which is written in Ieremie I will put my Lawes in their minds and in their hearts will I write them And they alledge the saying of Ier. 51. Paul Yee are our Epistle written not with inke but with the Spirit of the living God Nay they say further that the Apostles went beyond 2 Cor. 3. yond their Commission when they did write the Scriptures for they were commanded to preach not to write But the Apostle Mat. 28. 19. to the Hebrewes while he doth write the doctrine of the new Covenant alledgeth the forenamed sentence of Ieremy and Paul had already written two Epistles to the Thessalonians and the former Epistle also to the Corinthians when as hee said Tee are our Epistle witten not with inke c. But as Carpocrates Cerdo Manes rejected the bookes of the Law and Cerinthus all the Gospell except Mathew and Severianus and Paulinus the Epistles and Actes of the Apostles so Papists doe accuse the whole Scripture of imperfection and ambiguity Paul being ready to finish his course and to bid a farewell to the world as appeareth in his second Epistle to Timothie when as already the bookes of the New Testament were written saith thus unto Timothie The whole Scripture is given by inspiration and is 2 Tim. 3. 16. profitable to teach to improve to correct and instruct in righteousnesse All things necessary to salvation contained in Scripture where hee bringeth the whole Scripture unto foure heads doctrine redargution correction instruction doctrine is occupied about the chiefe points of faith and religion Redargution confuteth errours in faith and religion instruction comprehendeth information of manners correction is occupied in reproving and punishing delinquents If the Word of God be a two-edged sword to wound the Divell If it bee the hatchet to cut off the head of all hereticks If the Word be mighty in operation entreth thorow even to the dividing asunder of the soule and of the spirit of the ioints and of the marrow If it bee a lanterne unto our feeâ— and a light unto our paths If Christ used no other weapon to repell the Divell but the Word saying It is written If Apollo confuted the Iewes openly proving by the Scriptures Iesus to be Christ If Christs proofes were Scriptum est and his demands Quomodo legis How read you and his Apologies Scrutamini Scripturas search the Scriptures certainly in the Scriptures is contained alone all things necessary to salvation I will therefore conclude this point with the saying of Augustine Neither will I alledge the Councell of Nice neither shalt thou August lib. 3. cap. 14. aduers Maxim alledge the Councell of Arimine against me by the authority of the Scriptures Let us weigh matter with matter cause with cause reason with reason There is no cause therfore why Papists should take the wings of the morning and fly from the written Word unto unwritten verities that the fathers of Colen should call the Scriptures A nose of waxe that Pighius should tearme it The Leaden rule of the Lesbian building that other Papists should tearme it A shipmans-hoase A black Gospell Inken divinity If any will adde or Apoc. 22. detract from it let the curse be pronounced upon him and let all the people say Amen It is false that we have the Baptisme of infants the celebration of the Sunday the distinction of the persons in the Trinity the number of the bookes of the Scripture by tradition not by the written Word God hath kept his law in the Arke and all Popish Philistines could not keep the Arke 1 Sam. 5. Iohn 20. from us These things are written that yee may beleeve Traditions are gathered of an evill egge digge the Papists never so deep they shall not find the myne nor spring of them in the Primitive Church they labour to put life into a dead carcasse of them but it will not be Avant therefore yee Anabaptists with your revelations Avant yee Montanists with your new comforter Avant yee Iewes with your Cabal and Talmud Avant Trent Councell and Papists with your Traditions our salvation is Christ for There is no other name given unto men whereby they shall be saved save only by the name of Iesus The way to salvation is faith the guide Act. 4. 12. to this way is the Scripture Hereupon saith Paul Yee are no longer forenners and strangers but Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and There is a foure-fold iudgement Prophets Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone So much for the Author cited Enoch the seventh from Adam Now to the thing prophesied which is judgement and therein Ephes 2. 19 20. first we have to observe that there shall be a iudgement There is a fourefold judgement The first judgement was that that was accomplished of man and Angels at their first fall The Angels that fell were judged and throwne out of Heaven Adam that fell was judged and throwne out of Paradise Gen. 3. Secondly There is a middle judgement and so God judgeth the wicked and the godly every day Visiting â—â—eir sinnes with Psal the rod and their offences with the scourge There is a third a particular judgement in the day of every mans death of Lazarus and good men to Heaven of Dives and bad men to Hell and of this particular judgement the Author Luk. 16. of the Epistle to the Hebrewes speaketh thus It is appoynted for all men once to dye and then commeth the Iudgement Hebr. 9. 27. Fourthly there is generall judgement of quicke and of dead whereof Enoch prophesied here saying The Lord will come with thousands of his Saints to give iudgement c. But some will say Why should God judge man after death since hee hath his judgement at his death I answere that in death wee have a particular judgement but God will also have his generall Aug. judgement Secondly In death we have the judgement of the soule But God will judge both body and soule Thirdly In death wee have a secret Doome But God will have an open Assise a publike Sessions and a manifest Iudgement Concerning which generall Iudgement I could produce a cloud of Scriptures to avouch it both out of the old and new Testament Ezechiel saith An end is come an end is come it is looked for Behold it is come Moses also prophesied of this Iudgement Deut. 32. and David Psal 50. and Salomon Eccles 11. 9. and Daniel Cap. 7. 13. and Ioel Cap. 3. and Malachy Cap. 4. So did Christ himselfe Mat. 24. and Paul the Apostle of us Gentiles 2. Thes 5. and Peter 2. Pet. 3. and Iohn 9. Apoc. 20. Neither is this assurance of the judgement to come warranted by the words of Gods servants onely but the Lord hath left many workes of his own to teach us that hee will once at length for all judge the whole
World for sinne The drowning of the old World the burning of Sodom the destruction of Ierusalem were assured tokens that the Lord would not put up the infinite iniquities of the World but will judge it and punishit the pleading of the Conscience foretelleth a judgement to come the sentence of of death pronounced in Paradise and renewed with such terrour on mount The Lord Iesus Christ shall iudge Sinai did evidently assure us that God meant to call men to judgement the lesser judgements in this life are fore-runners to this great and last judgement the dragging of men out of the World by death is nothing else but an Alarum to judgement God hath promised that there shall be a judgement I will contend with thee in iudgement saith God The nations shall see my iudgements saith God I will sit and iudge the people saith God Now all the promises of God are Yea and Amen so firmely ratified that Heaven and Earth shall passe away but his Word and promise shall not passe The day and the night may faile in their courses the Sunne and Moone may faile in their motions the Earth may faile and totter upon her props the Sea and Rivers may faile and bee emptied of their waters but the promises of God shall not faile God promised a floud and it came Et qui verus erat in diluvio cur non in iudicio He that performed it in the one why should he not performe it in the other The Iustice of God requireth that there shall be a judgement Hîc optimi pessimè agunt Here the best men are the worst used and most wronged Here Iezabel sits braving in a window whilest Ieremy lies sticking in the mud Here Dives sits in his palace cloathed richly faring daintily while Lazarus lies at his gates naked and hungry Here Herod will please Herodias though it be with the head of Iohn the Baptist Nonne visitabit haec shall not God visit come to iudgement for these things Certainly iudgement will come and then downe go the wicked and up the godly horrour hell and death shall be the doome of the wicked heaven ioy and life shall be the lot of the righteous Thus yee see there shall be a Iudgement I will passe on to the next Who shall be the Iudge in this Iudgement The Lord The Lord saith Enoch commeth with thousands of his Saints to give iudgement c. And in that the Lord shall be our Iudge there will be first rectum iudicium a right and true iudgement for the Lord is true and cannot faile either Ignorantia legis as not knowing the Law For he gave the Law and will iudge according to the Law nor yet Ignorantia facti as not seeing the fact for his seven eyes goe thorow the World Yee may interpret them if yee will seven thousand thousand eyes Zach. 4. Againe if the Lord bee the Iudge there will bee aequum iudicium his Iudgement will be righteous and good for Necerrat ipse nec sustinet errantem He can neither sinne himselfe nor yet indure a wilfull sinner wee cannot corrupt him he hath no need of our goods But when he saith The Lord shall be the Iudge and come to iudgement yee shall understand that this word Lord is taken sometime essentially and then it signifieth all the three persons in the Trinity and so it is taken in the Psalme The Lord even the most mighty hath spoken and called the round World c. And indeed in Christ shall iudge in his humanity respect of authority the whole Trinity shall be the Iudge but sometime this word Lord is taken personally and then it signifieth the second person in the Trinity as here in this my Text The Lord shall come to Iudgement For in respect of the execution of this iudgement Christ alone shall iudge And why Christ And not the Father and the Holy Ghost First because Saint Iohn tells us The Father hath given all iudgement to the Sonne Iohn 5. And as Saint Bernard expounds the words non ut Filius suus sed ut Filius Hominis not as hee is the Sonne of God but as hee is the Sonne of the blessed Virgin borne in the world 2. The Sonne iudgeth and not the Father because it best befitteth a King to iudge his owne subiects and we are now the immediate subiects of the Sonne Indeed in our creation wee were absolutely the subjects of God but by rebelling against God we became the slaves and vassals of the Divell and not the subjects of God yet now being redeemed from death and from him that hath the power of death the Divell by the precious bloud of the Sonne of God we are become the subjects of the Sonne not that this is to be understood Exclusive as excluding from the worke of our redemption the Father and the Holy Ghost sed AppretiativeÌ„ as the Schoolemen speake but because the price of our redemption was paid by the Sonne and not by the person of the Father or Holy Ghost and in that the Sonne did sustinere poenas undergoe our punishment et procurare praemia purchase our reward hee must dispensare praemia poenas both dispose of our punishment and reward But forasmuch as there be two natures in Christ the Divine and humane it may be questioned in what forme or Nature hee shall iudge Saint Augustine answereth Eadem forma iudicabit te qua sub Iudice sâ—etit pro te In the same nature he shall iudge thee wherein he stood before the Iudge for thee he shall iudge us not as God but as man according to that in the Gospell Yee shall see the Sonne of Man not of God but of Man comming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory Veniet qui Deus non qua Deus he that shall iudge us is God but he shall not iudge us as he is God Vrsinus in his Catechisme pag. 451. giveth three reasons of this Quia per eum Mediatorem glorificanda est Ecclesia per quem iustificata est because the Church is to bee glorified by that Mediator by which she was iustified SecundoÌ„ ob consolationem nostram dum scimus illum fore Iudicem qui redimit nos est enim frater noster caro nostra Secondly for our comfort to give us to understand that he shall bee our Iudge which redeemed vs and is our brother and our flesh Tertio propter iustitiam Dei quia filium hominis contumelia affecerunt Thirdly for the Iustice of God because the Sonne of Man hath beene much reproched with many contumelies and slanders If any man will object that Christ saith That Though Christ shall come in humanity yet with power and great glory he came not to iudge the World but to save the World I answere that these words are not to be understood of his second but of his first comming into the World then indeed he came to save the World but now to iudge the
