all of it So that though a man sinne not particularly against euery Commandement yet by fauouring and allowing himselfe in this or that particular breach of the Law he is guiltie of the breach of all Gods Commandements because he offendeth against the authoritie and integritie of the whole Law And therfore whosoeuer they be that loue and respect Gods Law they must of necessitie breake off their beloued sinnes For the sound loue of the word and the loue of sinne can no more stand together then the Arke and Dagon Thirdly a Christian must forsake all sinne in respect of sinne it selfe For what is any sinne but the very worke of the diuell and therefore to be abhorred What is any sinne but a fruite of the filthy flesh and therefore worthy to be hated Yea what is any sinne but very filthinesse it selfe as it is termed 2. Cor. 7. 1. Yea what is any sinne but the vomit of a dog and filthy mire as Peter phraseth it in his 2. Epistle 2. Chapter and therefore what iust cause hath euery Christian to forsake and abandon all sinne Fourthly euery Christian ought to forsake all sinne yea euen his beloued sinne in respect of the danger that will accrue vnto him if he do not forsake it He that will not forsake his sinne he remaineth vnder the wrath of God For the wrath of God is reuealed from heauen against all vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men He that will not forsake his sin he is continually subiect to Gods vengeance in this world for God will wound the hairie scalpe of such an one as goeth on in his wickednesse He that will not forsake his sinne he shall neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen according to that in Gal. 5. 21. Of which I tell you before as I haue also told you before that they which do such things shall not inherite the kingdome of God Lastly he which will not forsake his beloued sinne he shall be sure to haue his portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone he shall not be able to stand in iudgement yea he shall desire the very mountaines to fall vpon him to hide him from the wrath of the Lambe And therefore whosoeuer they be that desire to escape these dangers they must of necessitie breake off their beloued sinnes Fiftly euery Christian ought to breake off his beloued sinne in respect of the good which he shall reape thereby and the true Christian shall receiue infinite benefite by the forsaking of sinne For first if he will touch no vncleane thing God will receiue him for his child Secondly if he will forsake all his sinnes be shall be made fit for Gods seruice as for prayer hearing Gods word receiuing the Sacrament whereas otherwise if he forsake not sinne he is vnfit for all these for if we regard wickednesse in our hearts God will not regard our seeming deuotion but it is abhomination to him Thirdly if a Christian will forsake his beloued sinne he shall haue peace of conscience which he shall neuer haue vnlesse he forsake his sinne For there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Fourthly if a Christian forsake his sinne he shall profite by the word wheras otherwise the word is choked by the venime of his beloued sinne Fiftly if a Christian forsake his sinne he shall haue fellowship with God and ioy in the holy Ghost whereas if he forsake nor his sinne he remaineth an alien to God and in very laughter his heart shall be sorrowfull Pro. 14. 13. Sixtly if a Christian forsake his beloued sinne he shall approue the truth of his repentance whereas otherwise his repentance is no better then the repentance of Herod For Herod was content to do many things at the preaching of Iohn Baptist but he would not forsake his Herodias and therefore his obedience was no obedience and his repentance no repentance But doth not the righteous man fall seuen times a day and do we not in many things offend all are we not all sinners is there any man that liueth and sinneth not Therefore what necessitie is there that any man should endeuour to purge himselfe from all sinne It is very true that we are all sinners For if we say we haue no sinne we lie and speake not the truth but there is great difference betwixt sinnes of infirmitie whereunto the children of God are subiect and sins of presumption whereunto the wicked are giuen First sinnes of infirmitie are committed vpon the sudden by a present and vnexpected temptation as we see in the example of Dauid Psal 116. 11. I said in my haste all men are liers But a sinne of presumption is committed with premeditation
For as much as they that are in the flesh that is vnregenerate cannot please God as the blessed Apostle speaketh Vse Let euery man and woman lay to heart this necessitie let them not deceiue themselues with that fond conceit that if they liue ciuilly and pay euery man his owne and go to the Church as others do that then they shal surely be saued though they remaine as ignorant of regeneration as euer was Nicodemus I tell you nay for vnlesse you be regenerate and borne againe you remaine in danger of eternall condemnation you remaine the very slaues of Satan and the best things that you do or can do in your naturall condition are abhominable and odious to God Concerning the meanes whereby regeneration is wrought we are to note first that the efficient cause of it is not man nor Angel but Gods Spirit There is no creature in heauē nor earth that can conuert a soule by his owne power this worke belongs to God alone for we are borne not of bloud nor of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh but of God as S. Iohn speaketh in his first chap. and 13. verse And therefore the whole glory of the admirable worke of regeneration is due to God alone and is not to be ascribed to any creature Secondly the most ordinary instrumentall cause not to speake of the extraordinary meanes which God vseth for the conuersion of soules is the word of God especially preached as appeares by these places of Scripture Psalme 19. 