our Saviour faith Heaven and Earth shall passe but one joy of my word shall not passe Matth. 5.18 that is in regard of his power and ability For the other part of his faithfulnesse which is his will and readinesse he is said to be a faithfull Creator that will have care of the soules committed to him 1 Pet. 5. and to this purpose serveth that which S. Iohn affirmeth Behold what love the Father hath showed us that we should bee Sonnes of God 1 Iohn 3. There is in God that faithfulnesse that is in a mother towards her children for as a woman cannot but pity her owne child and the son of her womb so the Lord will not forget his owne people Isa 45.15 As his arme is not shortned but is still able to helpe so his affection towards us is such that he is most willing to helpe In this regard as hath beene observed he is both a King and a Father the one shewing his power the other his willingnesse and good-will towards us upon both these we doe ground our Amen and doe learne not onely Credere vero beleeve God which is true but fidere fideli trust him which is faithfull upon this faithfulnesse we may ground all our Petitions if we seeke forgivenesse of our trespasses as Christ teacheth us to pray then God is faithfull to forgive us our sinnes 1 Iohn 1. If we will pray against tentation the Apostle saith God is faithfull and will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to beare 1 Cor. 10. If to be delivered from evill which is the last Petition the Apostle tels us The Lord is faithfull and will stablish us and keep us from all evill 2 Thes 3. Thus we see both what is our Amen and whereupon it is grounded The last thing is the right saying of this word which is a thing to be inquired for the Apostle as though he tooke care for the right saying of it saith How shall the unlearned say Amen 1 Cor. 14.16 Teaching us that it is not enough to say Amen unlesse it be said in right forme and manner The right saying is reduced to foure things First that as the Apostle sayes We pray with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14. For of the foure evill Amens which the Hebrewes note one is when our Amen doth not come from an earnest desire We must powre out our hearts before him Psal 62.8 So our Amen must come from the heart we must be so disposed that we may say As the Hart brayeth for the rivers of waters so thirsteth my soule after thee O God Psal 42.1 My soule thirsteth for thee and my flesh longeth for thee in a barren and dry land where no water is Psal 63. without this Amen our Amen is evanime a dead Amen Secondly a man may desire a false thing so did the Prophet give his Amen to the false prophecie of Hananiah Ier. 28. but wee must bee carefull that it be true that we pray for therefore the Apostle saith He will not pray with the Spirit onely but with his understanding also 1 Cor. 14.25 So our Saviour tels us We must worship God not in Spirit onely but in Spirit and Truth That is we must have understanding that our Petitions be true and agreeable to Gods will Ioh. 4. for as in thanksgiving it is requisite that we sing praise with understanding Psal 47. So the like must be done in prayer they are both good both to pray with the Spirit and with the mind therefore it is better to pray with both then with but one alone Therefore it is a marvell that any should thinke it enough to pray with the Spirit though they doe not know in their mind what they pray for but pray in an unknown tongue as the Church of Rome doth seeing the Apostle saith He will pray both with the Spirit and with the understanding 1 Cor. 14.15 and this understanding is not of the words onely but of the matter that we pray for We may understand the words wherein the prayer is made and yet not understand the thing that is prayed for The sonnes of Zebedee prayed in their owne Language and yet our Saviour tels them Yee know not what yee aske The Eunuch that was reading the Prophet Esay no doubt understood the Language of the Prophet and yet when Philip asked him Vnderstandest thou what thou readest he answered How can I except I had a guide Acts 8.31 Therefore we must pray not onely Intelligenter but Scienter we must know what we aske wee must be carefull that whatsoever we aske be according to his will for then may we be assured that he will heare us 1 Iohn 5. we must aske in Christs name Iohn 16. Lastly to a good end for otherwayes our prayers shall not be heard Yee aske and receive not because yee aske amisse Iames 4. But this is not all that is required that we may pray with the Minde and Vnderstanding for we must intend the thing that wee pray for with out heart that the Lord may not have cause to complaine of us as of the Jewes that honoured him with their lips while their heart was farre from him Isa 29.14 That we may with more attention of heart addresse our selves to pray our Saviour bids us to gather our selves from all things that may carry away or distract our minds and to enter into our chamber there to pray to our â—ather which is in Heaven Matth. 