sacraments of the old as also of the new Testament all aymed at these two ends to shew vs our sinnes and our miserie by sinne and to foretell or represent our reconciliation by Christ. Which being so our lesson is this Wee haue all receiued those two Sacraments the first once the second often Now if they haue beene duly receiued of vs they ought to haue this double vse vnto vs 1. To cause vs to make a search of our owne sinnes and of our miserie by sinne and seeing it to be cast downe and humbled considering how corrupt our hearts are and how wicked our liues And secondly when this is so then to make vs seek for reconciliation with God by faith in Christ to make vs desire it loue it and pray for it aboue all things in the world Abell not onely offred but offred so as that it put him â—n minde of his sin and of his redemption by the death of the Messias to come So wee must not onely outwardly receiue the Sacraments but so receiue as that wee may see and be humbled for our sinne and seeke to be reconciled to God in Christ. Such vse also ought we to make of hearing the word and not to be content with bare hearing of it or to get a generall knowledge out of it but it must giue vs a speciall sight of our owne estate by sinne and vrge vs forward to seeke the fauour of God in Christ. Religion stands not in hearing the word and receiuing the Sacraments with the congregation though it be done neuer so often and neuer so formally But so to heare and so to receiue as that they may worke in vs those two things and that is the pith and life of religion And whosoeuer he be that professeth religion and sheweth not the fruit of it in these two that mans profession is in vaine and it wil go for no payment at the day of iudgement Thus we see they offred and what they offred It followeth A greater sacrifice then Cain The third last point is the difference of these sacrifices For although Cain offred as well as Abell and offred sacrifice as well as Abell yet was there a difference in their sacrifices for Abels was better then Cains This is the chiefe point for this sets downe what was that excellency of his faith for which he is here commended Abell is not commended for offring by his faith for so did Cain that had no faith nor for offring sacrifice by his faith for so did Cain that had no faith but because that by his faith he offred a better sacrifice then Cain could The holy Ghost calls Abels a better or greater sacrifice because Abell brought the best and fattest of his sheepe and so bestowed the most cost hee could as signifying that hee would haue bestowed more cost had hee knowne how to haue done it For he that giues as he hath would giue more if he had it And he that doth the best he can in any thing it is certaine hee would doe better if he could Cain contrariwise brought not the best of his fruites but either the worst or whatsoeuer came first to hand as thinking that whatsoeuer hee brought was good enough therefore worthily is Abell saide to haue offred a better sacrifice then Cain And further this holy practice of Abell came to be a law written euen one of the commaundements of the Ceremoniall law namely that the first borne should be offred to God Exod. 34.19 And the first fruites of the corne Leuit. 23.10 c. And that nothing that was lame blind maymed or had any blemish in it should be offred to the Lord. Deut. 15.21 Abell here did euen that which these lawes commaunded and these lawes commaunded the same that he did Thus God vouchsafed to honour his seruant Abell for his obedient and honest heart euen to make his practice the ground and beginning of one of his owne lawes that so the Israelites in all their generations might in their daily practices remember this worthy deede of holy Abell to his perpetuall honour Now for vs the truth is this law bindes vs not for it was a ceremonie and is ended in Christ. Yet the equity and vse of it reacheth euen to vs namely it teacheth vs when we will giue any thing vnto God to giue the best we haue This is the equity of all those lawes ceremoniall which commaunded them to giue to the Lord their first borne and their first fruites and the fattest of their cattell and so much of them do still binde vs. Now from this rule are taught diuers duties 1. To the Parent Hast thou many children and wilt giue some to the Lord namely to serue him in the ministerie The practice of the world is to make the eldest a Gentleman the next a Lawyer the next a Merchant hee that is youngest or least regarded or that hath some infirmity in wit or deformity in body set him to schoole let him be a Minister But Abels sacrifice controlles this profane course of the world Learne therefore by him whomsoeuer of all thy children thou findest fittest in gifts and graces of body and minde whom thou louest best and most esteemest he is fittest for the Lord and the Lord is most worthy of him consecrate him to the Lord for his seruice in the ministerie 2. To the young man He being in the strength and ripenesse of wit senses memory capacity and in the best of his age he saith I will take my pleasure now I am fittest for it I will repent at the end of my dayes and that is a fitter time This is a vile policie of the diuell to dishonour God and to cast away their soules What a griefe is it to giue the diuell his young yeares the strength of his body and wit and to bring his withered old age vnto God nay be sure God will not accept thy rotten sacrifice of old age but rather giue thee vp to the diuell that hee may haue thee altogether which hath had the best then follow rather Salomons counsell Eccles. 12.1 Who bids thee remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth Remember Abels sacrifice it was of the best So thou hast no sacrifice but thy selfe to offer offer then the best thy young yeares is the best time giue them vnto God 3. To all Christians Abell offred the best it teacheth vs all if wee will professe and serue God not to doe it by the halfes or for shew and fashion sake or negligently as not caring how Thus to do is but to offer the sacrifice of Cain and that makes the most professors goe away with their seruice vnaccepted as Cains was for God will haue all or none he is worthy to haue no partner hee must be serued with all the heart with soule and body so that a man must consecrate himselfe wholly vnto him 2. Kings 23.25 It is the speciall commendation of good King Iosias That hee turned vnto the Lord
hee will take heede what he doth and that God heareth him hee will temper his tongue and that God beholdeth all his dealings in the world hee will take heede how hee borroweth lendeth buieth or selleth and what hee doth in all his actions and the very cause of all carelesnesse in these and all other duties in the world is because men are perswaded God seeth them not To vrge vs therefore to this excellent dutie we haue First Gods Commaundement Walke before mee and be vpright saith God to Abraham and in him to all the children of his faith Againe wee haue the examples of Gods children who are renowned for the obedience of this Commaundement Henoch here after him Abraham and after him Dauid who testifieth of himselfe I will walke before God in the land of the liuing Thirdly as it is both commaunded by precept and practiced by exsample so the proofe of it is most comfortable to all that practice it for it will make them prosper in all they goe about For as hee that is alwaies in the Kings presence and companie cannot but bee in his fauour and therefore cannot but succeede well in all his affaires so hee that walkes with God cannot but prosper in whatsoeuer hee sets his heart and hand vnto Blessed Abraham found this most true when he assured his seruant whom he sent to prouide Isaac a wife in a long and doubtfull and dangerous iourney The Lord before whom I walke will send his Angell with thee and prosper thy iourney and euen so may euery child of God say with confidence The Lord before whom I walke will send his Angell with mee and prosper mee in my proceedings Fourthly this walking with God is a good meanes to make a man beare the crosse with patience For if hee be perswaded that God seeth how wrongfully he is persecuted or oppressed and that Gods prouidence is alwayes present so as no affliction can com vnto him but by his appointment and againe that his prouidence disposeth of all things to his good how can he but receiue with patience that portion of afflictions which God shall lay vpon him For as hee that walkes with the King who dare offer him wrong so he that walkes with God what euill can touch him This is Iosephs argument to his brethren when they were discomforted and feared he would punish them after their Fathers death Feare not saith he for am not I vnder God as though he had said Doe not I walke in Gods presence and acknowledge my selfe vnder his power and that God when you thought euill against me disposed it to good where the ground of Iosephs reason is that he walking with God his affliction turned to his good Lastly this is a meanes to bring a man to make conscience of all sinne in thought word and deede and in all his dealings when he perswades himselfe to walke in the presence of God When Ioseph was allured to sinne by his Mistresse his answere was How shall I commit this great wickednesse and so sin against God The bridle that restrained him was the feare of that God in whose presence he walked And because hee walked with God he would not walke with her in her wicked way and because he kept a holy company with God therefore he would not keepe her company nor be allured by her temptations So then seeing this way of walking with God is euery way so excellent and so profitable let vs learne it not in iudgement and knowledge onely to be able to talke of it which is soone learned but in conscience and practice as dutifull children doe before their parents so let vs in a heauenly awe a child-like reuerence walke before God labouring for a true perswasion of his presence and prouidence to be alwayes ouer vs and our whole liues The want hereof is the cause of all sinne And if we doe thus walke with God and so please him as Henoch here did then shall wee be sure though not after the same manner that Henoch was yet in soule first and afterwards in soule body both to be translated into eternall life But if we will not walke this way with Henoch in this life let vs neuer looke to liue in heauen with him but assure our selues that as the way of holinesse is the way to glory so the way of wickednesse is the way to eternall perdition And thus much of the second degree But without faith it is impossible to please God These words containe the third