AN EXPOSITION VPON THE whole Epistle of Saint Iude.

BEfore I enter upon the handling of this Epistle, I will speake briefly, first of the Author, 2. of the Penman, 3. of the Argu­ment. 4. of the Occasion of this Epistle. For I cannot dilate at large as Salomon did of trees, from the Cedar to the Isop: nor as Pliny did of beasts, frō the Elephant to the Pismeire, nor as Lactantius did of Fi­shes, from the Whale to the Lamprey. And first, for the Author of this booke: it is the holy Ghost For all Scripture is given by inspiration from God, and Prophecie, came 1 Tim. 3, 16. 2. Pet. 1. 20. Luke 1. not in old time by the Will of man, but holy men spake as they were moved by the spirit of God, and it was God that spake by the mouth of all his Pro­phets which have been since the World began. And as he directed the tongues of Holy men to speake, and therfore saith our Saviour, It is not yee that speake but the spirit of my father in you; so he directed Mat. 10. 20. their pens to write, so that it was not they that wrote, but the holy Ghost by them. By this therefore it evidently appeareth, of what reverent account this Epistle, ought for to bee, seeing it hath the holy Ghost for the Author.

2 The penman or writer was Iude, or Iudas, and of this name our Saviour had two disciples: The one called Iudas Iscariot, Who for thirty peeces of silver betraied, & basely sold his Lord and Master. Servus Dominum, discipulus magistrum, homo Deum, crea­tura Mat. 26. creatorem vendidit, The servant betraid, sold, most basely sold his Lord. The disciple his Master, man God, the creature the Creator; Infoelix mercator Iudas, O unhappy Merchant, Iudas!

The other called Iudas, the son of Alphaeas, called also Thaddeus & Labbeus, who was brother to Iames, & cosin to the Lord Iesus, in the flesh: The occasion of which name, with the reason therof, is set down in the 29. of Gen. the 35, V. For when Leah had borne Iudg. 15. Act. 18. 28. cap. 6. 10. three sons to Iacob, she conceived and bare a fourth Sonne, saying, Now will I praise and confesse the Lord, and shee called his name Iudah.

This Iude was as rare and notable an Apostle to beat downe the Heretickes of that time, as Sampson did the Philistines, as Apollo did the Iewes, as Stephen did the Libertines & Cirenians, as Paphuntius did the Councell of Nice in Ministers marriage.

[Page 2] Concerning the Argument, of this Epistle, it is a stirring The Argu­ment and oc­casion or this Epistle. them up to a Christian life, to shew foorth the fruits of faith to ioyne with Words, Workes, with communication, con­versation, with hearing, keeping, with profession, practice: For after planting must come growing, after light walking Col. 1. Ephes 5. 9. 2 Pet. 1. Esa. 2. 3. Iam. 1. 22. after faith workes, after teaching obedience, after a good pro­fession some good practice.

Beside, here in this Epistle, hee inveigheth sharpely against carnall profession, and grosse abusing of Christian Religion. And also he admonisheth them to beware of imposters, sedu­cers, false teachers, cunning deceivers, which were craftily crept in amongst them, drawing men from purity in Religion to impurity of the flesh: Whom the Apostle lively painteth out in their severall colours, and against whom hee denounceth many Iudgements of God.

The occasion of writing this Epistle was this; It is affirmed by the most learned of all times, and agreed upon by the best writers, that this Apostle Iude, outlived many (yea most) of the Apostles, continuing and preaching in Mesopotomia, Pon­tus, Persis, and other parts of the world, till the Reigne of Domitian the Emperour; in whose reigne Iniquity reigned, Impiety abounded, corruption of manners and dissolution in life raged in every place; for many there were, that were Wantons in manners, and heretikes in opinion, against whom hee did lift up his voyce like a trumpet. So that this Epistle is notable, and written for our learning; howsoever some deny, this Epistle to bee Cannonicall; as Cardinall Cajetane, who Esa. 58. 1. Rom. 15. 4. calleth it Aprocriphall: Which I note the rather, to meete with Campian, and Reighnolds, who say, that wee Protestants re­ject the Scriptures, that wee leave no ground for a Christian to rest his Faith on, because Luther doubted of Iames his Epistle, and wee of the Apocripha. But did not Dionisius Alexandrinus say, that most of his predecessors reiected the Apocalips? Did not the Councell of Laodicia leave it out of the Canon? Did not Eu­mil [...]us Africanus, deny the bookes of Esra, Iob, Paralipomenon? Did not Ierome call the history of Davids Marriage, a Poeticall fiction, an unseemely iest? Did not Cardinall Caietane, a Piller of the Church, a Peere of the Court of Rome, accuse the Epistle to the Hebrewes to containe too weake grounds to prove Christs divinitie, and yet left they ground for our faith to rest on. So that there was no cause for Campian and Reigh­nolds to pearch on their rowses, to clap their wings, to crow so lowd, to whet their dogges eloquence against us. Some Scriptures have beene doubted of of some Churches, as the se­cond Epistle of Saint Peter, the second and third, of Saint John, and some have beene reiected of all Churches, As the Epistle of Barnabas. The Acts of Peter, The booke of the Pastor. The Gospel [Page 3] of Nicodemus and Thaddaeus, &c. God hath kept the Scriptures. Of the parts the Epistle. The person writing it.

God hath kept the Scriptures in all ages, so much as is necessary for our salvation. At the giving of the Law, it was reserved in tables of stone. After the giving of the Law the writings of the Prophets were nailed to the doore of the Temple, and reserved in the Lords treasury. Before the cap­tivity the Septuagint turned them into Greeke, and Ptolo­maeus Exod. 34. Heb. 2. the King kept them; After the captivitie; Ezra gathered all into one volume, in the dayes of Artaxerxes; and the Church have kept them as Aarons Rod, and the pot of Manna, and as the two Tables were kept in the Arke, &c. In the primative Church, the Gospell of Mathew was kept in Iewry, the Gospell of Marke at Alexandria, that of Luke at Antioch, that of Iohn and the Apocalips at Ephesus: Nam triplex est munus Ecclesiae, the Chur­ches office is threefold; Sacros libros servare instar testis, eos pro­mulgare instar proeconis, eos ab aliis discernere; to keepe these sacred bookes as a witnesse, to promulgate them, as a Preacher, and to discerne them from other bookes whatsoever. And thus the Church hath kept this Epistle of Iude, unto this day. Fremat licet C [...]jetanus. All Tyrants have raged against the Scripture; An­tiochus, for his hatred of the Scriptures is called [...], for he beheaded them, that had the Bible; Dioclesian commanded the bookes of the Scripture to be burnt, yet by the wonderfull providence of God they are preserved.

And thus much being spoken concerning the Author, the Penman, the Occasion, and Argument of this Epistle, I will now come unto the Epistle it selfe: the which may be divided into five parts.

First, The title or superscription.

Secondly, The Exordium.

Thirdly, A proposition.

Fourthly, Exhortations, and dehortations.

Fiftly, The conclusion, or the shutting up of the Epistle, with a prayer to God.

But first to begin with the title or superscription, and therein observe with me three things.

First, The person writing.

Secondly, The persons written unto.

Thirdly, The Salutation.

Now the person writing is described three wayes:

First by his name, Iude.

Secondly, By his calling, a servant of Christ.

Thirdly, By his kindred, The brother of Iames.

But first, the person writing is described by his name, and that was Iude, or Iudas, not Iudas Iscariot, the traytor, but Iudas the brother of Iames, and Cousin to the Lord Iesus Christ in the flesh, yet both were the Apostles of Christ, but this man good [Page 4] and godly, that wicked and ungodly: For it is nor the name or The Writer by his name and calling descri­bed. office that makes a good man; but the Grace and Mercie of God; If outward titles could make good men, Iudas Iscariot, had beene as good as this Apostle, Nay better, for Iudas Iscariot was Christs steward, his pursebearer, disburser of all things for Christ and his company, and yet a theefe, a traytor, a devill: Non omnes filii Sanctorum, qui loca sancta tenent. They are not all the sonnes of Saints, nor Saints themselves, which hold the places of Saints. God oftentimes bestoweth upon wicked men lofty titles and high places, partly to their greater condemnation; the mighty, shall be mightily tormented; and partly for the punishment of ungratefull people, as Saul over the Israelites.

Againe, in that Iude was not ashamed of his name, but in the very first inscription of this Epistle setteth downe his name, wee which are the Ministers of God are taught, not to be ashamed of our calling, though scornefully by scorners of Religion, wee are termed Priests. The Iewes though they mocked Christ, when bowing their knees, they cryed, Haile King of the Iewes, against their wils they honoured him; for indeed he was King of the Iewes, and of the Gentiles: So these gracelesse contemners of our glorious calling, when they thinke to vilifie us, by calling us Priests, (against their wils) they magnifie us: their re­proachfull scoffes should not daunt us, nor discourage us in our calling, for he that hath called us and sent us, will bee with us, as hee was with Moses, and as he was with Ieremie. Be not affraid Exod. 3. 12. Ier. 1. 8. of their faces, I will be with thee.

Secondly, the person writing is described by his calling, for he calleth himselfe, Servum Dei, The servant of God.

Of servants there bee three sorts: Some are servants by slavish and voluntary subjection; these the Apostle calls, The servants of sinne; Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati; He which Iohn 8. 34. Rom. 6. 16. committeth sinne, is the servant of sinne, and they which serve sinne, Duram serviunt servitutem, serve an hard service, for the wages of sinne is Death.

Secondly, There be servants by condition; which are either born such by nature, or taken captives in Warre, or bought with money. To these servants, Saint Paul speaketh thus, Servants obey those which are your Masters, according to the flesh, with feare and Ephes 6. 5, 6. August de Ci­vu Dei, lib. 19. Cap. 15. trembling, and with simplicitie of heart, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ: Nomen istud culpâ mervit, non natura, This name of servant not nature but sinne deserved; For the name of servant was never heard of, till Noah cursed Canaan, the sonne of Cham, Who discovered his fathers nakednesse, Cur­sed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he bee. Gen. 9. 25.

Thirdly, Servants by Office, Calling and Profession, and these are of two sorts; for men are either the servants of God generally, or particularly.

[Page 5] Generally, they are Gods servants, which acknowledge Servants of God, divors kinds of them. To be Gods servant the greatest ho­nour. him for their Lord, and doe that service which is due to him, Hi veri servi Dei, These are the true servants of the true God; and such servants must wee bee, if wee will be saved.

Particularly, they are the servants of God, who in some se­verall calling doe service to God, as Magistrates and Ministers, these, [...], in a speciall service be the servants of God. Now Iude professeth himselfe a servant of Iesus Christ; First, by con­dition, because by Christ hee was redeemed and delivered from the slavery of Sinne, and tyranny of Satan. Secondly, by Of­fice, and calling also, hee was the servant of Iesus Christ, not onely in his generall calling, as hee was a Christian, but also in his particular, as he was an Apostle. And note that Saint Iude doth not call himselfe a governor, a or teacher, or an Apostle, but the servant of Iesus Christ, as Paul doth, and as Iames and Peter did; For this is the best title, above the title of Lords, Dukes, Phil. 1. 1. Iam. 1. 1. 1 Pet. 1. 2. Esa. 40. 23. Kings, Emperours, who perish. For God bringeth the Princes to no­thing, and maketh the Iudges of the Earth as Vanitie. It is more to bee the servant of Iesus Christ, than to be the greatest Prince, Potentate, or Personage in the World, for if the servants of Iesus Christ, though never so poore, base, and beggerly, yet happy and blessed: if not the servants of Iesus Christ, though never so rich, noble, and great, yet miserable and wretched. This knew Paul, and therefore trode all his titles under his feet as Phil. 3. 5, 6. dung, so that he might know Christ and serve him. This service lasteth for ever, as a colour set on with oyle. And the Lord Iesus as Man is called a servant, as God he was Lord of men and An­gels, for he was the man Iesus, and the Lord Iesus. Gods service is per­fect 1 Cor. 8. freedome, Gods servants on Earth, are freemen in Heaven. Citizen with the Saints, Free Denizens of the celestiall Ierusalem, their Ephes. 2. 19. Rom. 6. 22. fruit is in holinesse, and their end everlasting life. What honour should wee desire but this, to bee the servants of God? Godli­nesse 1 Tim. 1, 6. is great gaine; and to serve God, hath promise, both of this life, and the life to come. If the service of Salomon was so good a service: That they were counted happy that stood before him. 1. Chro. 12. What is the service of God, and how happy are his servants? Many thinke themselves much graced and honoured, if they can get into some Noblemans service, and weare his Livery, as did Doeg, and the servants of Saul; how much more honour is it to 1 Sam. 22. bee Gods servant? Who will make us of servants Sonnes, heires Ephes. 5, 6. and coheires with Christ. The Israelites found Gods service to be the best service, 2 Chron. 12. 8. Cyrus at the conquest of Baby­lon, offered largely to them, that would serve him; but God offereth more largely. Theodosius held it more noble to be mem­brum Ecclesiae, quam caput imperii, a member of the Church, than the head of the Empire. So we may resolve, that it is better to be a servant of God, than Lord of all the World. For while [Page 6] wee serve him, all other creatures in earth and in heaven serve God needs not our ser­vice, wee need his Lordship. us. But if we will be Gods servants, we must addict our selves wholy to his service, and to serve God in earth, as the Angels doe in heaven: for so wee pray, Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven. And for this end were wee created; therefore saith the Mat. 6. 10. Apostle, Wee are the workemanship of God, created in Christ Iesus unto good workes. And what better worke than to serve the Lord Ie­sus? Nay, the service of God is the end of our Redemption, For he Luke 1. 74. hath delivered us from the hands of our enemies, that wee should serve him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life. Nay, the service of God is the end of our glorification; There­fore the Apostle would have us to walke worthy our God, who hath 1 Thess. 2. 12. called us unto his Kingdome of glory. And therefore unlesse wee e­steeme vilely of our Creation, Redemption, and Glorification, wee must become Gods servants, and serve him in feare, and rejoyce Psal. 2. 11. before him with trembling.

Austine Observeth, God was never called Lord, until he had pla­ced Adam in Paradise, before he was called God simply; but now the Lord God, because hee was not so much a Lord to Angels and other creatures as unto man, to teach him that hee must live under Gods lordship, and serve him. For though Adam was lord of the creatures, and the creatures must serve him; yet Adam had a Lord whom he must serve. And yet God needeth not our service, and therefore saith David, O my soule, thou hast said unto Psal. 16. 2. Psal. 50. 10, 11. the Lord, my well doing extendeth not to thee: all the beasts of the For­rests are his, and the beasts on a thousand Mountaines, hee knowes all the fowles on the Mountaines, and wilde beasts of the Fields are his. Who (saith the Apostle) hath knowne the minde of the Lord? or Who was his Counsellor? or Who hath given unto him first? and hee shall bee re­compenced? Rom. 11. 35, 36. But howsoever hee standeth not in need of our ser­vice, wee stand in need of his Lordship and protection; that wee may bee safe under his Wings; that wee feare not the feare of the Psal. 91. night, nor the arrow that flyeth by day, nor the pestilence that walketh in the darke, nor the plague that destroyeth at noone-day. And doe wee stand in need of his Lordship? Let us understand our wants, and performe our service and duty to the Lord: For thus hee reasoneth by the Prophet; The Sonne honoureth his Father, the Ser­vant Mal. 1. 5. his Master: If I bee your Father, where is my honour? If your Master, where is my feare? Let not God say of us, as of the Isra­elites, I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against mee. Ravenna saith thus, A move radium a Sole, & non lucet, ri­vulum Esa. 1. 2, 3. a fonte, & arescit, a radice ramum, & exiccatur, a corpore mem­brum, & putrescit, obedientiam a Christiano, & perit. Take away the beame from the Sunne, and it shineth not, the river from the Foun­taine, and it dryeth up, the bough from the Roote, and it withereth, the member from the Body, and it rotteth, and obedience from a Christian, and hee perisheth.

[Page 7] Consider what Adam lost by his evill service, he fell from pu­rity Adams losse for his evill ser­vice. If we wil serve God, the crea­tures shall serve us. to corruption, from eternitie to mortalitie, from Angels to men, from heaven to hell, had not the promised seed come in. Hee was expelled out of Paradise as a Rebell, an Outlaw, and a shaking Sword hanging to keepe him out. Hee came out of Eden a pleasant garden, to toyle among Nettles, Bryers, bram­bles, like the men of Penuel: Hee became a slave to the crea­tures, Gen. 3. 15. Iudg. 9. the creatures rebels against him to this day. Homo nascitur cum dolore, man is borne with griefe; Vivit cum labore, he lives by labour; Moritur cum moerore, hee dyes with sorrow. Quis mihi da­bit fontem lachrymarum, ut defleam hominis miserabilem ingressum, cul­pabilem Innocentius. progressum, desolatum egressum? Who shall give mee a fountaine of teares, that I may bewaile mans miserable in­gresse, his culpable progresse, and desolate egresse? I know that God hath turned this curse into a blessing; for Plus in Christo lacrati sumus, quam perdidimus in Adamo, wee have gained more in Christ, than ever wee lost in Adam. For if by the offence of one (saith Saint Paul) Death raigned through one, much more shall they which Rom. 5. 17. 18. receive the abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousnesse reigne in life through one, that is Iesus Christ. Likewise then, as by the offence of one, the fault came on all men to condemnation: So by the justify­ing of one, the benefit abounded toward all men, to the justification of life. Thus wee have gained more in Christ than wee lost by A­dam. Yet this is of mercy, not of merit; of favour, not of duty; Witnesse the Apostle, saying, But when the bountifulnesse and love of God our Saviour towards man, appeared not by the workes of Tit. 3. 4, 5. righteousnesse, which wee had done, but according to his mercie hee sa­ved us, by the washing of the new birth, and the renewing of the holy Ghost: Which he shined on us abundantly, through Iesus Christ our Sa­viour. But Augustine answereth this more fully, and saith, That Adams disobeying God lost his honour, hee serving God, all creatures served him, hee disobeying God, all diso­beyed him: The earth bringeth forth Weedes, Thornes, Veni­mous things: The sea swallowes us up, with flowes and stormes: the ayre fighteth against us with Thunders, Lightenings, Tem­pests, the heavens conspire against us with mortality of Pesti­lence, the wilde beasts devoure us. But to them that serve God, God maketh his creatures serve them, the earth to bring forth corne, grasse, fruits; the ayre, to be sweet, the sea, to bee calme, the beasts, to be helpefull: Even so the Lions hurted not Daniel, the Viper stung not Paul, the Whale crushed not Ionas, the Crowes Dan. 6. Act. 28. Iob. 2. 1. Reg. 19. Luke 16. Num. 21. fedde Elias, the dogges licked Lazarus, the Serpents of Sinai poisoned not Israel. The Ecclesiasticall and tripartite histo­rie tels us how the Crowes nourished Anthony an Hermit: and Paulus Thaebeus, how a Lionesse fedde Marcarius; how an Hart brought Egidius meat into the Wildernesse; how Helenus com­manded a wilde Asse to carry his burthen. I passe over that of [Page 8] Linus, Romulus and Rhemus nourished of a shee-Woolfe; and God must bee served: sinne brought in the first ser­vice. that of Plutarch, of the Elephant that loved a Maid of Etholia; and that of Plinie, of a Panther that ledde a man out of the de­sart into a plaine way; and that of Lucian, of a Dolphin that carried Arion. If wee serve God, The stones in the streete shall bee in league with us, and the beasts of the field shall bee at peace with us; Ieb 5. 23. that is, all creatures shall serve us.

Let us then addict our selves wholy unto his service, not ser­ving any other Master, but him, not the World, not the Flesh, not the Divell, not Antichrist. Not the World, Ne illecti, lest wee are allured with vaine pleasures, and the lying vanities thereof: not of the Flesh, Ne infecti, lest stayned, polluted, defiled there­with: not the Divell, Ne interfecti, lest devoured and destroyed by him; not Antichrist, Ne decepti, lest seduced and misled by him. It is a base service to serve the World, for that is to become a vassall unto our servants; it is an uncertaine service to serve the Flesh, this master is so cholerick, so weake, so sickly, that wee may looke every day to be turned out of doores, and that which is worst of al he is least, contented when he is most satisfied: It is an unthrifty service, to serve the Divell, all his wayes are death, the more service wee doe him, the worse is our estate: It is an irreligious service to serve Antichrist, for such as have the marke of the Beast, shall perish with the beast: But he that serves God, hath the greatest Lord, who is most able, and the best Lord, who is most willing to preferre his followers, and reward his servants. Let us then serve him, for we are his servants, Iure creationis, jure sustentationis, jure redemptionis; By right of creation, sustenta­tion, redemption. If every haire of our head were a life, and e­very life as long as Methuselahs, it were too little to serve God.

True it is, that Cham was pronounced the first servant, as I ob­served Gen 3. Gen. 8. before; for man was made to rule, and not to serve. But as sinne brought in the first nakednesse, and the first travell of wo­men in paine, and the first death, and the first sorrow, and the first flood; so it brought in the first service: Onely by Christ wee are Manumised: Hominis dignitas in tribus splendet, The dignity of Rom. 8. 15. man shineth forth in three things, In imagine Dei, in the image of God; In ejus creationis ex nihilo, in his creation of nothing; In eius dominio super omnes creaturas, in his dominion over all his creatures; ut ergo tria haec per peccatum amisit, sic per gratiam recu­peravit, as hee lost these three things by sinne, so by grace hee hath recovered them, dum Domino servit, a quo defecit, while hee serves God from whom hee fell.