6.6 This did not Saint Peter observe when he prayed Master let us make here three Tabernacles and therefore the Evangelist saith He knew not what he said Lake 9.33 Thirdly that we may say Amen aright we must not onely understand in our mind and desire in our spirit the thing that wee pray for but must confidently looke for the performance of that we desire for unto this confidence there is a promise made on Gods part of whom the Prophet saith That the Lord is nigh to all that call upon him in truth Psal 145. that is in faith and confidence that they shall obtaine the thing that they pray for therefore our Saviour saith whatsoever yee pray for belâ—eve and it shall be done Marke 11.24 and the Apostle saith If we will obtaine our requests we must aske in faith without wavering or else we shall be like the waves of the sea that are tossed with the wind and carried about with violence Iames 1.6 And we shall not need to doubt but we shall be heard if we pray in a right manner if we pray for a right end that we may say Tua est gloria This confidence and trust hath certaine Limitations first wee may assure our selves that God will grant our requests if it be expedient for us and therefore we must not limit God nor appoint him his time but as the Psalmist saith We must direct our prayers early to him and wait for his pleasure Psal 5.3 We must tarry our Lords leasure Psal 27.
by magicke Perfecation by sword by bookes They say that your Saviour wrought by magike and that he learned it in Egypt but I can hardly be brought to beleeve it For if he were such a one and wrought by inferiour spirits non triumpharet de diis he could not triumph over the Gods for he hath confounded all our Gods and put them to silence If he wrought by such meanes no doubt neither he nor his followers would exhort others to such austerity of life and manners and forbid all such unlawfull meanes Pliny 2. testifieth of the Christians that they were the innocentest people that ever lived and giveth the Emperour counsell that if they were accused of any that the Law might take hold of them otherwise that he should not once enquire of them The next their constancy in suffering death not onely in men of strength but also in silly old men maides children with their parents c. And that after so ambitious desire of death that they would offer themselves to die as the woman with the child in her armes that crossed the Proconsulls horse and being asked the cause why she did so answered that she feared lest she should come too late to suffer with the other Christians that had their names in his bill to be executed for she said that she also was a Christian Tertullian in his apoâ—ogy Omne malum aut timore aut pudore natura perfundit malefici denique gestiunt latere devitant apparere trepidant deprehensi negant accusati ne torti quidem facile aut semper confitentur certè damnati moerent dementati in semetipsis mentis malae impetus vel fato vel astris imputant nolunt esse suum quia malum agnoscunt Christianis verò quid simile neminem pudet neminem poenitet nisi planè jam antea non fursse si quis denotatur gloriatur Every sinne nature besprinkles it either with feare or shame the wicked they desire gladly to lie hid they shunne to be seene being taken tardy they tremble being accused they deny though tortured scarce ever doc they freely confesse being condemned they are pensive they waxe foolish in themselves the vehement rage of their evill heart they impute either to fate or to the starres They will not have it to be theirs because they know it is evill but to Christians what is like none is ashamed of it none forethinkes it unlesse that he was not such sooner if any be marked he glories Si accusatur non defendit interrogatus velultro consitetur damnatus gratias agit Quid hoc mali quid non habet mali timorem pudorem tergiversationem poenitentiam deplorationem Quid hoc maliest cujus reus gaudet cujus accusativo votum cujus poena felicitas c. If any be accused he defends not being asked he confesses freely being condemned he gives thankes what evill is this what wickednesse hath it not feare shame hasting despising bewailing But what evill can this be whereof the party accused rejoyceth whereof to be accused is their desire for which to suffer punishment they account felicity There is never a sect of all the Philosophers but one edict put forth of the common wealth that it should be present death to be maintainers of it would dash it as it did Pyrrho and his followers But no edict ever could or hath put this to silence no persecutions either by sword or by bookes c. but the Christians tyred their persecutors Where there is a mutation there must be an agent to worke but these were onely the patients and by suffering did weary the agents For the manner of the departure of their persecutors From the persecution under Claudius to the last of the ten all the Emperors and all that had set to their hand to any Bill in those ten persecutions of the Christians came to a fearefull end onely Libanius escaped that presently went to Basil and became a Christian All the rest came to a miserable end as Iudas Herod Pilat c. Sejanus So that one crieth out to an Emperours parce nobis si non nobis parce tibi si non tibi parce Carthagini