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect conuerting the soule 1. Cor. 4. 15. For though you haue ten thousand instructors yet haue ye not many fathers for in Christ Iesus I haue begotten you through the Gospell Iames 1. 18. Of his owne will begat he vs by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruites of his creatures 1. Pet. 1. 23. Being borne anew not of mortall seed but of immortall by the word of God which liueth and endureth for euer By all which places and many more it is euident that the especiall instrumentall cause of regeneration is the holy word of God contained in the Canonicall Scriptures Whereby it appeareth what infinite wrong the Pope doth vnto the soules of the cōmon people by withholding from them the vse of the Scriptures and also what enemies they are vnto Christs kingdome and to mens saluation which labour to their power to suppresse and extinguish the powerfull preaching of Gods word Lastly this should teach vs to glorifie God for the plentie of preaching in this Land but especially in this Citie for hereby there is good hope of the conuersion of many soules And let vs alwayes as we haue all iust cause pray against Poperie and that not onely in respect of the bloudthirstinesse of that religion displayed in that most barbarous plot of the gunpowder treason but also because it seekes to depriue vs of the vse of Gods word the especiall instrument of mans saluation Concerning the degrees whereby regeneration is most commonly wrought they are these following First the holy Ghost quickens the soule which it doth conuert finding it dead in trespasses and sins Thus it quickened the prodigall son Luke 15. 32. This thy brother was dead and is aliue againe and thus he quickened the Ephesians in the fifth Chapter of that Epistle the eighth verse and in the second Chapter the first verse Where we are to note that the soule is not said to be dead by nature or to be quickened by regeneration because the soule is destitute of all life but because naturally it is an alien from the life of God as Paul speakes in Eph. 4. 18. God doth not exercise the life of grace in the soule of any vnregenerate person as he doth in the hearts of those that are regenerate And this first act of regeneration or spirituall quickening is termed in Scriptures the first resurrection First because as in the day of the generall resurrectiō Many that sleepe in the dust shall awake Dan. 12. 2 so by vertue of this first resurrection many that sleepe in sin shall awake to liue righteously 1. Cor. 15. 34. Secondly as in the generall resurrection the bodies of the Saints shall be made like vnto the glorious body of Christ himselfe Philip. 3. 21 so by vertue of this first resurrection the soules of the Saints come to beare the image and stampe of God himselfe being made holy as he is holy Eph. 4. 24. And hereby a man or woman may trie whether they be regenerate and quickened or no if they will but examine whether they be awake to liue righteously or no and whether they beare Gods image in true holinesse or no. If these things be in thee thou art vndoubtedly quickned if not thou remainest still but a dead man The second degree whereby regeneration is wrought is illumination for when we begin to stand vp from the dead then immediatly Christ giues vs light Ephes 5. 14. the God which commanded light to shine out of darknesse beginneth to shine in our hearts 2. Cor. 4. 6. Yea then the day of saluation beginneth to dawne and the day-starre of sauing knowledge to arise in our hearts 2. Pet. 1. 19. By vertue of this heauenly light a man or woman is brought to see in some measure the danger of their natural state and what need they haue of repentance and of Christ and of Gods mercy and of inward purging from their corruptions and what reason they haue of denying themselues carrying about with them such a masse of corruption whereof now they are aware Where it is to be noted that the reprobate may in some measure be enlightened also He may haue so much light as to leaue him without excuse This is manifest out of Heb. 6. 4. where it is said of the apostates and finall backsliders that they were once enlightened But the difference is first the child of God is enlightened and quickened but the reprobate is onely enlightened and not quickened for he remaines still an alien from the life of God Ephes 4. 18. Secondly the elect are enlightened to see their sinne as we see in the example of Paul Rom. 7. 27. I see another law in my members c. but the reprobate are enlightened especially to behold the danger of sin and the punishment of the same as we see in the example of Cain Gen. 4. 13. My punishment is greater then I can beare Thirdly the elect are enlightened to amendement as we see in the example of Iob in his 40 Chapter fift verse I haue spoken once but I will do so no more or I will not answer But the reprobate are enlightened to despaire and to desperate courses As we see in the example of Iudas Math. 27. 5. who so soone as he was enlightened to see the danger of his estate went immediatly and desperately hanged himselfe And hereby we may examine and try our selues whether