Now therefore by grace, wee are called servants; and if that John 15. Iohn 3. Mar. 3. Gal. 3. be too little, wee are called the Friends of God, Friends of the bride­groome: and if that be too little, wee are called Brethren, Sisters of Christ: if that be too little, wee are called The Sonnes of God: if that be too little, wee are called the Spouse of God, the wife of the Apoc. 19. 7. [Page 9] Lambe: And if all this bee too little, wee are called the members of The Pope no Apostle of God, yet cals himselfe, ser­vum servorum. God, and of Christ Iesus. O the breadth, and length, and depth, and heighth of the love of God towards us, that we should be called, not forreiners, but servants; not servants, but friends; not friends, but brethren; not brethren, but sonnes; not sonnes, but wives; not wives, but members. 1 Cor. 12.

By the way observe here, that the Pope not calling himselfe, servum Dei, the servant of God, but servum servorum, a servant of Gen. 9. servants; calleth himselfe by a cursed title, as Cham was, and in­deed he is a servant of servants, that serveth not Christ.

But (say some) hee calleth himselfe a servant of servants, to shew his humility. Indeed hee is lowly in name, as any Apostle, but as proud in spirit as the Whore of Babylon, that makes herselfe Lady over Kings and Emperours. For did not Pope Zachary make Childerike the French King, to trot by his bridle three miles together? Did not Hildebrand cause Henry the fourth to stand three dayes at his gates, with his wife and his child barefooted? Did not Clement the fifth make Dandalus Duke of Venice to lye under his Table like a dogge, to gather crummes? Did not Alexander the third tread on the necke of that noble Fredericke in Venice? Did not Innocent depose King Iohn of Eng­land? Did not Clemens the seventh labour to depose Henry the eighth? Did not Pius quintus send a Bull against our Queene? Did not Clemens the eighth cause the French King to goe bare­footed to Saint Dennis, as a Penitentiary? The troubles of these five hundred yeeres past, may bee ascribed to Popes; all Gre­cia yet rueth it; all Africa, the mother of Martyrs, feeleth it; the German Emperours tossed like tennise balles, may not forget it; the Kings of France have felt it; the States of Italy have beene shaken with it: the Kings of England have beene deposed, whipped, murdered; Let King Iohn speake, Richard the second, Henry the eighth, and Queene Elizabeth. Is this a servant of ser­vants, that will thus insult over Kings and Emperours? Oh no, no.

But to leave him; Are we with Iude, the servants of Iesus Christ? Then must we not onely apply our selves to serve him, as I have al­ready said; but we must imitate the vertues of Iesus Christ, and we must attend his pleasure.

But first, wee must imitate his vertues. In our Lord and Master Christ Iesus shined many excellent vertues: Yea, all vertues; Love, Patience, Humility, Meekenesse, Mildenesse, Mercie, Puritie, Pietie, Constancie, Obedience, &c. these must shine in us, else falsely wee are called the servants of Christ. Christiani nomen frustrà ille sortitur, qui Christum minimè imitatur: August. de vita Christian [...]. Quid tibi prodest vocari quod non es? In vaine hath hee got the name of a Christian, which doth not imitate Christ: What doth it profit thee to bee called that which thou art not? To bee [Page 10] called a Christian, and not to bee indeed a Christian; a Saint, and not to bee Saint; the servant of Iesus Christ, and not to bee We must at­tend to Gods service. We owe more to God than servants to their Masters. the servant of Iesus Christ. Qualis haberi velis, talis sias: If thou wilt be the servant of Iesus Christ, thou must bee holy as hee is holy, gracious, as hee is gracious, mercifull, as hee is mercifull, yea, perfect as hee is perfect, though not by adequation, for that is beyond our power, yet by imitation, for that is all our duties.

Againe, are wee Christs servants? then must wee attend his Pleasure, and depend upon his Will, and performe all such holy offices as becommeth servants. But as Peter Martyr saith, wee In Rom. cap. 1. are contrary to servants, we are rather Quarter-masters, and checke­mate with God; for servants bestow all their time in their Ma­sters businesse, we no time, or little time in Gods matters: For our goodnesse is as the Morning cloud, and as the Morning dew it Hos. 6. 4. goeth away. Servants beaten fall to prayers, wee being chasti­sed of God, fall to murmuring and cursing, like Iob, that cursed the day of his birth; Like Ieremy, that cursed him, that told his fa­ther of a man-child. Servants are not familiar with their Masters Iob 3. Ier. 20. enemies: wee countenance Gods enemies in all places: Many Protestants are like Aesops Crow, of divers feathers; their Reli­gions like Ioseph his party-coloured coat, or like the rainebow, of all colours: we read how Iehoshaphat joyned with Ahab to Ramoth-Gilead; how the Corinthians drew the yoke with infidels; how the 2 Chro. 19. 3. 2 Cor. 6. 14. Esa. 31. 13. Iewes strengthened themselves with the Aegyptians: I wish the like were not to have been found among Protestants. Wee have sate with Psal. 26. 4. vaine persons, and kept company with dissemblers. Servants, if they be threatned, tremble; Wee, if Gods Prophets reprove us, are the prouder: Wee say of Gods Prophets, as the Iewes did of Ieremy, Come, let us imagine some device against Ieremy▪ For the Law shall not perish from the Priests, nor Counsell from the Wise, nor the Word from the Ier. 18. 18. Prophets: Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. And yet wee owe a thousand times more to God than servants to their Masters; God doth not onely feede us and cloath us, as Masters doe their servants, but hee giveth us all things besides: Hee ladeth us dayly with benefits. Servants, by Psal. 68. 19. their travell profit their Masters, wee profit God nothing: If thou bee righteous, what givest thou unto him, or what receiveth he at thy hands? Servants receive small wages, God to us hath given Iob 35. 7. Rom. 8. 32. his Sonne, and with him all things: his face was buffeted, his checks nipped, his eyes blinded, his hands nailed, his side lanched with a speare: Hee was as water powred out, all his bones were out of joint, his heart like Wax molten within the middest of his bowels, his strength was Psal. 22. 14, 15. dryed up like a pot-sheard, his tongue did cleave to his jawes, and hee was brought unto the dust of death: Non ergo caput, faciem, oculos, manus, cor illi trademus, ut illi serviamus? Must we not therefore give him head, face, eyes, hands, and heart, to serve him? Wee must not [Page 11] give our members, weapons of unrighteousnesse unto sinne: What then? All servants in Gods Church. Wee must give our selves to God, and our members of righte­ousnesse, to serve God. But alas, wee serve not God, he hath the least part of our service, if hee hath any at all: The Cove­tous serve Mammon; the Malicious, their Envie and Rancour; the proud, their Arrogancie; the Gluttonous, their Belly; the Voluptuous, their Pleasure. Tot Dominos habemus, quot peccata, Wee have so many masters, as wee have sinnes, according to the Axiome of the Apostle. Of whom soever a man is overcome, even un­to the same is hee in bondage. Thou art a slave to thy malice, thy am­bition, 2 Pet. 2. 19. thy belly: Sed nemo potest duobus Dominis servire, Non man can serve two masters.

Againe observe, That this title Servus Dei, the servant of God, meeteth with the Manichoeans and Libertines, who raile on all the Apostles; for they call Paul, Vas confractum, a broken Vessell; Peter, abnegatorum Dei, a denier of his Master; Andrew, Medicantem piscatorem, a begging Fisherman; Iohn, Stolidum a­dolescentem, a foolish young man; Luke, Ineptem medicum, an un­skilfull Phisitian; Mathew, Faeneratorem, an Vsurer.

To conclude this point: in that Saint Iude calleth himselfe a servant wee learne, that wee are all but servants in Gods Church, and therfore to make no Lawes, to alter no decrees, to change no ordinance, to injoyne no orders, but such as the Word of God alloweth, and liketh of. Moses, the greatest Prophet that ever Hebr. 3. 5. rose, or should rise in Israel, yet but a servant; David, a rare Pro­phet, the sweet singer of Israel, a man after Gods owne heart, yet he calleth himselfe a servant, Thy servant, Lord, thy servant loe, Psal. 116. 16. I doe my selfe confesse, &c. Paul, taken up to the third heaven, taken into Paradise, where hee heard [...], Secrets not to bee uttered, honoured above all the Apostles, yet but a servant: What is the Rom. 1. 1. Pope then, or what is his parentage, that he may dispence with the Doctrine of the old and new Testament? a vile man, that was never further than Rome, & as far from Paradise, as Heaven from Hel: Abolebit eum Dominus, for the Lord shall abolish him: I con­fesse, 2 Thess. 2. 8. that Gregory matcheth the foure Oecumenicall Councels, with the foure Gospels, the Nicene, Constantinople, Ephesian, and Chalcedon, hee calleth them, Lapidem quadrantem, ex quo sanctae fidei Structu­ra assurgit: The foure corner stones, upon which the building of the holy Faith doth rise. But hee spake like a man, for those Councels could make no orders, but from the Lords.

The third thing to bee considered in this Apostle, is his al­liance and kindred; he nameth himselfe the Brother of Iames.

First, Honoris gracia, for honors sake to distinguish himself from Iudas Iscariot, the sonne of Simon, whom our Saviour calleth a Divell. Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a Divell. For John 6. 70. Iames? was a piller in Gods Church, he was Bonarges, the sonne of Thunder; hee was a chiefe man in the Councell of Ieru­salem, [Page 12] hee was Bishop of Ierusalem, and Paul answereth before The alliance and kindred of the Apostle Iude. him, hee was with Christ at his transfiguration, hee was one of the three at his passion, hee was the brother of the Lord, that is, a kinsman unto Christ, for he was the son of Marie Cleophas, Sister to the Virgin Mary and so Christ cousin germane, called his Bro­ther, Mat. 17. Mat. 26. Gal. 1. after the manner of the Hebrewes, Mar. 3. 32. Behold thy Mother and thy Brethren seeke for thee without: and Mat. 13. 55. Is not this the Carpenters Sonne? is not his Mother called Mary, and his Brethren Iames and Ioses, and Simon and Iudas.

This Iudas is elsewhere called Thaddeus and Labbeus: but hee graceth himselfe by this, that hee was the Brother of Iames, a Mat. 10. Iohn 6. 70. Iohn. 12. 6. Act. 1. 18. rare Apostle, not Iudas the traytor whom Christ (as yee heard be­fore) called a Divell, whom Saint Iohn calleth a thiefe, whom Peter calleth an hangman who burst asunder, but the Brother of Iames, the sonne of Alpheus, who wrote the Canonicall Epistle: for there were two Iameses, one the sonne of Zebedie, Brother to Iohn, the other the sonne of Alpheus Brother to Iude.

Secondly, Hee calleth himselfe the Brother of Iames, to win more credit, not to his person, but to his Doctrine: that all men might know that this Epistle was penned, not by Iudas the tray­tor, but by Iude the Brother of Iames the just, and therefore might more reverently receive it, and more religiously regard it: Nam dictum clari hominis facile admittitur, For the saying of an excellent man is easily admitted, these are the causes why he calleth himselfe the Brother of Iames.

And observe with me here, that first hee glorieth of his Pro­fession, that hee was the servant of Iesus Christ, before hee ma­keth any mention of his alliance: For no kindred, Fatherhood, or Motherhood can grace us with God: God is no accepter of per­sons, but in every nation hee that feareth him, and worketh righteousnes Act. 10. 34, 35. is accepted with him.

Many will glory of their alliance and kindred, and albeit they haue neither Learning, nor Living, nor Wisedome, nor Civility, nor Honesty, nor Piety at all: yet if they can fetch their Pedigree from some Noble or Worshipfull House, they boast thereof, and hold themselves worthy of reverence and honour. The Iewes gloried, that Abraham was their Father, but what gained they by it? When Christ told them, Vos estis ex pa­tre Iohn 8. 44. diabolo, You are of your Father the devill, and his workes yee doe. 2 Reg. 21. 2. Reg. 20. David, had Absolom: Salomon, Rehoboham: Amon a wicked Fa­ther, had Iosiah to his sonne, a good man: and Ezekiah a good father, had Manasses to his sonne, a vile man: Ismaell had Isaac to his brother, so had Esau Iacob: Caine had Abell, Absolom had Sa­lomon: But Caine was a Vagabond, Ismaell a persecutor, Abso­lom a Rebell, Esau a Reprobate. 'Tis follie in men to glory in Gen. 4. Gal. 4. stocke or kindred: If they will glory, let them glorie in this that they are the servants of Iesus Christ: for outward titles [Page 13] without inward vertues availe nothing, for what shall it profit Not to glory in Alliance and Kindred. us to bee intituled Christians, and yet live as prophanely as In­fidels? to be called the Church of God, and yet in conversation to resemble the Synagogue of Satan? to bee counted the chil­dren of God, and yet spend our times like the sonnes of Belial? to bee reputed the servants of Christ Iesus, and serve the World, the Flesh and the Divell? to descend of noble, godly Parents, and yet degenerate from their noble, godly wayes? God is not pleased with shadowes, but with substance; not with outward titles, but with truth in the inward parts. If then Psal. 51. thou wilt boast of thine honourable Kindred, labour, strive, endevour that thou mayest glory and say, That God is thy Father, the Church thy Mother, Christ Iesus thy elder Bro­ther, that is most High, Holy, Honourable Kindred. Thus much for the Person writing, his Name, his Calling, his Kindred.

THE SECOND SERMON

I Am now come to the persons, to whom he wrote this Epistle, and they are described three wayes:

• 1 By their Calling.
• 2 By their Sanctification.
• 3 By their Preservation.

But first, they are described by their calling, To them that are called, saith hee. The beginning of our Salvation is, that wee are first cal­led of God, wee come not of our selves, God calleth us, Nemo venit ad Christum nisi pater traxerit: Iohn 6. 44. No man commeth unto Christ except the Father draw him: Et ista attractio est nostra vocatio per Evangelium & Spiritum sanctum: and this drawing is our calling by the Gospel, and holy Spirit. Caro & sanguis non revelat, &c. Flesh and Bloud doe not reveale these Mat. 16. 17. things, but God our Father by our calling in the Gospel: As the Sheepheard with his whistle calleth his sheepe: as the two sil­ver trumpets called Israel to warre; as the master-Bee calleth the Num. 10. whole hyve together with his humming; So God calleth his Church running from him, by his Word and Spirit.

Wisedome (saith Salomon) cryeth without, shee uttereth her voyce in Prov. 1. 20. the streets, shee calleth in the high street, among the prease in the entrings of the gates, and uttereth her words in the City. And againe he saith, Wisedome hath built her house, and hewen out her seven Pillars, she hath killed her Victuals, drawne her Wine, and prepared her Table, she hath Prov. 9. 1, &c. sent forth her Maidens, and cryeth in the highest places of the City, say­ing, Whoso is simple, let him come hither, and to him that is destitute of [Page 16] Wisedome, shee saith, Come and eate of my Meat, and drinke of the Christ profi­table to none but to them that are cal­led. Wine that I have drawne: Wisedome there, is Christ Iesus, who calleth us by his Gospel.

The lowest staffe or step of Salvation, is Vocation; the high­est, is Glorification. For whom hee predestinated, them also hee cal­led: and whom hee called, them also hee justified: and whom he justified, Rom. 8. 30. them also hee glorified. I speake in respect of men: For with God praescientia, his prescience is the first step of salvation, For those which he knew before, he predestinated: Wee runne from God, but he Rom. 8. 29. calleth us, and cryeth after us, as the Canaanite did after Christ, hee seeketh us being lost, hee calleth us being deafe, he lighte­neth Luke 4. 18. 1 Sam. 26. 14. us being blind, hee freeth us being slaves, hee healeth us being lame, he quickeneth us being dead, he awaketh us by his Gospell, as David did Abner with his showting: The top, the roote, the foundation, and the roofe, the beginning, increasing, and finishing of our salvation is of God. Coepit & perficiet, Hee hath begunne, and he will finish it. So saith the Apostle, Hee that hath begun this good worke in you, will performe it, untill the day of Iesus Christ.

Paul arrogateth nothing to himselfe, but placeth himselfe in the ranck of the Wicked, till God called him: his words are, We are by nature the children of wrath as well as others. And to the Ephes. 2. 3. Gal. 1. 13. 15. Galathians, hee writeth thus, Yee have heard of my conversation in times past, in the Iewish Religion, how that I persecuted the Church of God extreamely and wasted it: But when it had pleased God, which had separated me from my mothers womb, & called me by his Grace, &c. The Galathians, were Idolaters, & knew not God, til God called them. The Ephesians were darkenesse, but being called, they were lux Gal. 4. 8. Ephes. 5. 9. in Domino, Light in the Lord: The same is said of the Corinthi­ans. But what doe I light a candle at noone-day, or adde legges 1 Cor. 12. to the Dromedarie, who runneth most swiftly? or powre water into the Sea, which overfloweth? or prove a knowne truth re­ceived of all men?

But to proceede; Christ is not profitable, but unto them that are called; otherwise hee is as a Medicine not taken, as a Plai­ster not applied, as Meate not eaten, as Light to them that are in a dungeon: Hereupon saith Paul, Wee preach Christ crucified, to the Iewes a stumbling-blocke, to the Gentiles foolishnesse, but to them that are called of God, the Wisedome of God, and the Power of God. Persius wept when he saw a Toade, that hee had not given thanks to God, who made him not a Toade, but a Man. Socrates than­ked Nature, that had made him a reasonable creature, and not a Beast, and among them a Man, and not a Woman, and among men an Athenian, not a Thebane. Philip, rejoyced that 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 [Page 17] 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, [Page 18] 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 [Page 19] 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 a­varum, & liberalem tibi reddam, da timidum, jam Cruces, ignes Pha­laridis taurum contemnit; da libidinosum, & continentem reddam; tan­ta Doctrinae vis est, &c. that is, Give me an angry man, and with one Word of God, I will make him as meeke as a Lambe; give mee a covetous man, and I will render him againe liberall; give me a fearefull timerous man, and by and by hee shall contemne Gallowes, Fire, yea and Phalaris his Bull; give me a lecherous man and I will make him chaste and continent; such is the force of Doctrine. As the Load-stone draweth not Iron except it bee pure: So the Word of God doth not draw men from the mire and dirt of sinne, except they be purified with the Spirit. Brief­ly in one word, I say with Tertullian in Apologetico, Fiunt homines Christiani, non nascuntur; Men are made Christians, not borne; Ephes. 2. 2. Tit. 3. wee are by nature the children of Wrath, by grace wee are the Sonnes of God.

Once againe, Christ is not profitable, the Gospell is not a­vaileable, but to them that are called; but being called, it is powerfull.

When the men of Cyprus and Cyrene spake unto the Grecians, and preached the Lord Iesus, The hand of the Lord was with them (that is, the power and vertue of the Spirit) so that a great number Acts 11. 21. beleeved and turned unto the Lord: Whereupon Chrysostome, libro adversus Gentiles, proveth the deity of Christ, that using no Arms but twelve poore Apostles, silly, weake, unlearned men, subdu­ed the whole world to him: He overthrew the Lawes of the Fa­thers, he abrogated the ancient customes. A marvelous power by the Doctrine of Fishers, Toll-gatherers, Tent-makers, to raise the dead, to cleanse the Lepers, to expell Divels, to van­quish Tyrants, to put death to flight, to stay the tongues of the Philosophers, to shut the mouthes of the Orators, to conquer Kings and Princes, Barbarians, Grecians, and all men: Alexander with the sword, and the Apostles with the Word to conquer the World: For their sound went out through all the earth, and their Rom. 10. 18. words unto the ends of the World. Pray therefore, that God by his Spirit would make the Word effectuall, to be odorem vitae, a fa­vour of life to life, and not a fauour of death unto death; [...]; surely God, even God by his Spirit doth all.

In a word, God calleth us, else we come not; and his calling is diverse. 1. In respect of time: 2. In respect of place. In re­spect of time; For God calleth in divers houres of the day, that [Page 20] is, in divers ages of the world, and in divers yeeres of our age. Gods calling diverse both for time and place. Some before the Law, as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham; some un­der the Law, as Moses, David, Iosias, Esay, with other Kings and Prophets: Some after the Law, as the blessed Apostles, Mar­tyrs, Confessors. Some in the first houre (their childhood) as Samuel, Ieremy, Iohn Baptist; some in the third houre (their youth) as Daniel and Iohn the Evangelist: some in the sixth houre (their middle age) as Peter and Andrew: some in the eleventh houre (their old age) as Gamaliel, Ioseph of Arimathea: some in the last houre of the day (the last houre of their life) as the Theefe up­on the Crosse.

In respect of place; For God calleth some from their ship, and some from their shops, some from the Markets, some from under the hedges.

This diverse calling, at divers times, and in divers places, intimates A Caveat. A Comfort.

A Caveat for such as are called, that they magnifie not them­selves and vilifie others. Nemo dicat ideo me vocavit, quia colui De­um, quomodo coluisses si vocatus non fuisses? let no man say, God August. de verb. Apost. hath called me for that I worship him, how shouldest thou wor­ship him if thou wert not called?

A Comfort for them, that feele not themselves sufficiently called, that they rest in hope. God can and will call, when, where, and whom he will, either at the last houre, with the theefe upon the gallowes, or out of oppressing Egypt, with the Israelites, Luke 23. Exod. 3. or in the middest of the persecution of the Saints of God, as he did Saul. Let us then patiently attend our calling. Deus adver­sum Acts 9. vocat, credentem docet, sperantem consolatur, diligentem exhorta­tur, conantem adjisvat, precantem exaudit, & tamen Deus solus fidem, spem, charita tem, laborem, preces operatur: God calleth the adverse, teacheth the beleever, comforteth him that hopeth, exhorteth him that loveth, helpeth him that laboureth; and yet God a­lone worketh faith, hope, charity, &c.