Alexander was borne in the dayes of Aristotle The Queene of Sheba pronounced Salomons men happy for hearing him How happy 1 Reg. 10. are wee then that live in the call of the Gospel Blessed are the eyes saith our Saviour to his Disciples which see that yee see for I A little part of the World called tell you that Prophets and Kings have desired to see those things which yee see and have not seene them and to heare those things that yee heare and have not heard them O terque quaterque beati oculi nostri O Luke 10. 23. thrice and foure times blessed are our eyes For as God called a little angle of Iewry and passed over all the World besides For hee suffered all the Gentiles to walke in their owne wayes So God Act. 14. 16. hath passed over all Africa Asia America and called a little piece of Europe all nations else are polluted The Grecians adore the Virgin Mary and Saints painted the Creature for the Creator The Aethiopians adore the Emperour Presbyter Iohannes The Tartarians the Great Cham. The Persians the Fire and the Sunne The Turkes Mahomet The Borussians many gods as Antrimpus Protrimpus Pelintus c. The Indians spirits called Zemes. The Papists Images But wee adore the true God They worship they know not what we worship that which wee know God hath given his Iohn 4. 22. Word to Europe hee hath given to other Nations other blessings To the Muscovites hides and precious skinnes to the Moores of Barbarie sugar and sweet spices to the Spaniards wine and fruits to the Indians gold and silver to them of Cathai pearle and precious stones to the Persians silke and margarites to them of Island Finland Greenland fish and fowles But to us hee hath given his Gospel Blessed be the day and happy bee the houre wherein it came to us Let that day be as the day wherein Israel came out of Aegypt let it bee the head of the yeare let no cloud staine it nor darkenesse possesse it If we had as many tongues as Argus had eyes if every haire of our head were a life and every life as long as Methuselahs all were too little to praise God Thanke God that thou livest in this time of the Gospel Let thy soule praise God Let all that is Psal 103. 1. within thee praise his holy name Thus must God call us by his Word else wee are reprobates in the Church but not of the Church For as excrements are in the body and not of the body so reprobates are in the Church but not of the Church They wet 1 Iohn 2. 19. out from us but are not of us for if they had bin of us they would have continued with us Many that heare this Sermō are among us but not Mat. 25. of us and the time shall come that the Goats shall be separated from the Sheepe the Dogs from the Lambes the Crowes from the Doves the Bastards from the Children the Chaffe from the Corne. Oh then heare the call of Gods Ministers Calling is of two sorts Externall Internall Externall is either common to all by the instinct of nature and workes of God or not common to all by the Word preached Internall and effectuall is the worke of the whole Trinitie whereby God the Father through the Sonne by the holy Ghost not onely offers Grace but giveth it to the Elect. Vocantur electi Calling externall and internall Externall calling vnprofitable without the Internall vel foris per externam praedicationem vel intus efficaci operatione spiritus Sancti The Elect are called either without by outward preaching of the Word or within by the inward effectuall operation of the holy Ghost This hath two parts The one Invitement The other Admission Invitement is when God offers remission and life everlasting to all that doe beleeve and this outwardly by the preaching of the Word and inwardly by inspiration of heavenly desires Admission is when men are entred into the kingdome of Grace and this outwardly by Baptisme and inwardly by the spirit engraffing them into Christ and making them reall members of Gods Kingdome Of this effectuall calling speaketh Iude here the greatest blessing in the World For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Spiritus Dei non amittitur totaliter finaliter quos semel Rom. 11. 29. Iohn 13. semper diligit Deus The spirit of God cannot totally and finally bee lost for whom God loveth once hee loveth ever Et quos semel semper vocat deus ejus vocatio irrita fieri non potest And whom God once hee ever calleth for his calling cannot be frustrate For all things worke for the best to them that love God even to them that are called of purpose Rom. 8. 28. The externall calling is often unprofitable because it is not joyned with the internall the Ministery of man in the Church wanteth the Ministery of the spirit in the heart Paul planteth Apollo watereth but God giveth the increase Wee call you but 1 Cor. 3. God chooseth you We light a candle often before them that Mat 22. 14. Eccles 24. Psal 58. are blind as Christ did to the Pharisees Wee cry to them that are deafe as David did to Abner Wee set meate on the graves of dead men that cannot eate We charme deafe Adders which will not heare Wee mourne to them that will not weepe Wee pipe to them that will not dance Wee preach to them that will not repent Luke 7. Laterem crudam lavamus We wash a raw brike For if the internall calling wanteth wee may preach all our life and you may heare ten thousand Sermons and yet bee never the better except the inward Schoole-master the Spirit of God joyne with the Preacher We cannot command Grace For to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisedome to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit to another is given Faith by the same Spirit to another the gift of Healing by the same Spirit and 1 Cor. 12. 8 9 10 11. to another the operation of Great workes to another Prophecie to another the discerning of Spirits to another diversity of Tongues and to another the Interpretation of tongues and all these things worketh even the selfe same Spirit distributing to every man severally even as he will The Blacke-moore will not change his skin nor the Leopard alter his spots the Panther will not be tamed nor the Adder The Gospell powerfull to them that are called charmed nor the crooked Serpent made straight nor the salt Sea made fresh and wicked men will not bee taught wee can but preach to you God by his Spirit must call you Lactantius speaking of the Word and the Minister meaneth the inward calling joined with the outward Da mihi inquit Libro 3. de falsa sapientia hominem iracundum uno verbo Dei reddam placidum ut ovem da
and bring him quickly into our Ladies bands and make him sinke by beggerie The Apostle Paul useth many reasons against it able to move an heart of flint if there be any droppe of grace in him if he pertaine to Gods election if he be not vas irae a vessell of wrarh a reprobate a firebrand in Hell 1 Cor. 6. 13 14 a member of the Divell His first reasons is that The body was made for the Lord a swell as the soule his second That the body shall 15 16 18 19. be raised up at the last day to an incorruptible estate His third That our bodies are the members of Christ His fourth He that coupleth himselfe with an harlot is one body with an harlot the fifth This is sinne in a speciall sense against our owne bodies the sixth The body is the temple of the holy Ghost finally The body is bought with a price and therfore is not our owne These are the reasons that the Apostle useth against this sinne to make all men to deny it and defye it But to proceede the wrath of God against this sinne of whordome is as the fire of Aetna not only to burne the whrne and the whoremonger but their seed as one said the bastard shall be a faggot a firebrand in Hell to burne the parents For the children of adulterers shall not be partakers of the holy things and the seed of the wicked bed shall be rooted out and though they Wisd 3. 16 17 18 19. live long yet shall they be nothing regarded and their last age shall be without honor if they dye hastily they have no hope neither comfort in the day of triall For horrible is the end of the wicked generation And againe the bastard-plants shall VVisd 4. 3 4. take no deep root nor lay any fast foundation For though they bud forth in the branches for a time yet they shal be shaken with the wind for they stand not fast they shal be rooted out As The divell prevailes most by uncleannesse one said of the theefe on Christs right hand that Luke nameth one theefe to let us see that all theeves are not damned and yet but one theefe to let us see that all theeves are not saved So say Luke 23. I of Iephta that God nameth one bastard to let vs see that all Iudg. 11. 1. are not rejected of God and yet but one to let us see that all are not accepted of God I exclude them not from the Covenant of life I abridge not the mercies of God I clip not the wings of his compassion towards them For it is as great a sinne to abridge the mercies of God to the penitent as to dilate it and prostitute it to the reprobate For the Lord is stronge mercifull Exod. 34. 6 7. and gracious slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth reserving mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sinne And againe Hee is gracious and slow to anger and of great kindnesse Ioel. 2. 13. and repenteth him of the evill But this is it that I insist upon and take in hand to prove that God punisheth the uncleane and incontinent persons even in their seed aswell as in their bodies goods and name and let all men that take pleasure in this sinne assure themselves that the end will be bitter as worme-wood Prov. 5. 4. and sharpe as a two-edged sword For hee that followeth a strange woman is as an Oxe that goeth to the slaughter and as a foole that goeth Prov. 7. 22. to the stockes for correction till a dart strike thorow his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare not knowing that she is in danger For they that goe to a strange woman seldome returne againe neither take they hold of the Prov. 2. 