pitty us if not us yet pitty thy selfe if not thy selfe yet pitty the City Carthage Last the divels testimony For it is a point in Law that how ill soever any witnesse is otherwise disposed yet his witnesse may be taken Cum confitetur in dedecùs suum when he confesseth to his owne reproach Eusebius saith that Iulian the Apostata being in Antioch and being desirous to deale with inchanting the spirits having made his circle upon the place where Babylas a martyr was buried and adjuring after his manner the divell to come up the divell confesseth that he by all his cunnings and adjurings could make him come up there before he had digged up Babylas his ashes Tertullian challengeth the Emperour and his Religion Let me come saith he into your Temples and let me talke with any of the spirits in your Images If I make not or any Christian the feind to confesse as much as the foule spirits in the Gospell to come out of the image then let your religion prevaile and ours take the foyle And surely his great offer had beene taken had not the Emperour feared the overthrow Last Plotinus Apollonius Thyanaeus and other of the heathen assayed divers times to bring up the Images of Iupiter Mars c. and brought them up but they all confessed this that when they came to bring up the Image of Christ they and the Spirits were confounnded ergo there can be no power to represent him That also may be added that their God was afraid of Styx now we have found him whom Styx it selfe standeth in feare of yea of the ashes of a Christian Being entered into this way we fall once more into another division For as we know Christian faith standeth on two sorts so that each part pleadeth the possession of it as well as other and each taketh the other to be wrong Now therefore to know whether of these we are to betake our selves to And it is no difficulty if we take the markes of true religion 1. That the worship of God is spirituall 2. That it restraineth the concupiscence in particular hereafter it shal be resolved Now in generall because they build on the Word of God as well as we so that each plead their interest in it but after a divers meaning that we may take a right course for the right interpretation of the Scripture The maine question the question lieth thus betweene us and the Chruch of Rome how that certaine and infallible interpretation of the Word of God may be had They say it may be had of the Fathers Councels Church or the chiefe Father in the Church i. the Pope We in another sort this their opinion may be resolved 2. Pet. 1.20 that it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of any private interpretation To make it
forcible enough to perswade them to take it that if they take it not their fit will be sharp or their life shorter so feare workes in them in whom love prevaileth not In the same state are naturall men spirituall joyes if they could be tasted We have such a disease of sin that let one talk of the joyes of the Saints that they have in heaven an evill tast cannot taâ—â— it and consequently cannot love it feare were superfluous but we with vaine delights of earthly pleasures and ease and evill company have cloyed our selves and brought our soules to an evill taste so that we are come to that that we cannot desire that which is to be desired and that which is not to be desired we desire onely now because we see that course that we have taken it wil bring us into sharper fits or bereave us of our spirituall life the feare of losing this that may prevaile with us therefore necessary it is that feare should be Yet we may adde this that to this love we are brought by feare An Heathen man saith odium peccandi oportet facias non metum man should hate By feare we abstaine from evill not feare sinne and this odium peccandi hatred of sinne commeth from feare For feare maketh us to abstaine from sinne abstinence from sinne bringeth a good life having a good life we beginne to have a good conscience beginning to have a good conscience we shall be without feare and have peace of conscience and then it beginneth to love and to taste of God and godlinesse A timore bona vita a bona vita bona conscientia a bona conscientia amor therefore love and feare in this respect are compared to a needle and a thread the needle that is not to tarry but to bring the thread through so feare comes not to stay in the heart but to bring mutuall love therefore we must feare first before we can come to love Discat timere qui non vult timere discat ad tempus esse solicitus Finis usus timeris the end and use of fear Time ne timeas feare that thou mayst not fear qui vult esse securus Let him learne to feare that would live without feare let him learne to be solicitous for a time here that would be secure for ever hereafter So the use of feare is restraint of evill and causing of love Now to the Objection The common definition of feare is Expectatio mali an expectation of evill Quomodo Deus summe bonus timeri potest how can God be said to be feared which is the chiefest good here now may be some doubt to them that have not the deeper skill in Divinity how one can be said to feare God