Ille vocat aversos, vocatos justificat, justificatos sanctificat, sanctifica­tos glorificat: Hee calleth the averse, justifieth them that are called, sanctifieth them that are justified, and glorifieth them that are sanctified. The Whelpes of a Lion are borne dead; but at the yelling and roaring of the Lion they are quickned, and raised from death: So we are borne dead, dead in our tres­passes Ephes. 2. 1. Phil. 2. 16. and sinnes; but by the calling of the Gospell, as by the roaring of the Lion, wee are quickned. It is a word of life, our calling, and all good is wrought by it. As it is verbum scientiae & prudentiae, a word of knowledge and wisedome; & potentiae, 1 Cor. 1. 2. 1 Cor. 1. 23. Acts 14. and of power; & gratiae, and of grace; sic est verbum vitae, so it is the word of life: Nulla scientia, nec potentia, nec gratia, nec vita sine Evangelio; there is no knowledge, nor power, nor grace, nor life, without the Gospell.

[Page 21] Well, God calleth inwardly by his Spirit, outwardly by his Our Vocation what it tea­cheth us. Sanctification. Word. This should teach us: first, to walke worthy our calling, that as he which hath called is holy, so should we be holy in all our life and conversation, according as it is written, Bee yee holy for I am holy: We are called not to ncleannesse, but unto sanctifi­cation; Levit. 11. 44. 1 Thes. 4. for unto this end hath the grace, goodnesse and bounti­fulnesse of our Lord appeared, that we should live soberly, righte­ously, and godly in this present world: because sancta conversatio con­fundit inimicum, aedificat proximum, glorificat Deum; a holy life, a godly conversation doth confound and stop the mouthes of our enemies, doth edifie and build up our Brethren, doth glorifie God.

Secondly, Seeing the internall meanes of our calling is the Spirit, this should teach us never to grieve the Spirit, by whom we are called out of darkenesse into light. Nature teacheth us not to grieve our naturall parents, and Religion should teach us not to grieve the Spirit: Grieve not the Spirit by whom ye are sealed Ephes. 4. to the day of Redemption.

Last of all, seeing we are called not onely inwardly by the Spirit, but outwardly by the holy Word. This word must bee unto us dearer than thousands of silver and gold, more precious than the gold of Ophir; sweeter than the Honey, or the Hony­combe: For albeit God can onely, by the inward motion of his blessed Spirit, worke out, make-sure, and perfect our salvation; yet it pleaseth him in his eternall wisedome, to use the word as an ordinary meanes of our vocation and salvation. As then God giveth learning by study, wisedome by experience, riches by travell, and like things by like meanes: so he maketh perfect the calling of his Saints, by the preaching of the Word, which Rom. 1. 16. is the power of God to salvation to every man that beleeveth.

The second title of honour given here to the Saints, is San­ctification; he calleth them sanctified of God the Father: this is the next grace wherewith he adorneth them. For God con­tinueth his graces, as Iacob continued his wrastling, as Peter con­tinued his knocking till they let him in: and God will not leave calling and working till hee hath sanctified and perfected his graces; like the Sunne that never leaveth shining, but commeth Psal. 19. Exod. 17. forth as a Bridegroome out of his Chamber, and rejoyceth as a Giant to runne his course. Like the Fountaine of Elim, and waters of Shi­lo, that never leave running. The calling of God is without repentance: Rom. 11. 29. For God is not a man, that hee should lye; neither as the Sonne of man, Numb. 23. 19. that he should repent; as Balaam, though a false Prophet, said most truely. Whom God calleth, them he justifieth; whom hee ju­stifieth, he sanctifieth; and whom he sanctifieth, he glorifieth. The learned call this Text in Rom. 8. Auream catenam, a golden Rom. 8. 29, 30. Chaine; hee that draweth one linke, draweth all the Chaine: For as hee that hath one damnable sinne, hath all sinne, and is [Page 22] guilty of all; so hee that hath one grace effectually, hath all. God perfects his Workes. God is not like a stepmother, that putteth out her child to nurse; he is not as the Partridge or Bird, that forsaketh her nests; nor Ier. 1. 17. Iob 29. 1 Reg. 3. like the Ostrich, that leaveth her egs in the dust; like Salomons Har­lot, that exposed her child to the sword: But he is as the Eagle, that carrieth her yong in her wings, till they can flie; as the Pe­licane, that feedeth her yong ones with her heart-bloud till they can feed themselves: He blesseth us, untill he hath brought us into his Kingdome of blisse, where wee shall never hunger nor thirst any more. For, Hee will destroy Death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away teares from all faces, and the rebuke of his Esa. 25. 8, 9. people will hee take away out of all the Earth, for the Lord hath spoken it, and in that day men shal say, Loe this is our God, We have waited for him, and hee will save us; this is the Lord, wee have waited for him, we will rejoyce and bee joyfull in his Salvation. So the Lord Iesus hath per­fected the worke of our Redemption; hee was borne for us, he lived, hee died, he rose againe, he ascended, hee maketh interces­sion for us, and hee will glorifie us: so saith our Saviour; Father, I will that they which thou hast given me, bee with mee, even where I am, that they may behold my glory, that is, that they may enjoy the Iohn 17. 24. eternall glory with mee.

This is a Doctrine of singular comfort, like the wine and oyle that revived the wounded man; like the news of Iosephs honour, Luke 10. Gen. 45. 28. Luke 2. that comforted old Iacob; like the song of the heavenly souldi­ers, that rejoyced the Sheepheards; like Davids Harpe, to drive away Sauls melancholy. Hath God begun with thee? hath he called thee? hast thou felt the motions of his Spirit in thy heart? Noli timere, bee not afraid; hee will end with thee, and accomplish all his graces in thee; I meane not in perfection: Nam sanctitas tribus gradibus perficitur, Holinesse consisteth in three degrees: In this life, while we are regenerate by water and the holy Spirit: after this life, while the Soule enjoyeth the presence of God: after the day of Iudgement, when in Soule and body wee shall bee united to our head Christ Iesus.

In this life there is a threefold Sanctification:

• 1 Imputed unto us.
• 2 Wrought in us.
• 3 Wrought by us.

Imputed Sanctification is, when God imputeth unto us the sanctification of Christ; Who is made to us Wisedome, Righteousnes, 1 Cor. 1. 30. Sanctification and Redemption, By this wee are said to bee sancti­fied, when the vertue of Christs Passion, the fruit of his Death, the power of his Resurrection is applied unto us, and Christs Sanctification made ours, by imputation. Therefore the A­postle saith, That Iesus Christ to the end that hee may sanctifie his peo­ple with his owne bloud, suffered without the gate. Heb. 13. 12.

Sanctification wrought within us is, the inward change of a [Page 23] man iustified, whereby the image of God is restored in him, a Protestants Religion teach Sancti­ty. change, not a non esse ad esse, from a not being to a being; for the faculties of the soule were before; not ab esse ad non esse, from a being to a not being, for the faculties of the soule remaine still; but ab esse ad esse, from an ill being to a good being; not a­bolishing the will, minde, and affections, but rectifying and re­nuing them, a change of a man iustified; for we are iustified be­fore we are sanctified. Iustification is actus individuus, Sanctifi­cation is actus dividuus; we are iustified at once, we are sanctified by degrees: wee are iustified when our sinnes are not imputed unto us; we are sanctified when a cleane heart is created, and a right spirit renued in us.

Sanctification wrought by us, is that, whereby wee sanctifie and make holy the outward works and actions of our life. This the Lord requireth, Be ye holy for I am holy. To this Saint Paul Levit. 11. 44. exhorteth; let us cleanse our selves from all silthinesse of the flesh and 2 Cor. 7. 1. of the spirit, and grow up to full holinesse in the feare of God. The righ­teousnesse of Justification is by faith without works; the righ­ousnesse of Sanctification is by workes, and by faith; justifying righteousnesse is perfect, but not inherent; sanctifying righte­ousnesse is imperfect, but inherent; glorifying righteousnesse is perfect and inherent: neverthelesse we must confesse, that all our sanctification is from God.

Here the slander of the Papists is answered for Justification, for whom God calleth, he justifieth; and whom hee iustifieth, he sanctifieth: We preach not an idle faith, as they say, ope­ning windowes and doores to all wickednesse, by a Solifidian er­ror, and an imputative Iustice. A late Papist in his Treatise of the Eucharist, saith, We preach liberty, we hinder good workes, we teach a naked faith: No, no, wee teach sanctity, holinesse, more than they, who with Alexander the third, call whoredome and adultery, Peccadilia, little sinnes; who cry, Si non castè tamen cautè, if not chastly, yet charily: who maintaine open Stewes with Pius Quintus, who dispence with all sinnes. Allen the arch Papist said, Commit our men what sinne they list, omit what goodnesse they list, yet we teach them that bare faith iustifieth them. No, no, we say with Zachary, God hath delivered us out of the Luke 1. 74, 75. hands of our enemies, that we should serve him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life. We say with Paul, that The Tit. 2. 11, 12. grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared, and teacheth us to forsake all impiety and wicked worldly desires, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. We say with Saint Peter, If ye call him Father, which without respect of persons iudgeth according 1 Pet. 1. 17. to every mans worke, passe the time of your dwelling here in feare. We say with Saint Iohn, and all other holy men, Let us love one ano­ther, for love commeth of God, and every one that loveth is borne of God and knoweth God; he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. [Page 24] We say with Christ, Blessed are they that heare the Word of God, and Iustification and Sanctifi­cation though joyned yet di­stinguished. keepe it. Wee urge men more to holinesse than they doe; wee use more sharpe and effectuall reasons, not like the leaden blunt Doctors in Popery, but arrowes drawne out of a better Quiver. Paul thought this a principall reason above others, to move them by the wounds, and blood, and merits of the Lord Iesu: For having spent eleven Chapters in the Treatise of Iustificati­on, at last he breaketh out, as the Sunne out of a cloud, and mo­veth them to holinesse, by the name, the death, and merits of Christ Iesu; saying, I beseech you Brethren by the mercies of GOD, that yee give up your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, Rom. 12. 1, 2. which is your reasonable serving of God, and fashion not your selves like unto this world. A more effectuall reason, than to argue from our workes, our merits, our deserts, which is death; For the wa­ges of sinne is death. Rom. 6. 23.

Iustification and Sanctification goe together, yet wee enter not into heaven chiefely as wee are sanctified and regenerated: For that is but in part, but as wee are iustified by the death and righteousnesse of Christ, which is perfect, compleat, and abso­lute. Yea, say the Romanists, faith and workes cannot be sun­dred: Ergo, we are iustified by workes aswell as by faith. But I deny the Argument, they reason like blind men, the light of righteousnesse hath not shined on them, they feed on ashes. For many things are conioyned, which yet have diverse operati­ons; as the light and heat of the Sunne, where the one is there is the other, yet are we not warmed by the light, but by the heat, nor yet directed by the heat, but by the light of it. Fides est sola, at non solitaria, sola in actu justificationis, at non solitaria in usu & o­peratione quotidiana, nam operatur per dilectionem; Faith is alone but not solitary, alone in the act of iustification, but not alone in the use and daily operation, for it worketh by love, or as Chem­nitius reasoneth against Andradius, and the Councell of Trent: We have eyes and eares at once, and they are ioynt members of the body, yet we heare not with our eyes, and see not with our eares; Manus non est sola, sed coniuncta cum reliquiis membris, at ma­nus sola scribit; the hand is not alone, but ioyned with the other members, but the hand alone writeth; the tongue is not alone, nor severed from the rest of the members, yet the tongue alone speaketh; the Prince goeth not without the Court, yet the Prince ruleth alone, and not the Court; Fidem & opera coniungi magis quam confundi vellem, I had rather conioine faith and works than confound them. Finely therefore, saith a Schoole-man; Deus justificat effectivè, fides iustificat apprehensivè, opera iustificant declarativè, God iustifieth effectually; Faith iustifieth apprehen­sively; Tho. Aquin. Workes iustifie declaratively; that is, they shew and de­clare unto the world that we are iustified; Iustificatio est verbum forense, nec qualitatem aliquam denotat sed absolutionem a reatu, non Rom. 4. 26. [Page 25] consistit in qualitatum infursione, sed peccatorum remissione, Iustificati­on Iustification how wrought. is a Law word, neither doth it note any quality, but absolution from guilt, neither consisteth it in the infusion of qualities, but in the remission of sinnes. Our invisible faith iu­stifieth us before our invisible God; for he seeth into the heart, and our visible workes doe iustifie us before men that be visible and which behold our lives and conversations. And Paul pla­ceth our Iustification, Non in qualitatum infusione, sed peccatorum re­missione, not in the infusion of qualities, but in the remission of sinnes. Deus dat beatitudinem, Christus redimit, Spiritus obsignat, Fi­des apprehendit, Opera testificantur; God giveth happinesse, Christ purchaseth it, the Spirit sealeth it, Faith apprehendeth it, and Workes testifie it.

THE THIRD SERMON.

VERS. I. Reconcilia­tion part of Redemption.

AS I have begun to speake of this Heavenly Doctrine of Sanctifica­tion, so will I proceed therein. And to speake in order, wee must know that of Christs Priesthood there bee two parts: Redemption and Intercession.

Redemption is the first part, whereby hee hath wrought for us the matter of our Deliverance from all evils; as Hell, Death, Damna­tion. Heb. 7. 24. Now of this Redemption, there be two members: The Luke 1. 74. merit or matter of Reconciliation, and Sanctification. Accor­ding to that of the Apostle, But yee are sanctified, but yee are ju­stified in the name of the Lord Iesus, and by the spirit of God. 1 Cor. 6. 11. 1.

Reconciliation is the first part of our Redemption: whereby we are restored from the Curse into the love and favour of God: For when wee were enemies, wee were reconciled to God by the death of his Sonne, &c. for hee is our peace. And it pleased the Father that in him Rom. 5. 10. Ephes. 2. 14. Col. 1. 20. 22. all fulnesse should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things unto himselfe, and to set at peace through the bloud of his Crosse, both the things in Earth and the things in Heaven.

Now againe of Reconciliation there bee two parts: Remis­sion of sins, and Imputation of righteousnesse: For saith the Apostle; He was delivered to Death for our sins, and is risen againe for our justification. And againe, God was in Christ, and reconciled the Rom. 6. 25. World to himselfe, not imputing their sinnes unto them, and hath com­mitted to us the Word of Reconciliation. Now then are wee Embassadors 2 Cor. 5. 19, 20, 21. for Christ, as though God did beseech you through us, wee pray you in [Page 27] Christs stead, that ye be reconciled unto God. For hee hath made himselfe Iustification upon remissi­on of sinnes, and Christs righteousnesse imputed. sinne for us, that we might be made the righteousnesse of God, through him.

Remission of sinne is the first part of Reconciliation; where­by the guiltinesse and punishment of our sinnes is removed from us by Christs sufferings. For thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise againe the third day, that Repentance and Re­mission of sinnes might bee preached in his name to all nations. And, Hee through Death, hath destroyed him that had the power of Death, that is the Divell; and that hee might deliver all them, which for feare of Death Hebr. 2. 14, 15. were all their life time subject to bondage. Yea, it is Christ alone: That Apoc. 1. 5. hath washed us from our sinnes with his bloud; Yea, His bloud it is that cleanseth us from all sinne. 1 Iohn 1. 7.

Imputation of righteousnesse is the other part of Reconcili­ation; whereby, by Christs righteousnesse being imputed unto us, we appeare just and blamelesse before God our Father: For by him wee have received the attonement. And as by the offence of Rom. 5. 11, 16. one, the fault came on all men to condemnation; So by the ju­stifying of one, the benefit abounded towards all men to the justification of life. And Hee hath now reconciled us in the body of Col. 1. 22. his flesh, through Death, to make us holy and unblameable and without fault in the sight of God his Father.

Now againe, of Remission and Imputation spring Iustifica­tion and Adoption: For, Being justified by Faith wee have Peace Rom. 5. 1. towards God, through our Lord Iesus Christ. For, when the fulnesse of time was come, God sent foorth his Sonne made of a woman, and made under the Law, that hee might redeeme them which were under the Law, that wee might receive the adoption of Sonnes.

Iustification is that, wherby we being delivered before God of the guiltinesse of sin, are accounted just. For, Who shall lay any thing Rom. 8. 33. to the charge of Gods chosen? It is God that justifieth, who shall condemne? As by one mans disobedience many are made sinners; so by the obedience Rom. 5. 19. of one, shall many also bee made righteous.

Adoption is that whereby wee are accounted. Sonnes and heires of God, For yee have not (saith Paul) received the spirit of Rom. 8. 15. bondage to feare againe: but yee have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we crie Abba Father: And hee further affirmeth, That we are all the Sonnes of God by Faith in Christ Iesus.

From these two, wee obtaine these two blessings: First, that all crosses turne to us to the best: so saith the Apostle, All Rom. 8. 28: things worke together for the best, [...]o them even them that are called of purpose. For though hee visit [...] sinnes with rods, and our of­fences with scourges, yet his loving kindnesse will hee never take from us, nor suffer his truth to faile.

Secondly, by Iustification and Adoption wee obtaine a chiefety or rule over all Creatures, except Angels. For so saith David; Thou hast made him little lower than Angels, and crowned him Psal. 8. 5, 6. with glory and worship: Thou hast made him to have dominion in the [Page 28] Workes of thy hands, thou hast put all things under his feete. And the Sanctification in Mortificati­on and viyifi­cation. Sanctification imperfect in this life. same also the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes affirmeth.

Now for Sanctification, whereby God beginneth in us holi­nesse; that hath two members: Mortification to sinne, and Re­surrection to righteousnesse.

Mortification is the first part, whereby the power of sinne is killed in us; and of this Mortification Paul speaketh thus: Our old man is crucified within, that the body of sinne might bee de­stroyed, that henceforth wee should not serve sinne. And againe, That Rom. 6. 6. Gal. 2. 19. I might live unto God, I am crucified with Christ.

Resurrection unto righteousnesse is, whereby sanctity, holi­nesse, is really inherent, and begun in us, and is increased dayly more and more. For, Wee are buried with Christ by Baptisme unto his death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of his Rom. 6. 4. Father; So wee also should walke in newnesse of life.

These parts of Sanctification, referred unto the Soule, are called [...] but referred to the Body, they are called fru­stus seu [...], fruits. This [...] is a renewing of all the faculties of the Soule; a converting them from evill to good; A bringing foorth of fruits worthy amendment of life. And Luke 3. 8. this [...] hath his Initium, beginning, & comitem, and his companion. His beginning is is godly sorrow: for whose heart Gods spirit doth touch, is sorry for his sinnes committed against so mercifull a Father. His Companion is a spirituall combate: for, the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the Flesh. Gal. 5. 17.

This Sanctification, being the second principall part of our Redemption, is the quallity, whereby Gods spirit doth renew us, and begin in us newnesse of life: but it is not perfect, abso­lute in us. Paenitentia & amor sequuntur noticiam nostram: Repen­tance and Love follow our Knowledge, but our knowledge is 1 Cor. 13. 9. but in part. And this I note against the blasphemy of Osiander, who saith that the essentiall righteousnesse of Christ is in us: but the righteousnesse of Christ is without us, not within us, and is apprehended by Faith. And therefore Pauls care was to bee found in him, that is in Christ, Not having (saith Paul) mine Phil. 3. 9. own righteousnes, which is of the Law, but that which is through the Faith of Christ, even the righteousnesse which is of God through Faith. For the righteousnesse whereby wee are justified, is the meere impu­tation of Christs worke unto us: and therefore this word Im­putation is tenne times recited in one Chapter. When a friend Rom. 5. of his owne goods and not of mine, payeth debt that I owe, that payment, or satisfaction is mine, it is imputed to mee, when as yet it is the worke of my friend, and none of mine. After the same manner, the righteousnesse of Christ is ours. This righ­teousnesse therefore, whereby wee are justified, is Grace and not Nature; Imputation, not Essence; it is a Communicati­on [Page 29] of the benefit of Christ, not a commixion of essence: it is Holinesse is said in diverse senses. an effect of the proper worke of Christ, non substantia ipsa Christi; not the very substance of Christ. The other righteousnesse, wherewith he sanctifieth us, is but begun onely, it is not abso­lute: For as the Sunne shineth, and as the fire warmeth us, and yet doe not transferre their essence into us: So Christ doth re­generate and sanctifie us by the vertue of his Spirit, (quo homo & Deus est) as he is man and God, not as he is man alone, or as he is God alone; and yet he doth not transferre his essence in­to us: and therefore Osiander is much deceived. The place of Paul, quoted by him, helpeth him nothing; for we are the righ­teousnesse 2 Cor. 5. 21. of Christ, ut ille fuit peccatum pro nobis, as he was sinne for us: but sinne was not really in Christ, no more is Christs righteousnesse really in us, but onely imputatively: faith as the hand applyeth it unto us, and flyeth into heaven, and there maketh us partakers of his Sanctity. Our faith wrastleth with God in heaven, our charity wrastleth with men here below on earth; both of them are exercised, neither idle nor unfruitfull: and therefore the Apostle joyneth, Faith in Christ and love toward Col. 1. 4. all Saints together. O Brethren, how many bee there that can tell a smooth tale of Christ, and yet cannot speak one wise word of Iustification and Sanctification; and yet Peter requireth it of all.

Hence am I to derive an exhortation to all men to holinesse and sanctification, seeing that Rahabs house was knowne by a Ios. [...]. Iudg. 11. Mat. 26. 2 Reg. 9. red thread, and the Ephramites by lisping, and Peter by speaking, and Iehu by driving his Chariot: So Christians are knowne by sanctification. Every child of God is sanctified, Secundum plus aut minus, either more or lesse. But first let me speake of the di­verse acceptions of the word, ne inpingamus ubi non est lapis, lest we stumble where there is no stone.

1. It is taken for that which is pure and perfect and cleane: Levit. 19. 2. So God alone is said to be holy.

2. It is taken for that which is lawfull, as 1 Cor. 7. 14. The unbeleeving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbeleeving wife is sanctified by the Husband, else were your children uncleane, but now they are holy.