degree or the third part of the reason And this degree consists of a generall Maxime or Canon of Diuinitie and the holy Ghost first layeth it downe and then because it is one of the waightiest principles in religion he proueth it substantially in the words following In the Canon it selfe let vs first examine the meaning and then vnfold the manifold vse of it Without faith By faith is meant here the same faith as afore namely true sauing faith in the Messias And without this sauing faith It is impossible to please God Impossible how not in regard of the absolute infinite and indeterminable power of God which hath no limits but his owne will but in regard of that order of the causes and meanes of saluation set downe by God in his word which is this 1. Man by sinne hath displeased God 2. God must be pleased againe else a man cannot be saued 3. He that will please God must please him in Christ the Mediator else he cannot therefore he that wil please God and be saued must needes beleeue in Christ. And thus by this order it is impossible We denie not but in regard of Gods absolute power hee could saue a man without faith as hee can lighten the world without the sunne But as if he keepe that order of nature which his owne wisedome hath appointed it is impossible to giue light to the world without the sunne so if he keepe that order for saluation which his own Iustice hath appointed it is impossible to please God without faith in Christ. So then the meaning is laide downe and now appeares the strength and force of the holy Ghosts argument Hee that will be saued and come to heauen must first please God But without faith it is impossible to please God Therefore without faith no man can be saued nor come in heauen and by consequent therefore Henoch being taken into heauen must needes be taken away by faith Now the vse of this Canon rightly vnderstood is manifold and of great profit First here wee learne that faith is simply and absolutely necessarie to saluation and most necessary of all other giftes and graces of God whatsoeuer And though many be required yet amongst all holy graces this is the principall and more necessarie in some respects then any other For howsoeuer hope and loue and zeale and many other graces of God are required to make the state of a Christian complete and
them otherwhile his holy Angels brought them messages from GOD and sometime they had his will reuealed vnto them by dreames and visions all which were notable helpes and meanes both to beginne and to encrease faith in them but Ioseph wanted all these meanes or at least many of them For reade his whole Historie and you shall not finde that either Angell appeared vnto him or else that GOD by dreames and visions spake vnto him and no meruaile For hee liued out of the visible Church where GODs presence was in superstitious and Idolatrous Egypt and yet for all this hee is heere matched in the matter of faith with the three worthie Patriarchs It is then a good question how Ioseph should come by this faith Answer We must knowe this that though he had not the like extraordinarie meanes with the Patriarches yet he wanted not all meanes for in his younger dayes hee was trayned vp in his Father Iacobs family and by him was instructed in the wayes of God and in the practice of religion and in his later dayes also he had the benefit of his Fathers company and instructions in Egypt Now Iacob was not an ordinarie Father but a notable Patriarch and an holy Prophet in whose family God had placed his visible Church in those dayes wherin Iacob was the Lords Prophet and Minister Now Ioseph both in his young age and also after his Father came to Egypt did heare and learne of him the wayes of God and by that meanes came to this excellent faith for which he is so commended here and matched with his Fathers the holy Patriarchs Hence we learne that the preaching of Gods word by his Ministers though extraordinarie meanes as reuelations and visions be wanting is sufficient to bring a man to faith yea to such a faith as the three Patriarchs had Indeede in the ministerie of the word hee which speaketh vnto vs is but a man as others are but yet the word which he deliuereth is not his own but the mighty word of God and looke what is truly pronounced by him vnto vs out of Gods word the same is as certainly sealed vnto vs by his spirit as if God himselfe from heauen should extraordinarily reueale the same And howsoeuer in former times men had visions and dreames and Angels from God himselfe to reueale his will vnto them yet this Ministerie of Gods word in the new Testament is as sufficient a meanes of the beginning and encreasing of true faith as that was then This plainly confuteth all those that neglect or contemne the Ministerie and preaching of the word looke for extraordinarie reuelations and for visions dreames for the begetting and encrease of faith and grace in their hearts But our Sauiour Christ doth notably checke all such in the Parable of the rich man by the words of Abraham to Diues saying of Diues brethren that they had Moses and the Prophets if they will not heare them neither will they beleeue though one should come from the dead againe Verse 31 insinuating that if a man will not beleeue by the preaching of the word there is nothing in the world will make him to beleeue neither reuelations nor visions no not the words of them that rise againe from the dead Secondly the consideration of the sufficiencie of Gods ordinance in the holy Ministerie to beget and to encrease true faith must stirre vs vp to all care and diligence not onely to heare the word of God preached vnto vs but to profit by it both in knowledge and obedience and thus much for the first point The second point to be handled is the commendation of Iosephs faith by two actions thereof to wit 1. His mention of the departure of the children of Israell out of Egypt 2. His commaundement concerning his bones Of both which we will speake briefely because the speciall points herein were handled in the former verse For the first Ioseph when hee died made mention of the departing of the children of Israell that is out of Egypt into Canaan Here we may obserue a most notable worke of faith it makes a man to keepe in memory the mercifull promises which God hath made vnto him This is it which commends Iosephs faith for a liuely faith That being about to die he remembreth this mercifull promise of God made to his fore-fathers touching their posterity to wit that after they had cōtinued as seruants in a strange Land 400. yeares they should then haue a good issue and a happy deliuerance and be brought into the Land of Canaan Gen. 15.13 This is a notable work of faith as may appeare by two notable effects hereof in the life of a Christian For first by this remembrance of Gods mercifull promises the seruant of God at all times and in all distresses and extremities doth finde comfort vnto his soule This brings to his memory the wonderfull goodnesse and mercy of God by which he is comforted When Dauid was in a most desperate case so as he cried out by reason of affliction and temptation Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer and will hee shew no more fauour Is his mercy cleane gone doth his mercy faile for euermore Psal. 77 with such like most fearefull speaches How did he then comfort himselfe in this distresse Answ. Surely by remembring the works of the Lord and his wonders of olde and by meditating in all his workes and gracious acts which he had done for him So likewise in another place in great anguish of spirit he saith to his soule Why art thou cast down my soule and why art thou disquieted within me Psalm 43.5 Yet in the next words hee thus stayes himselfe Waite on God for I will yet giue thankes vnto him he is my present help and my God How came Dauid to say so in this distresse Answer By meanes of faith which doth reuiue and refresh the dead heart of man by bringing to his remembrance the mercifull promises of God Saint Paul pressed with corruption cried out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death Rom. 7.24 Yet in the next words he saith I thanke my God through Iesus Christ our Lord Then I my selfe in my minde serue the Law of God c. How come the latter words to followe on the former Answer In the first words indeede he is cast downe with the view and sight of his naturall corruption which drew him headlong into sinne but yet the later words are a remembrance of the mercifull deliuerance from sinne which GOD had wrought in him by Christ and therefore hee breaketh out to this saying I thanke my God through Iesus Christ c. Secondly the remembrance of Gods promises serueth to be a meanes to keepe a man from sinne for mans nature is as readie and prone to sinne as fire is to burne when fewell is put to it But when by faith hee calls to minde Gods mercifull promises especially those which are
sinnes from the world for this is one of the strongest and commonest encouragements that men take to liue in a sinne If they thinke it likely to be concealed But here they see how false a ground that is For if they can conceale it from men yet can they not from God and if God know it then can he reueale it to the world when it pleaseth him Againe whereas Abels bloud cried when he was dead It teacheth vs that God had a care of Abell both liuing and dead for it were nothing to say his bloud cried if God heard not that cry But it s apparant he heard it for he reuenged it and punished Cain when Abell was dead and could not reuenge it himselfe And this care God hath not ouer Abell alone but ouer all his children and as the Psalmist saith Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints that which is vile and of no regard in the world is pretious with God Tyrants make hauocke of the Church and kill them vp by heapes but God records vp euery one and will not faile to reuenge it when they are dead For if God haue bottles for the teares of his seruants surely much more hath he bottles for their bloud The vse whereof is to teach vs in all extremities of danger or distresse to learne patience yea though we be sure to die yet as Christ saith To possesse our soules with patience For we haue one wil heare the cause and reuenge our quarrell when we are gone So that if wee be patient wee loose nothing but if wee be impatient wee get nothing Let vs therefore hold our tongues for the wrong done to vs crieth loude enough to God for reuenge who will heare it as assuredly as he did Abels And thus wee see how Abell spake then euen after he was dead The second point is Hee speakes also yet and that three wayes First his faith yet speaketh because it admonisheth