seeing in him there is no evill for he is wholly goodnesse it selfe and the Fountaine of all goodnesse and consequently there is no evill in him and therefore cannot be said to be feared To this we say that God is not first and principally to be feared but as before hath beene said his judgements Deus ut objectum timoris How God is the object of feare that is the effect of Gods justice that is first feared and God secundarily the reason why it is principally feared because in it concurre all the affections and qualities that can by any meanes move feare which the Philosopher calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things full of feare and that is indeed objectum formidabile an object altogether fearfull in three respects malum futurum propinquum vires excedens First it is an evill which is not yet past Secondly it is nigh at hand Thirdly it is unsupportable 1. It is to come malum futurum therefore Christ Matth. 24.6 after he had reckoned up many calamities that should happen he addeth But the end commeth not yet the greatest is behinde Whatsoever we shall suffer in this world yet the end is to come Nearenesse in two respects 1. in respect that all things are his 2. wheresoever we come there he is also Deus ubique God is every where 2. It is propinquum neare at hand the armies of God are alwayes round about us wheresoever we are God is with us and we are in the middest of his hoste as was said before all his creatures be armed to the destruction of the wicked 3. It must be a matter of great difficulty that it may exceede our power which is the naturall course of feare that there be defectus potentiae a defect of power to resist this also is necessarily included in Gods judgements Psal 130.3 If thou wilt be extreme O Lord to marke what is done amisse O Lord who may abide it 1 Cor. 10.22 Doe we provoke the Lord to anger are we stronger then he i. our strength is as stubble before him nothing to resist and we are not as Job saith of brasse or stone In this arduum or difficulty are comprehended foure degrees of encrease 1. that it be a punishment malum poenae there is a barre erected and an arraignment 2 Cor. 5.10 for we must all appeare before the tribunall c. Abel is elected and Caine rejected 2. It must be insolitum strange without example Heb. 10.31 horrendum est incidere in manus Dei it is a horrible thing to fall into the hands of God 3. It must be malum subitum or repentinum 1 Thes 5.3 it shall come alway suddenly upon them that feare not Prov. 29.1 A man that hardneth his necke when he is rebuked shall suddenly be destroyed and cannot be cured 4. If it be without remedy incurable and that is in two respects as before was shewed so is the judgement of God especially in the life to come for as God will shew the uttermost of his power in providing rewards for his chosen When God comes to bee considered sub ratione personae as a person he comes to bee considered under those person that arâ— most â—crâ—ible to us God compareth himselfe to a King and therfore hee challengeth this fear to him In eo qui timetur tria consideranda consider there are three things considerable in him whom we fear 1. Authoritas his authority so he will surely shew it to the uttermost in providing punishments for them that will not feare and the wicked So this is the object of feare and this is it that faith must looke for Now secondly as it is said in Philosophy etiam timetur ille qui potest malum infligere we are said to feare him properly who is able to punish us and so come to say God is feared In the party that is to be feared there are three things to be considered 1. Authority though a child be a King and a woman beare rule over us which of themselves are weake yet in regard of their authority they become very terrible unto us Mal. 1.6 A sonne honoureth his father c. If I be a father where is mine honour if I be your
lifting up of a weighty thing for the necessity and use Gen. 29.7 8. of the great stone before the Well Jacob did not lift it up till all the sheepe came together till there was great need The first of these pertaineth properly to all the rest of the duties of praysing to all that take Gods name The second onely to the duty of Swearing for that is an heavy thing Under these two are comprehended all other takings of his name whatsoever But to take them as they are under the first namely in lifting it up as a thing glorious as the Standard of Moses and the Plate of Aaron the first thing enjoyned is this The being called by his name Gen. 48.16 as a great dignity and priviledge Jacob granted to Ephraim and Manasses but denyed it to the rest and it is part of the glory that children take of their Parents their name So we are called Gods children by his name and not that alone but Esay 4.1 Seven women come to one man and say We will eate of our owne bread and weare our owne garments onely let us be called by thy Name to put our shame from us And in marriage the woman honoureth the Husband by leaving her owne name and taking his and it is a glory to her that she may so doe In the truth of this it is said Esay 43.7 They shall be called by my name