3. For that which is separated and set apart from common uses, and reserved to sacred and holy uses. Thus in the Law, those things were called holy and sanctified, which were taken from the common use of the people, and set apart for the use and service of God; as the Oyle, Shew bread; first fruits, vessels of the Tabernacle. In this sense the Priests were called holy, because they were separate from the common life of men, to serve in the Tabernacle. Thus the people of Israel, separated from the rest of the Nations, were called by Moses, a sanctified people to the Lord; and by Ieremy, a thing hallowed to the Lord.

[Page 30] 4. For that which is consecrated to a godly and holy use: Wee must bee holy because God is holy. In which respect it is opposite to prophanenesse. So the Tem­ple was holy, Ieremy was sanctified, that is, consecrated to be a Prophet. So Christ sanctified himselfe, that is, dedicated him­selfe to be a sacrifice for the sinnes of the world.

5. It is taken for purity of body and minde; as 2 Cor. 7. 5. So it is taken here.

And that wee should bee holy, that is, pure both in body and in minde, it is the will and commandement of God. Would you know his will and doe it, that thou maist enter into heaven? For not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into heaven, but hee that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven: then be holy; For Mat. 7. 21. this is the will of God, even your holinesse. 1 Thes. 4. 3.

There be many reasons to move us to Sanctification, to Holi­nesse; whereof one is often used, drawne from the person of God our Father; that children must resemble their Father, else are they Bastards rather than sonnes. So reasoneth God, Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy: repeated by Peter, As hee Levit. 19. 2. which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. All that is in God our Father is holy, all that pertaineth to Gods name is holy: Holy is his name. His person is holy. Hereupon the Seraphins cryed Luke 1. 49. one unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole world is full of his glory, his workes are holy: So saith David, Esay 6. 3. The Lord is righteous in all his wayes, and holy in all his Workes. His Iudgements are holy: O my God, (saith the Prophet in his di­stresse) Psal. 45. 17. I cryed by day, but thou hearest not, and by night, but have no audience, but thou art holy, &c. His Temple or House is holy: so Psal. 22. 1, 2. saith Paul, The Temple of God is holy, which ye are. His Mountaine is holy, and therfore called A holy Mountaine. His Kingdome is 1 Cor. 3. 17. holy, for no uncleane thing shall enter his Kingdome, neither whatsoe­ver Psal. 15. worketh abomination or lyes. Therefore we must be holy if wee Apoc. 21. 27. looke to live with God; Extra sunt Canes, without bee dogges, prophane and polluted persons. Apoc. 22. 15.

The same reason holdeth for holinesse, that doth for mercy, clemency, love, meeknesse, and all other attributes of the Lord. Let mee reason as the Scripture reasoneth. God is mercifull, therefore wee must bee mercifull; God forgiveth his enemies, therefore we must forgive. So reasoneth Christ himselfe; Love your enemies, blesse them that curse you, doe good to them that hate you, and pray for them that hurt you and persecute you, that you may bee the Children of your Father which is in Heaven. God is love, therefore we must love: So reasoneth Saint Iohn; Beloved, let us love one a­nother, 1 Iohn 4. 7, 8. for love commeth of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. God is meek, therfore we must be meek: Learn of me (saith Christ) for I am meek, &c. So God is holy, therefore we must be holy. Mat. 11. 29.

[Page 31] Another reason is taken from the end of our Redemption, ur­ged Holinesse the end of our Re­demption: without it wee shall not see God. by the Apostle, saying; The grace of God that bringeth salvati­on to all men, hath appeared, and teacheth us, that we should deny ungod­linesse, and worldly lusts, and that wee should live soberly, righteously, and holily in this present world. Hath Christ sweat water and blood? hath his heart beene molten like waxe? his strength dryed up Tit. 2. 11, 12. Psal. 22. 14, 15. like a potsheard? hath his tongue cloven to his iawes and brought to the dust of the earth, that wee should be wantons? O caecas hominum mentes! O pectora caeca! nati sumus è silice, nutriti lacte ferino: O blinde mindes of men! O blind hearts! wee are borne of a flint-stone, and nourished with the milke of wilde beasts. If Iacob sorrowed so for Ioseph; if David would have dy­ed for Absalom; if Rachel wept for her children and would not be comforted because they were not. Let the death of Christ Gen. 37. 35. 2 Sam. 17. Mat. 2. Luke 1. 75. Luke 7. Mat. 26. Psal. 51. pierce our hearts, and move us to holinesse, and let us serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life. The Lord sustaine our hearts, that with Mary we may wash his feet with our teares, and with Peter wee may weepe bitterly. Create in us Lord a cleane heart, and renue in us a right spirit.

Another reason is taken from our Salvation, for without ho­linesse we cannot be saved. For though wee be not saved for it, yet we are not saved without it. Hereupon saith the Apostle; Follow peace with holinesse, without the which yee cannot bee saved. A Heb. 12. 14. sore, a fearefull speech, like the thunder in Mount Horeb; which I adde the rather, because men mocke at holinesse: Oh say they, you are holy men, you are men of the Spirit, you are Saints, you are Sermon-men. The Bastard Ismael flowted at I­saac, Gal. 5. 29. 2 Sam. 6. Ier. 18. Michol skorneth at Davids dancing before the Arke, the men of Anathoth did smite Ieremy with their tongue, the Adver­saries of Iuda jested at the people. But if thou beest not holy, if thou beest not a Saint, thou art a divell: and know, that if ye Esra 4. Rom. 8. 13. Gal. 6. 8. live after the flesh ye shall dye; for he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reape corruption. As Naomi said, Call me not Naomi, but Mara: So call not these men Christians, Gospellers, but call them swine, dogges, that tread pearles under their feet; call them Adders that will not be charmed; call them Wolves that heare Mat. 7. Psal. 58. Iohn 10. Hebr. 12. Iohn 6. not their shepheard; call them Bastards, and not sonnes; yea, call them divels, as Christ called Iudas; and say unto them, as Christ said to Peter, Come behind me Satan, thou understandest not the things that bee of God, but of man. I marvell that the Sunne, that is witnesse of these villanies, standeth in the heavens, that the heavens raine not downe fire and Brimstone, as Gen. 19. 23. that the earth swallow them not up, as Numb. 16. that the creatures put not on their harnesse, as Ioel 1.

Lastly, wee are sanctified; wee must therefore be holy, that our names and our natures, our calling, and conversation may be correspondent; if then we will have part with Christ we must [Page 32] live after the example of Christ; if wee will have Communi­on Causes of Sanctification. The whole Trinity san­ctifie. with the Saints, on Earth, wee must bee Saints on Earth, if wee will have the company of Saints in Heaven, our conversati­on on Earth must bee heavenly: Partly, Wee are chosen in Christ that wee should bee holy, and without blame before him, and partly, be­cause the heavenly Court receiveth none, but such as are pure, Ephes. 7. 4. Apoc. 21. 27. holy, innocent.

David saith, holinesse becommeth thy house for ever. If ho­linesse become Gods house, much more us, which are the ser­vants of his house. Wel, the God of peace sanctifie you through­out, and I pray God that your Spirits, Soules and Bodies may bee holy and harmelesse, untill the comming of the Lord Iesus.

For all our sanctification and holinesse is from the Lord, as it appeareth plainely by the words of my Text; Sanctified of God the Father: Causa efficiens sanctitatis; the efficient cause of holinesse is God the Father: Instrumentalis causa fides; the instrumentall cause is Faith; for, Fides cor purificat, Faith purifieth the heart. Ma­terialis causa, the materiall cause, est energia sanctitatis quae est in Act. 15. 9. Iohn 1. 16. Christo, for of his fulnes we have all received, even grace for grace. Forma­lis causa, the formall cause; est nostra renovatio ab impuris qualitati­bus ad puras & integras: is our renewing from impure qualities to pure and sound: Finalis, Dei cultus, the final, Gods worship, to the honour of God and the edifying of our neighbour.

But yet observe with mee, that though sanctification bee at­tributed to the Father, yet the Sonne, and the holy Ghost are not excluded: for wee hold the principle of the Schoolemen; Opera Trinitatis quoad extra sunt indivisa; the outward workes of God are common to the whole Trinity; and so are we san­ctified by Father, Sonne, and holy Ghost: yet sanctification is here ascribed to the Father, as being the ground and first au­thor thereof. For the Son ne sanctifieth by meriting sanctifi­cation; the holy Ghost sanctifieth by working it; but the Fa­ther sanctifieth, both by sending his Sonne to merit it, and al­so by giving the holy Spirit to worke. Thus Opera Trinitatis, the outward workes of God are common to the whole Trinitie. Sed opera Trinitatis, quoad intus esse singularia; the inward workes of God are singular, and proper to some persons of the Trinitie: Vt patri potentia, filio redemptio, spiritu sanctificatio tribuitur; as power is ascribed to the Father, redemption to the Sonne, san­ctification to the holy Ghost: and yet these three now and then bee attributed to all the three persons. Quod Vrsinus; servato or­dine agendi, for as the Father and the holy Ghost doe redeeme, and yet mediately by the Sonne, so the Father and the Sonne doe sanctifie, yet mediately by the Holy Ghost. The proper or incommunicable workes of the Trinity, are the inward eter­nall and hypostaticall properties, as thus, Pater generat, the Father [Page 33] begetteth, the Sonne is begotten, and the holy Ghost procee­deth, Distinction of persons in the Trinitie. and yet the Father is not the Sonne, nor the Sonne the Father, nor the holy Ghost either Father or Sonne. The o­ther workes of the Trinity are indivisible, how soever sometimes distinct, as Creation to the Father, Redemption to the Sonne, Sanctification to the holy Ghost. Peter Martyr sayth thus; Pater ut fons, filius ut flumen, spiritus ut rivus ab utroque procedens; The Father as the Fountaine, the Sonne as the flood, the Spirit as the River proceeding from them both. The fountaine is not the flood, nor the flood the fountaine, nor the river either foun­taine or flood, and yet all these bee one water. So the Father is not the Sonne, nor the Sonne the Father, nor the Spirit either Father or Sonne; and yet but one God. Et hi tres sanctificant, and all these three sanctifie: quoth Lactantius. Ab uno omnia, per unum omnia, in uno omnia, a quo, per quem, in quo omnia, unus a se unus ab uno, unus ab ambobus; una tamen & eadem operatio? All things from one, all things by one, all things in one: from whom, by whom, and in whom are all things: one of himselfe, one from one, one from both, and yet one and the same operation. Tres sunt in trinitate, non statu, sed ordine, non essentia, sed forma, non potestate, sed specie, unus status, essentiae & potestatis, quia sunt unus Deus. There bee three persons in the Trinity, not in state and condition, but in order; not in essence, but in forme; not in pow­er, but in kinde: for there is one and the same state of essence and power, because these three persons bee but one God.

But to leave this: The persons of the Trinity are here distin­guished: they are sanctified of God the Father, and reserved unto Iesus Christ. The persons of the Father and the Sonne are dis­cerned, as in all other places: Pater quasi fons exuberans; filius ut rivus defluens; ille ut Sol, hic ut radius; ille ut os, hic ut vox proce­dens: nonautem separantur, sicut nec rivus a fonte, nec radius a Sole, nec vox abore: quia aqua fontis est in Rivo, & solis lumen in radio, & oris virtus in voce: The Father, as the fountaine abounding, the Sonne, as the river flowing; he as the Sunne, this as the beame; hee as the mouth, this as the voice proceeding: they are not separated, as neither the river is separated from the fountaine, nor the beame from the Sunne, nor the voyce from the mouth, for the water in the fountaine is in the river, as the light of the Sunne is in the beame, and the vertue of the mouth in the voyce.

The distinction of the persons obscurely delivered in the Old Testament, in the New is made clearer than the noone-day. For at the Baptisme of Christ, the Sonne was seene: The holy Ghost descended like a Dove. Againe, Christ bade them Baptise, In the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost. Againe, Mat. 3. 16. this was Pauls farewell to the Churches: The grace of our Lord Ie­sus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the holy Ghost, be with you, &c. Mat. 28. 19. [Page 34] Againe, Saint Iohn saith, That there are three that beare witnessein Sanctification not available without pre­servation. heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one: Also the place, Luk. 1. 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that ho­ly thing that shall be borne of thee, shall be called the Sonne of God; doth 1 Iohn 5. 7, 8. sufficiently prove the Trinity; which places the Confession of Belgia quoted against Iewes, Mahomitans, Marcion, Mans, Sabellius, Samositanus, &c.

The third title of honour here given unto the Elect, is reser­vation, that they are reserved unto Christ Iesus; that is (as St. Peter saith) They are kept by the power of God, through faith unto sal­vation. All former blessings without this is to small purpose, 1 Pet. 1. 15. in that God not onely calleth us, but sanctifieth us, and not on­ly so neither, but also reserveth us in Christ Iesus. This ma­keth Luke 6. 38. up the measure of our joy, till the Bushell runne over. So Paul told the Corinthians, that God had called them, and would con­firme 1 Cor. 1. 8. them unto the end, that they may bee blamelesse in the day of Lord Iesus. This is the Anchor of our hope, as the Sun at noone day, as the Moone in the Full, that God preserveth us for ever. He that keepeth Israel, doth neither slumber nor sleepe; the Lord is thy keeper, the Psal. 121. 4, 5. Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand, the Sunne shall not burne thee by day, nor the Moone by night. He that keepeth a sicke man, slee­peth; but he that keepeth us, never sleepeth: his eyes are al­waies open day and night, like the gates of the new Ierusalem. Apoc. 20. Christ giveth this reason why his sheepe doe not perish: My sheepe (saith hee) heare my voyce, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternall life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck Iohn 10. 27, 28. them out of my hand. Our life is like a Ship in the Sea, beaten with winde, tossed with waves, turmoyled with all kind of troubles; and were it not that Christ is in this Ship, we were like to sinke, nor with Peter into the Sea, but with Iudas into hell. And this point is most notably handled by Master Calvin, who affirmeth, that Gods providence is over all the parts of our life; we can­not Calvin libro 1. cap. 17. Instit. (saith he) take heat nor cold without danger; by heat wee may surfeit, and by colde catch an ague, if wee mount up an horse, In lapsu unius pedis periclitatur tota vita; in the sli­ding of one foot is the danger of our life; if wee enter into a Ship, we are but an inch from death; if we walke in the streets, so many tiles, so many deaths hang over our heads, walk into the Forrests or Fields, so many beasts, so many enemies that con­spire our destruction, shut thy selfe in a Garden, there a Serpent may kill thee: Latet anguis in herbis. And to recapitulate all this: Bibulus a noble Romane, riding thorough the streets in great pompe, a tile fell from the house, and strooke him so deepe in­to the head, that it killed him. Pope Adrian, drinking at a Fountaine, was choked with a flye: Anacreon the Poet was cho­ked with the graine of a Grape; Gregory the 13. was suddenly [Page 35] strangled with a rheume, and it is said of Plato, that he dyed in a Gods provi­dence wat­cheth over all, especially his. dreame, and of Publius Crassus, that hee dyed laughing. Into these dangers might wee have fallen, if God had not preserved us.

Marvellous is the providence of God in our lives: Iob in his misery saw the want of it, and therefore wished, saying, Oh that I were as in times past, when God preserved me, when his light shined up­on Iob. 29. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. my head, and when by his light I walked through the darkenesse; as I was in the dayes of my youth, when Gods providence was upon my Ta­bernacle, when the Almighty was with me, and my children round about me; when I washed my pathes with butter, and when the rocke powred me out Rivers of Oyle, &c. In all the parts of our life God mira­culously preserveth us, miraculously doth he preserve us in our conception: and therefore saith the just man; Thou hast powred me out like milke, turned me to Curds like Cheese, thou hast cloathed mee with skinne and flesh, and joyned mee together with bones and sinewes; thou hast given me life and grace, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. Miraculously did hee nourish us in our Mothers wombe, Psal. 8. 2. miraculously nine moneths preserved hee us; miraculously did he deliver us out of the wombe of our Mother; for at our birth Psal. 34. not onely women but Angels did assist us; miraculously God keepeth us in our youth: For CHRIST speaking of his little Mat. 18. 10. ones, saith, The Angels of his little ones doe alwaies behold the face of his Father which is in Heaven. Miraculously doth hee keepe us untill the day of our death: Therefore saith Da­vid, Thou hast shewed mee great troubles and adversities, but Psal. 71. 18. thou wilt returne and revive mee, and wilt come againe, and take mee from the depth of the earth. Miraculously doth he continue his be­nefits towards us: Therefore saith the sweet Singer of Israel; Cast me not away in the time of my age, forsake me not when my strength Psal. 71. 8. faileth me: let it be our Prayer. If God had not aswell preserved us and kept us, it had beene to small purpose to call us and san­ctifie us. This Doctrine then is a Doctrine of comfort, that God preserveth us; it is as Davids Harpe, which rejoyced Saul in his melancholy. God hath not onely made us, but also pre­served us in a wonderfull mercy. He telleth all our steps. He num­breth Iob 14. Psal. 56. Psal. 38. Psal. 139. Psal. 34. Mat. 10. our teares. He counteth our dayes and times. He telleth our mem­bers. He reckoneth our bones. Yea he telleth our haires.

Our steps, our teares, our dayes, our members, our bones, our hayres are told; and yet all these are but little; a steppe is but a little space, a teare is but a little water, a member is but a little flesh, a bone a little substance, our dayes a little time, our haire a little exerement; yet all these are kept of God; he that kee­peth these little things, will keepe our bodies and soules: As Paul prayed for Thessalonica, Now the very God of peace sanctifie you throughout, and I pray God, that your whole spirit, soule and body may 1 Thes. 5. 23. bee kept blamelesse untill the comming of our Lord and Saviour [...]esus [Page 36] Christ. God therefore is continually to be praised: (quoth Am­brose) The Saints though affli­cted yet deli­vered. In prosperis, quia consolamnur; in adversis, quia corrigimur; in prosperity, because we are comforted; in adversity, because we are corrected; before we were borne, because he made us; after we were borne, because he saveth us; in our sinnes, because hee Ambr. in ora fu. nebri in Theodo­sium. Apoc. 2. 10. pardoneth us; in our conversion, because hee helpeth us; in our preservation, because he keepeth us and crowneth us. But some will say, doe we not see good men take harme, sometime breake an arme, a legge; yea, and sometime their necke? Where is Gods providence? how are they preserved? I say, that GOD sometime throwes them down, and leaveth them to themselves, that they may the better see their weakenesse and Gods power; and being delivered, glorifie him in it, according to that precept of the Almighty; call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorifie mee. Hereof come all those tragicall Psal. 50. 15. speeches of the Saints, that God maketh them as Buts, and all his arrowes sticke deepe in them; that hee feareth them with Iob 7. 12. 14, 19. dreames, and astonisheth them with visions, and will not give them so much rest, as to swallow their spettle; that their heart panteth; that their strength faileth; the light of their eyes is Psal. 38. 5. 8. 10. gone; that their wounds are putrified and corrupt; that they are weakened and sore broken, and doe rore for the very disqui­etnesse of their hearts; that they are as water powred out; that all their bones be out of ioynt; that their heart is as waxe mel­ted Psal. 22. 14. in the middest of their bowels; that God bruiseth them as a Lion; like a Crane or Swallow, so God maketh them to chat­ter, and to mourne like Doves. True it is, that they bee often Esay. 38. 12, 13. 14. in perill for a time.

But at last commeth the yeere of Iubile, and they are freed; the cloud is dispersed, and the Sunne shineth; the clay is re­moved, and the water runneth; the ashes is scattered, and the fire burneth; the snare is broken, and the Birds are delivered. It is God that preserveth all things, that he may have the glory. Psal. 174. 7. He kept the old world many yeeres from perishing; and when it was destroyed, he reserved a seed of 8. persons: He will keep Gen. 8. [Page 37] this new World in the great burning: For there shall bee a new God hath pre­served his Scriptures. God preserves Bodies and Soules. Heaven and a new Earth. Hee kept the primitive Church from ten great persecutours, when the rivers were dyed with bloud; when five thousand died every day, except the Calends of Ia­nuarie; hee kept the Scriptures from Antiochus [...] and Dioclesian, the one made monthly Inquisition for the Bibles, and 2 Pet. 3. beheaded them that kept them; the other commanded all to bee burnt, yet Ezra and they continue to our good; hee kept the knowledge of his Name in all the darkenesse of the World. For as Iosephus saith, Adam made two tables of stone, or pillars, Euseb. lib. 1. in the one hee wrote, Hominis lapsum, Mans fall: In the other Promissionem de Messia, the promise of the Messiah; and so that [...]. continueth to this day: hee kept the Religion in the dayes of Queene Mary, as hee kept the Law in the dayes of Manasses and Amon; two or three Berries were left on the top of the tree, some grapes after the vintage, some eares of corne after the gleaning. Hee kept our late blessed Queene, when Stephen Gardiner bad, Hew at the roote, and when some others used her roughly, when the plot of her death was layd. Let our Soules praise the Lord, and Psal. 103. all that is within us, praise his holy name.