all men euery where who either heare or reade this story to become such as Abell was namely true worshippers of the true God for in Abels example it prouokes all men to be like him because it assureth them of the same regard and reward with God that Abell had and so Abels faith is a neuer dying Preacher to all Ages of the Church Here wee learne that the holy Examples of Gods children are reall teaching and loude preaching to other men For there is a double teaching namely in word or deede It belongs to the Minister to teach in word and to all men to teach by their deedes and good examples And if the Minister teach not thus also it is the worse both for him and his hearers It sufficeth not for him to teach by vocall Sermons that is by good doctrine but withall by reall Sermons that is by good life His faith his zeale his patience his mercy and all other his vertues must speake and cry call to other men to be like vnto him which if he practice carefully in his life as Abell did then shall his vertues speake for him to all posterities when he is dead Againe Abell though dead may be said to speake because howsoeuer his body be dead yet in soule and spirit hee liueth with God in heauen And thus the word speaketh may be vnderstoode because it is here opposed to death by which he being dead yet speaketh that is being dead in body yet liueth in soule which life with God was obtained vnto by his true and sauing faith Thirdly hee may be said to speake yet as all other Gods Martyrs are said to crie in the Reuelation from vnder the altar How long Lord holy and true doest thou not auenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth As this is true of all Martyrs so specially of Abell the first Martyr of all which words are not spoken neither by him nor them vocally with vttrance of voice but it is so said to signifie what feruent desire the seruants of God haue in heauen of the full manifestation of Gods glory in their bodies and of an vtter abolishment of sinne in the whole world Which their desire they doubtlesse vtter to God in a more excellent manner then in this world wee can vtter any thing with our voice and thus Abell speakes yet and shall speake till the worlds end Hitherto of the first Example the Example of Abell The second is of Henoch in these words By faith Henoch was translated that he should not see death neither was he found for God tooke him away for before he was translated he was reported of that hee had pleased God c. THe second example of faith is taken also out of the old world before the floud and it is of Henoch the seauenth from Adam to whom strange and miraculous things befell by reason of his faith Let the meaning of the words be first examined By Faith That is by his confidence in the Messias or his sauing faith he was taken away Taken away That is from earth to heauen not by an ordinary worke but miraculously as is euident by the next words That he should not see death That is that he should not feele death nor any dissolution of soule and body and therefore his taking away was miraculous For to be taken away by death is an ordinarie worke but to be taken away and yet not die that is miraculous and extraordinary and such was Henochs So then the substance of these words is thus much Henoch hauing this grace from God to beleeue stedfastly in the Messias to come was likewise honoured with this high prerogatiue To be taken into heauen without tasting of death further was taken away to the end that he might not die Thus we haue the meaning Now concerning this translation of Henochs there are two opinions Some thinke hee was translated in soule onely and not in body and they say he died in the translation so as his soule onely was taken vp into heauen and his body slept in the earth Though this appeares false at the first sight yet let vs see their reasons and what they can say for themselues Their first reason is this No mortall body vnglorified can enter into heauen but there is no mention of his glorification therefore his body could not come in heauen Answer It is certaine it was glorified ere it came in heauen If they reply it is not mentioned I answere it followeth not that therefore it was not for euery circumstance of euery action is not mentioned For many circumstances of actions must necessarily be supposed such a one was this Againe the glorification of his body is here plainly enough implied where it is said he was translated that he should not see death Now if his body sawe not death it was made immortall which is a speciall part of glorification Their second reason Christ was the first that euer entred into heauen both in
be afarre off this is the worke of true faith This was in Noah wrought in him a reuerence and so would it in vs if it were in vs. When men crie fire fire wee stirre wee runne wee tremble but God crieth in his word the fire of hell the fire of his wrath and wee care not wee stirre not wee leaue not our sinnes wee are not moued with reuerence as Noah was therefore it is more then manifest that holy faith is wanting in the world which Noah had The second motiue stirring vp this reuerence in him was the consideration of Gods wonderfull mercie to him and his family in sauing them This mercy seemed so wonderfull to him both for that hee knewe it was vndeserued knowing himselfe a sinnefull man and therfore not able to merit Gods fauour and being priuy to himselfe of his owne manifolde imperfections and also vnexpected for he neuer thought to haue been spared alone in an vniuersall destruction therefore he wondred with reuerence at so great a mercy Thus Gods mercies doe not onely winne a mans heart to loue God but euen to feare him with much reuerence this Dauid proueth Psalm 130.4 There is mercy with thee O Lord that thou maist be feared as though he had said thy great mercies to thy children O Lord do make them conceiue a reuerent estimation of thee This made Dauid cry out in a holy passion How excellent are thy mercies O Lord Psal. And as Gods childreÌ„ wonder at the excellencies of Gods mercies vnto them so also at their owne basenesse and vnworthinesse Thus doth holy Dauid 2. Sam. 7.18 who as hee was a man of much faith so was he full of excellent meditations and reuerent speeches of God which are the true effects of faith when God had set him in his kingdome hee saith Who am I O Lord and what is my house that thou hast brought me hither And 1. Chron. 29.14 But who am I saith he and what is my people that wee should offer thus vnto the Lord And doubtlesse euen so said Noahs blessed soule often vnto the Lord and to it selfe Who am I O Lord and what is my family that we should be chosen out of so many thousands and be saued when all the world perisheth Let vs apply this to our Church and State If any Nation haue cause to say thus it is England God hath deliuered vs out of the thraldome of spirituall Egypt and led vs out not by a Moses but first by a childe then by a woman and giuen vs his Gospell more fully and freely and quietly then any kingdom so great in the world and still deliuereth vs from the cursed plots of the Pope and tyrannous inuasions of the Spaniard who thought to haue marked vs in the foreheads with the brand of infamie and to haue done to vs as they haue done to other nations whom they haue conquered but God from heauen fought for vs and ouerthrew them in their owne deuises yea the Lord put his hooke in his nosethrils and his bridle in his lips and caried him backe againe with shame and reproach Wee are vnworthy of such a mercy if our soules doe not often say vnto God O Lord what are we and what is our people that thou shouldst be so wonderfull in thy mercies vnto vs And particularly this must teach euery Christian to be a carefull obseruer of the fauours mercies that God vouchsafes to his soule or body to him or his and the consideration of them must make him daily be moued with reuerence and reuerent thoughts of Gods Maiestie still as the Lord is more and more mercifull vnto him to beare still the more feare and reuerence vnto him for the same The last motiue of this Reuerence in Noah was the consideration of Gods power and wisedome both in the Iudgement vpon the world and in the mercy vpon him for first in the Iudgement it was wonderfull that God would chuse so weake an element as water to destroy vanquish the huge Giants of those dayes but therein appeared first Gods power that by so weake meanes can cast downe his enemies And againe his wisedome that as an vniuersall wickednesse had polluted the whole world so a floud of water should wash the whole world Secondly the mercy was also wonderful that God should chuse to saue Noah by so strange a meane as an Arke which should swim on the waters For Noah thought if the Lord will saue me he will either take me vp into heauen as hee did Henoch a little before or else make me build a house vpon the top of the highest mountaine But the Lord will saue him by no such meanes but by an Arke wherein appeared first Gods power that would saue him by so weake a meanes as might seeme rather to destroy him For Noah must lye and swim in the midst of the waters and yet be saued from the waters and the Arke mâ—st saue him which in all reason if the Tempests had cast it against the hard rockes and mountaines or vpon the strong Castles and houses of the mightie Giants would haue beene broken in pieces and so it had but that God himselfe was the Maister and Pilot in that voyage And secondly Gods wisedom shone cleerly in this means because God would haue him saued not in such sort as the world might not see it as it would haue beene if hee had beene taken vp into heauen or into the aire but would haue him saued in an Arke that so alâ— the wicked men as they â—ere a dying in the water or expecting death vpon the tops of the hills might see him liue and be saued to their more torment and to their greater shame who would not beleeue Gods word as he did For as the wicked in hell are more tormented to see the godly in the ioyes of heauen so doubtlesse were the wicked of that age to see Noah saued before their eies The view of this power wisdom of God herein made Noah giue great reuerence to Gods Maiestie And no lesâ—e ought it to worke in the hearts of all true hearâ—ed English men and faithfull Christians For did not the Lord restore establish the Gospell to our nation by a child and by a woman and in her time when all other Princes were against her coÌ„trary to the rules of policy and did not God in our late deliuerance ouerthrow our enemies not so much by the power of man as by his owne hand Did not he fight from heauen Did not the starres and the winds in their courses sight against that Sisera of Spaine Let vs therefore with blessed Noah staÌ„d amazed to see Gods mercies with reuerence feare magnifie his great and glorious name And thus we haue the three motiues that moued in Noah this Reuerence of God the consideration first of his great Iudgement on the sinfull world 2. Of his great mercy in sauing him 3. Of his admirable power and wisedome shewed both