18. way of life If they reply that David did commit adultery and yet did returne I answer it is true of many thousand adulterers one David did returne but thou hast cause rather to feare to perish wirh the multitude than to returne with David But before I prosecute this point further note the mercy and wisdome of God in the decalogue In the first precept he provideth for our callings that no man contemne us but honour us in the sixth for our bodies that no man kill them in the eighth for our goods that no man steale them in the seventh for our wives that no man abuse them that none violate their chastity and therefore severely hath God revenged this sinne he hath punished it in the great ones hee hath set a marke a brand of vengeance upon them as upon Pharoah in Egypt and Abimilech Gen. 12. Psal 160. 30. in Gerar and yet they touched not Sara but onely intended it So Phinees ranne thorow a Lord and Lady Moses Numb 25. hanged the heads and Princes of the people And if God hath not spared the high cedars of lebanon looke not that he will spare the low shrubs Potentes potenter punientur the mighty shall Wisd 6. 6. Acts 10. 34. be mightily punished and meane men shall bee punished also Deus non est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is no accepter of persons Eusebius Cremonensis reporteth of Ierome that on his death-bed he used these words unto his Disciples Ensis diaboli est luxuria ô quot illa romphaea inter fecit lechery is the sword of the divell ô how many hath this sword slaine Est rete diaboli ô quot illud rete inescavit Many of the Saints have beene overtaken by adultery it is the net of the divell O how many hath it deceived Est esca diaboli it is the bait of the divell O how many hath this baite entrapped There is no sinne in the second table wherein the divell hath more prevailed and gone away a greater conquerer than in this sin of Whoredome and therefore it is noted that in Mary Magdalen there were seven divels For this sinne wee read Luke 7. Gen. 6. that it repented God that ever he made man and indeed the mischiefes that come of this sinne be manifold Nam luxuria corpus debilitat memoriam hebitat cor aufert oculos caecat famam denigrat marsupium evacuat furta homicidia infert iram Dei provocat for lechery weakneth the body infeebleth the minde dulleth the memory taketh away the heart blindeth the eyes hurteth the good name emptieth the purse causeth thefts murders and all other sinnes kndleth Gods wrath For this sinne God brought a floud of water upon the old world and for this sinne the Lord reigned fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven and destroyed Gen. 6. Sodome Yea for this sinne God slew foure and twenty thousand Cave vinum cave mulieres take heed of wine take heed of women he that useth wine carryeth fire in his bosome and a woman is sagitta diaboli the arrow of the divell Homo mulier sunt ignis palea
whose hands are full of blood The Drunkard whose body is as the swill-tub the irreligious person that seldome prayeth seldome giveth thankes or heareth Gods Word Quaeres quae spes quoad animi solatium hisce What hope of heaven and happinesse can these men have how thinke they to escape this fire of hell Scientes prudentes vivi videntesque pereunt knowing understanding alive and seeing they shall perish GOD shall raine upon them snares fire brimstone this shall bee their portion to Psal 11. drinke So much for the first punishment of the reprobate Fire The second punishment of the reprobate is eternall fire fire and eternity of fire All paines here have an end but the paines of hell have no end Whereupon Augustine Miseris erit mors fine morte finis sine fine defectus sine defectu c. To these miserable Aug. lib. de Spiritu anima cap. 56. wretches there shall be a death without death an end without end a decay without decay because their death shall ever live and their end shall ever begin and their decay knoweth not how to decay death shall presse them but not extinguish them sorrow shall torment them and not drive away their feare the fire shall burne them and not consume them nor yet dispell their darkenesse for in this fire is obscuritie darkenesse and in this obscurity and darkenesse feare and trembling and in this combustion and burning sorrow they shall alwaies suffer torment and alwayes shall feare because they shall be tormented without hope of pardon If after so many thousand yeeres as Eternity of torments in hell aggravate misery they have haires on their heads they might have an end of their torment there were some hope and they might indure those torments more quietly but because they have no hope that ever their paines shall be either eased or ended desperatione deficiunt they faile they faint and quaile thorow despaire Et ad tormenta non sufficiunt and they are no way able to indure those torments Ibi erit tortor semper caedens there shall be a tormentor ever beating them Et vermis semper corrodens and a worme alwayes gnawing them Etignis semper comburens a fire alwayes burning them For their worme shall not dye neither shall their fire be quenched sinnes shall bee detected and the sinnes shall be punished Esa 66. 24. and that for ever they shall see divels but not God Quod est omnium meseriarum miserrimum which of all miseries is most miserable For if Absalom tooke it so grievously that hee 2 Sam. 14. 32. was banished his Fathers presence and could not see his face how grievously shall the Reprobate be afflicted to be banished Gods presence and not to see his face for they shall be punished with eternall perdition from the presence of God and glory 2 Thes 1. 9. of his power But to follow this point a little further all men in misery comfort themselves with hope of an end the prisoner with hope of a gaole-delivery the mariner with hope of arrivall the souldier with hope of victory the prentise with hope of liberty the gally-slave with hope of ransome onely the poore caitiffe in hell hath no hope he shall have end without end death without death night without day morning without mirth sorrow without solace bondage without liberty Let fire and eternall fire move us common fire is quenched with water wilde fire with milke and vinegar but hell fire is not quenched their worme dyeth not and the fire never goeth out And Mar. 9. 44. why should not wee beleeve this seeing that their is a certaine stone in Arcadia called Asbestos which being once kindled never goeth out never can be quenched If this be in a stone how much more in the power of God This earthly fire except it be nourished with wood and other combustible matter will out but the fire of hell never goeth out it alwaies burneth and never ceaseth The reason is because our fire is not In loco proprio in his proper place sed violenta but in a violent The fire of hell is in his proper place for the breath of the Lord kindleth it We Greg in moralibâ—â— see Aetna to burne alwayes for it hath burnt from the beginning of the world and still doth burne why should not then hell fire burne alwayes and why should not we beleeve that men shall alwayes live in the fire of hell seeing wee see and know the Salamander to live in the fire If this may be by the power of nature why may not that by the power of God The paines of hell be such that all the Arithmetitians in the world cannot number them nor all the Geometritians measure them The terrours of hell should deterre from sinne nor all the Rhetoritians expresse them Quid hora ad diem c. saith one what is an houre to a day a day to a month a month to a yeere a yeere to a thousand yeeres and a thousand yeeres to eternity Mathuselah lived almost a thousand yeeres but the yeeres that are past are nothing we have nothing of time but that which is present The Pigmaeans lived onely seven yeeres never reached unto eight yeeres And their be certaine creatures bred and borne at the river Hispanis that live but a day in the morning they are bred and brought forth at noone they are at their full strength at night they make their end and are gone compare our yeeres with eternity and wee are in the same state and condition The reason of this endlesse punishment is the infinite Majesty of God words against common persons beare but common actions against noble men they be Scandala magnatum against Princes they be treason so the person of God aggravateth the sinne If any aske then how Christs death could satisfie the justice of God seeing it was not eternall I answer that he did it thorow the excellency of his Person and the perfection of his merits The remembrance of these paines in hell will drive away the remembrance of sinne as the Adamant is contrary to the Loadstone and suffereth it to draw no iron to it behold the weight of hell paines in Christ How sweat he how cryed he Deus meus deus meus quare dereliquisti me My God my God why hast thou forsaken me How did teares of blood trickle from him If hell paines were so grievous unto him what will they be to us Onely this difference is betwixt Christ and us that hee sustained all mens sinnes wee but our owne sinnes our paine therefore not so great as his but yet of greater and longer continuance his was but temporall ours eternall if we repent not We must suffer the vengeance of eternall fire The remembrance of fire and eternall fire swalloweth up all our cogitations How can our hearts endure or how can our hands be strong in that day When the Lord shall have to doe with us the
but to draw the party to remembrance And so there is place left in the Church as well for Cursing as Blessing for rough as for milde speech so that Gods glory bee sought in the suppression of sinne Vt omne os obstruatur that every mouth may be stopped and that all glory may bee given to God Thus we Gen. 3. cap. 9. Deut. 27. read that God cursed the Serpent that Noah cursed Cham of the twelve tribes sixe of them stood on Mount Garazim to blesse and sixe on mount Hebal to curse all the people to say Amen Iacob uttered a dire imprecation upon Simeon and Levie saying Curbe Gen. 49. 7. Mat. 23. Mat. 13. their wrath for it was fierce and their rage for it was cruell And lest any should restraine this to time of the Law Note that Christ pronounceth many woes against the Scribes Pharisees and Hypocrites in one Chapter And hee cried woe to the impenitent saying Woe be to him by whom offences come And againe Woe bee Mat. 11. Mat. 26. to thee Corazim Woe bee to thee Bethsaida c. And againe Woe to that man by whom the Sonne of man is betraied it were good for that man if 8 Cor. 16. hee had not beene borne And againe Woe to the World because of offences And Simon Peter cursed Simon Magus saying Thy money perish 2 Tim. 4. 14. with thee And Paul cried Maranatha Anathema to them that love not the Lord Iesus And hee cursed Alexander the Copper-smith Act. 13. 10. Gen. 49. He hath done mee saith Paul much evill the Lord reward him according to his workes And so hee cursed Elimas the sorcerer and called him the Child of the divell an enemy to all righteousnesse But yet wee must curse the sinnes not the party So Iacob cursed Apoc. 2 the rage of his Sonnes not themselves So God hated the deeds of the Nicholaitans not the men Yea sometimes both sinnes and men may be cursed if they give signes of reprobation So the Church prayed against Iulian not for him And Saint Iohn 1 Iohn 5. 