God preserved the Fathers, Aegypt received Athanasius from exile, having beene seven yeeres in a Cisterne at Treveris: France received Hilary, returning from battell: Antioch received Chry­sostome, from the malice of Arcadius, and Eudoxia: Italy wel­comed Eusebius, from exile: and Millaine entertained Ambrose, from the rage of Valentinian and Iustina; God preserveth the World, and all men in it; and this preservation of the World is greater, than the Creation of the World, greater than the Ios. 10. Iohn 2. John 6. drying up of the redde Sea, greater than the standing of the Sunne and Moone in Aialon, greater than the turning of Water into Wine, greater than the feeding of five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes: Et tamen haec omnes mirantur, non quia majora, sed quia rariora: Vilescunt miracula, & Dei opera assidui­tate; And yet all men wonder at these things, not because they August. Tract. 24. in Iohn. be greater, but because they bee rarer Miracles, and the workes of God waxe vile by assiduitie. August. Oh brethren! It is as great a worke of God to keepe us in body from the Divell: For if hee might have his minde, hee would teare us in a thousand pieces; and there should not bee a man left a live upon the Earth. Hee that deceived Eva, he that slew Iobs children and Gen. 3. Iob 1. 1 Reg. 22. Act. 19. Tob. 3. cattel, hee that was a lying Spirit in the mouth of the false Pro­phets, hee that wounded the seven sonnes of Sceva a Iew, over­came them and prevailed, he that killed Sara her seven husbands, in seven nights, would kill us every night, if God kept us not. Let us therefore commit our selves to God. Tertullian saith, Tertul. libro de Patientia. Si injuriam apud Deum deposueris, ultor est; si dolorem, consolator est; si morbus, medicus est; si damnum, restitutor est; si mortem, resuscitator est. [Page 38] If thou indurest wrong for Christ sake, hee is a revenger; if sor­row, God preserves bodies and soules. hee is a comforter; if sickenesse, he is a Physitian; if losse, he is a restorer; if death, hee is a reviver, he is the resurrection and the life. He is (quoth one) in our sickenesse a restorer; in our prisonment, a deliverer; in our saile, a marriner; in our cities, a Mat. 9. Psal. 146. Psal. 107. Psal. 127. Exod. 15. Act. 17. 1 Cor. 13. Psal. 30. 5. watchman; in our buildings, a carpenter; in our battels, a soul­dier; in our life, a keeper; in our death, a restorer. Blessed be God who alwaies keepeth us. In how many Agues, Palsies, Gouts, A­poplexies, hath God kept us? in how many sicke nights, hath hee watched at our bed side, and joy hath come in the morning?

But if I would speake of our spirituall Deliverance, Preser­vation from Satan, in our Soules; Where shall I beginne? or Where shall I end? Dies citiùs quàm dicta, tempora citiùs quàm ver­ba deficerent: The day sooner than words, the time sooner than speech should faile mee. A most large field is offered mee to walke in; but I will confine my selfe. God hath kept us in Soule from the great sinnes of the World; though wee cannot say with Christ, Which of you can accuse mee of sinne? yet wee can say, who can accuse us of notorious, grosse, open sinnes. Wherein wee have beene scandalous to the Church of God? Iohn 8. 46. Wee are content to walke by good report, and evill report: and are loth to give occasion of offence in any thing. August. hath a patheti­call speech, to noto how God keepeth us in Soule: Quantum (in­quit) debeo diligere Deum? redimit me, cum perieram; quando igno­ravi, 2 Cor. 6. 3. docuit me; quando erravi, reduxit me; quando peccavi, corripuit me; quando cecidi, erexit me; quando steti, tenuit me; quando ivi, de­duxitAug.me; quando veni, suscepit me; quando clamavi, exaudivit me; How much am I bound to love God? I had perished, if hee had not redeemed me; when I was ignorant, he taught me; when I erred, hee reduced mee; when I sinned, he corrected me; when I fell, hee erected mee; when I stood, hee held mee; when I went, hee led me; when I came, hee received mee; and when I cryed, he heard me. Therefore this was Saint Augustines praier, Custodi me Domine, hic & ubique, nunc & semper, intus & foris, an­tè & retro, circum circa; in me nullus pateat locus insidiis Diaboli. Preserve me ô Lord here and every where; now and ever; with­in Aug. lib. Medit. and without; before and behinde; round about mee; that no place may lie open for the snares of the Divell. Christ praying for his Apostles, and in them for us, saith thus; I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou keepe them from evill. If God kept us not in Soule, the Divell would destroy us all; Iohn 17. 15. not a man in the World should be saved, all should goe to Hell, note his malice to Adam; hee was by Satans envy, formed and deformed, made and marred in one day; hee lodged not (say the Fathers) one night in Innocencie.

Wee read of one in the Gospel, that had a deafe Divel, of another that had a dumbe Divell, of Mary Magdalen, that had [Page 39] seven Divels: of a man that had a legion of Divels, that is, No safety from Sathan except God preserve. eight hundred Divels: For a Legion containeth five hundred footemen, and three hundred horsemen. Ecce tetendit Satanas ante pedes nostros laqueos insinitos, &c. Behold, Satan layeth be­fore Mar. 2. Luke 5. Luke 7. Luke 8. August. in soli­loq. our feete (saith Augustine) infinite snares, hee filleth our wayes with deceits to catch our poore Soules. Hee layeth snares for us in Riches, in Poverty, in Meate, in Drinke, in Sleepe, in Waking, in Word, and Worke, and in every thing. In Riches, wee are proud; in Poverty, wee murmur and steale; in Meate, wee surfet; in Drinke, wee are drunken; in Dreames, wee wander, &c. It is reported of Anthony, that on a time looking up to Heaven; hee saw all full of snares, and hee cryed out; Who shall deliver us? Answere was made. I the Lord will deliver you. Oh then let us alway pray with Augustine, Dominetur carni anima, animae ratio, rationi gratia, &c. Let the Soule rule the Flesh, Reason the Soule, Grace Reason, and subdue mee to thy will Lord, both within and without: sharpen my Tongue, to sound forth thy praises, illuminate my minde, inlarge my heart to receive thee, give me a wise and understanding heart, &c.

Iovem & Iunonem a juvando dictos esse, ait Cicero: Cicero saith, that Iupiter and Iuno were so called, a iuvando, of helping: Sed hoc in Deum (quoth Lactantius) optimè quadrat, but this, saith La­ctantius, Lactan. lib. 1. cap. 10. doth best of all befit God, Qui juvat, servat, salvat, who both helpeth us, keepeth us, and saveth us, who by Faith Ephes. 8. 17. quencheth all the fiery darts of the Divell. That wee have not filled our eyes with vanity, our eares with slander, nor our mouthes with blasphemy, nor our bellies with gluttony, nor our bodies with lechery, nor our hands with bribery, it is Gods worke. For seedes of all sinne are in us by nature, and wee are no better than others; but hee reserveth and keepeth us: wee neede not then feare what man can doe unto us. Nay Ephes. 2. 4. wee need not feare the day of Death, or the day of Iudgement. For in the last day it shall be said to every one reserved and kept of God, Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso, this day shalt thou be with Luke 23. me in Paradise. And in the last day of the World to them all, Venite benedicti, come yee blessed of my Father, inherit the king­dome Mat. 25. 34. prepared for you: and therefore as the Hart desireth the water-brookes, so long their Soules after God, their Soules after God, yea after the living God, and they cry day and night, Come Lord Jesus, come quickely. Thou which art our Lord by right of creation, by right of redemption, by right of gubernation, Apoc. 22. by right of preservation, Come, come away quickely, and crown us with glory, receive us into thy kingdome, where is Gaudium sine fine, sine metu finis, Ioy without end, without feare of end. Thus much of the Persons saluted, their vocation, sanctification and reservation to Iesus Christ.

THE FOVRTH SERMON.

I Am now come to the Salutation, wherein the Apostle wisheth and prayeth for three things.

• 1 Mercy.
• 2 Peace.
• 3 Love.

Three things more excellent than Mat. 2. the three gifts, which the Wisemen bestowed on Christ; Gold, Fran­kincense, 2 Sam. 23. and Myrrh; three things more puissant to overthrow the Di­vell, than the three mighty men that were in the hoast of Israel to overthrow the Philistines, and to fetch water out of the well of Bethelem, that David longed for; three things more comely, than the three things that Salomon commended, that is, a Lion Prov. 30. among beasts, a Gray-hound, and a Goat.

Mercy, which is the first thing here wished for, is ascribed to God, the Creator; Peace, which is the second, to Christ, the 2 Cor. 1. 3. Ephes. 2. 14. Rom. 5. 5. Reconciler; Love, which is the third, to the holy Ghost, the Com­forter. For God hee is called, The Father of Mercies, Christ is called, Our Peace, and the holy Ghost, Love. The Apostle there­fore in saying, Mercy, Peace, and Love be multiplied, is as if he should have said; The God of Mercy forgive you your sinnes, the God of Peace give you Peace that passeth all understan­ding, and the God of Love grant that your Love may abound more and more, that yee may bee rooted and grounded in Love.

[Page 41] And yet all this proceedeth from one and the same person; Generall and speciall Mer­cies of God. for albeit Mercy be ascribed to the Father, Peace to the Sonne, and Love to the holy Ghost: Creation to the Father, Redemp­tion to the Sonne, and Sanctification to the holy Ghost, yet all these create, redeeme, and sanctifie. For wee worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Vnity; wee confound neither the per­sons, nor yet their worke.

Mercie be unto you, Mercy in God is not passive, but active, Non quoad affectum, sed quoad effectum. No suffering with us in our wants, but succouring us in them.

Mercy is here taken for grace and the meere favour of God: The Apostle therefore in wishing Mercy, Peace and Love to the Saints, teacheth us, Quales esse debent Christianorum salutatio­nes, nos literis nostris & epistolis, honorem, opulentiam, salutem, longam vitam amicis optamus, Iudas verò, misericordiam, pacem, charitatem, & dona coelestia, his tribus, Ecclesia opus est, aliter, actum esset. And first hee beginneth with Mercie: For instead of Grace used by the Apostle Paul in sundry of his Epistles, Iude heere nameth Mercy, which is all one; Mercy and Grace is that, whereby all good is conveyed to us: therefore an excellent blessing to bee prayed for, and this Grace and Mercy of God is fourefold:

1 Generall.

2 Speciall.

3 Temporall.

4 Eternall.

The generall Grace and Mercy of God, are those graces and mercies, that hee bestoweth upon all men; Hence is it, that hee causeth, the Sun to shine upon good and bad, and his Raine to fall upon the just and unjust: For there bee some good things, which God giveth indifferently both to the good & bad, as Ri­ches, Honour, Strength, Beautie, Health, &c. And there be some good things, which God giveth onely to the good, and not to the wicked; as saving Faith, saving Grace, a new Heart, a right Spirit, peace of Conscience, joy in the holy Ghost, eternall Life: And there are some evill things, whereof the good taste as well as the bad; as Sickenesse, Sorrow, Weakenesse of body; Imprisonment, Famine, Sword, losse of Friends, &c. And there are some evill things which God layeth upon the wicked, and not upon the good; as intolerable horror of conscience, despe­ration, Psal. 104. 17, 18. damnation, &c. This generall Grace and Mercy of God is over all his cratures, the Fowles of the Aire, the Fishes in the Psal. 145. 9. Sea, the beasts of the Fields; His Mercie is over all his Workes.

His speciall Mercy is that, whereby hee succoureth his elect. This was the Mercy of God, that preserved Lot, from the bur­ning of Sodome; Daniel, from the devouring jawes of the hun­grie Gen. 19. Lions; David, from the cruelty of Saul; and the Israelites, Dan. 6. from the firy Furnace. This is that Grace and Mercy, which the child of God above all things desireth. Lord lift thou up Psal. 4. the light of thy countenance upon us.

[Page 42] His temporall Mercie is that whereby hee spareth sinners, and standeth at their doores, expecting and waiting their conversi­on. Temporall and eternall Mercies. Hereupon one descanteth very finely, saying, When vaine pleasure biddeth us to sell God, and be gone, his Mercy and Grace will not so part with us; when we are lost in our selves his Mercy and Grace findeth us out; when wee lye long in our sinnes, his Mercy and Grace raiseth us up: when wee come un­to him, his Mercy and Grace receiveth us; when wee come not, his Mercy and Grace draweth us; when we repent, his Mercy and Grace pardoneth us; when wee repent not, his Mercy and Grace waiteth our repentance.

The eternall Mercy and Grace of God is that, which concer­neth our everlasting Salvation; & this is that Mercy and Grace principally wished for, By Grace wee are saved through Faith, not of Ephes. 2. our selves, for it is the gift of God.

This word Mercy or Grace teacheth us to looke up unto God, not unto our selves, if wee looke to bee saved; wee choose not the Lord, but he us, Vt salus esset penes figulum, non penes lutum: Aug. Paul ascriberh all to Grace and Mercy, By the Grace of God (saith hee) I am that I am, and his Grace which is in me, was not in vaine: and thus he taught the Romanes: At this present, there is a remnant through the election of Grace; and if it bee of Grace, it is no more of Workes, or Rom. 11. 5, 6. else Grace were no more Grace; but if it bee of Workes, it is no more Grace, or else were worke no more worke: an invincible Ar­gument.

Peter letteth the Iewes see, Terminum a quo, & terminum ad quem pervenerunt; their state under the Law, and under Grace. Hee hath called you (saith Saint Peter) out of darkenesse into his mar­vellous 1 Pet. 2. 9, 10. light, which in times past were not a people, but now the people of God: which in times past were not under Mercy, but now have ob­tained Mercy. We have not loved God, but hee us, Venit medicus ad aegrotos, via ad errantes, lux ad tenebras, vita ad mortuos, redemptor ad Bern. captivos: The Physitian came unto the sicke, the way to wande­rers, light to darkenesse, life to the dead, a redeemer to the cap­tives. Wee were sicke, hee healed us; wee wandered, hee re­duced us; wee were blind, hee lightend us; wee were slaves, hee redeemed us: No man commeth to the Father but by him. Iohn 14. 6.

This is not onely that generall [...] Mercy and Grace of God, which pertaineth to all creatures, Beasts, Fowle, Fishes, where­of I spake before: but this is [...] peculiar to man only: the Scripture calleth it, [...] the riches of his boun­tifulnesse, &c. For The Lord is rich in Mercy: rich in mercy, be­cause Ephes. 2. 4. the treasury of his Mercy and Grace is never exhausted, the fountaine never dryed up; rich in Mercy, because he never ceaseth to communicate the riches of his Mercy and Grace to us; rich in Mercy, because hee pardoneth all our sinnes upon our true repentance; rich in Mercy, because he not only pardoneth al [Page 43] our sins upon our true repentance, but giveth us repentance, and The abundant riches of Gods mercies. faith to beleeve the remission of our sinnes; rich in mercy, be­cause he giveth us privative grace to escape evils, and positive enabling us to doe good; finally, rich in mercy, because he pre­venteth us with mercy and grace, before we seeke him, and fol­loweth us with mercy and grace when we have found him.

Bernard in a certaine Sermon, makes mention of a seven-fold De Evang. sep­tem panum. mercy or grace, which (hee saith) each child of God may finde in himselfe.

The first is a preventing mercy or grace, by which the Lord preserves his Elect from falling into grosse evils; Fateor & fate­bor (saith he) nisi quia Deus adiuvit me paulo minus cecidisset in omne peccatum anima mea; I doe and will ingeniously confesse, that un­lesse the Lord had preserved mee by grace, my soule had gone neere to have fallen into all sinne.

The second is his forbearing mercy or grace, whereby the Lord waiteth for the conversion of a sinner: in regard whereof, the same Author writeth thus; Ego peccabam, & tu dissimulas; non continebam a sceleribus, & tu à verberibus abstinebas, I sinned, O Lord, and thou seemest not to regard it, I contained not my selfe from wickednesse, and thou abstainest from scourging me for the same.

The third is an altering and changing mercy or grace, which makes a man setled in the resolution of holinesse, whereas be­fore he was prophane, and loose in behaviour.

The fourth is an imbracing mercy or grace, whereby God as­sureth the Convert of his favour.

The fifth is a confirming mercy or grace, which strengthneth and upholdeth the righteous in his goodnesse.

The sixth is a mercy or grace, that sets him in hope and ex­pectation of glory.

The seventh is a crowning mercy or grace, which is the Li­very and seisin, and full possession of the Kingdome of heaven.

Thus the LORD hath seven mercies or graces, nay seventy times seven mercies, even an innumerable multitude of com­passions; all which Saint Iude here wisheth unto the Saints; by which it appeareth how great a blessing the Apostle wisheth in wishing mercy. Mercy be unto you.

For indeed all that wee have is of mercy; not of merit, of fa­vour, not of debt; of grace, not of nature. It is his mercy that wee Lament. 3. 2. be not consumed: therefore when we pray, let this be our petition, O God be mercifull unto me a sinner: and when we give thankes, let Luke 18. 13. Psal. 36. this be the foot of our Song, For his mercy indureth for ever; For his mercy indureth for ever.

His mercy is Communis peccantium portus, the common harbor of all penitent sinners: For it is not the wisdome God, nor his power, noriustice that preserves us from destruction, but his [Page 44] mercy. So many idle words uttered in a day, so many vaine Mercy that we are not consu­med. thoughts conceived, so many evill workes committed; I speake positively, and now privatively; so few prayers in us, so few thankesgiving, so few almes, so weake faith, so little knowledge, so cold zeale, so small love; It is not a mercy, but a miracle, that we are not all consumed, that the ayre infecteth us not, as it did Iuda; that the heavens raine not downe fire and brimstone, 2 Sam. 24. as they did upon Sodome; that the clouds open not and drowne us all, as they did the old world; that the earth doth not open Gen. 19. and swallow us all, as it did Dathan; such pride in the rich, such envie in the poore, such peevishnesse in age, such riot in youth, Gen. 6. Numb. 16. such robbery on the land, such piracy on the Sea, such impiety in the Church, such iniury in the Common-wealth, such wic­kednesse and Atheisme in all; it is a rare mercy that wee be not all consumed.

The Angels desire an end of this evill world, the Saints de­parted wish the accomplishment of the Elect, the number full, the body of Christ made perfect. The Saints in earth cry, Veni Esa. 6. Apoc. 6. Apoc. 22. Domine Iesu, veni citò; Come Lord Iesu, come quickly. Why doe wee not desire to be loosed, that as wee are partakers of his generall, speciall, and temporall mercies and graces here: so we may be partakers of his eternall mercies in heaven.

The second blessing, which the Apostle prayeth for, is peace; which is taken three waies:

First, for externall peace between man and man.

Secondly, for internall peace, betwixt God and man, peace of conscience.

Thirdly, for prosperity, and the happy event of all things.

And in all these significations it may be taken in this place, in a godly sense; if wee take it in the first sense, it is a notable blessing, and to be prayed for of all men, as Iude doth here: for peace is the ornament of all places, as a Crowne of gold upon their head, the Kingdome of Christ is adorned by it. The Wolfe shall dwell with the Lambe, and the Leopard shall lye with Esa. 11. 6. 7. 9. the Kid, and the Calfe and the Lion and the fat beast together, and a lit­tle Child shall lead them, and the Cow and the Beare shall feed together, their yong ones shall lye together, and the Lion shall eat straw like the Bul­locke, and the sucking child shall play upon the hole of the Aspe, and the weaned child shall put his hand upon the Cockatrice hole, then shall none hurt nor destroy in all the Mountaine of my holinesse. Here men by reason of their cruell affections are called by the name of beasts; but Christ by his Spirit shal so reforme them, and work in them such mutuall peace and unity, that they shall bee as Lambes favouring and loving one another, and cast away all their cruell affections. And againe, the Prophet speaking of the Kingdome of Christ, saith, They shall breake their swords into mattocks, and their speares into sithes, Nation shall not lift up a sword against Nation, neither Mich. 4. 3, 4. [Page 45] shall they learne to fight any more, but they shall sit every man under his Peace both good and plea­sant. Vine and under his Fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid; meaning that peace and unity shall flourish among them, and division and dissention shall be utterly banished.

Our God is the God of peace; the Divell on the contrary is Heb. 13. 20. the Author of all dissention; it was he that caused division be­tween Abimelech and the men of Sichem. Hee was a murtherer Ind. 9. 23. from the beginning: But God is the Author of peace; Litigi­osi Iohn 6. 44. ergo non sunt ex Deo; Contentious persons therefore are not of God: For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. Peace is one fruit of the Spirit: so saith the Apostle, The fruits of the Spi­rit 1 Cor. 14. 33. are love, joy, peace, &c. but no peace, no Spirit of God. Paul is not earnester in any thing, than in moving men to imbrace peace: Writing to the Philippians he saith thus; If there be any Phil. 2. 1, 2. consolation in Christ, if any comfort of Love, if any fellowship of the Spi­rit, if any compassion and mercy, fulfill my joy that ye be like minded, ha­ving the same love, being of one accord, and of one judgement, that nothing bee done through contention or vaine-glory, &c. And againe, I pray Phil. 4. 2. Evodias, and beseech Syntiches, that they bee of one accord in the Lord. This was Christs Ave and Vale ever, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: Dulce nomen pacis, res ipsa tum jucunda, tum salutaris; the very name of peace is sweet and comfortable, the fruit and effect thereof pleasant and profitable; Innumeris potior trium­phis, more to bee desired than innumerable Triumphes. This blessed peace is the language of heaven; the Angels brought it from heaven: Glory in the highest heavens to God, in earth peace, to­wards Luke 2. men good will. This is the Legacy which Christ bequea­thed to his Disciples; Pacem meam do vobis, My peace I give unto Iohn 20. 19. you; this was the usuall salutation of the Iewes, Shenim Vbenim, peace be unto you: this is one of those speciall blessings, which all the Apostles in all their salutations pray for; Grace bee with you and peace: this David commendeth; O quàm bonum, & quàm Gal. 1. 9. jucundum, O how good and pleasant a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity; it is not bonum & non jucundum, good Psal. 133. 1. and not pleasant, or jucundum & non bonum, pleasant and not good, but bonum & jucundum, good and pleasant. There bee some things that be bona sed non jucunda, good and not pleasant, as patience and discipline; some things be jucunda sed non bona; pleasant but not good, as voluptuousnesse carnall pleasure; some things are nec bona nec jucunda, neither good nor pleasant, as envie, worldly sorrow, &c. and there be some things, & bona & iucunda, which are both good and pleasant, as peace, honesty, charity. This peace Christ commendeth to his Disciples; Have salt in your selves, and have peace one with another: this was a Mar. 13. peece of the blessing which God taught the high Priest, that God would grant them his peace. When GOD would have a Numb. 6. 6. Temple builded for his worship, he would not have it in Davids 2 Sam. 7. 5. [Page 46] time, because it was troublesome, and full of Warre: but in the Contention cause of De­struction. dayes of Salomon, who is interpreted Rex pacis, the King of Peace. When Christ came into the World, it was in the dayes of Augu­stus, when the whole World was at Peace; and Christ is the cor­ner Luke 2. stone, making peace among men. Tale bonum est bonum pacis, Aug. ut in rebus creatis nihil gratiosius soleat audiri, nihil delectabilius concu­pisci, nihil utilius possideri, such and so great a good, is the good of Peace, that among al the things created, nothing is heard of more acceptable, nothing desired which is more delectable, nothing possessed more profitable; Peace is the sweetest harmony that ever sounded, the strongest bond that ever united politicall bo­dies together, the chiefest prop, pillar & preservative of common wealths. Cum alii sunt pacem recipientes, alii retinentes, alii facientes; when some embrace Peace, others retaine it, others make it.