beleeueth against all the world and is commended to all ages for this faith It is therefore but a vaine flourish of the Papists to presse vs so much with their multitudes and vniuersality and consent and vnity and succession cōtinuance For all this is worth nothing as long as they first proue not that that doctrine or opinion which these multitudes hold hath his ground from Gods word till then all the other is vanity For it is better with Noah to haue Gods plaine word of his side then to beleeue otherwise with all the world which was here deceiued condemned when Noah alone beleeued Gods word and was saued And thus we see who were condemned the world To end this point one question may not vnprofitably be here moued Whether was all the world that is all the men in that world condemned or no The words seeme to imply that all but Noah were and yet it may seeme strange that of so many Millions none should repent but he and if they repented why were they not saued I answere The world of that wicked age was condemned two wayes First with a corporall destruction and so they were all condemned without exception No high houses no hilles no deuises of man could saue them For the waters rose 15. cubits aboue the tops of the highest mountaines vnder heauen Gen. 7.20 And so though till then diuers of them liued by flying to the hilles yet that being their last refuge and being thus taken from them then all flesh perished that moued vpon the earth and euery man and euery thing that drew the breath of life For so saith the Story Genesis 7.21.22 And it is but vaine to imagine that any of them could be saued vpon that Arke for first it was so made with a ridge in the top as is most probably thought that no man could stand vpon it much lesse make any stay in that violent tossing by tempests Againe if they could yet could they not haue liued so long for want of foode the waters being almost a yeere vpon the earth And thus it is most certaine they all without exception were destroyed with bodily destruction But secondly they were condemned to an eternall destruction in hell and therefore S. Peter 1.3.18 saith Their spirits are now in prison who were disobedient in the dayes of Noah Now all the question is whether were they all condemned or no. I answere For ought that we certainly knowe out of the scripture they were all condemned Yet in the iudgement of charity wee are not so to thinke and the rather because there are many probable coniectures that some of them repented For howsoeuer many of them beleeued not Noah iudging that he spake of his owne head yet it is more then likely that when they saw it begin to raine extraordinarily at least when they saw themselues driuen to the tops of the hilles and there looked hourely for death that then diuers of the posterity of Henoch and Methusalem and Lamech were ashamed of their former vnbeliefe and then turned to God in faith and in repentance And doubtlesse that is the onely or the principall cause why God brought the floud in fourty dayes which he could haue done in foure houres that so men might haue time to repent Genesis 7. But it will be saide If any repented why then were they not saued I answer because they repented not in time when they were called by Noahs preaching Repentance is neuer too late to saue the soule from hell but it may be too late to saue the body from a temporal iudgement And this I take it is that that wee may safely hold for it seemes too hard to condemne all the posterity of Methusalem Henoch Lamech and other holy Patriarks who as the Text saith begat sonnes and daughters and to thinke that none of them repented when they saw the floud come indeede as Noah had said It cannot be but they heard their Fathers preach and why might not that preaching worke vpon their hearts when the Iudgement came though afore it did not But why then did not God record in the Scripture neither their repentance nor saluation but hath left it so doubtfull I answere for the very same for which he would not record Adams nor Salomons All for this cause that he might teach all men to the worlds end what a fearefull thing it is to disobay his commandement as Adam did or to defer repentance when they are called by Gods word as these men did Therefore to feare vs from the like though afterwards they repented it pleased God not to record it but to leaue it doubtfull This question being thus discussed yeelds vs two strong motiues to repentance First for if we repent not betime our state then is fearefull and doubtfull though not desperate as wee see here the saluation euen of Methushelas children is doubtfull for they repented not when they were called but deferred it till the iudgement came So if we deferre our repentance till our deaths there is great question of our saluation but let vs repent when wee are called by Gods word and then it is out of question then there is no doubt of our saluation Secondly if we repent betime we shall escape the temporall Iudgement which God sends vpon the world for sinne If not but deferre repentance till the Iudgement come we may then by it saue our soules but our bodies shall perish in the vniuersall Iudgement If the children of Henoch and Methushelah which were neere a-kinne vnto Noah had repented at Noahs preaching they had beene saued with Noah they did not But when the floud came indeede then doubtlesse they beleeued with Noah and wished themselues in the Arke with him but it was too late they saued their soules but were drowned with the rest So assuredly when God threatneth any Iudgement on our Church or Nation they that beleeue and repent betime shall escape it But they that will liue in wantonnesse with the world and not repent till God begin to strike If then they doe when the floud is come though saluation cannot be denied to repentance whensoeuer yet let them assure themselues they shall beare their part with the world in the punishment as they did partake with them in their sinnes Let then these two considerations moue vs all to turne to God by timely repentance then shall we be sure to escape both the eternall and temporall Iudgement and not be condemned as here this world of the vngodly was And thus we see who were condemned The world The second point is whereby were they condemned the Text saith onely by which hee condemned c. Whereupon some would vnderstand faith and reade it thus by which faith he condemned the world Which though it be true for the faith of holy men condemnes the vnbeleeuing and misbeleeuing world yet is it not proper in this place where the Arke is described by the vses of it which are two whereof this is
one And besides that the Greeke construction doth well beare it the Iudgement of almost all Interpreters referres it to the Arke And further in all reason that that saued him and his houshold condemned the world also but the Arke is said to haue saued them therefore by it hee condemned the world Neither is this any derogation but a commendation of faith for by faith he made that Arke which Arke condemned the world Now by the Arke Noah condemned the world two wayes 1. By his obedience in building it 2. By his preaching in building it For the first God bad Noah build an Arke so great and to such an vse as in all reason no man would haue done it Yet Noah by the power of his faith beleeued Gods word and obayed and therefore builded the Arke This faith and this obedience of Noah to this Commaundement of God condemned the vnbeleeuing and disobedient world and made them without excuse So saith Christ The Niniuites who beleeued at the preaching of Ionas shall rise in Iudgement against the Iewes and condemne them because they repented not at Christs preaching And the Queene of Saba who came so farre to heare Salomon shall condemne them who then would not heare Christ Math. 12.42.43 Euen so Noahs obedience shall condemne them For Noah being told of a miraculous thing and beleeuing it and being commaunded so vnreasonable a thing as the making of the Arke and obaying shall condemne that wicked world who would not beleeue Gods ordinarie promises nor obay his ordinarie and most holy commaundements And as the Saints are said to condemne the world 1. Corinth 6.2 by being witnesses against them and approuers of Gods iust sentence So Noahs fact and faith condemned that world And thus we see it is apparant that the obedience and godly examples of good men doe condemne the vngodly The vse whereof is to encourage vs all to imbrace Christian religion and not be daunted by the scornes or other euill behauiours of profane men which cannot abide the Gospell For he that walketh in the way of holinesse and keepeth good conscience in the midst of a wicked generation if his godlinesse doe not ouercome their euill and conuert them it shall more demonstrate their wickednesse and condemne them Our Church is full of mockers and they discourage many from Christ religion but let them know this will be the end of it their obedience whom they contemne and laugh at wil be their condemnation And thus Noah by his obedience in building the Ark condemned the world Secondly so did he also by his preaching as he builded it For the building of the Arke was a part of his propheticall ministerie The Prophets preached two wayes in word in action For beside their Verball preaching and deliuering of Gods word they preached in their liues and actions especially in such actions as were extraordinarie And such was Noahs building of the Arke it was an actuall preaching yea euery stroke vpon the Arke was a loud Sermon to the eyes and eares of that wicked world For by making it he signified some should be saued and the rest drowned namely all that would beleeue and repent should be saued in it and all that would not shold out of it be drowned because they beleeued not this therefore by it he condemned them From this ground we may learnâ— First that a man may be a true and sincere Minister lawfully called by God and his Church and yet not turne many vnto God nor by his Ministerie bring many to repentance For here Noah a Prophet called immediatly yet in 120. yeeres preaching both in word and action he cannot turne one to faith and repentance A most fearefull thing if we well consider it that both by preaching and making the Arke hee should