for I have created and formed them c. How is that That is no otherwise then as it is Acts 11.26 the Disciples at Antioch were first called Christians for that is the most excellent name that is That glory that becommeth Christ is given to Christ The second is that the servant by lifting up on his shoulder his Masters Badge or armes lifteth up his countenance but with service that is to his Masters glory there is joyned a service of his and therefore to his glory all his doings from that time forth must be referred and so we must be at Gods commandement to doe his businesse having his Badge which is plaine by 1 Cor. 10.31 God can receive no profit but glory therefore to his glory we must referre all that we doe For if you once come to that Gen. 11.4 Paremus nobis nomen I will get my selfe a name Then we see it is accounted Bellare cum Deo to wage warre with God and he will visit them with the confusion of tongues and mindes not onely that but if a man doe not referre but take glory to himselfe as 2 Sam. 15.8 of Absalom Thy servant vowed c. If the Lord shall bring me indeed to Ierusalem I will serve the Lord and 1 Kings 21.9 of Iezabels fast the one setting the name of God on a bloody murther the other the vow upon a wicked and lewd conspiracy To abuse the name of God to our owne wicked inventions is a monstrous thing These are within us now without us 1. In our tongue The 1. thing is as Gen. 29. vers last of Iudah of whom were the Jewes he was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because his mother said she would confesse Gods name To God we are not Iehudim if we take to our selves a name but we must weare our name to Gods glory and not be ashamed but when we are ashamed of it we care not for it we confesse it not Mat. 10.32 the duty is plaine Will ye confesse me before men I will confesse you before my Father Are ye ashamed of me before men I will be ashamed of you before my Father Revel 3.8 When there come many evill workes yet this weigheth them all that they had not denyed his name as on the contrary Revel 14.9 When a man commeth to receive and weare the marke of the Beast and his name then a portion is given him in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone The second of the outward may be comprehended under Confessing and it is called defending when we heare it blasphemed God saith Esay 59.16 his truth went downe into the judgement seat and through the streets in every place and none would open his mouth to defend and speake well of it and therefore when he saw none would doe it he will make his owne armes to serve and therefore we see how terrible and fearefull a judgement hee threatneth them in the end of the chapter 3. That that is contrary in his part is the doing as the Scribes and Sadduces doe they come to Christ and say Thou art a good man how sayst thou is it reason to pay tribute to Caesar or no Some say for disputations sake it is lawfull for them to defend wicked opinions and assertions in Religion This may be done in necessity Now out of the case of necessity a man is bound as David saith to make mention of his name that is to use it in his speech to shew himselfe mindfull of him Gen. 50.3 because of the great mourning the Aegyptians made for Jacobs death therefore in recompence the Inhabitants called the name of the place of his buriall a place of mourning Though it be said Deut. 4.9 Take heed ye forget not Forget saith Jerome it is impossible they should but he telleth how If you forget me and behave your selves so in your speeehes as that there is no man but would thinke you have forgotten him When a man shall live so that nothing concerning the praise of God cometh into his mouth in seven yeares It is the fault of many And though they say they have not forgotten yet there can be nothing gathered but that they have and so rarum erat nomen Jehovae a reverend mentioning of the name of God was rare in some mens mouths Prov. 10.31 it is said that the just mans mouth doth meditari sapientiam meditate wisedome that is speake of something that may redound to Gods glory and Prov. 10.11 12.18 he calleth the tongue of a wise man venam vitae ipsam salutem a veine of life and health it selfe out of which there may returne glory to God and health to himselfe But of a fooles mouth he saith Pro. 15.2 it doth ebullire it bableth and foameth out vanity and foolishnesse The word he useth is vanity that is there is no good nor profitable use of it So that mentio and not onely that but honorifica mentio an honourable mention out of the case of necessity must serve the turne for a man to speake of the name of God as God Exod. 9.16 he will therefore shew his judgements upon Pharaoh because he will have men speake of him through the World That is the first it shall be sylva orationis In this mentioning we must have three things 1. It must be often and greatly spoken off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this is the end of the great wonders Exod. 9.16 narrare nomen ejus to declare his name of this hath been spoken before 2. That it must be well spoken off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