Let us therefore, Brethren, Bee diligent to keepe the unity of the Ephes. 4. 3, 4, 5. spirit in the bond of peace, being one body and one spirit, even as wee are called into one hope of our calling. For there is but one Faith, one Bap­tisme, one God and Father over all, which is above all, through all, and in us all. For contention breedeth division, and division is the mo­ther of destruction, here and ever hereafter, here it impoverish­eth us; so saith the Apostle, If yee barke one at another, and bite one another, yee shall at last bee devoured one of another: the end of Gal. 5. 15. barking is biting, the end of contention is consumption, the end of dissention destruction. This Christ layeth out by two similitudes, saying, Every Kingdome divided against it selfe shall be Mat. 12. 25. brought to nought, and every Citie or House divided against it selfe cannot stand, hereafter it damneth us. For unto them that are contentious and disobey the truth, and obey unrighteousnesse, shall bee Indignation and Wrath, Tribulation and Anguish, &c. Herein the Divels are wiser than Men, Est Daemonum legio concors, there is an agreement among Aug. the Divels. In Mary Magdalen, of seven; in another of a whole leagion: and Christ saith, That if Sathan cast out Sathan, hee is divi­ded against himselfe, and how shall his Kingdome indure? The Divels Mat. 12. 26. Luke 11. 15. agree in mischiefe, and they all obey one head to do a mischiefe: Conyes are but small things, yet joyning together, they over­throw the Isles of Anaph, Maiorica, and Minorica. The Cranes are not great, but being conjoyned they beate the Pigmae, Her­rings are but little, yet their forces being put together, over­turne a great ship. Gnats are but small creatures, yet many be­ing united together, drave backe Iulian the Apostata. Rats are not great yet many of them together devoured Hatto of Mo­guncia. Hist. tripart. Our bodies stand of foure contrary Elements, Fire, Wa­ter, Ayre, Earth; but because they are combined together, therfore live wee well, but if there bee a jarre among them, that one overcome another, the body then perisheth by and by.

What shall I say then of these brawling, sewing, wrangling spirits; they are like the Salt pillar, that Lots wife was turned Gen. 45. [Page 47] unto; they bee of a salt and fierie humor, like the seven blasted Motive to true Peace. eares, that consumed the full eares; like the seven leane kine that eate up the fat; like the worme that smote Ionas wilde gourd, they hurt themselves and others also, they strive in the law, like the mouse and the frogge for the marish ground, till the kite swee [...]s them both away, till the Lawyer eate them both up; they are like Fooles that bore holes in shippes to let out the water, and to let in the whole Sea; so to gaine six pence, they will spend six pounds, and at last die beggars. As the Friers of old lived of the ignorance of the people: so the Lawyers now live of the sinne and malice of the people; they, as the Locusts, eate up all. Wherfore if yee love your wealth; Seeke peace and insue Psal. 34. 14. Rom. 12. 18. it, and if it be possible as much as in you lyeth, have peace with all men. Re­member that our God is the God of peace; Christ the Prince of peace; Angels the messengers of peace; the Ministers, the preachers of peace; the Magistrates, defenders of peace, and that we are the children of the God of peace. Let us have therefore peace amongst our selves; not polluted peace, such as was anong Davids enemies, which laide waite for his soule, and tooke Psal. 71. 10. 2 Sam. 13. 28. counsell together against him; nor counterfeite peace, as was betweene Absalom and Ammon: for Absalom prepared a feast for Ammon his brother, but caused him to be murthered in the mid­dest of the banket. So the Spaniards, in 88. treated of peace, but prepared themselves to warre: nor inordinate peace: for of this peace saith our Saviour, I came not to bring peace into the world, but a sword: nor peace with sinne, the world and the flesh: For this is the Divels peace.

Of every of these kindes of peace, I say with a Father; Melior est talis pugna quae proximum facit Deo, quam illa pax quae separat a Greg. Nazian. Deo; Better is that fight and conflict, which maketh a man draw neere to God, than that peace which separates a man from God; such agreement is not union, but conspiracie. Our peace there­fore must bee a Christian peace; and this peace hath for her el­der sister, Righteousnesse: So saith David, Iustitia & pax oscu­latae sunt; Righteousnesse and peace have kissed each other: Psal. 85. 10. As Augustine upon the place, fiat justitia, & habebis pacem; if thou wilt have peace, worke righteousnesse so peace shall be within thy walls, and plenteousnesse, within thy palaces.

Secondly, peace is taken for the quietnesse and peace of con­science betwixt God and man; and of this peace the Apostle speaketh thus; Being justified by Faith, wee have peace with God. This Rom. 5. 1. peace passeth all understanding, the tongues of men and Angels cannot utter it; the goodnesse of this peace cannot be perceived by the eye, nor received by the eare, nor conceived by the heart; yet the eare can heare much, as Saul asleepe heard David; and 2 Sam. 24. Sap. 1. 10. The eare of Iealousie heareth all things. The eye can see further: for Moses saw Canaan from the top of Pisgah. The tongue can utter [Page 48] more than the eye can see; so Achitophels mouth was as an Oracle Peace of con­science most excellent. of God. The heart can conceive more, than the tongue can utter; so Salomons heart is said to be large, like the sands of the Sea; yet cannot our eyes, nor eares, nor hearts comprehend this peace. It passeth all understanding. It is nothing to have all peace, and to Phil. 4. 7. want the peace of God, the peace of conscience. It is nothing to have 900. chariots of Iron, with Sisera; to have stately buildings Iudg. 4. Dan. 4. Act. 4. with Nabuchadonezer; to have the applause of the people with Herod; to plant orchardes, to digge fountaines, to water gardens, to heape and gather gold, to provide men singers, with Salomon; to have all pleasures, with Xerxes, and to want this peace. For Sisera died miserably; Nabuchadonezer was turned into a beast; Herod was eaten of lice: Salomon called all delights, vani­ties; and Xerxes promised reward to him, that could finde him out a new pleasure. Quá tum inventâ non fuit contentus; Which being invented, yet he was not contented.

Hath God given thee house and lands, wife and children, men-servants, and maid-servants? Hast thou thy coffers full, with Croesus? thy purse full with Dives? thy barnes full with the Epulo? thy grounds full with Iob? thy stable full, with Salomon? and thy table full with Balthazar? yet all is nothing without this peace; and therefore looke into thy heart: Is there peace be­tweene God and thee? as he said finely; Is it peace Iehu? is there not Intus vermis? a worme within byting thy conscience? if there 1 Reg. be, looke to thy selfe, suffer not thine eyes to sleepe, nor thy eye-liddes to take any rest, untill thy peace be made with God, and thy pardon sealed; O pray, pray, that thou maist have this peace, it is the peace of peace, and without it there can be no peace. The name of peace between man and man is sweet, like the pre­cious oyntment upon the head of Aaron, that ranne downe unto his beard, and from his beard unto the skirts of his clothing, but this peace of conscience is farre sweeter. Iuge Convivium, a con­tinuall Pro. 15. 15. Feast, a daily Christmas unto a good man. This peace the godly seeke: so saith David; marke the upright man, and behold the just for the end of that man is peace, but the transgressors shall be de­stroyed Psal. 37. 37, 38. together, and the end of the wicked shal be cut off. The compari­son is, inter pium & impium, between the godly and the ungodly man; the end of the godly man is peace, when he goeth to bed, he saith, I will lay mee downe in peace, and take my reste: When he Esa. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 14. Luke 2. riseth, He is carefull to be found in peace. When he is sicke he saith, Lord let thy servant depart in peace. Let us then be diligent to be found in peace, then shall we see hell abolished, death troden under feete, the first sorrow cast out into shame, immortalitie shall lengthen our dayes, and the glorie of God shal be before us as in a glasse. This testimonie is true, the Heavens have sealed unto it, and the living God hath spoken it of the Sons of men; and blessed are we, if we doe beleeve it. There is more happinesse [Page 49] in one day in Gods service, than in tenne thousand dayes of va­nities, No peace to the wicked. in which we fall from the Lord of life: One day in thy Courts (saith David) is better than a thousand other where: I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tabernacles of wickednesse.

Sed impiis non est pax; there is no peace unto the wicked, their hearts never rest, they are never quiet, their sinne lyeth at the doores, Esa. 57. 20. Gen. 4. 7. alwayes dogging them, and ever ready to pull out the very throat of their soules. As good men have the first fruits of the Spirit, and certaine tastes of heavenly joyes in this life. So on the con­trarie, the wicked have certaine flashings of hell-flames on earth, and are as the sea, which alwayes rageth and never resteth. And as the good man when he dyeth, bequeatheth his body which is earthly to the earth; and sinnes which are divellish unto the Di­vell, and his goods that are worldly to the world, and his soule that is heavenly to heaven: So the wicked when he dyeth, be­queatheth his goods to the world, his body to the earth, his soule to the Divell. But some will say, The wicked are merry and quiet, none so merrry as they, they sing like birds in May, like Nightingales in a cleare night.

I must distinguish, and say, that some wicked are blockish and senselesse like swine, their consciences are seared like dead flesh; Mat. 7. 6. 1 Tim. 4. 2. others are desperate, having an hell in their conscience, trem­bling like Agag: but yet both states damnable. For is the fish that skippeth in the net? or the bird that singeth in the snare? or the prisoner that is merry in the iayle in any good case? No, 1 Sam. 13. 1 Thes. 5. 3. Esa. 9. 6. Ephes. 2. 17. no: Even so is it with the wicked: when They crie peace, peace, sudden destruction shall come upon them, as upon a Woman in travell: But there is peace to the godly: Peace shall come, they shall rest in their beds, &c. Christ is their peace. Pacem Evangelizavit iis qui prope, iis qui procul: he preached peace unto them that are neare, and unto them that are afarre off. To this end he died, rose againe, ascen­ded into heaven; the first was the lowest step of his humiliation in earth, the second the highest steppe of his exaltation in earth, the third the highest steppe of his glorification in heaven; In the first he suffered, in the second he conquered, in the third he tri­umphed; the first tooke away sinne, and destroyed death, and him that had the Lordship of Death: The second brought Righteousnesse, for he rose againe for our justification: The third Heb. 2. 14. Rom. 4. 25. bringeth glory, and all to this end, to make peace between God and man.

Thirdly, peace is taken for prosperitie and happy successe of all things; as in the Psalme, O pray for the peace of Ierusalem, they shall Psal. 122. 6. prosper that love thee; peace be within thy walls, and plenteousnesse be within thy palaces. Peace and plentie are here Synonymies, the one openeth the other, he prayeth for plentifull peace, or peaceable plentie. God hath promised his Church this peace (saying,) The [Page 50] Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, in the Prosperitie is termed peace. fruit of thy cattell, in the fruite of thy ground, the Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, even the Heaven to give raine unto thy land in due season, and to blesse all the workes of thy hands, thou shalt lend to many Deuter. 28. 11, 12, 13. nations, and not borrow thy selfe. The Lord shall make thee the head, and not the taile, & thou shalt be above only, & not beneath, &c. Iacob blessing Iudas, saith, That he shall bind his Asse fole to the Vine, & his Asses colt to the best Vine, he shall wash his garments in wine, & his Cloake with the Gen. 49. 11, 12. blood of the grape: that is, he shall have all prosperitie: and this prosperitie Iude wisheth unto them (saying,) peace be multiplied upon you. Esay prophecied of the wealth and abundance of the Church (saying,) Thou shalt sucke the milke of the Gentiles, and shalt Esa. 60. 16, 17. sucke the brests of Kings, and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Sa­viour, and thy redeemer the mightie one of Iacob: For brasse I will bring gold, and for Iron I will bring thee silver, and for stones Iron: I will also make thy government peace, and thine exactors righteousnesse, vio­lence shall no more be heard in thee, neither desolation nor destruction, &c. And God wisheth that his Church had hearkened to his com­mandements, Then had thy prosperitie beene as the Flood, and thy righte­ousnesse as the Waves of the Sea. In six evils God would have delive­red Esa. 48. 18. Iob. 5. Psal. 65. 11. Mal. 3. Iob. 1. Gen. 26. 1 Reg. 10. 27. it, the clouds shall droppe fatnesse upon it; God would open the windowes of heauen, and powre downe a blessing with plenteousnesse. God hath inriched the members of his Church in all ages, as Iob in Huz, Isaac in Gerar, Salomon in Israel, who had silver as stones.

Yea this peace and plentie is proper and peculiar to the Church onely, to the godly; the wicked have no right nor inte­rest in the blessings of the earth: For the elects sake God made Gen. 1. 1 Tim. 4. 8. Iohn 3. Mar. 13. Apo. 6. Rom. 8. the world; For them he enriched it; for them he redeemed it, for their sakes he preserveth it, for their sakes hee deferreth his comming to judge this world. That the wicked enjoy ayre, fire, water, let them thanke the godly, who are coheires with Christ in all things: the wicked are usurpers intruders into all Gods bles­sings, they have no right to any furrow or foot of land. The faith­full only are coheires with Christ, in whose right they are inve­sted into all the benefits of this life. Thou art no more a servant but a Sonne, (saith Paul) now if thou be a Sonne, those art also the heyre of Gal. 4. 7. God through Christ. As a bastard hath no inheritance among the legitimate Children; So the wicked, as bastards, have no inhe­ritance among the faithfull. They may say of God and heaven, as the tenne Tribes said of David and his Kingdome. What portion have we in David? we have no inheritance in the Sonne of Ishai. So they have no portion in heaven, no inheritance in the Sonne of God, Christ Iesus; they are Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, stran­gers from the Covenant and promise: But the godly have right and interest in earth, and heaven also; In their elder brother Christ Iesus, heaven is theirs, heaven and earth is theirs, land and sea [Page 51] are theirs, yea all theirs, men and Angels are subject unto them. Prosperitie oft hurt to the Church. All things are ours, (saith the Apostle,) whether it be Paul, or Apol­los, or Cephas, or the World, or Life, or death: Whether they be things pre­sent, or things to come, even all are yours, and yee are Christs, and Christ 1 Cor. 3. 21, 22, 23. Psal. 112. 6, 7. 9. Gods, (an elegant Climax or gradation.) For he riseth by steppes. Such a like figure, [...]; is 2 Cor. 6. 9. 10. Obiter now, that peace and plentie are so farre given unto the Church as is profitable for it, and expedient for the setting out of Gods glo­ry. The Church sometime eateth ashes as bread, and mingleth her drinke with weeping, she is as a Pelicane in the wildernesse, and like an Owle, that is in the desart: She is as a Sparrow, that sitteth alone upon the house top, and her enemies revile her all the day long; Sometime she is eaten up like a Sheep, and scat­tered among the Heathen, she is sold for nought and made a re­buke, Psal. 44. 9. 11, 12. rebuked of her neighbours, laughed to scorne and derided of all: Nay, sometime she is smitten into the place of Dragons, and covered with the shadow of death.

The Church is oftentimes more hurt by plentie, than penu­rie, according to the voice in Constantines dayes: Hodie venenum effusum est in Ecclesiam; this day is poison powred into the Hierom. Church. The Church, when it came to Christian Princes to be defended, Major erat divitiis, virtutibus minor.

Againe, God putteth off her sackcloath and girdeth her with gladnesse. He giveth her beauty for ashes, and rich apparell instead of sack­cloath, Psal. 30. 12. Esa. 61. 3. as he seeth it expedient. Non audit ad voluntatem, ut audiat ad salutem.

THE FIFTH SERMON.

THe third and last blessing, which the Apostle here prayeth for, is Love, which of some lear­ned men is thought to bee the cause of Mer­cie and Peace: For Mercy and Peace are the fruits of Love; Love is the fountaine, Mer­cie and Peace the water that floweth from the fountaine; Love is as the mother, Mercy and Peace as her daughters; Love as the cause, Mercy and Peace as the effects; yea Love is the cause of al blessings, & as I may say, the cause of it selfe: yea, Causa causarum, the cause of causes; or Causa causae, the cause of the cause; or Causa causati, the cause of the thing caused. God is mercifull because he loveth us, and hee loveth us because hee loveth us. Eligit quia diligit, & ideo di­ligit quia diligit; thee hath chosen us because hee loveth us, Aug. and therefore hee loveth us because hee loveth us: No reason can bee rendred of the love of God, but the love of God. Let us not buzze too neere the candle, with the flye Farsalla, lest we burne: Let us not soare too high with the Eagle, lest wee melt; let us not wade too deep with the Elephant, lest we drown. Let us not bee curious in these things: It is enough that Moses setteth downe, Love to bee the cause of all blessings. So God turned Balaams curse into a blessing unto Israel. The cause Mo­ses affirmeth to bee Gods love (saying) Because the Lord thy God Deut. 23. 5. loved thee. So Moses telleth Israel, that God did set his Love upon them, and did chuse them, not because they were more in number than any people. For they were the fewest of all peo­ple; but Because hee loved them. Iude here prayeth for it, as a most excellent blessing, without which all is nothing. For as Deut. 7. 7, 8. wee say, In triviis. Hee is poore whom God hateth; so hee is [Page 53] rich and happy whom God loveth; his favour is as the dew of the Gods love a­bundant, un­measurable, immutable. morning, as the shadow in the heate, and as an haven to them that are tossed; as the Cities of refuge to them that are pursued. In thy presence (saith David,) is fulnesse of ioy. That is; where God loveth and favoureth, there is perfect felicitie.

Iohn calleth all men to behold the love of God: Behold what love the Father hath shewed us, that we should be called the Sonnes of God: behold his love, that hee calleth us his servants: and behold a 1 Iohn 3. 1. 2 Cor. 6. Ephes. 2. greater love, in that hee calleth us his Sonnes: and yet behold a greater love, that he calleth us his heyres and coheyres with Christ; and yet behold a greater love, in an higher degree, that he calleth us his Mother, Brethren and Sisters; but behold the greatest love of all, that he calleth us his Spouse, or Wife, to note, that he loveth us, with all loves; with the masters love, as Abraham loved Eleazar; with the friends love, as David loved Io­nathan; with the Childes love, as Ruth loved Naomi; with the Gen. 15. 1 Sam. 16. Ruth. 1. Gen 29. husbands love, as Iacob loved Rachel: What heart of stone is not moved with this love: Nati sumus è silice, nutriti lacte ferino. This love of God is gratuitall free, partly because it floweth from his grace and goodnesse, and partly because he loveth, not for his owne, but for our good. And it is unmeasurable; therefore saith the Apostle, Herein is love, not that wee loved God, but that hee 1 Iohn 4. 10. loved us, and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes: greater love could not the Father shew, than to send his Sonne out of his owne bosome, and greater love could not the Sonne shew, than to die for his enemies.

Yea, this love of his it is immutable and constant: For whom he loveth, he loveth to the end, hereupon the Apostle calleth God love. God is love (saith he) and not only love; for there are many properties and attributes in God, as Truth, Mercie, Iu­stice, Power, Eternitie: Novit omnia, ut veritas, tuetur ut salus, Iohn 13. 1 Iohn 4. 16. sedat ut aequitas, dominatur ut majestas, operatur ut potentia, manet ut aeternitas; he knoweth all things as veritie, defendeth all things as health and salvation, appeaseth all things as equitie, ruleth all things as Majestie, worketh all things as omnipotencie, and abideth and remaineth as eternitie. God is not made of love on­ly as wood of trees, as a fountaine of water, as a plaister of Balme; but all these attributes are in the Lord equally: But be­cause God delighteth in love, and he reposeth a great part of his glory in love, therfore is he described by that attribute of Love; by this attribute the Evangelist describeth him, God so loved the Iohn 3. 16. Cap. 10. 16. 1 Iohn 4. 18. World, that he gave his only begotten Sonne, &c. And by this attribute the beloved disciple describeth him, saying, God is love, and hee that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. By this attribute David describeth him, As a Father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that love him. And againe; The lo­ving Psal. 103. 13. 17. kindnesse of the Lord indureth for ever and ever, upon them that [Page 56] feare him, &c. This made Paul to say, Who shall separate me from the Love exceeds all other ver­tues. love of God? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or na­kednesse, or perill, or sword? I am perswaded that neither death nor life; nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to sepa­rate Rom. 8. 35. 37, 38. us from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. Malitia no­stra finem habet; Our malice hath an end, but Gods love hath not; our malice is finite, but his love infinite. As a drop of water to the whole Sea, so are our sinnes in regard of the love of God, his love is so great, as it cannot be measured; so much as it cannot be numbred; so precious, that it cannot be valued; so large and long, that it cannot be ended: the bredth and length, the height and depth of his love, all the tongues of men, and of Angels can­not utter. As Iude wisheth unto them, the love of God, so hee wisheth them also mutuall love, whereby we love one another; he meaneth both these loves in this place.