not turne one of the sonnes of Lamech Methushelah or Henoch to beleeue him but that they should all rather chuse to be misled in the generall vanity of that wicked world then to serue God with Noah This was a most discomfortable thing vnto him as could be yet this hath beene the case and lot of many holy Prophets Esay must goe and preach vnto them and yet his doctrine must harden their hearts that they may not be saued Esay 6.10 And Ezekiel must goe and speake and yet is tolde aforehand they will not heare him nor repent Ezek. 3.4.7 And when S. Paul himselfe preached vnto the Iewes at Rome some beleeued not Acts 28.24 There is nothing will more discourage a man and cast downe his heart then to see that his labours are not onely in vaine but doe take a contrarie effect that whereas they were bestowed to haue saued them they are meanes of their deeper condemnation Therefore as when their labours bring men to God they may greatly reioyce and account those people as S. Paul did the Thessalonians his crowne his ioy and glory So when they doe no good as Noah here but that men are worse and worse this must humble and abase them in themselues let them know the power and vertue is not in them but God So saith S. Paul to the vngodly impenitent amongst the Corinthians I feare saith he when I come my God abase me amongst you I shall bewaile many of them which haue sinned not repented And surely this or nothing wil abase a Minister minister matter of great bewailing Yet not so but as stil there is matter of true coÌ„fort coÌ„teÌ„tment vnto all godly faithful teachers For whether thy labour be the sauour of life vnto life or of death vnto death to thy hearers It is to God a sweet sauour in Christ. Againe we may here learne that those who are condemned before God haue their condemnation by the preaching of the word The secrets of all the world saith the Apostle shall be iudged by Iesus Christ according to the Gospell and heere the preaching of Noah and his actuall preaching by preparing the Arke condemnes the world Such is the power and might of the Ministerie of Gods word vpon all them that resist it Which being so should teach all men when they come to heare Gods word to submit themselues to the power of it to obay it and become penitent for otherwise so many Sermons as a man heareth so many inditements are presented to God against him And if at the last day there were no diuels to accuse those bills of inditements would both accuse and condemne him And this Iudgement is begun in this life as their consciences doe often tell them and is accomplisht at the last day for there is no dallying with Godâ— word if it cannot saue it kiâ—ls It is the fire which if it cannot soften it hardens Let then all impenitent men make conscience to obay Gods word for if now they abuse it it will be euen with them both here and in another world For as the very same Arke which saued Noah and his houshold condemned
wish themselues to be Dogges Toades or Serpents rather then men and women and yet though they would be glad of that exchange of state they shall neuer compasse it but shall remaine woefull men and women for euermore because that once they made so profane a choise when the path of life was set before them they chose the way of death rather then of life and therefore when they would desire death they shall not haue it but shall liue a life more bitter for euer then any death in the greatest pangs Thus wee see in generall their choise was of the better Particularly the Text addeth That is an heauenly In which words is laid downe the last and chiefe point in this reason to wit that the Patriarchs desired a better Country then the Land of Canaan and that was an heauenly Country euen heauen it selfe the proofe whereof is principally intended in this place Now whereas the Patriarchs being our fore-fathers in faith and patternes whom we must followe did desire heauen by their example euery one of vs is taught the same duty to aime at another and a better Country then that in which we liue euen at the kingdome of heauen and not to thinke that this world is the Country we are borne for This better Country we must all seeke for whatsoeuer we be high and lowe young and olde learned and vnlearned if we will followe these godly Patriarchs And this wee must doe not at death onely seeking this world all our life long for that is to despise heauen but euen in the time of our youth strength of our daies must we set our hearts on heauen endeauouring so to vse this world and the things thereof that when we die we may come to heauen that blessed countrie which we desired and sought for in our liues And to perswade vs hereunto consider the reasons following First worldly wisdome teacheth this If a man dwell on his owne land and in his owne house he is carelesse But if in another mans house whereof hee hath no lease but contrariwise is certaine to be put out hee knoweth not when this man wil in time prouide himselfe of another that so he may remooue into it and not be destitute and if it be within his power he will prouide a better that so he may not remooue for the worse Beholde while wee liue in this world our bodies are tents and tabernacles wherein our soules doe dwell for a time and besides this time is vncertaine for there is no man that can say certainly he shall liue to the next houre Therefore we must euery one of vs prouide for himselfe a dwelling place in heauen where we may abide for euer in all blessednesse Again consider the state of all sorts of men in the world for sinne Atheisme and profanenesse abound euery where the blaspheming of Gods holy name and the breaking of his Sabbath besides daily sinnes against the second table Now all these crie continually for vengeance and for Gods iudgements to be inflicted vpon vs and we know not how God will deale with vs for owne sinnes whether he will take from vs our goods and good name our health friends or life it selfe and therefore it standeth vs in hand to prouide for our selues a resting place wherein we may abide for euer after this fraile life full of misery is ended Thirdly if we shall not doe this marke what followeth this and no other is our estate By nature wee are the children of wrath and of the deuill and by our manifolde sinnes we haue made our ease farre worse Now what is due vnto vs for this corruption and for these transgressions Surely not heauen but another place euen the contrary the place of eternall woe and destruction the bottomlesse pit of hell Now if this be our due by nature then let not sinne nor Sathan deceiue vs perswading vs that wee may come to heauen and still continue in the state of our corrupt nature but let vs labour by all meanes to eschew this place which is due vnto vs by nature that thorough the gift of faith in Christ we may come to the heauēly citie which these godly Patriarchs so seriously soght for But if we remaine in our sinnes and so die we are sure to goe to the place of destruction and there to remaine in woe and torments with the diuell and his angels for euermore so that it stands vs in hand to vse all good meanes to come to heauen or else our case will be the most miserable of all creatures for perdition and destruction will bee our portion world without ende This must awake and stirre vp our dead and drowsie hearts that are so besotted with sinne that though wee heare yet wee neither learne nor practice In worldly things we can take care and paines but if we will doe any thing for our owne euerlasting good let vs labour by all meanes to come to heauen for if wee misse of that citie it had beene good for vs we had neuer beene borne or that we had beene the vilest creatures in the world rather than men For when the vnreasonable creatures die there is an ende of all their miserie but if we die and be not prepared for that place our death will be vnto vs the beginning of all woe and miserie Wherefore God is not ashamed of them to be called 〈◊〉 their God for hee hath prepared for them a citie In these words is laid downe a second reason whereby is prooued that these Patriarchs died in the faith seeking their countrie in heauen The reason is drawen from the testimony of God himselfe recorded by Moses in the booke of Exodus where God saith He is the God of their Fathers the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob Exodus 3.16 The exposition Wherefore that is that this might appeare and be euident that these Patriarchs died in the faith and sought this Country of heauen God was cōtent to vouchsafe grant vnto them this fauour to be called their God Was not ashamed To be or not to be ashamed of one properly belongs to men and it cannot be affirmed properly of God that hee is ashamed or blusheth as the word signifieth but the meaning is that God vouchsafed vnto them this fauour and shewed them this honour and dignity Quest. What was this honour and dignity which he shewed vnto them Answer To be called their God By which is meant thus much that God accepted them in his mercy to be such with whom hee would make his couenant of saluation and not with them alone but with their seed after them Secondly that he chose them to make the couenant in their names for all the rest Thirdly he vouchsafed them a speciall and extraordinary fauour euen that himself would beare their names they should beare his making his glorious name renowmed to the worlds end by this title The God of Abraham Isaac Iacob Hereupon the reason is framed thus