16. tels us that there is a sinne unto death I say not that thou shouldest pray for it But to leave all this Michael striving with the Divell durst not give him a railing sentence but saith The Lord rebuke thee Let us learne this lesson of Michael in all reproaches and bitter speeches of our brethren to say unto them The Lord reprove thee for passion must not overmaster us But these railers wee must answere sometime with silence for unto many natures to answere againe is to put fuell to the fire for anger is fire and words are fuell But if silence will not serve the turne then it is good to give place unto it I meane to goe away from Rem 12. 19. a railing person till his anger be over and if that will not serve the turne then answere him as Michael did here the Divell The Lord reprove thee And in any wise take heed you prouoke We must give account of idle much more of evill words not anger for the forcing of Wrath bringeth forth strife as the churming of milke bringeth forth butter and wringing the nose bringeth forth bloud Let us therefore avoyd the customary sinnes of passions and not answere evill for evill or rebuke for rebuke but say with Michael The Lord rebuke thee And with David Iudge me o God and Prov. 30. 33. Psal 43. 1. defend my cause against the unmercifull people that is the cruell company of mine adversaries deliver me from the deceitfull and wicked man The Lord rebuke thee This teacheth us as to avoyd all railing so to study carefully and diligently the government of the tongue and to beware of rotten speeches The mouth is the messenger of the heart and from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh A filthy tongue argueth a filthy heart an unbridled tongue a licencious heart A poisoned tongue that belcheth out nothing but banning and cursing railing and reviling speeches doth manifest a cursed and corrupt heart Our Saviour saith A Mat. 12. 13 good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth goodthings and an evill man out of the evill treasure of his heart bringeth forth evill things but I say unto you that of every idle word that men shall speake they shall give account thereof at the day of judgement If then at the end of the end of the world and day of judgement wee must reckon and account for idle words How much more for our railing reviling speeches Let us therefore hearken unto the counsell of the Apostle Let not corrupt communion proceed out of your mouths but that which is good to the use of edifying that may Ephes 4. 29. minister grace unto the hearers Wee should be of a patient nature and follow the example of Michael who striving with the Divell durst not give him a railing sentence but say The Lord rebuke thee If an Archangell abstaine from all railing having to doe with the Divell the greatest enemie of God and his people wee that have to do with bad men must not take liberty to our selves to use reviling speeches We must commit revenge unto God who hath said Vengeance is mine I will repay THE NINETEENTH SERMON VERS X. But these speake evill of those things they know not c. Malice turnes men into dogs THis is the fourth note that he giveth unto the wicked you shall know them by their evill speaking they are like unto blacke-mouthed Rabshakeh they rayle on God and good men He calleth them first sleepers secondly defilers of the flesh thirdly despisers of government and here raylers they speake evill of all things As fire lyeth not long in the stubble or in the flaxe but the flame breaketh out so hatred lyeth not long in these mens hearts but breaketh out in evill speeches and many times They will speake evill of things they know not Munster writeth of men in India Qui non loquuntur sed latrant which speaketh not like men but barke like dogs so these barke like dogs against the Moone Gorgon turned men into stones and Circe changed them into swine and malice turneth these men into doggs like Hecuba at the siege of Troy for their rayling David saith The wicked speake evil from their mothers wombe even from their belly have they erred and speake lyes their poyson is even as the poyson of Psal 58. 3 4. a serpent like the deafe Adder that stoppeth her eare that is they passe in malice and subtilty the crafty Serpent the first thing they doe is to speake evill it is Alpha and Omega first and last with them As the serpent vomiteth up her poyson before she drinketh Malice in the heart â—he cause of rayling in the tongue of a cleare fountaine so this is the sinne that must bee avoided before we drinke of the water of life the Word of God Lay
of the law as judgement and mercie that they make cleane the out-side of the cup and platter but inwardly are full of briberie and excesse One saith that hypocrisie is the Greg. l. 8. moral cloaking of a secret vice under the shew of vertue and that the life of an hypocrite is nothing else but Quaedam visiâ— phantasmatis the shew of an imaginary matter which appeares some thing and is nothing and compares the hypocrite to Simon of Cyrene that bare Christs Crosse but dyed not with Christ so every hypocrite professeth to live to Christ but will not dye to sinne and the world and Saint Chrysostome likens the hypocrite to Herod Super Mat. 12. that promised devotion and performed persecution he saith that a sincere man is like to a faire woman that needs no external ornaments but hath naturall beauty but the hypocrite is like Hom. 57. a filthy deformed harlot which useth many meretricious colourings that cannot cover her filthinesse but the neerer any drawes vnto her the more hee mislikes her And againe hee saith that an hypocrite is like a Woolfe clothed in a sheeps skin Super Mat. 7. but that he is found out by his voyce and by his doing for the sheepe bleats and lookes toward the earth and eateth grasse which is a signe of humility but the Woolfe howles and looks towards heaven which is a signe of pride and cruelty the hypocrite hath Iacobs voyce but the hands of Esau that is hee talketh religiously and zealously but hee walkes impiously and prophanely the hypocrite is like the statues of Mercury that were wont to be set in high wayes to direct travellers to some Citie or Towne but did not travell nor move themselves the Hypocrisie hath many woes denounced against it hypocrite is like the Stage-player that when he cried O heaven he pointed with his finger to the earth when he cryed O earth hee pointed with his finger to Heaven and therefore the wise Polemon gave him no reward being Iudge of the Actors saying Hic manu Solaecismum fecit he hath spoken false Language and committed an errour with his hand And to conclude the hypocrite is like a deafe and hollow Nut which hath no kernell within but is wasted with the worme and fit for nothing but the fire Heereupon it came to passe that Christ dealt not so hardly with any sinners no not with Atheists that denied the Resurrection and Gods power nor with Temporizers that are alwayes of the same Religion that the company is that can blow hot and cold with one breath as with hypocrites for having to deale with Sadduces he shaketh them off as damned creatures as vessels of destruction children of wrath whose judgement was just and their damnation slept not hee telleth them that they erred Ye erre saith hee not knowing the Scriptures neither Mat. 22. 29. the power of God but when hee hath to doe with Pharisees with Hypocrites he doubleth and redoubleth and tripleth and multiplieth woes and curses hee thundereth like Iames and Iohn his zeale stayeth not with a little O woe to you Scribes and Pharisees yee Hypocrites and so the second the third the fourth the fift the sixt time Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees yee Hypocrites as though all the woes and curses in this life and in the life to come were not ynough for them And it is not to bee forgotten that God calleth it blasphemie to speake one thing and to doe another with man it is hypocrisie but to doe so with God it is blasphemy the sinne increaseth as the dignity of the person increaseth as for example speake a word against a common person and hee hath but his action of the Case against thee speake against a noble man it is Scandalum Magnatum against the Prince it is death against God it is damnation of body and soule double and dissemble with men it is hypocrisie halt with God counterfeit with him it is blasphemy Therefore saith Christ to the Church of Smyrna I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Apoc. 2. 19. Iewes and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan And it is further to be observed that Christ speaketh of hypocrites as if Hell were onely prepared for them for intreating of the evill servant that said in his heart My master will defer his Mat. 24. 51. comming he saith that he will cut that servant in pieces and give him his portion with hypocrites there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth And Christ our Saviour asketh them how they shall escape Hell O yee Serpents and generation of Vipers how shall yee escape Mat. 23. 33. the damnation to come And to shew the certainty of their damnation besides this interrogation how shall yee escape the damnation to come As if he should say It cannot bee but yee must Hypocrites make a shew of Religion being irreligious be damned For the interrogation implieth an affirmation He saith of the wicked that They shall have their portion with Hypocrites to shew that the condemnation of hypocrites is most surely sealed And this aggravated the sinne of Corazin and Bethsaida and Mat. 24. 51. Capernaum that they pretended Religion but in painted boxes they did hide deadly poysons in beautifull sepulchers rotten bones and under Iezabels painted face a whores behaviour Woe therfore to thee Corazin woe to thee Bethsaida for if so be the miracles Mat. 11. 21 23. that had beene done in thee had beene done in Tyre and Sidon they bad repented long agoe in sackloth and ashes And thou Capernaum which art lifted up on high shalt be brought dowue to hell And verily of all sinners the hypocrite is the worst he is ovis habitis vulpis actu crudelitatelupus Eern. a sheep in shew a fox in deed and a wolfe in cruelty for an hypocrite hath vulpem in cerebro a Fox in his braine milvum in manu a kyte in his hand lupum in corde and a woolfe in his heart a fox in his braine subtill and crafty to insnare hee hath a kyte in his fist to hold fast and when hee hath caught hold he hath a wolfe in his heart to devoure and therefore saith our Saviour Christ Beware of false prophets which come to Mat. 7. 16. you in sheeps cloathing but inwardly they are ravening woolves beware of them they are like Swannes that have white feathers black flesh and one thinkes the Swanne was forbidden to be eaten of the Iewes to shew that God abhorres all hypocrisie But in that he compareth hypocrites to clouds that have no raine in them to trees that have no fruite to starres that have no light and some others doe compare them to the raine-bow that hath many colours and yet never a colour to broken glasses that have many faces and yet never a face to Copper that resembleth gold and is nothing lesse We have to note that none make greater shewes of