Mutuall Love is a chiefe and principall vertue: Faith and Love, the one with God, and the other with men, be as the roote and the branch, as the mother and the daughter, as the founda­tion and pillars of all Christian building: the end of all is Love; the end of the first table is the Love of God, the end of the se­cond table is the love of man: so saith the Apostle; The end of the Commandements is Love, out of a pure heart, out of a good conscience, and 1 Tim. 1. 5. Gal. 5. 22. Exod. 16. Iudg. 6. out of a faith unfained, Paul reckoning up the fruits of the Spirit, nameth Loue first, as the Gentleman-usher to goe before all: For as Manna excelled all bread, as Aarons rod did eate up all the rods of the sorcerers, as Gedeons sword passed all the swords of the Madianites; so love passeth all other vertues: all our debts should stand in love; Owe nothing to any man, but this, that yee love Rom. 13. 8. Num. 14. Iohn. 2. one another; our debtes were sooner paid, and our executors but smally troubled, if this were; of this debt, wee cannot bee discharged so long as we live. The journey of the Israelites was ended in forty yeares; Herods Temple was finished in six and for­ty 1 Iohn 4. 7, 8. 16. yeares; Noahs Arke was perfected in an hundred and twentie yeares, but this debt is never ended. Let us therefore love one another: For love commeth of God, and every one that loveth, is borne of God, and knoweth God, he that loveth not, knoweth not God: but he that dwelleth in Love; dwelleth in God and God in him. S. Peter na­ming 2 Pet. 1. 5. 7. many vertues, maketh up the measure, and ends in Love. Ioine (saith he) vertue with your faith, and with vertue knowledge, and with knowledge temperance, and with temperance patience, and with pati­ence godlinesse, and with godlinesse, brotherly kindnesse (Love.) This vertue above all is as the hoope or faggot bond, that keepeth all close. Therefore let me exhort you, with the Apostle, Above all Col. 3. 14. things put on love, which is the bond of perfectnesse. As the Sunne gi­veth light to all planets, as salt seasoneth all meates, as the Moone ruleth over the Sea, and all moist bodies, as the rod of [Page 57] the tribe of Levi passed in honour all other tribes: So love pas­seth Little love to be found on earth. all qualities in men; therefore let us follow after Love, and let us not give over till we have overtaken her.

Love is as the apple-tree of Persia, which buddeth and blosso­meth and beareth fruit every moneth. Now abideth faith, hope and Numb. 17. 1 Cor. 14. 1. 1 Cor. 13. love, but the chiefe of these is love. It lasteth longer, like a pillar of salt, it reacheth further, it profiteth more among men. Faith fli­eth up to heaven, Love is occupied below, on earth; Faith wrast­leth above with the promises of God, Love is busied in good workes, as Faith is with God: Paul prayeth for it, in respect of the scantnesse and excellency of it: For Charitas laudatur & alget; Aug. de eivitate Dei. lib. 14. c. 7. yet, diligi non potest Deus sine proximo, nec proximus sine Deo, qui pro­ximum amare negligit, Deum diligere nescit.

England is as the Land of Canaan, wee have corne, cattell, flesh Psal. 65. 11. Iudg. 1. 1 Sam. 13, 1 Reg. 8. fish, wooll, cloath; our vallies stand thicke with corne, we have plenty of all things, but of Love, that is scant: As in the dayes of Debora there was neither speare nor shield; As in Saul his daies there was no Smith; as in the dayes of Salomon, there was no Manna to be found: so in our dayes little or no Love.

When I behold the state of many townes, me thinke I see Bulls, Beares, Lions, Tig [...]es, Wolves shut up, as it were in an iron cage biting, tearing, renting and devouring one another, view all Courts, Assises, Sessions, Leets, Law-dayes, and you shall see, there is no difference betwixt us, and the Corinthians, but they went to law under Infidels, and wee under Christians. 1 Cor. 6. Gal. 5. 15. We forget Pauls Caveat; If yee bite and devoure one another, take heed yee be not devoured one of another: If there be an hundred men in a towne, scarce two love together as they should: We are divided into three companies, like Labans sheep, some white, some blacke, some speckled; some Protestants, some Papists, some Neuters: Nay, even among Protestants there is hard agreement. But God I hope will make us friends in heaven, where al injuries shall be forgotten; where are those noble pair of lovers David and Ionathan? Who had but one soule; Eusebius, and Pamphilus, Martyrs, 1 Sam. 18. who had but one name; Pilades and Orestes, who had but one life, Ruth. 1. the one being dead, the other died also: Ruth and Naomi, who had but one grave; Basill and Nazianzen, of whom it is said, Ani­ma una erat inclusa in duobus corporibus, one soule was included in two bodies: Mariage maketh two bodies, one, but love maketh two soules, one; yea many soules, many bodies, but one: If an hundred love, together it is but one heart; as it is said of them of the primative Church, That they had but one heart and one soule. If a man hath an hundred friends, that man is become as an hun­dred Act. 4. 32. men: Nam amicus alter idem, a friend is a second selfe: Cha­ritas Chrysost. est res augmentativa. There was a day when Herod and Pilate, were made friends, but that day (I feare) with many will never bee, they are like the stone Asbestos, found in Arcadia, being once [Page 56] kindled is never quenched; once angry never pleased. The Hea­thens We must love as God doth without desert were wont to say of themen of the primitive Church; Ecce ut invicem se diligunt: behold, how they love one another; they knew Christians by that badge: but we may say (quoth one) Ecce Zaneh. ut invicem se oderunt: behold, how they hate one another, op­presse one another: not Christians but Wolves, Lions, Leo­pards, Divels, nay worse: for one Lion eateth not another, and the Divels strive not amongst themselves, but maintaine their kingdome. Let Tygers, and Beares, and Leopards teare one another; Let Scythians and Cannibals eat one another, who Mat. 12. know not God nor good humanitie. Let them bee, without na­turall affections; but let us love one another, and let the Apostle his precept be our practise; Be of one minde, one suffer with another, 2 Tim. 3. 3. love as brethren, bee pittifull, bee courteous, not rendring evill for evill, nor rebuke for rebuke, but contrariwise blesse, knowing that yee are there­unto 1 Pet. 3. 8, 9. called, that yee should bee heires of blessing.

But yee will say, such and such men deserve no kindnesse nor love at our hands: I but see what Christ deserveth, his eyes blin­ded, his face smitten, his hands nailed, his feete pierced, his heart thrust through with a speare; how ought wee then to love one another? Beloved (saith the Apostle) if God so loved us, wee ought to love one another. In no quality doe wee resemble God 1 Iohn 4. 11. more than in this Love: God the Father is Love, God the Son is Love, God the holy Ghost is Love: God the Father in Love gave his Sonne, God the Sonne in Love gave himselfe, God the Iohn 3. 16. cap. 10. 16. holy Ghost in Love applyeth all this unto us, Charitas Dei diffu­sa in corda nostra per spiritum.

But note here what love Iude praying for, a true Christian love: framed by knowledge, for among theeves, murderers, Drun­kards, ther is a kind of Love.

First, therefore the love of Atheists is condemned, which come from profit or from pleasure, which love men, as the dog doth the bone; but this love proceedeth not Excorde puro, from a pure heart, therefore to be condemned.

Secondly, the love of Gamesters, Drunkards, and Pot-com­panions is here condemned: For to glosse, play, eate, drinke, game bee no good workes, therefore this is not to love; wee call it good fellowship, but such good fellowes will go to the good fellow the Divell, if they repent not.

Thirdly, all carnall love is here condemned: For love in man may bee a vice aswell as a grace, it is a vice, when it is set upon a wrong object, or is disordered, and that three wayes:

First, when wee love things unlawfull, as sinne.

Secondly, when wee love things lawfull, but too much, as the world.

Thirdly, when love is turned into lust, and so it is the mo­ther of fornication, adultery, incest, and such like.

[Page 57] But if wee will have our love a grace, it must be a Christian Our love must be truly Chri­stian. Graces must be dayly in­creased. love, we must love one another in the Lord, & for the Lord: this love is the badge of Christs disciples: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples indeed, if yee love one another as I have loved you. To this S. Peter exhorteth, Above all things have fervent love among your selves, for love shall cover a multitude of sinnes. Non expiando, non ve­niam Iohn 13. 1 Pet. 4. promerendo, sed fraternè condonando, non vindicando, non diffa­mando; not by purging or satisfying for sinnes, not by deserving pardon, and binding God to forgive sinnes, but by brotherly forgiving trespasses, not revenging our selves, not defaming others.

Here also is condemned the love of Papists, In cathedra unitatis Deus posuit doctrinam veritatis; In the chaire of unity God hath put the doctrine of verity: they agree as the false Prophets did, not in the Lord, but against the Lord; they make adoe of their councell of Trident, and how they agree in all meetings. Alas a few buckrome Bishops of Italy conspired together, but thir­tie eight Bishops in all, not like the councell of Nice, where were three hundred and eighteene; or of Arimine, where were sixe hundred Bishops: Nor like the Councell of Constance, where were foure Patriarks, twenty nine Cardinals, two hundred three­score and ten Bishops, forty seven Archbishops, five hundred threescore and foure Abbots and Doctors, at the deposing of Be­nedict the third.

But let our love bee, as it should bee, Christian love: Let us love as brethren, and then the God of Love and Peace shall bee with us: and so much for this love, that Saint Iude pray­eth for.

But before I shut up this heavenly doctrine, note that the A­postle wisheth an increase of Mercy, Peace and Love; he would have these things to be multiplyed, Mercy, Peace, and Love be mul­tiplied unto you: in that he wisheth a multiplication of these Gra­ces, he sheweth that there is no perfection of vertues in this life: for there is a double grace of God.

A Restraining and A Receiving Grace.

The one to keepe us from sinne, the other to increase all ver­tues in us; for in all vertues wee creepe like Snayles, wee glide like Wormes, wee goe like the Messenger of evill newes: but in all vices wee runne like Hazael, or the Roe of the field, we flie like Doves, wee grow like the Lily in a night. Paul therefore exclaimed; The Law is Spiritual, but I Carnall, sold under sinne, for Rom. 7. 14, 15. I allow not that which I doe: for what I would, that doe I not; but what I hate, that doe I. Whereupon Saint Augustine saith, Impii & vo­lunt & valent peccare, pii volunt sed non valent, benè agere, quia nequi­unt quod desiderant; the wicked are willing and able to sinne, the August. godly are willing, but not able to doe well, because they can­not [Page 58] doe that which they desire to doe. This made this holy Fa­ther Never perfect till wee come to Glory. to pray, Domine dominetur carni anima, animae ratio, rationi gra­tia, &c. Lord, let the Soule rule the Flesh, Reason the Soule, Grace Reason; subdue me to thy will inwardly, outwardly shar­pen my tongue more and more to sound forth thy praises, il­luminate my mind more and more to see thee, inlarge my heart more and more to beleeve in thee, &c. For we comprehend not the Mercy, Peace, and Love of God in any measure; Beatitude nostra tribus gradibus perficitur: in hac vita per spem & fidem quotidie crescentem; post hanc vitam, cum anima Dei praesentia fruetur; post extremum judicium, cum anima & corpore glorificabimur. Our hap­pinesse is perfected in three degrees; in this life by Faith and Hope increasing and growing daily; after this life, when the Soule shall enjoy the presence of God; after the last Iudge­ment, when as in Body and Soule wee shall be glorified; and when as wee shall sing the songs of triumph, such as none can understand save the hundred and forty foure thousand which are Apoc. 14. 3. brought from the Earth.

Let us therefore pray for grace to increase in us, and say with Augustine, Si quando steti, per Dominum steti; si quando cecidi, per me cecidi, &c. If at any time I stood, I stood by the Lord; if at any time I fell, I fell of my selfe: his Grace did prevent me, sa­ving me from evils past, preserving me from evils present, and de­fending me from evils to come. But I will follow this point no further: but as Iude prayed that Mercy, Grace, and Love might be multiplied; So shall I pray, Mercy, Peace and Love bee unto you. Mercie from God the Father, the Father of Mercies; Peace from God the Sonne, the Prince of Peace; Love from God the holy Ghost, the Love of the Father and the Sonne: Mercy unto you releasing your sinnes; Peace unto you, quieting your consciences; Love unto you, joyning you to God, and one unto another: Now the very God of Mercy, Peace, and Love give you Mercy, Peace and Love. Amen.

THE SIXTH SERMON:

HAving spoken of the Title or In­scription of this Epistle, I am now come unto the second part there­of, namely, the Proposition, which is a stirring of them up to main­taine the Faith, worship and reli­gion of God, which was now at an ebbe, like the Sea, and eclipsed like the Sunne with false Apostles, & had shaken her leaves like a tree in winter. Where note two things.

1 That they must labour for Faith.

2 The reasons, why they must so labour.

The Reasons be three:

The first, taken from the person of the Apostle.

The second from the person of God.

The third from the person of the Adversaries.

From the person of the Apostle three wayes:

From 1 His love. 2 His paines. 3 His mildnesse.

The second reason is taken from the person of God, in that he gave this Faith; where note three things:

[Page 62] The necessitie and excellen­cie of Faith. That it is 1 His gift. 2 Once given. 3 Given to the Saints.

The last reason is taken from the Adversarie; where note two things:

1 The qualities 2 The end of the Adversarie.

But first, for Faith; all men must labour for it, that they may say on their death-beds with Paul, I have fought a good fight, I 2 Tim. 7, 8. have finished my course, I have kept the faith, from hence-forth there is laid up for me a Crowne of righteousnesse, which the Lord, the righteous Iudge will give me at that day; and not to me onely, but unto them also, that love his appearing: None can speake of a Crowne of glorie, but he that can say, that he hath kept the Faith; For without Faith, it is impossible to please God: Wilt thou please God as Enoch did? and Hebr. 11. 6. not grieve God like Israel? then get faith. Quod enim non est a fide, peccatum est; whatsoever is not of faith, is sinne Paul describing [...] Christiani, the armour of a Christian, compareth faith unto a shield; all armour is necessarie, but specially a shield: Therefore saith the Apostle, Above all things take the shield of faith, Ephes. 6. 17. wherewith we shall bee able to [...] all [...]he [...] of the wicked. Where note, that the Apostle contenteth not himselfe with a bare exhortation to stirre us up to labour for faith, but with weighty reasons presseth his exhortation before and behind: be­fore comparatively, preferring it before all other graces (Above all:) behind simply, declaring the vertue and efficacie of it (Wher­by yee shall bee able to quench, &c.) By the first, hee maketh way to his exhortation; by the last, he knocketh it downe fast, even to the head, as wee use for to say.

And the Apostle writing to Timothie, willeth him to get faith 1 Tim. 1. 19. and a good conscience, naming two fearefull examples; One of Hymenaeus, another of Alexander, who had made shipwracke of faith, and a good conscience: And therefore Paul delivereth them up to Sa­tan; That they might learne not to blaspheme; that is, he did excom­municate them.

Faith is the vertue of all vertues: As all rivers runne into the Sea; so all vertues come of faith. It giveth light to all vertues, as the Sunne doth to all planets: therefore the Apostle is so pro­lix in it: Faith maketh us the sonnes of God, else are we bastards illegitimate; So many as received him, to them gave he power to be the Hebr. 11. 4, 5. Iohn 1. 12. Epist. ad Adi­manth. Gen. 26. 2 Tim. 1 Cor. 4. 15. Gal. 4. Sonnes of God, even to them that beleeve in his name. Augustine distin­guisheth of Sonnes, that they are threefold; sonnes by Nature, so Esau was the sonne of Isaak; sonnes by doctrine, or imitation, so Timothie was Pauls sonne, so he begat the Corinths, so hee tra­velled of Galatia: Lastly, sonnes by inspiration or faith, so are we the sonnes of God: Christ is the naturall, wee the adopted sonnes of the Almightie. The third is best; for well is hee that [Page 63] hath God to his Father: for the Sonne abideth in the house for Faith must be striven and la­boured for. ever. Faith is the life of the soule, as the soule is the life of the body: Quod carni esca, hoc animae fides; what food is to the flesh, the same is Faith to the soule; quod cibus corpori, hoc verbum spiri­tui; what meat is to the body, the same is the word to the Spi­rit. Iohn 8. 35.

To stirre us up to strive for this Faith, the Holy Ghost ador­neth it with many Epithetes: he calleth it Rich faith, 1 Pet. 1. Holy faith. Iude vers. 20. strong faith, 1 pet. 5. 8. a saving faith, Ephes. 2. 8. a pure faith, Act. 15. 9. a precious faith, 1 Pet. 1. 7. If their we regard riches, strength, holinesse, salvation, puritie, let us maintaine Faith, which hath all graces in it; as Paradise had all fruites in it, as Lapis Indicus hath all cures in it.

And note, that they must contend, strive for faith, for all they are accursed that doe the worke of the Lord negligently; and all Ier. 48. they shall be spued out of Gods mouth who are key-cold, luke­warme, and not fervent in the faith. Most men therefore shall Apoc. 3. 15. goe unto the Divell, and be vomited out of Gods mouth; for they are, Tepidi in Fide, they care not what become of faith and religion, so they may prosper in the world: they say unto God, Ioh 21. 14, 15. Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes: Who is the Almightie, that we should serve him? and what profit shall we have, if we should pray unto him? they say with Alexander Borgia; Da mihi divi­tias, caetera tolle tibi, fidem, spem, charitatem: Give me riches, take all the rest to thy selfe, (speaking unto the Divell,) Faith, Hope, Charitie, body and soule, and what thou wilt: for many are cold in faith and many are utterly ignorant in the faith, and regard no faith; they are like Horse and Mule, in whom is no understanding; Psal. 32. but are men Omnium horarum, as one saith, like the raine-bow of all colours, like the Troianes tun to hold all liquors; like the Israelites, that cried haile King Salomon, haile King Adonia: So they have cried, haile Queene Marie, haile Queene Elizabeth; they can live in all times, for they can shift their sailes for all windes; they regard no faith, but are fit for all faiths, all Princes; yea, for the Divel, as the men of Calecut at this day; they have two faces with Ianus, two tongues with Iudas, two hands with Ioab, Psal. 78. one to embrace withall, the other to stabbe withall; they have two hearts with Israel, a double heart, a heart, and a heart. Paul compareth a Christian to a husband-man, to a wrestler, to a soul­dier, all which labour hard or else they get nothing. No man that 2 Tim. 2. 4, 5, 6. warreth (saith Paul) entangleth himselfe with the affaires of this life, because he would please him that hath chosen him to be a souldier: & if any man also strive for a masterie, he is not crowned except he strive as he ought to doe: the husbandman must labour before hee receive the fruites. Such like similitudes he hath in another place: know yee not that they which runne in a race runne all, &c. In this sense saith Salomon, Buy 1 Cor. 9. 24, 25. Prov. 23. 23. the truth, purchase it, redeeme it with the losse of all that thou [Page 64] hast. But wee will give all gold and silver for lands, but not a Ministers must maintaine true faith to death. penny for Gods truth and Religion, that ware is out of request; So Christ saith, Strive to enter in at the straite gate; for many shall seeke to enter and shall not be able. The Antithesis is betweene seeking and striving; some seeke, and have some cold desire but they Luk. 13. strive not; Paul therefore calleth it, The fight of faith: and he 1 Tim. 6. 12. 2 Tim. 4. 7. Iude v. 9. 1 Pet. 5. 8. saith of himselfe, I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith, &c. The Divell never so strove with Michael for Moses his body, as he doth with us for faith; therefore resist him in the faith. Thus Am­brose said to Valentinian, Prius animam, quàm fidem auferes mihi, ô Im­perator; O Emperour, thou shalt first take away my life, before my faith: Hic; hic occidite; here, here kill me, and doe with me what 1 Reg. 21. thou wilt: Si Naboth vineam patrum tradere noluit, if Naboth would not depart from the vineyard of his Fathers; Absit ut vineam Do­mini tradam; God forbid, that I should depart from the vine­yard of the Lord: So Ierome said to Ruffine; Si veritas est causa dis­cordiae mori possum, tacere non possum; If truth be the cause of dis­cord and jarre, I may dye, but I may not hold my peace: thus Chrysostome would not give place to Arcadius & Eudoxia, but went into exile; and Calvin said in a like case to the Syndici of Geneva, Exarescet hoc brachium pr [...]squ [...]m coenam Domini indig [...]i [...] praebere ve­lim; this arme of mine shall first wither, before I will give the supper of the Lord to the unworthy. Hemingius saith, that there Libro de Pasto­rum. is a foure-fold fight and a fourefold-flight in Ministers; his words are these; Quatuor modis sunt mercenarii, cum se non apponunt Sophisticae, tyrannidi, flagitiis, & Hypocrisi; exponant Sophisticae veram doctrinam seu fidem tuendo; tyrannis, tum voce tum precibus, non adulan­do; flagitiis, ea accusando; quartò hypocritis eorum larvam detrahendo. Men become hirelings foure manner of wayes, &c. Quia tacuisti, fugisti; tacuisti, quia timuisti; because thou wert silent, thou fled'st; thou wert silent, because thou fearedst. Aug.