did the Gadarens there was set before them Christ Iesus the Lord of life and their hogges and cattell Now they prefer their hogges before Christ A most miserable and senselesse choice And is it not as ill with vs There is set before vs on the one side heauen and on the other side hell but men for the most part chuse hell forsake heauen Ciuill worldly men whose delight is all in riches they prefer earth before heauen the seruice of sinne which is the greatest slauerie before the seruice of GOD which is perfect freedome and glorious liberty of the Saints in light and thus doe all men without Gods speciall grace Whereupon Paul prayes in his Epistles for the Churches that God would giue vnto them the spirit of wisedome that they may be able to iudge betweene things that differ And this wisdom we must labour for that when these different things are set before vs we may make a wise choise otherwise we shew our selues to be like brute beasts without vnderstanding do quite ouerturne our owne saluation In the Ministerie of the word we haue life and death good euill set before vs as Moses said to the people Deut. 30.15 19. Let vs therfore endeuour our selues to chuse life by embracing and obeying the word of God so shall we followe both his precept and practice To suffer aduersity with the people of God Heere wee may obserue what is the ordinarie state and condition of Gods Church and people in this world namely to be in affliction and vnder the crosse Hence Paul saith That we must come to heauen through manifold afflictions Acts 14.23 The Lord knoweth what is best for his seruants and children and therefore he hath set downe this for a ground that all that will liue godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution 2. Tim. 3.12 Thus the Lord dealeth with his children for speciall causes for first all crosses as losse of goods friends liberty or good name they are meanes to stirre vp and awake Gods people out of the slumbring fit of sinne for the godly are many times ouertaken this way The wise virgines sleepe as well as the foolish Now afflictions rouze them out of the sleepe of securitie See this in Iosephs brethren who went on a long time without any remorse for selling their brother But when they were stayed in Egypt then they are rowzed vp and can say Genesis 42.21 This trouble is come vpon vs for selling our brother Secondly afflictions serue to humble Gods children Leuiticus 26.41 So the Church of God speaketh I will beare the wrath of the Lord because I haue sinned against him Micah 7.9 Thirdly they serue to weane the people of God and to driue them from the loue of this world for if men might alwaies liue in ease they would make their heauen vpon earth which may not be And heerein GOD dealeth with his children like a Nurse when shee will weane her childe she layes some bitter thing vpon the pappes head to make the childe to loathe the pappe so the Lord to draw our hearts from the world and to cause vs to loue and seeke after heauen and heauenly things hee makes vs to taste of the bitternesse of affliction in tâ—is worlde Fourthly afflictions ferâ—e to make Gods children to goe out of themselues to seeke sincerely vnto GOD and to relie onely vpon him which in prosperity they will not doe This Paul confesseth of himselfe and others Wee saith hee receiued the sentence of death in our selues because wee should not trust in our selues but in God 2. Corinthians chapter 1. verse 9. So good King Iehosaphat when hee was compassed of his enemies Hee cried to the Lord and said Lord wee knowe not what to doe but our eyes are towards thee 2. Chronicles chapter 20. verse 12. Yea the rebellious Iewes are heereby driuen to seeke the Lord whom in prosperity they forsooke as wee may see at large Psal. 107.6.12.13.19 Lastly afflictions serue to make manifest the graces of GOD in his children The Lord saith Iob knoweth my way and trieth me Iob 23.10 Deuteronomie 8.2 Remember all the way saith Moses to the Israelites which the Lord thy GOD ledde thee this fourtie yeares for to prooue thee and to knowe what was in thine heart Hence Iames calleth temptations the triall of faith Iames chapter 1. verses 2.3 And Paul makes patience the fruite of tribulation Romanes chapter 5. verse 3. For looke as the showers in the spring time cause the buds to appeare so doe afflictions make manifest Gods graces in his children Patience hope and other vertues lie close in the heart in the day of peace but when tribulation comes then they breake forth and shew themselues Hence wee learne that it is not alwayes a token of Gods wrath To suffer affliction If any man or people be laden with crosses it is no argument that therefore they are not the children of GOD for as Peter saith Iudgements begin at Gods house 1. Peter chapter 4. verse 17 and any crosse vpon a people family or particular persons if it bring forth the fruite of grace in them is a true signe they belong to GOD. Yea when men wander from God by an euill way these afflictions are meanes to call them home to GOD. Psalme 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray And they that forsake their sinne and returne to GOD in the time of affliction are certainly Gods people for the wicked man fretteth and murmureth against God when a crosse commeth and he cannot abide it But the godly man is humbled therby and it makes him more obedient in all duties vnto God This wee should consider for by an outward profession wee beare the world in hand that we are Gods children and therefore wee come to heare Gods word and to learn how to behaue our selues as beseemeth his children But if we would be knowen to be Gods children indeede then when any of Gods iudgements doe befallâ— vs wee must make this vse of them namely labour thereby to be humbled for our sinnes and to forsake our sinnes and to make conscience of all bad wayes for euer afterward and then wee shewe our selues to be Gods children indeede but if vnder the crosse or after the crosse wee be as dissolute as euer wee were and still followe our olde sinnes then wee cannot be iudged to be Gods people and children but rather a wicked and stubborne generation which the more they are corrected the worse they are like a stithy the more it is beaten the harder it is Let vs therefore by the vse of Gods iudgements shewe our selues to be Gods children so shall wee say with Dauid with much ioy and comfort It is good for vs that wee haue beene in trouble Psal. 119.71 Thus wee see what Moses chose now come wee to the thing he refused To enioy the pleasures of sinne for a season By pleasures of sinne wee must vnderstand the riches and dignitie that Moses
therefore the Lord forbade A bastard to enter into the congregation of the Lord to beare any office vnto the tenth generation Deuteronomie chapter 23. verse 2 So ignominious is this kinde of birth by the iudgement of Gods spirit vnto that party on whom it falls For this sinne of fornication doth not onely hurt the persons committing it but euen staines the children base borne to the tenth generation Yet howsoeuer Iephte was base borne and so suffered for it great reproach heere wee see hee is commended vnto vs for his faith among the most worthy beleeuers that euer were Indeede besides Iephte wee shall not finde the like example in Scripture Yet in Iephte wee may see that howsoeuer it be a reproachfull thing to be borne of fornication yet that doth not hinder but the party so borne may come to true faith and so to the fauour of God and to life euerlasting Such persons as are base borne vpon viewe of that reproach which the Scripture fasteneth vpon them might take occasion to thinke miserably of themselues even that God had reiected them but this example serues to shewe that it hindereth not but that they may come into the fauour of God and by faith get honor of God to countervaile that discredit which they haue by their base birth Further whereas wee commonly say that such as are base borne are wicked persons here wee see the contrary in Iephte and therefore wee must not for this cause condemne any for wicked or vngodly Indeed the Lord hath branded this estate with reproach that men should shun the sinne of fornication the more Againe whereas Iephte is here commended for his faith we may probably gather that their opinion is not true who hold that Iephte sacrificed killed his owne daughter For beeing commended here for his faith certain it is he had knowledge in Gods will and word and therefore we must not thinke but that he knewe God would neuer accept of such a vowe by the performance whereof hee should commit wilfull and most vnnaturall murder This his faith shewes that it was not his intent to kill the first person that met him out of his house for by the light of nature hee might know that God would neuer accept thereof and therefore it is not like he so made his vow for this faith and such a vow cannot stand together But some will say the text is plaine Iudg. 11.31 that He vowed to offer for a burnt offering the thing that cam out of the doores of his house to meet him when he came home Ans. It is so indeed in some translations It shall be the Lords And I wil offer it c. But the words in the originall may as well bee translated thus It shall bee the Lords or I will offer it c. And this later translation is more sutable to the circumstances of the place for this was Iephtes meaning that whatsoeuer met him first he would dedicate it to God if it were a thing that might bee sacrificed then his purpose was to offer it vnto the Lord in sacrifice Quest. But if he did not kill her why did he then so lament for her Ans. Because by his vowe he was to dedicate her to God and so shee was to liue a Nazarite all her life long which must needs be a very bitter thing to him who had no childe but her it beeing so great a reproach and in some sort a curse in those daies to want issue I speake not here how well or ill Iephte did in making her a Nazarite But this may no way bee admitted That beleeuing and godly Iephte should aduisedly kill his owne daughter Vndoubtedly hee could not thinke that God would bee pleased with such an abhominable sacrifice Thus much for these persons the rest I passe ouer because this story is plaine and large in Scripture The Faith of the Iudges and Dauid VERSE 33 34 35. Which thâ—ough faith subdued Kingdoms wrought righteousnesse obtained the promises stopped the mouthes of Lions Quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword of weake were made strong waxed valiant in battell turned to flight the Armies of the Aliants The women receiued their dead raised to life IN these wordes the Apostle propounds vnto vs ten seueral fruits of faith the nine first whereof are the particular actions of the parties spoken of in the former verse and they are here related for the commendation of their faith The first is Subduing of Kingdomes which serues chiefly for the commendation of the faith of the foure Iudges there named and of Dauid For as wee may read in the bookes of Iudges and of Samuel all these subdued Kingdoms as the Canaanites Iudg. 4. the Midianites Iudg. 6. the Philistims Iudg. 15. and 16. 2. Sam. 8.1 the Ammonites Iudg. 11. Moabites Aramites 2. Sam. 8.2.6 Now how did they ouercome and subdue them The Text saith by faith which wee must not not thus vnderstand as though onely by the very acte of faith they subdued kingdoms But the meaning of the holy Ghost is that they beleeued the promises which God made vnto them of deliuering these kingdomes into their hands and according to their faith God accomplished his promises vnto them and so they subdued Kingdomes by faith In this worke of faith we may learne two things first that it is lawfull for Christians in the newe Testament to make warre for that which may be done in faith is lawfull for Gods seruants but warre may bee made in faith for these seruants of God subdue kingdomes in warre and that by faith and therefore it is lawfull for Christians vpon iust cause to make warre The Anabaptists of Germany say It is not lawfull for a Christian vnder the Gospel to carry a weapon or to make warre But this one place of scripture if there were no moe is alone sufficient to prooue the lawfulnesse of warre vnder the Gospel if it be vsed according to Gods will word When the Souldiers came to Iohn Baptist and asked him What they should doe hee bids them not leaue off their calling but this Do violence to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Luk. 3.14 And our Sauiour Christ reporteth of a Centurion which was captaine of a Band when he came to haue his sonne healed that hee had not found such faith in Israel And hee was not a Centurion onely afore he beleeued but euen afterward when Christ commended his faith yet did he not dislike his calling The like may be said of Cornelius Act. 10. All which shew plainely that vpon iust causes Christians may lawfully make warre Ob. 1. But to defend their opinioÌ„ they obiect som places of scripture as Mat. 5.39 Resist not euill saith Christ therefore say they a man may not wear a weapon nor vse a sword lest those make him to resist and so to breake this commandement of Christ. Ans. That place must bee vnderstood of