what estate or condition the last day shall leave thee in the same the first day of thy resurrection Augustine Hesichio Epistola 80. shall find thee As every one dieth this day so shall he be iudged in that day And againe he saith Potentia Dei est insuperabilis Aug. lib. 4. de Symbolo 1 Cor. 1. 25. Heb. 4. the power of God is insuperable For the weakenesse of God is stronger then men Eius scientia est infallibilis his knowledge is infallible For all things are naked and before him Eius iracundia est implacabilis his anger is implacable If his wrath be kindled yea but a little Psal 2. 12. blessed are all they that put their trust in him Ejus justitia est inflexibilis his Iustice is inflexible For he is a God of Gods and Lord of Lords a great God mighty and terrible and regardeth no mans person Contra ejus potentiam nil valebit tyrannorum crudelicas against his power the cruelty of tyrants shall nothing prevaile neither against his knowledge shall the subtilty of Advocates prevaile nor against his wrath shall simplicity of words prevaile nor against his Iustice shall abundance of money prevaile Nec gratia praeventura nec misericordia flectetur nec poenitentia mitigabitur nec pecunia corrumpetur he will neither be prevented by grace nor moved with mercy nor mitigated with repentance nor corrupted with money Againe how soever men flatter themselves now in this or that thing that which we esteeme a vertue now will be then in Gods sight an abomination our wayes and judgements are not Gods â—udgements Luk. 16. 15. Esay 55. 8. Pro. 1. 31. to follow our owne hearts is with God a kind of whoredome The very Heathen Orator could say that similem lacte nutricis errorem suximus we sucked in with our mothers milke alike error Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire The Ammonites burnt their children to Moloch The Cananites sacrificed their children to Idols Baal and Astaroth every Vzziah will play the Levite every Gedeon will have his Ephod every Saul will have his sacrifice Peter will plead to Christ his good meaning The Iacobites in Aethiopia circumcise their yong ones The Indians All must come to Iudgement worship Zemes that are Divels but when it commeth to the judgement of God it is reversed there is a writ of errour sued Nadab perished with fire from heaven The Ammonites Levit. 10. cap. 20. Psal 106. 2 Sam. 6. Iudg. 8. 1 Sam. 15. Mat. 16. 23. were accursed The Cananites were destroyed Vzziah was striken Gedeons posterity was plagued Saul was deposed Peter was called Divell The Aethiopians foolish The Indians blasphemers wee have not our Quietus est till God hath iudged us Againe howsoever we slaunder the iudgements of God yet are they just Iudicia Dei saepe occulta nunquam iniusta Gods judgements are many times secret and hid but never unjust I say with Aug. Augustine Cave praecipitium take heed of a break-necke The Iudgements of God are fite come not too neere them lest they burne thee they are Abyssus a bottomlesse pit swimme not in them lest they drowne thee they are as a steep and high mountaine clime not too high lest thou come downe againe headlong Paul durst not wade too farre in the cause of Election Vis Rom. 11. 32 33. disputare mecum mirare mecum ô altitudo Petrus negat Latro credit ô altitudo Wilt thou dispute with me wonder with me ô depth Peter denieth the theese beleeveth ô depth Secreta Dei sunt adoranda non scrutanda Gods secrets are to bee adored not searched Aug. Doe yee know these things Happy are yee if yee doe them The end of his comming to iudgement is the next thing to bee considered and that is to judge all men the mighty the honorable shall not escape in that day neither shall they be able to defend thee that in obeying them thou hast desobeyed God For let me see if any Ruler King or Keisar shall come forth in that day and say I bad thee doe this I gave thee my warrant to doe it No no he shall be iudged himselfe We shall all appeare before the Iudgement seate of Christ that every man may receive the 2 Cor. 5. 10. things that he hath done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or evill No man can redeeme another mans soule Let no Psal 47. 7. man thinke to hide himselfe yee know what counsell the wise man giveth you Say not I will hide my selfe from the Lord for Eccles 16. 17 18. who will thinke upon me from above I shall not be knowne in so great an heape of people for what is my soule among such an infinite number of creatures Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens are for God the depth and the earth and all that therein is shall bee moved when hee commeth to iudge Thou shalt no more hide thy selfe and go away without thy iudgement than the guest at the wedding could go Mat. 22. Soph. 1. 14. unespied The strong man shall then cry bitterly many that now sit at the Bench shall then stand at the barre he is the Lord-Chiefe-Iustice of Heaven For every worke and word shall come to judgement so saith Salomon God will bring every worke unto iudgement with every Eccles 12. 14. secret thing whether it be good or evill Nothing so secret but shall God knoweth every sinne therfore none can escape iudgement be disclosed neither hid that shall not be known for whatsoever hath been spoken in darknesse it shall be heard in light and that which yee have spoken in the eare in secret places shall bee preached on the houses openly that all men may heare Of every idle word wee must give an account God is greater than our Luke 12. 2. 3. Mat. 12. 36. 1 Iohn 3. 20. hearts hee beginneth where wee leave hee remembreth that which wee have forgotten his memorie is as himselfe is infinite he will set downe our sinnes in order and say In such and such a place and such a time and upon such an occasion hast thou committed this or that sinne Vnto the wicked saith God Why dost Psal 50. 16 18 19 20 21. thou take my Covenant within thy mouth and hatest to bee reformed when thou sawest a theefe thou consentedst unto him and hast beene partaker with the adulterers thou givest thy mouth to evill and with thy tongue thou forgest deceit thou sittest and speakest against thy brother and slanderest thy mothers sonne These things hast thou done and I held my tongue therefore thou thoughtest that I was like thee but I will reprove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done He calleth all the Starres by their name He numbreth our steps Iob 26. 6. Iob 14. 16. Mat. 10. Mat. 10. 29. Psal 56. 8. Psal 50. Psal 139. He telleth the Sparrowes
in fraenandis libidinibus Of the Image of God there be two parts sancity of understanding the one and sanctity of will the other in brideling lusts and this the Apostle calleth The new man which after God that is the image of God is shapen in righteousnesse and true holinesse Loosen the reines to thy lusts and there is no image of God in thee but of Ephes 4. 24. the Divell which seduceth thee and therefore reserved to the The Godly man though lust be in yet it raignes not over him day of Iudgement to be punished because thou walkest after the flesh in the lust of uncleannesse Seneca telleth us of one Sextius qui nocte animum suum semper interrogabat quod malum hodie sanâsti which nightly would aske his owne soule What evill hast thou 2 Pet. 2. 10. healed to day What vice hast thou resisted In what part art thou better to day then thou wert yesterday O if thou a Christian couldest doe this thou wert a blessed man O happy golden day in which thou hast tamed one lust one sinne thou maiest then say with Paul I have fought a good fight c. Sapientis est animus 2 Tim. 4. 6. ut status mundi supra lunam a wise mans mind is as the state of the world above the Moone Nec nubes nec fulgur nec turbines ibi sunt There be neither clouds nor lightning nor whirlewinds but all things bright and shining calme and quiet Sic nulla ira nulla libido nulla perturbatio cadit in animum sapientis So no anger no Seneca lust no perturbation commeth into a wise mans mind but I will not say none but not so much as in other men libido inest sed non praeest lust is in him not over him habitat sed non regnat Rom. 6. 12. it dwelleth in him but raigneth not bellat sed non debellat it warres in him but it winnes not we are not like the Heathen 1 Thess 4. 5. which keep their vessels in the lust of concupiscence Satanas duobus armis nos oppugnat voluptate timore Satan oppugneth us with two weapons voluptuousnesse and feare with voluptuousnesse he taketh us and with feare he breaketh us against the one let us arme our hearts with godly affections against the other with faith and confidence let us take the shield of faith wherewith we may quench the fiery darts of lust and concupiscence THE SEVEN AND TVVENTIETH SERMON VERS XVI Whose mouth speaketh proud things having mens persons in admiration c. The tongue the discoverer of the heart HAving formerly described the wicked by their impatiencie and by their lusts hee commeth now thirdly to describe them by their pride and he saith that their mouth speaketh proud things These words seeme to be drawne from Saint Peter where speaking of the wicked hee saith that they utter swelling words of vanitie they beguile with wantonnesse thorough 2 Pet. 2. 18. the lusts of the flesh them that were cleane escaped from them which are wrapped in errour For Iude wrote later than the other Apostles Where note first that hee proceedeth from their walking to their speaking from their heart to their mouth from the fountaine to the channell for commonly if the heart be humble the speeches are lowly but if it be proud the speeches are lofty For of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Lingua penna Luke 6. seu nuntius cordis the tongue is the penne or messenger of the heart Hercules body was knowne by the length of his foot and the heart is knowne by the speech of his mouth good men speake well for their heart is good so saith the Prophet The mouth of the righteous is exercised in wisedome and his tongue will talke Psal 37. 30 31. of judgement For the Law of God is in his heart and bad men speake vilely for their heart is naught For no constancie is in their mouth within A proud heart sheweth it selfe by proud speeches they are very corruptions their throat is an open sepulchre and they flatter with their tongue Ex putredine quid nisi putridum prodeat From rottennesse and corruption what can proceed but that which is corruptible and rotten What shall a man expect from a bitter Psal 5. 9. fountaine but bitter waters What from the egge of a Cockatrice but a Serpent What from a Spider but poyson What from the lake Asphaltis but stinch and corruption The Apostle telleth us That unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbeleeving is nothing pure but even their minds and Tit. 1. 15. consciences are defiled It seemeth that Iude here alludeth unto David For hee ever bringeth in the wicked on the stage speaking presumptuously like Thraso loquuntur ampullas their words are bombasted heare them from morning till night and all their speech like Goliah is bragging all their talke tendeth to the commendation of themselves they are in love with themselves as Narcissus with his shadow their mouth as a trumpet soundeth out their owne praise they reckon up all their vertues but they passe over all their vices like captaines who number their souldiers but marke not how many are of the side of the enemy to encounter them and therefore lose the field oftentimes The nature of the wicked is to boast so David speaketh of the enemies of the Church They are inclosed in their owne fat that is they are post up with pride as the stomacke that is choked with fat and their Psal 17. 10 11. mouth speaketh proud things they have compassed us now in our steps they have set their eyes to bring us downe to the ground They say With our tongue will wee prevaile our lips are our owne Who is Lord over us Psal 12. 4. These proud tongues are never quiet from prittle prattle from skanning this neighbours wealth that neighbours wit this mans doings that mans sayings coursing over the whole Countrey till all men have beene within the compasse of their tongues drawne out by them peradventure by the power of a pot too much or such like influence For their mouth is unnaturally bigger than their hand what they want in doing they supply in talking though they cannot worke it yet they can word it Linguis si non factis praevalebunt they will prevaile with their tongues if not with their deeds Os ponunt in Coelos they set their mouth against Heaven and their tongue walketh thorow the Psal 73. 9. Earth they are licencious and speake proudly and talke presumptuously Portant gladium non in vagina sed in ore they carry a sword not in their sheath but in their mouth Their teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharpe sword Thus boasted Psal 57. 5. railing Rabshakeh with most insolent words and haughty pride and said to Hezechiah that he would make his men eate their owne