fiue foolish virgins did but get the oyle of grace into the vessels of our hearts Knowledge in the word is a coÌ„mendable thing but not sufficieÌ„t to make vs stand in the day of triall We therfore must labour for true sauing graces especially for this to haue our hearts rooted and grounded in the loue of God through faith whereby we are assured that God is our father in Christ and Iesus Christ our redeemer and the holy Ghost our comforter and sanctifier This assurance of faith will stablish our hearts in all estates come life come death wee neede not feare for nothing shall be able to separate vs from this loue of God in Christ Iesus And thus much of the coherence of this verse with the former Now to the words Others also were racked c. Heere the holy Ghost begins to propound the fruites of faith for which this last ranke of beleeuers are commended vnto vs. And they are not such famous exploites as the former but nine seuerall kindes of sufferings vnto all which wee must remember to apply this clause by faith from the 33 verse as thus Through faith they endured racking mocking and so for all the rest Out of these effects in generall wee may learne two things First a singular fruite of faith for which it is heere so highly commended in this last ranke of examples to wit that by it the childe of GOD is enabled to beare whatsoeuer the Lord shall lay vpon him The torments wherewith mans body may be afflicted are manie and terrible and yet be they neuer so many nor so terrible true sauing faith will make the childe of GOD to beare them all for the honour of Christ. The effects of faith before set downe were many and singular but vndoubtedly this strength of patience which it giueth vnder the greatest torments for Christes sake is one of the principall This Paul doth notably testifie in this profession Romanes chapter 8. verses 38 39. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angelles nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall bee able to separate vs from the loue of GOD which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. Oh singular power of faith which so firmely vnites the beleeuer vnto Christ that no torments in the world no not all the power of Satan and his Angels can separate them asunder Question How doth faith worke this indissoluble power in cleauing vnto Christ Answere After this manner It is the property of faith to perswade the conscience of Gods loue and fauour in Christ and vpon this perswasion the heart begins to loue God againe Now by this loue doth faith worke and make a man able to beare all torments that can be inflicted for religions sake for Loue suffereth all things 1. Cor. 13.7 euen that loue wherewith one man loueth another how much more then shall this loue wherewith we loue God in Christ make vs to suffer any thing for his names sake Hence it is that loue is said to be strong as death and the coales therof are fierie coales and a vehement flame yea much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drowne it that is grieuous persecutions and torments cannot extinguish the same Nay such is the power of loue to GOD when it is feruent that it makes a man so zealous of Gods glory that if there were no other way to glorifie God than by sufferings the childe of God would rather yeeld himselfe to endure the torments of the damned than suffer God to lose his glory This wee may see in Paul Rom. 9.3 I would wish my selfe saith he to be separate from Christ for my brethren that are my kinsmen according to the flesh that is the Israelites meaning for the aduancement of Gods glory in their calling and saluation Such zeale likewise we may see in Moses for thinking that God should lose his glory if the Israelites were destroyed he prayes the Lord to pardon their sinne But if thou wilt not then saith hee raze me out of the booke which thou hast written This being the fruite of faith To make a man able and willing to suffer any thing for Christs sake we must heereby be moued to labour for true faith for tribulation may come nay some affliction will come on euery childe of God more or lesse Now without faith wee shall neuer be able to glorifie God vnder the crosse The iust must liue by faith in this estate Heb. 10.38 as here they endure racking burning hewing asunder c. and all by faith Secondly out of all these sufferings heere endured by faith note the minde and disposition of vngodly men towards Gods Church and people they are most bitterly bloudily bent against them for here they put in execution vpon Gods children whatsoeuer cruelty the diuell could suggest into their hearts And this hath beene their disposition and behauiour not onely before Christes incarnation but also euer since as may appeare by the manifolde strange tortures deuised against Christians in the Primitiue Church and both then and since inflicted vpon them Beholde it in the Church of Rome especially in their late Inquisition whereby beside the cruell racking of the conscience by vniust inquiries they put the Protestants to most cruell torments The consideration of this cruell disposition in the wicked against the godly is of speciall vse First it proues vnto vs that the religion which by Gods mercy we professe contained in the bookes of the olde and new Testament is no politique deuice of man but the sacred ordinance of the euerliuing God For if it were the inuention of man it would so fit their humour and accord with their nature that generally it would be loued and embraced and not one of an hundred would mislike it But we see it is generally detested This Sect is euery where spoken against Acts 28.22 naturall men reiect it and persecute it and the professours of â—t vnto the death This they doe because true religion is contrary to their nature as light is to darknesse and condemnes those wayes and courses which they best like of This reason shall iustifie true religion to be Gods owne ordinance euen to the conscience of the worldly Atheist his diuellish malice against it proues Gods diuine truth to be in it Secondly doe the wicked hate the godly because of their religion and profession then on the contrary wee must learne to loue religion because it is religion and the professours of it for their professions sake This is Christs instruction to loue a disciple because he is a disciple Mat. 10. Indeede wee must loue all men but especially those that embrace the Gospell of Christ and be of the housholde of faith for all such are brethren hauing one Father which is God and brethren ought to loue one another But alas this lesson is not learned for the world generally is giuen to mocking and scoffing
the matter of their mocking is religion and the professers thereof This ought not to be so for howsoeuer men may faile both in knowledge practice yet the professers of religion should not be so despised This abuse is growen to such a height that many refraine the diligent hearing of the word preached least they should be mocked But let these mockers know that heerein they shake hands with the diuell and with the persecuters of Gods Church for mocking is a kinde of persecution Young Christians should not be so dealt with but rather encouraged for the aduancement of the Kingdome of Christ. Thus dealt our Sauiour Christ with those that gaue any testimonie of the sparkes of grace when the young man said He had from his youth kept Gods commaundements the Text saith Iesus beheld him and loued him Marke 10.21 and hearing a Scribe answer discreetly he said vnto him Thou art not farre from the Kingdome of God Marke chapter 12. ver 34 Now we must be followers of Christ and walke in loue iudging and speaking the best of all professours accounting none for hypocrites till GOD make their hypocrisie knowen It is a note of a Christian to loue a man because hee loues religion on the contrarie to hate a man because hee is a Christian is a note of a persecuter and an enemie to Christ. And thus much in generall Now wee come in particular to the seuerall kindes of sufferings which these beleeuers endured by faith the first whereof is racking in these words others also were racked or as some translate it And others were beaten with clubbes For the words in the originall will beare either translation and both of them fitly agree to this kinde of suffering For in these times the enemies of GODs Church vsed to set the bodies of them that were to be tormented vpon rackes and engines whereon they stretched out euery ioynt and then did beat the whole body thus racked with clubs till the party were starke dead An example of this kind of suffering we haue in Eleazer a Iewe 1. Mac. 6. who vnder Antiochus was first racked and then beaten on euery part of his body vnto the death because he refused to eat swines flesh But some will say This cannot be any commendation of faith to be racked and beaten to death for malefactors and traytors are so vsed Ans. To preuent this obiectiō the holy Ghost addeth these words and would not be deliuered or would not accept deliuerance to shewe that this suffering was a notable commendation of true faith The meaning of the words is this That whereas some Iewes in the olde Testament were condemned to death for their religion by persecutors and yet had life and libertie offered vnto thē if they would recant and forsake their religion This proffer of life they refused and would not be deliuered vpon such a condition In this example of faith we are taught to hold fast true religion and to preferre the enioying of it before all the pleasures and commodities in the world yea before life it self This point Paul vrgeth in sundry exhortations saying Let him that thinketh he standeth take heede lest hee fall 1. Co. 10.12 forbidding vs to preserue our outward peace by communicating with idolaters And againe Stand fast in the faith 1. Cor. 16.13 Yea this is one maine point that Paul vrgeth to Timothy in both his Epistles to keepe faith and a good conscience And our Sauiour Christ in one of his parables Math. 13.44 compares the kingdom of heauen to a treasure hid in the field which when a man findeth hee hideth it goes home sels al he hath to buy the field Wherby he would teach vs that euery ones duty who would enioy the Kingdom of heauen is this In regard of it to forgoe and forsake all things else esteeming them to bee drosse and dongue as Paul did Philip. 3.8 What though a man had all the riches and pleasures of the world al things else for this life that his heart could wish yet if he want religion and a good conscience all he hath is nothing for so he wants the loue and fauour of God shall lose his soule for the ransome whereof all the world can doe nothing Wherefore we must hereby be admonished to haue more care to get and maintaine true religion and a good conscience than any thing in the world besides Now because nature will iudge it a part of rashnesse to refuse life when it is offered therfore to preuent this conceit against these beleeuers the holy Ghost sets downe a notable reason of this their fact to wit They refused deliuerance that they might receiue a better resurrection Many interpreters vnderstand these words of the resurrection at the day of iudgement simply as though the holy Ghost had said These Martyrs therefore refused to be deliuered from death because they looked to receiue at the day of iudgement a greater measure of glory euen for this that in obedience to God for the maintenance of true religion they were content to lay downe their liues This no doubt is the truth of God that the more wee humble our selues in suffering for the name of Christ in this life the greater shall our glory bee at the generall resurrection for our light affliction which is but for a moment causeth vnto vs a farre more excellent and eternall waight of glory 2. Cor. 4.17 And yet as I take it that is not the meaning of these words but their resurrection at the last day is here tearmed better than the temporall deliuerance offered vnto them For beeing in torments on the racke they were but dead men and when life was offered vnto them it was as it were a kinde of resurrection and in regard of the enemies of the Church a good resurrection but for that they would not lose the comfort of resurrection to life at the last day Here then are two resurrections compared together The first is a deliuerance from temporall death the second is a rising to life euerlasting at the last day of iudgement Now of these two the later is the better and that in the iudgement of Gods seruants and Martyrs So then the true meaning of these wordes is this These seruants of God refused deliuerance from temporall tortures and punishments because their care and desire was that their bodies might rise againe to life euerlasting at the day of iudgement which rising againe to life at that day they iudged farre better than to rise to a temporall life for a while in this world This reason wel obserued may teach vs these two speciall duties First to be carefull aboue all things for assurance in our consciences as these seruants of God had that our bodies shall rise againe to life euerlasting at the last day True it is wee make this confession with our mouthes among the articles of our Faith but we must labour to bee setled and resolued effectually in our hearts that
scourged The fourth is Bonds and imprisonment The fift is stoning verse 37 They were stoned The sixt is this They were hewen asunder These were all worthy fruits of faith being endured for religions sake but the particular points might heere be obserued haue beene handled before and therefore I pasâ—e them ouer The seauenth kinde of suffering is this they were tempted These words by the change of a letter in the originall may be reade thus They were burned And some doe so translate it thinking that they that writ or copied out this Epistle at the first did put one letter for another Their reason is because examples of grieuous punishments are mentioned both before and after this and therfore they thinke this should be burning which is a sore and grieuous death But wee may safely and truly reade the words thus They were tempted conceiuing heereby that they were enticed and allured by faire promises of life to forsake their religion So the same word is vsed by Saint Iames saying Euery man is tempted when hee is drawen away by his owne concupiscence and is entiâ—ed Iames 1.14 If any aske why this kinde of triall in tempting should bee placed among such cruell torments I answere because it is as great a triall as any can be For it is as dangerous a temptation to ouerthrow religion and a good conscience as any punishment in the world This appeares plainly in Christs temptations by the Diuell for in those three Satan bewraies his malice and craft against Christ and his Church most notably Now Satan not preuailing with the two first makes his third and last assault from the glory and dignity of the world for shewing vnto Christ all the Kingdomes of the world and the glory of them hee saith All these will I giue thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship me Math. 4.9 Indeede Christes holy heart would not yeeld vnto it but that it was a grieuous temptation appeares by Christs answeres For in the former temptations he onely disputed with Satan out of Scripture but when this temptation comes Christ bids him as it were in passion auoide Satan signifying thereby not onely his abhorring of that sinne but also the danger of that assault by the world And indeede these temptations on the right hand as wee may call them will most dangerously creepe into the heart and cause shipwracke of faith and a good conscience All Dauids troubles and persecutions could not bring him to so greeuous sins as did a little ease rest A huge great Armie cannot so soone giue entrance to an enemie into a Citie as riches and faire promises neither can bodily torments so soone preuaile against a good conscience as will worldly pleasures and faire promises In regarde whereof wee must take heede that wee bee not deceiued by the world for the view of the glory and pompe thereof will sooner steale from a man both religion and good conscience then any persecution possibly can do And indeede who doe so oft change their religion when trialls come as they that haue the world at will The eight example of suffering is this They were slaine with the sword There can be nothing saide of this which hath not beene spoken in the former examples and therefore I omit it The ninth and last example of suffering is this They wandred vp and downe in sheepes skinnes and Goates skinnes being destitute afflicted and tormented That is being either banished or constrained by flight to saue their liues they wandred vp and down in base attire and were destitute of ordinary foode and comfort and so in great affliction and torment Heere wee see these seruants of GOD were driuen from their owne Country friends and families by persecution Whence we obserue that in time of persecution a Christian man may lawfully flie for his safety if hee be not hindred by the bond of priuate or publique calling For these seruants of God here coÌ„mended for their faith did flie when they were persecuted and that by faith therfore the action is lawfull as I might prooue at large but that I haue spoken of it heeretofore VVhen our Sauiour Christ knewe that the Pharisies heard of the multitude of Disciples which he made Ioh. 4.1.3 hee left Iudea where they had greatest iurisdiction and came into Galile for his safety The Prophet in the old testament did fly as Elias from Iezabel 1. King 19.3 And so did the Apostles in the new and that by Christs direction Math. 10.23 Obiect 1 But some will say Persecution is the hand of God therfore no man may flie from it for so he should seeme to flie from God himselfe Ans. Wee must consider persecution two waies first as it is the hand of God secoÌ„condly as it is the worke of the wicked enemies of Gods Church For them God vseth sometimes aâ— instruments in laying his hand vpon his Church either for chastisement or for triall Now a Christian being persecuted for the truth and hauing libertie to flie cannot bee said to flie from Gods hand vnlesse he went away contrary to Gods command as Ionas did beeing sent to Niniue and beside he knowes that is impossible But his intent is to flie from the wrath of his enemies to saue his life for the further good of Gods Church Again the reason is not good To say persecution is the hand of God therefore a man may not flie from it For so might a man conclude that nonâ— ought to flie from sicknesse or from warre both which a man may doe with a safe conscience not beeing hindred by some speciall calling Obiect 2 But euery one is bound to testifie his faith religion before his enemies and therefore may not flie in persecution Answ. True indeede a Christian man must so testifie his faith if he bee called thereto of God but if God giue him liberty and opportunitie to flie then he will not haue him at that time to iustifie his religion by that meanes Obiect 3 But if it be lawfull to flie how then comes it to passe that some of Gods children when they might haue fled would not but haue stood to iustifie their profession vnto death Ans. We must iudge reuereÌ„tly of theÌ„ thinke they did it by som special instinct motioÌ„ of Gods spirit as appeareth by their patience constancy in their greatest torments Examples hereof wee haue in our English Acts and Monuments in men worthy of notable commendations for their constancy and zeale for the truth of the Gospel Quest. If flight in persecution may bee an action of faith Whether may not the minister of Gods word fly in time of persecution Answ. There be some cases wherein the Minister may lawfully fly 1 When that particular Church and congregation ouer which he is placed is dispersed by the Enemies so as he hath no hope to gather and call them back againe then no doubt hee may flie till his congregation be gathered againe 2 If the persecutors doe specially