to content their owne sinnefull humour But so to reprehend is no way lawfull wee must deale with sinners as Samuel did with Saul chide them for their sinne yet pray for their soule as Moses did with the Israelites who corrected their iniquities yet would be blotted out of Gods Booke for their safeties as David did with Absalom who detested his fault and yet would have died for his sake then shall wee shew our selves true physicians that seare the sore to preserve the person and hate the sinne to preserve the soule THE NINE AND TVVENTIETH SERMON VERS XVIII How that they told you that there shall bee mockers in the last time c. Scorning and mocking the highest degree of sin NOw he commeth to the words that he will have them to remember they be these That there shall come in the last dayes mockers hee calleth the wicked mockers for in mustering up their sinnes hee beginneth with their flouting as an arch sinne a capitall sinne hee placeth it in the forefront as Ioab did Vrias it is a Metropolitan sinne as Salomons harlot 1 Reg. 3. was among women the worst of all as the beast in the Apocalyps Apoc. 13. which inspired the other with blasphemy like Antiochus who did more hurt then all the Tyrants before him Of these mockers speaketh Peter as though he had followed Iude verbatim word for word but he hath answered them so fully that we need not go any further for their confutation There shall saith he come in the last dayes mockers which will walke after their lusts and say Where 1 Pet. 3 3 4 5 6 7. 8 9. is the promise of his comming for since the Fathers died all things continue alike from the beginning of the creation For this they willingly know not that the Heavens were of old and the earth that was of the water and by the water by the Word of God wherefore the world that then was perished overflowed with the water but the Heavens and earth which There have beene scorners in all ages are now are kept by the same Word in store and reserved unto fire against the day of Iudgement and of the destruction of ungodly men Dearely beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day with the Lord is as a thousand yeeres and a thousand yeeres as one day The Lord is not slacke concerning his promise as some men count slacknesse but is patient toward us c. Salomon had to doe with such All things come alike to all Eccles 9. 2. and the same condition is to the just and to the wicked to the good and to the pure and to the polluted and to him that sacrificeth and him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner he that sweareth and he that feareth an oath so they said in Chrysostomes time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Give me something here let hereafter go to others Mat. 22. such were in Christs dayes the Sadduces they denied the Resurrection Paul had to doe with these beasts which said Let us eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye But if Peter reasoned well 1 Cor. 15. 32. 1 Pet. 47. saying Now is the end of all things at hand be yee therefore sober and watching in prayer The Epicures in Pauls time reasoned vilely and beastly nam contrariorum contraria est ratio for of contraries there is a contrary reason Such skummes have beene in all ages when Esay spake of sackloth they spake of slaying of oxen and Esa 22. drinking wine when the Apostles spake with new tongues they spake with their old tongues and said that they were drunken with new wine when Paul spake of the true God the Athenians Act. 2. 13. called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a babbler a rascall a trifler when Christ wrought miracles they said that he did them by the Divell and Mat. 12. now that we speake of God and the Kingdome of God they say that we are idle and must say something and that our doctrine is good for those that have little to doe they deride us as simple men that know nothing with the Corinthians they call our preaching foolishnes with the Aegyptians they call our resort unto the Church idlenesse with the Captaines they call our Exod. 8. 2 Reg. 9. Act. 26. 1 Cor. 1. 21. Act. 26. 25. preachers madde men with Festus they call our zeale plaine dotage and madnesse and with Pliny they call our meetings conventicles but wee will answere them as Paul did the Corinths It pleaseth God through the foolishnes of preaching to save them that beleeve As the Apostle did Festus Wee are not mad but wee speake the Words of truth and sobernes As the Christians did Plinie Trajane and others for their night meetings our witnesse is above our praise is not with men but with God The Latines for mocking use a triple Synonyme Irrisio subsannatio Rom. 2. illusio à risu â—â—gatu ludo a laughing to skorne a mocking by snuffing up the nose and a scorning by way of jesting the first two are open the third more secret when we breake a jest upon our neighbour that tends to his disgrace Of these mockers there be sundry kindes Some that mocke God Some that mocke Gods man They that mocke God are of two sorts the open that deny Divers sorts of mockers both of God and men God in word and in deed as Pharaoh And the secret that professe in shew but deny in truth like the Sonne in the Gospell who in word said I go father but in truth went not at all Multi adorantes Crucem exteriùs Crucem spiritualem per contemptum conculcant Many will beare the Crosse in their bosomes that never imprint it in their hearts and many fall before it in their closet that never follow it in their lives Irrisor non poenitens qui adhuc agit quod penitet He is a 〈◊〉 Iside no repenter whose works are not answerable to their words These mocke-Gods shall one day feele the hand of God Glaucus that scoffed at Venus was torne in pieces with his mares Lycurgus despising Bacchus chopt his owne legs asunder as hee lopt his vines Holofernes acknowledging no God but Nabuchodonozer Iudith 13. was murthered by a woman the people that will sacrifice to the Queene of heaven were consumed with the sword of famine Nicanor that derided the Lord of the Sabbath lost his head hand shoulder Phericides in derision of the God-head bragged Ier. 44. 17. abroad that himselfe had as much prosperity that never did sacrifice as they that offred an hundred Hecatombs to the gods but was as Herod coÌ„sumed with lice Daphida a scoffer in derision Act. 12. 23. of Apollos Oracle at Delphos enquired of it whether he should find his horse that he lost when indeed hee had none the Oracle made this answere Inventurum quidem sed ut co turbatus periret that
life and grace and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit For these causes ought wee to keep our selves in the Love of God These among many are reasons most sorcible to keep our selves in the Love of God How our God is to bee loved our Saviour sheweth Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soule and with all thy mind But first wee must love Mat. 22 37. him with all our heart that is with all our affections joying and delighting in none but in him For he loves not God that delights in any thing more than God as Augustine saith truly Minus te amat qui aliquid tecum amat quod non propter te amat He loves thee not who loves any thing with thee which he loves Aug. not for thee 2. Wee must love him with all our soule induring rather a separation of the soule from the body than that our soule should bee separated from God who is the Soule of the soule and the comsort both of soule and body How we are to love God 3. Wee must love him with all our mind so that our cogitations must bee fixed upon him and ruled by him his Word should direct our reason our reason rule our wills that so wee may say with the Apostle wee live not but God doth live within us Our chiefest care should bee how to performe this duty to God how to love him as the Church said I am full of love I am sicke of love All owe this duty to God but few pay it or if they Cant. 5. 8. doe it is with crackt money not currant in Gods Exchequer for our love to God is cold yea plaine dead and that appeareth in the breach of the first Table wee are bankrupts both in piety towards God and charity towards men we love the world and our pleasures more than God wee worshippe not God in Spirit and in truth wee sweare and blaspheme the name of God wee prophane and pollute the Sabbaths of God wee come seldome to the house of God how can wee say that we love God The Love of God standeth in the keeping of his Commandements So saith our Saviour Hee that hath my Commandements Iohn 14. 21 23 24. and keepeth them is he that loves mee And againe If any man love me hee will keep my Word and my Father will love him and wee will come unto him and dwell with him And againe Hee that loveth mee not keepeth not my words c. Hee speaketh positively and privatively The blessed and undivided Trinity will dwell with that man who loveth God truely but till wee serve God in holinesse and righteousnesse till wee pray diligently heare his Word attentively receive the Sacraments penitently keepe the Sabbaths religiously use his name reverently let us be ashamed to say that wee love God Nam Regnum Dei non est in verbis 1 Cor. 4. 20. sed in virtute The Kingdome of God is not in word but in power Many Christians are mutilated and lame either they want an eare and cannot heare God or they want a tongue and cannot praise God or they want an heart and cannot love God These Atheists are a disgrace to Religion a Moth in the garment of the Church Monsters in nature Divels in shape of men as Christ said of Iudas hollow trees not holy trees these men are reprived till the last Sessions a gibbet is built in hell for them and all the gold in the world cannot purchase their pardon this is durus sermo sed verus sermo an hard saying but a true saying Wee talke of the love of men and say Charity is waxed cold but as touching the Love of God there is altum silentium not a word wee are like unslaked lime hot in the water cold in the Sunne as the stone of Thracia which burneth in the river but is quenched with hot oyle wee are pennie-wise and pound-foolish like the Pharises which did tithe Mint and Rew and all manner Luk. 11. 42. of hearbes and passed over judgement and the Love of God And yet if we loved God an ell where wee love him an inch it were but due debt O it is a most honorable thing to bee a lover of God! it was one of Abrahams greatest titles of honour to bee called the friend The hope of eternall life makes Gods precepts seeme easy of God it is a most blessed thing to bee a lover of God They that love the Lord shall be as the Sunne that riseth in his strength And it is a most miserable thing not to love God for Maranatha Anathema to them that love not the Lord Iesus Therefore as Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that God would guide their hearts in his Love and this Iudg. 5. 31. 1 Cor. 16. ought to bee thy prayer and my prayer and all our prayers that God would guide our hearts in his Love And God guide our hearts in his Love evermore THE FOVRE AND THIRTIETH SERMON VERS XXI Looking for the mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ unto eternall Life The hope of eternall life makes Gods precepts seem easie YEE have heard before that Iude gave the Saints many precepts now to mitigate the rigour of those precepts hee biddeth them looke for eternall life as if hee should say If it bee grievous to remember the words of the Lord to heare it to get faith to pray to keep themselves in the Love of God if nature if flesh and bloud wil hardly take out these lessons yet comfort your selves with the hope of eternall life there will bee an end of all troubles Salomon hath told you this long agoe saying Surely there is an end and thy hope shall not bee cut off Prov. 23. 18. all teares shall bee wiped from your eyes and yee shall bee filled with perfect joy after this iron world there is a golden world Esa 25. 8. there is a better life prepared for them in Gods house there are many dwellings as Christ said In my Fathers house there bee many mansions the time of refreshing will come as Peter said Act. Iohn 14. 1. 3. 19. And this is all joy and there is no joy but this I will give you Luk. 10. 19 20. power saith our Saviour to his disciples to treade on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you Neverthelesse in this rejoice not but rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven Let not the rich man rejoice in his riches nor the Hope of reward makes all labours light wiseman in his wisdom nor the strong man in his strength as Ieremy speaketh but let us rejoice that our names are written in heaven Shal the souldier in the wars the mariner in the boistrous Ier. 9. waves the husbandman in the cloddy lands the prentice in a hard service undergoe great paines in hope and shal not we For what
evill communications that is often conversation with the wicked noted by the plurall number corrupt good manners yea the Apostle is so severe in this point that hee will not have a wicked person suffered in the Congregation and therefore hee commandeth the incestuous Corinthian to bee cast out that is excommunicated and hee giveth the reason Know yee not that a 1 Cor. 5. 5. little leaven sowreth a whole lumpe Intimating thereby that one evill person might corrupt the whole Church and a little Colloquintida marreth a whole messe of pottage one scabbed sheepe 1 Reg. 4. 39. infecteth a flocke one sparke of fire may burne an house and one infected house may spoyle a Citie one roote of bitternesse Hebr. 12. 15. suffered to spring up may trouble and defile many sinne is as contagious as any disease and wee are as apt to take the contagion of sinne as of the plague This knew David well enough and We must hate sinne because God hates it in all therefore hee crieth out Depart from me yee wicked keepe aloofe come not neere me to infect my Royall person For I tell you plainely I will keepe the Commandements of my God Even so wee Psal 16. should not brooke the society of them that bee vile and wicked and hate to bee reformed and cast Gods Words behind them Psal 50. 17. But some will say This is a doctrine of precisenesse they say wee need not be so severe against sinners peccata eorum sunt parva pauca their sinnes be but small and few But small sinnes may wound the conscience and damne us if wee looke not to them to strive against them A mouse is but litle yet killeth he an Elephant if he get into his truncke a Scorpion is little yet able to sting a Lion unto death the Leopard being great is poysoned with an head of garlicke a little spittle of a man fasting will kill a serpent and the Divell by little sinnes will wound us to death The sinne and the coate of the sinne is to be hated quoth Ambrose Lib. 6. Hexameron A reason may be drawne from the blessed Trinity God the Father hateth sinne The foolish shall not stand in his sight and hee hateth them that worke iniquity Therefore we his children must hate Psal 5. 5. it God the Sonne hateth sinne saith the Apostle Thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity therefore we his fellow brethren Hebr. 1. 9. fellow heires must hate it that wee may be like our elder brother God the Holy Ghost hateth it therefore it is said Greeve not the Spirit by whom we are sealed unto the day of Redemption Ephes 4. Gen. 3. 15. Therefore wee the temples of him must hate it wee must hate the serpent and the seed of the serpent By the hatred of God against the sinne of Achan judge of all sinne As great as the Eagle is yet one may see her vertue in a feather for it consumeth all feathers as mighty as the fire of Aetna is yet one may feele the heate of it in a sparke as huge as the sea is yet one may taste the saltnesse of it in a droppe as great as the Whale is yet we may feele the power of him in one breath Hercules body was knowne by the length of his foote and wee by this sinne of Achan may know Gods hatred against all sinnes For the theft of Achan buried close under the ground brake forth such a stinch in the nostrils of God as that his garment brought the plague to the whole host and God no lesse hateth it in all men Finely saith Augustine Deus in non renatis odit peccata personas God hateth in the not regenerate both their sinnes and also their persons in renatis verò odit peccata non personas in the regenerate hee truly hateth their sinnes but not their persons as the physician hateth the disease of the sicke man not his person or body of the sicke Againe From whence commeth sinne but from the Divell What meane we then to joyne with Satan our enemy and the enemy of God Hee that committeth sinne is of the Divell for the Divell sinneth from the beginning Resist the Divell therefore give 1 Iohn 3. 8. no place to him He is an adversary and shall wee love him Hee Sinne must be hated as it tends to Gods dishonor is a serpent and shall we trust him Hee is a murderer and shall we intertaine him Sin is furthered by him therefore let us hate it I grant that some enemies are to bee loved because they are our enemies onely whereupon saith our Saviour Love your Iam. 4. 7. 1 Pet. 5. 8. Apoc. 10. â—ohn 8. 44. Mat. 5. 44. enemies doe good to them that hate you pray for them that persecute you And some are to be hated because they are Gods enemies and the friends of Satan so Iohn the sonne of Hanani the Seer went out to meete Iehosaphat and said unto him Wouldest thou helpe the 2 Chro. 19. 2. wicked and love them that hate the Lord Therefore for this thing the wrath of the Lord is upon thee And so the wrath and judgement of God is over all those that support the wicked and will not shew themselves enemies to all such as hate the Lord. Wicked men must be hated but yet for their evill not as the evill concerneth any way us but as the evill tendeth to the dishonour of God Simeon and Levi hated the Sychemites for the Gen. 34. 25. sinne of their sister Dinah but this hatred sprang not in that God was dishonoured by this sinne but from a regard of themselves because that hereby they might receive some disgrace So Absalon is said to have hated his brother Amnon because hee had forced his sister Tamar and two yeeres after he murdered his 2 Sam. 23. 22. brother for this fact this hatred of Absalon against Amnon though it were for Amnons wickednesse yet it was not good but wicked for the originall of this his hatred was not simply the sinne of Amnon as committed against God but because Absalon had some speciall disgrace hereby For Tamar was borne to David of the same woman that was mother also to Absalon But we must hate the wicked for their dishonoring of God and not suffer them to goe unreproved nor unpunished Immmunity and impunity cause much iniquity I would learne this Are Papists the friends of God or his enemies If they bee friends Why have wee professed otherwise these many yeeres If they bee enemies then doe wee well not to suffer them You know what Christ said to the Church of Pergamus I have a few things against Apoc. 2. 14. thee because thou hast there them that maintaine the doctrine of Balaam which taught Balac to put a stumbling blocke before the children of Israel Vers 15. that they should eate of things sacrificed unto Idols and commit fornication even so
and concludeth his Epistle with it Grace bee with you Amen for wee must not doubt of Gods promises but beleeve stedfastly That all the promises of God are in Amen diversly used in Scripture Christ yea and are in him AMEN Againe this word Amen teacheth us to desire earnestly 2 Tim. 4. 22. and fervently the thing wee pray for For the prayer of the righteous availeth much if it bee fervent David was fervent in his Iam. 9. 16. Psal 106. 48. prayer Blessed bee the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever and let all the people say Amen And verily this word Amen noteth our desire our earnest fervent desire to bee heard and to obtaine it is in effect thus much O Lord thus bee it unto mee what my tongue or soule have begged give it me grant it me Amen Amen So Lord even so Lord. FINIS THE TABLE OF THE Sermons upon Saint IVDE Points handled Serm. 1. THe holy Ghost the Author of all Scripture Fol. 1. Two Iudases 1 Iscariot 2 Brother of Iames 1 Some Scriptures doubted of 2 A threefold office of the Church concerning Scripture 3 Honourable titles given the wicked why 4 Stormes should not discourage the godly ibid. Three sorts of servants ibid. Gods service most happy 5 Gods service perfect freedome ibid. Brings all good to us 6 All other service vile or dangerous 7 Mans dignity in three things 8 Priviledges of Gods servants ibid. Pope abuseth the title of servant 9 Servants must imitate their Master obey him 10 Gods servants rewarded ibid. Servants may not Lord it over the rest of the Family 11 Godly profession brings more glory than honourable alliance 12 13. Sermon 2. VOcation the first step to Salvation 15 Before calling wee are children of wrath not capable of Christ 16 The happinesse of having the Gospell 17 Vocation Externall Internall Invitation Admission 17 18 Externall calling unprofitable without internall 18 The efficacie of Gods Word in the ministery thereof 19 Vocation diverse in respect of time and place 20 None called for desert ibid. Sanctification followes vocation 21 God as he beginne will finish till he glorifie ibid. Sanctification three-fold Imputed unto us Wrought in us Wrought by us 22 Difference of righteousnesse of Iustification and Sanctification 23 Papisticall doctrine tends to licentiousnes ours to holinesse ibid. Faith and Workes joyned in the person justified in the act of justification 24 Sermon 3. CHrists Priesthood two parts Redemption Intercession 26 Redemption hath two parts Reconciliation and Sanctification ibid. Reconciliation consists in two points Remission of sinnes and imputation of Christs righteousnesse 27 Iustification what it is ibid. Adoption what it is ibid. Benefits of Adoption and Iustification 27 Sanctification consists in mortification and vivification 28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath his beginning godly sorrow his companion the Spirituall combat ibid. Sanctification but in part as our knowledge ibid. Divers acceptions of holinesse 29 Wee must bee holy because God is holy 30 Wee must bee holy because it is the end of our Redemption 31 Without holinesse no salvation ibid. Wee must bee holy because called Saints ibid. All our holinesse is from God 32 The persons of the Trinity distinguished 33 Preservation in the state of Grace the chiefest blessing 34 Gods providence preserves in all accidents of life 35 God frees from all afflictions 36 God preserves his Scriptures and Saints 37 Gods preservation of soule and spirituall estate most gracious 38 39 Sermon 4. MErcie Peace and Love three most excellent gifts 40 How these three flow from the Trinity ibid. How mercy in God 41 A rule for Christian salutations ibid. Mercy fourefold ibid. Generall mercies bestowed on all ibid. Speciall mercies on the elect ibid. The long suffering of God 42 The greatest mercy concernes salvation ibid. Our election is of Mercy ibid. Gods abundant mercy in Christ 43 Mercy seven-fold ibid. All that wee have is of mercy ibid. Misericordia communis peccantium portus ibid. Peace three-fold 44 Peace the ornament of the Church and signe of Christs Kingdome ibid. God the Author of Peace 45 A commendation of peace ibid. Contention cause of destruction 46 Vnion makes powerfull ibid. True peace to bee sought and imbraced 47 Righteousnesse cause of peace ibid. Peace of Conscience passeth all understanding 48 Prosperity profiteth not without peace of Conscience ibid. The wicked have no peace 49 Christ dyed rose ascended to perfect our peace ibid. Peace is used for outward prosperitie 50 All priviledges spirituall and temporall belong to the godly ibid. Yet sometime God withholds outward blessings 51 Sermon 5. God loves the fountaine of mercy peace and all good things 52 Gods love is most abundant immeasurable immutable unspeakeable 53 How God is said to be love ibid. Love of man to man the most excellent vertue 54 No Love to man without the love of God 55 True love rare among men 56 That love which is truely Christian must be embraced all other abandoned 57 Not sufficient to have grace but there must be a desire of increase till we come to glory 58 Sermon 6. FAith the most necessarie and excellent vertue 61 Sonnes three-fold by Nature by Doctrine by Adoption or Inspiration 62 Faith set out by it's attributes that wee might labour for it 63 Many carelesse to get Faith or maintaine it ibid. Faith must bee maintained to the death 64 A foure-fold fight and flight of Ministers ibid. The zeale of Idolaters and Heretickes for false religion should make us to be zealous for Gods truth 65 Divers degrees of zeale ibid. God lookes to the truth of our zeale not the heate 66 God accepts according to that a man hath if in truth ibid. Love ought to bee shewed in all our instructions and reprehensions 67 What love required in Ministers to their people ibid. Wee must be zealous in the matter of Religion and industrious for our soules 68 Salvation ought to be our onely ayme to have it assured to our selves and propagated to others 69 Many more regard humane writings yea vaine pamphlets than Scriptures 70 All men ought to labour to get assurance of salvation 71 Salvation common in three respects ibid. As salvation is common so the Church Catholicke 72 Writing the most safe meanes to performe God truth ibid. Traditions bring errors to the Church 73 Exhortation powerfull urged in meekenesse 74 The Minister must exhort and the people suffer the Word of exhortation 75 Sermon 7. GOds truth must bee maintained 76 Faith the gift of God a fruit of the Spirit ibid. Divers acceptions of Faith 77 Divers excellent attributes of saving Faith ibid. Faith a worke of the Trinity 78 The meanes to beget Faith outwardly the Ministery of the Word inwardly the operation of the Spirit 79 True Faith in few in all ages ibid. True Religion most ancient and Scriptures before all other writings 80 As God is immutable so his truth and Religion ibid. Though types and shadowes vanish truth and
243 The envious is fretted at good and glad at the evill betides any ibid. Cain was prophane and grudged at Gods sacrifice 244 Many like Cain grudge to give that is good to God ibid. Gods Ministers are to have honourable maintenance 245 Sacriledge odious among the Heathen they have observed the vengeance of their gods have followed such as have beene sacrilegious ibid. God himselfe hath punished sacriledge in all ages 246 Hypocrites and dissemblers pretend good intend evill ibid. God detesteth hypcrisie and falshood 247 Desperation the bane of the soule excluding Gods mercie ibid. Sermon 21. COvetousnesse the roote of evill and ruine of good 249 Many woes against covetousnesse 250 The covetous man trusteth more in his riches than in the blessed Trinity ibid. Covetousnes deprives the covetous of the 8. beatitudes and makes them subject to the contrary curses 251 Covetousnesse insatiable 253 Covetousnes excludes out of Heaven ibid. Riches unprofitable to soule and body credit and estate 254 A couetous minde never satisfied 255 Vsurers more cruell than wilde beasts ibid. Riches uncertaine not to bee relied on 256 Riches unprofitable if in superfluity 257 Riches preserve not neither from temporall nor spirituall evils 258 Riches not hurtfull by nature but by corruption ibid. Riches hurtfull to the outward and inward man 259 Sermon 22. GOds mercy contemned draweth on judgement 261 The utility and necessity of both Magistracie and Ministery in Church and Common-wealth 262 Government necessary for preservation of states ibid. Three formes of Government viz. Monarchy Aristocracy Democratie ibid. Reasons why Monarchy the best 263 All lawfull government of God ibid. Rebellion pernicious not onely to states but to the Rebels themselves 264 Resemblances being ordinary teach best 266 Preachers may use humane learning but the Word must be his ground to give light 268 The creatures afford a double consideration one naturall another morall or spirituall 269 Epicurisme hath many sinnes accompanying it ibid. Drunkennesse and glutonny odious and pernicious 270 Nature teacheth temperance and sobrietie 271 Wee are most prone to sinne in our drunkennesse ibid. Drunkennesse makes uncapable of Gods spirit and spirituall graces 272 Gluttonous Epicures neither glorifie God nor releeve the poore ibid. Dangerous to converse with Epicures lest stained by them 273 How one may converse with the wicked 274 Love-feasts how used abused abolished 275 Sermon 23. PRide many wayes occasioned every way odious to God 277 Pride vaine in three respects 278 Pride hath beene in all places and all sorts ibid. The godly sometime overtaken by it ibid. Pride is expressed in the things that pertaine to God sixe wayes 279 Pride shewes it selfe many wayes ibid. The proud man insulteth over all 280 Though all prone to pride yet usually the basest proudest ibid. Pride the cause of contention ibid. Pride makes us forget our mortalitie ibid. The proud odious to all God Angels Men onely please the Divell 281 God detesteth pride ibid. Pride is both in Church and Common-wealth and causes heresie in the one and disorder in the other 282 Pride so puffes up men as they become not onely foolish but phrentike ibid. Pride brings shame and destruction 283 Pride will shew it selfe after the death of the proud 284 Knowledge and riches the cause of pride ibid. True zeale like fire that kindleth and burneth by degrees till it come to a full flame 285 Hypocrisie most odious to God and severely punished by him ibid. Sincerity most pleasing to God 286 Christ pronounced against no sinne so many woes as against hypocrisie 289 Hypocrisie blasphemy ibid. Hypocrites make faire showes without truth inwardly pretend religion when they intend the subversion of it 290 Sincerity very rare hypocrisie hath banished 292 Men often compared to trees to shew that God lookes for fruits or wee must looke for the axe ibid. Many carnall gospellers few true professours 293 Most like trees twice dead both in words and deeds 294 Wee must take heed of the sinne of hypocrisie lest wee indure the punishment ibid. Sermon 24. HEll set out by divers names yet none sets it out sufficiently but are as shadowes or the beginning of sorrowes 213 Hell torments amplified being opposed to the joyes of Heaven 297 The damned every way tormented 298 The effects of Gods wrath in afflicting Christ bearing our sinnes and punishing others temporally may serve to set out the torments of the damned whom he punisheth eternally 299 The damned suffer all punishments both of losse and sense 300 The horror of hell should make us abhorre sinne 301 Nothing more hard then the impenitent heart 302 Hell torments as unspeakable so everlasting and irremissible 303 Hell fire compared with our elementary fire in five respects 304 Iudgement and damnation necessary to be preached in time of sinne and security 306 The wicked shall be tormented according to their sinnes the greater sinnes the greater punishment 307 Sermon 25. THere must bee a tyme of manifesting Gods Iustice as well as his power and mercy 301 Antiquity with verity most authentike 308 Traditions equalled with Scriptures by Bellarmine and the Papists ibid. The Scriptures all sufficient for faith and manners 311 Though some scriptures are lost yet so much as is necessary to salvation is preserved ibid. Iudgement fourefold 312 Iudgement generall must needs be as prooved by Scripture ibid. The second person of the Trinity shall judge 313 Christ shall judge as man and why 314 Though Christ shall come in his humanity to judge yet with power and great glory 315 Iudgement fearefull to all much more to the wicked ibid. Christs second comming to judgement compared with his first 316 Christs glory appeared in his humility at his first comming 317 The greatnes of Gods mercy at first aggravates the severity of his justice at the last 318 God hath two Courts Forum misericordiae Forum justitiae Ibid. Gods judgement impartiall 319 Iudgement shall be generall of all men and of every Worke Word Thought 320 Swearers blasphemers most abominable 322 Gods judgement most certaine 324 The conscience of the wicked tell him there will be a judgement 325 The consideration of Christs comming to judgement ought to terrify the wicked comfort the godly instruct all 326 Sermon 26. MVrmuring two-fold against God and against men 329 Murmuring and discontent in most ibid. Murmuring the sinne of the Israelites 330 Murmurers never content ibid. Murmurers severely punished 331 We must patiently subject our wils to Gods 332 The remedies against murmuring ibid. The Saints have bene discountenanced yet subjected their wils to Gods will and have been pacified and comforted 334 Man murmures against man for diuers causes 335 All estates are discontent and murmure against others 336 Murmuring the property of base and envious persons ibid. The lusts of the flesh must be tamed 337 God uses many meanes to teach us to tame our lusts ibid. Most men rather follow their lusts than obey Gods Word 338 Evill thoughts and inordinate affections must be vanquished ibid.