Thirdly, they must strive, and that earnestly, even strive unto death; so saith the Wiseman, Strive for the truth unto death, and defend justice for thy life, and the Lord God shall fight for thee against Eccles. 4. 28. Esa. 59. 4, 5. 14. thine enemies. God complaineth of the want of this, saying, No man calleth for justice, no man contendeth for truth, they trust in vanitie and speake vaine things, they conceive mischiefe, and bring forth iniquitie, they hatch Cockatrice egges, and weave the Spiders webbe; he that eateth of the egges dieth, and that which is troden upon breaketh out into a serpent; therefore iudgement is turned backeward, and iustice standeth farre off, for truth is fallen in the streete, and equitie cannot enter. In Gods matters we must be earnest, & say, Be strong, and let us be valiant for our people, 2 Sam. 10. 12. and for the Cities of our God, and let the Lord doe that which is good in his eyes. Even so let us fight for our God, the Gospell, and the sacra­ments of our God. If every haire of our head were a life, and every life as long as Methusalah's, all are to be ventured for the faith of Gen. 5. our God, every drop of blood must bee powred out. So the A­postle [Page 65] telleth the Hebrewes, yee have not yet resisted unto blood, striving The earnest­nesse of Idola­ters must make us zea­lous. against sinne: yet had they striven much, and long; and therefore the Apostle telleth them, that they had endured a great fight in afflictions, partly whiles they were made a gazing stocke both by reproches and afflictions; and partly while they became com­panions of them, which were so tossed to and fro: he putteth in Heb. 12. 4. this word (Earnestly,) because of the adversaries, that will so ear­nestly impugne it. Who use their profession, as Iehu used his chariot, he drove as if he had beene madde; who plead for Baal, 2 Reg. 9. 20. as Crassus pleaded for Pompey; who brake his sides, and died with­in three dayes after; for they are earnest in all errors. The Israe­lites gave all their Iewels to make an Idoll, a Golden Calfe: The men Exod. 32. Ier. 44. 19. Act. 19. 1 Reg. 18. 28. Mat. 23. Levit. 20. in Ieremies time were at great cost and burnt incense to the Queene of heaven, and powred out drinke offerings unto her, made Cakes, &c. The Ephesians yelled together, Great is Diana of the Ephesians: Baals priests cried loud, and cut themselves, as their manner was, with knives and Lan­cers till the blood gushed out upon them: The Pharisies compasse Sea and Land to make one Proselyte: The Canaanites burnt their children to Moloch. The Pagans did eate Cyrils heart or liver with salt: The Turkes in the service of their Mahomet on fridayes houle, that yee may heare them [...] off▪ The Aethiopians tread not in their Temples but barefooted: The Indians kill their Children to the Zemes: The Papists take great paines in their pilgrimages and fastings: A condemnation to us, that are so cold in Reli­gion.

But will some say though we be not so earnest; yet we love God and his truth: I confesse, that there be degrees in zeale; All have not the like earnestnesse, yet all must have some earnestnesse and fervencie of spirit; some creepe, some goe; some runne, some flie, and, all doe well, that tend to perfection. For wee must all forget that which is behind, and endeavour our selves to that Phil. 3. 13, 14. which is before, and follow hard towards the marke, for the price of the high calling, which is in Christ Iesus: some creepe like snailes, some goe like horses, some runne like dromedaires, and some flie like Eagles, and all doe well, that doe their best to Godward: Some creep like Agrippa, who was almost perswaded to be a Christian; Act. 26. 28. some goe in Religion, like the Galathians, Yee did runne well, (saith the Apostle) but who did let you that yee did not obey the truth? Some Gal. 5. 7. Psal. 119. 32. runne like David; I will runne (saith he) the way of thy Commande­ments, when thou hast set my heart at libertie. Some flie like Monicha: volemus in Coelos; volemus in Coelos; Let us flie into heaven; let us flie into heaven. Christ riding to Ierusalem, all strawed not car­pets and coverlets in the way; some strawed their garments, some cried Hosanna. All did their endeavours; and hee that doth his best, doth as much as God requireth. For if there be a willing minde, it is accepted, according to that a man hath, and not according to 2 Cor. 8. 12. Luk. 8, that he hath not. All have not the like measure of zeale; some have [Page 66] thirty, some sixty, some an hundred fold; and hee that hath the All have not the same mea­sure of zeale. least zeale, if it be in sinceritie, it is not rejected of God. A drop of water, is water, and a dramme of zeale, is zeale. Let every man strive to his power, and doe that he may, and God will accept it: Saul slew his thousand, and David his tenne thousands, and both did valiantly. Still I say, that he that hath some heate, must la­bour 1 Sam. 18. to have more; wee must both shine and burne, like Iohn the Baptist, who was A burning and a shining candle: Lucere parùm est, Iohn 5. 35. ardere parùm est; lucere & ardere perfectum est; To shine, it is not enough, to burne, it is not enough; but to shine and burne, this is as it should be: he that burneth a little, like a sea-cole, must burne more like the Iuniper, that keepeth heate a moneth long. Some shine, like the glow-worme, but have no heate; some burne like rotten wood, but have no light: But a Christian must be like the Sunne at Noone-day, which hath Magnum splendorem, magnumque fervorem; great shining, and great heate. Where the dead carcase is, thither the Eagles resort, Christi doctrina est cada­ver, & nos aquilae; Christ his doctrine is the carkase, and wee be the Eagles; Contendamus pro ea, ut aquilae pro cadavere; Let us strive for it, as Eagles for the carkase; Let us not as Iayes, hop and skippe here below, sed [...], but let us flie aloft like the Eagles.

Yet still I say with Ambrose, Qui non potest volare ut aquila, volet ut passer; he that cannot soare as the Eagle to the circle of the Sunne, let him flicker like a Sparrow to the house top. If wee cannot with Paul set our feete in the third heaven, yet let us lift up our eyes and hearts to heaven: Let us strive in beleeving, as 2 Cor. 12. the Nightingales doe in singing, Qui priùs spiritum quàm vocem Strigelius. amittunt; that lose their breath before their voice. So much for this that we must labour for the faith, yea strive for it, and that earnestly.

And now to the reasons, why we must so labour and strive: and the reasons be three:

The first, taken from the Person of Iude, and that three wayes:

First, from his love & good will towards them: For he calleth them Beloved, I love you, I care for you, I desire your salvation; thus he shewes his love to winne them. Now love asketh love, and it pierceth a man much and deepely, like an arrow out of the hand of a Giant, when he seeth the partie that speaketh, to speake in love: then vulnera diligentis, the wounds of a lover, are better Prov. 28. 23. taken than oscula blandientis, the kisses of a Flatterer. Therefore Paul to perswade the Churches, ever protested his love; writing to the Church of Philippos, he saith thus; God is my record, how I long after you all from the very heart roote in Christ Iesus. And writing Phil. 1. 8. to the Church of Corinth, he saith thus; Yee are our Epistle written in our hearts, not with inke, but with the spirit of the living God, not in 2 Cor. 3. 2, 3. tables of stone but in the fleshly table of the heart. And againe, O yee [Page 67] Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is made large, yee Love ought to be the mo­tiue in all a­ctions. are not kept straite in us, but yee are kept straite in your owne bowels. And having chidden the Corinthians, saying, Now are yee full; now are yee made rich, yee reigne as Kings without us, and I would to God, yee did reigne, that wee also might reigne with you. For, I 2 Cor. 6. 11, 12. 1 Cor. 4. 8, 9, 10. thinke that God hath set forth us the last Apostles, as men appointed to death, for wee are made a gazing-stocke unto the World, unto Angels, and unto Men. Wee are fooles for Christs sake, and yee are wise in Christ; Wee are weake, and yee are strong; Yee are honourable, and wee are despised. And though hee did thus taunt them, yet hee protested, that hee did it in love; and therefore hee saith, I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved children, I admonish 1 Cor. 4. 14. Gal. 3. 1. you. And though he spake roughly to the Galathians, saying, O ye foolish Galathians, who hath bewitched you? Yet hee did it not as one that hated them, but as one that loved them; and therefore hee saith in the subsequent Chapter, Am I therefore become your ene­my, Gal. 4. 16. Ephes. 4. 15. because I tell you the truth? [...], Let us follow the truth in love, and in all things grow up to him which is the head. Let us pray in love, not as Iames and Iohn did, for fire to come downe from Luke 9. Heaven to destroy Samaria; Let us argue in love, not as the Ephramites did wi [...]h [...] fuerunt verbera, whose Iudg. 8. words were nothing else but wounds; Let us talke in love, not as the men of Anathoth did with Ieremy, Qui loquuti sunt ampul­las, Ier. 11. 21. & sesquipedalia verba, which spake proud, haughty, great, and stout words; Let us reprove in love, not as Saul, who breathed Act. 8. out threatenings and slaughter against the Congregation of Christ; but Let all things be done in love. For love is like honey 1 Cor. 16. 14. in bitter broth, and sugar in sowre wine; it is like the Sunne un­to the world, and a candle unto the house; a light for our journey, a line for our life, and a rule for our reprehensions: Si diligis, fac Aug. in Epi. Iohn quicquid vis; If thou beest in love, doe what thou wilt, speake, or be silent, exhort and rebuke, call or cry, so it bee in love, all is well.

But wee are like the dogges of Coriben, wee speake not, but barke and bite one at another. Such were the men, that Paul Phil. 3. 2. gives us warning of, saying, Beware of dogges, beware of evill wor­kers, beware of concision. The mother of Nero, shewed him her wombe to move him, but he unnaturally ript it up: but the mo­ther of the seven children shewed them her brests, in token 2 Mach. 7. of love, and they would not eate Swines flesh, to dye for it. Sic Bern. ministri proferant ubera, non verbera, so let Ministers shew their breasts, not their battes; Docendo, non jubendo, movendo potius quàm minando procedant, let them proceed and goe forward in teaching, not in commanding; in monishing, not in menacing: Nam Aug. plus penetrant mollia quam aspera verba, milde and gentle speeches doe more penetrate and pierce, than tart and bitter. As for ex­ample, the milde zeale of Paul, preaching before Agrippa, per­swaded Chrysost. [Page 68] him almost to become a Christian. They that goe a­bout In Gods mat­ters we must be diligent and zealous. to perswade with roughnesse; Quos volunt meliores, plerum (que) faciunt deteriores, whom they would amend and make better, many times they marre and make worse. Ministers must be like unto Paul, and handle their people as he did the Philippians, kind­ly Act. 26. 28. Aug. Phil. 4. and lovingly, My brethren, beloved, and longed for, my ioy and my Crowne: they must strengthen the weake, heale the sicke, binde up the broken, bring againe that which is driven away, they must seeke up the lost, and not rule with crueltie and rigour; they must bee as the Pelicane, that feedeth her yong with her heart bloud; like the Eagle, that carrieth her yong on her wings: so much for the first reason.

Another reason drawne from Iude's person, is taken from his paines; He gave all diligence to write of Faith, In Gods matters, wee must be diligent, like the Dromedaries of Aegypt, like the wilde Asse used to the Wildernesse, that snuffeth up the winde Ier. 2. 24. at her pleasure, &c. wee must bee swift as Hazael or the wilde Roe in the cause of God; not creepe, nor goe, nor run, but flye. Wee must march on in Religion, like Iehu in his Chariot, swift­ly and couragiously; wee must be like the ships of Merchants, that bee good under faile. Esay compareth the Church unto Esa, 60. 8. Doves; Who are these that flye like a Cloud, and as Doves to their Windowes? Doves they flye swiftly, and they flye in compa­nies, so should we in matters of Religion.

Demosthenes was ashamed, if hee heard the Smiths hammer goe, before hee read his booke in the morning; Plus olei quàm vini expendisse dicitur; hee wrote more than hee dranke. If this diligence was in him for humane learning, what should be in us for divine Knowledge? It is said of Alphonsus King of Naples, that hee read the Bible over fortie times in his life; such paines did he take for Salvation, and so diligent was hee in the worke of the Lord; and so must wee. Many for the goods of the World, Rise early, goe to bedde late, eate the bread of carefulnesse. Psal. 127. Looke upon the covetous man, hee runnes through thicke and thinne for gold; the voluptuous, he refuseth no paines in pur­suing his pleasures: Now this care must bee in the Church, for the Religion and the worship of God. Let us learne hus­bandry for our Soules, from the husbands of our bodies, they are diligent to provide for the body, let us be as provident for our Soules: let us say with the faithfull, Wee, o Lord, have waited for thee in the way of thy Iudgements, the desire of our Soule is to thy Name, and to the remembrance of thee; with my Soule have I desired thee in the Esa. 26. 8, 9. night, and with my Spirit within mee will I seeke thee in the morning. Wee must take all paines to doe the Church good; Iewell said, oportet Episcopum mori concionantem, a Bishop must dye preaching: Paul for the space of three yeeres ceased not to warne every one Act. 20. 31. night and day, hee was as diligent in teaching, as Iude was in [Page 69] writing, and as diligent must wee be in reading and hearing, like Most men more diligent in earthly than heaven­ly things. the men that followed Christ into the Wildernesse, and abode with him three dayes, hearing him and eating nothing. The Artificers left their trades, the Chapmen their shops, the Mer­chants their exchange, the Mariners their nets, the husband­men their fields and vineyards, yea blind Bartimaeus left his cloke Iohn 6. 2. to follow Christ and to heare him. Salomon would have men la­bour for Wisedome, as they doe for Silver, and then they should have it; If it concerne our profit, or our pleasure, Lord, what paines will wee take? Impiger extremos currit mercator ad Indos, the unwearied Merchant runnes to the furthest Indies. Againe, as touching pleasure; pernoctant venatores in nive, pugiles cestibus, con­tusi non ingemiscunt, the Huntsmen sleepe in the Snow, watch Tulli. in Tuscuk. upon turffes, though bruised they are not moved. Onely for Faith wee will take no paines, though Christ cry unto us, Ho, e­very one that thirsteth, come unto the Waters, and yee that have no mony, Esa. 55. 1. come buy and eate; come I say, buy wine and milke without silver, and without money, yet wee come not.

But to proceede, why was Iude so carefull and earnest, that hee gave all diligence to write unto them? It was because he wrote to them of Salvation, [...] was it that carryed him into this heate; as the Apostle said, They could not but speake the things which Act. 4. 20. they had heard and seene: So Iude gave all dilgence to write of Sal­vation which hee had heard and seene. If a man had as many hands and pennes as Argus had eyes, all were too little to write of Salvation, the worthinesse and rarenesse of the Argument is such.

What a care had Paul of his Salvation; it carried him away in such sort, that hee said; Behold I goe bound unto Ierusalem, and know not what things shall come unto mee there, saving that the holy Ghost Act. 20. 24. witnesseth in every Citie (saying) that bonds and afflictions abide me: but I passe not at all, neither is my life deare unto my selfe, so that I may fulfill my course with joy, and the ministration which I have received of the Lord Iesus, &c. And how desired hee it in the Iewes? Brethren. Rom. 10. 1. my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. And he biddeth Timothy lay hold on it, saying, Fight the good 1 Tim. 6. 12. fight of Faith, lay hold on eternall life, whereunto yee are also called, &c. And when the Church would triumph, it is in this, Now is Salva­tion in Heaven, and strength, and the Kingdome of our God, and the Apoc. 12. 119. power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast downe, which accused them day and night before God. And this was the earnest Psal. 67. 1, 2. prayer of the Church, God bee mercifull unto us, and blesse us, and cause his face to shine among us, that thy way may be knowne upon earth, Tit. 2. 11. thy saving health among all nations, not a bodily health, but a spirituall heavenly health. When Paul will commend the grace of God, and make way for it in the Gretians, hee calleth it a saving grace. The Physitian can give thee but health, as the Ier. 9. [Page 70] Physitians of Gilead did; The Lawyer can but pleade for thee, as Many regard more vaine pamphlets than found doctrine. Tertullus did for the Iewes; The Magistrate can give thee but thine owne, as Salomon did to the two harlots; The musitian can give thee but pleasure, and tickle thine eare a little, as the Sonnes of Asaph did: The historiographer can give thee but the knowledge of the times: But the Divine offereth thee salvation, Act. 24. 1 Reg. 3. 2 Sam. 23. 1 Tim. 4. 16. he writeth and speaketh of salvation. Hereupon saith Paul to Ti­mothie, Take heed unto thy selfe, and unto thy doctrine, and continue therein, for in so doing thou shalt save thy selfe, and them that heare thee. If one should come from the Prince, and offer to every one of you an acre of Land; how would you heare him? as they heard Paul at Troas, till midnight. But wee from God offer you an in­heritance in heaven, and yet yee regard it not: Pausanias wrote of Act. 20. Nettles; Erasmus, of Foolishnesse; Demosthenes, of the shadow of an Asse; Musonius, of the wooll of a Goate; Virgil, of Gnats; but Iude wrote of salvation. If Alexander slept alwaies with Ho­mers Iliades under his pillow; If Lepta forgot to sleep, reading Tullie de oratore; If Cyprian read daily Tertullius Apologiticon: If Chrisippus, read Logicke, so that he had perished, but for Melissa his mayd: how should the Church read this Epistle? There be many that follow the Apostles diligence in writing, but then it is in foolish, filthie, bawdie matters. To this purpose wee have gotten our songs and sonnets, our palaces of pleasure, our un­chast fables and tragedies: Our fathers had their spirituall in­chantments; as Gui of Warwicke, Bevis of Hampton, Arthur of the round table, and a number of such vanities: as Garagantua, Howleglasse, Frier Rushe, the Fooles of Gotham; strong illusions of the Divell to keepe them from reading the Scriptures: And we, like new borne Moabites, that wallow in our vomit, have gotten the Court of Venus, the Castle of love, Perce-pennylesse, &c.

But if he was so carefull to write of salvation, wee must be as carefull to heare and learne salvation. The Iaylor made inquirie after it, saying to Paul, and Silas; Sirs, what must we doe to be saved? And let us also search, and enquire after salvation. For many ne­ver Act. 16. 29. looke in what state they stand, whether in the state of grace and salvation, or in the state of death and damnation. But as it was said of Bonosus the Emperour, That he was borne not to live, but to eate & to drinke, and to scrape in the ground like molles, or to play like the dormise of India, that sleepe all winter, and play all summer. There are none, but must have a care of salva­tion, except they be Reprobates. The scoffing Iewes cried, Da Iohn 6. nobis semper hunc panem, give us evermore of this bread. The man in the Gospell would eate of the bread of heaven, and therefore cryed, Happie is he that eateth bread in the Kingdome of Heaven. Balaam prayed to die well; O that my soule might die the death of the righteous, Luk. 14. Numb. 23. 10. and that my last end might be like unto his. There is none so wicked, [Page 71] but he would be saved; but if that wilt be saved, examine thy Every man to be carefull to know in what state he stands in. selfe, and aske thy soule; whether thou beest a dogge or a Lambe, a Citizen or a stranger, a sheep or a goate, to stand on the right hand or the left.

All men know their state, saving Christians; the Merchant can tell whether he gaineth or loseth; the Mariner can tell his Mat. 25. 40. course, whether he be right or wrong on the sea; the Husband­man knoweth his times for earing and reaping; the Physitian knoweth his body whether it bee in a [...], consumption, or in good estate? But we looke not whether we be saved or damned; but looke into thy selfe as thou doest into the world, whether thou beest even with God, whether his debt-booke bee dischar­ged, whether thy sinnes bee forgiven, or no, whether God hath given thee Faith to apprehend his promises, whether the fruites of Faith appeare in thee or no. A prisoner will looke unto him­selfe before the Assises, and looke into thy selfe before the Iudg­ment day, empanell a Quest on thy selfe and let thy heart bee the Foreman of the Iurie.

And note, that he calleth it Common salvation, not proper to A­braham, Isaak, Iacob, David, Peter, &c. but common to all.

1. First, hee calleth it common salvation. First, to admonish all men to lay hold of it. So saith Paul to Timothie, lay hold of eter­nall life. And also to admonish Ministers to neglect no sheep of God, not the very least. Paul said that he was a debter both to the Grecians and Barbarians, both to the wise and vnwise, that hee was not Rom. 1. 14. 16. ashamed of the Gospell of Christ, for it was the power of God to salvation to every one that beleeveth, to the lew first and also to the Grecian. And further he saith, that hee made himselfe a servant unto all men, that he might winne the more, that unto the Iewes he became as 1 Cor. 9. 20, 21, 22. a Iew, that hee might winne the Iewes; to them that were under the law, as though he were under the law, that hee might winne them that were under the Law; to them that were without law, as though he were without law, that he might winne them, that were without Law; to the weake he became as weake, that hee Act. 20. 20. 1 Thess. 2. 11. might winne the weake; and became all things to all men, that by all meanes he might winne some: Hee taught publikely and privately, throughout every house, exhorting and comforting every one, as a Father doth his Children: Even so the Minister of God must be carefull of every soule, that he may bee partaker of this common salvation.

2. Secondly, hee calleth it common salvation, because it is not prepared for some few, as the Arke was for the Deluge; For 1 Pet. 3. 20. Exod. 19. Iohn 4. 22. then but a few, that is, Eight persons were saved in the water: Neither because it appertaineth to one nation, Kingdome or people, as the Law of Moses to the Israelites; Salvation is of the Iewes: But the doctrine of the Gospell is offered unto all. Christ sent his Apostles in orbem, non in urbem; Goe into the world, preach the Gospell [Page 72] to every creature. Erunt illi testes usque ad fines terrae, they were As Salvation is common, so the Church is Catholike. his witnesses to the end of the world. With these places, Au­gustine refuted the Donatists, which tyed the Church to a small corner of the world, Africa.

Thirdly, hee calleth it common Salvation, because we are all saved by one common meanes, that is, by Christ; Salvation is of the Lord. Ego sum, ego sum, & praeter me non est Salvator, I am, I Psal. 13. Esa. 43. am, and besides mee there is no Saviour, no true Saviour. All other come short; Vana salus hominum, Mans salvation is in vaine. And therefore the Elders, the Angels, and all Creatures give this glory to Christ, Salvation is of him that sitteth on the Throne, and of the Lambe; and they all together, cry, Amen. For these causes it is called common Salvation.

In this sense, as Salvation is called common, so the Church is Apoc. 4. called common or Catholike in three respects:

First, it is not tyed to any time, as the time of the Law, but it endureth ever. Mar. 16.

Secondly, it is not tyed to any place as to Iuda: For in Iuda was God knowne, and his name was great in Israel; but to the whole Psal. 76. 1. Act. 10. 34. world: For God is no accepter of persons, but in every nation hee that feareth him and worketh righteousnesse, is accepted. And the true wor­shippers, worship him in spirit & truth: As Christ said unto the woman. Iohn 4. 23.

Thirdly, it is not tyed to any persons, as to the seed of A­braham, but to all that beleeve: There is neither Iew nor Gentile, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, but wee Gal. 3. 28. are all one in Christ Iesus. In these respects Salvation is called ca­tholicke, or common, and so is the Church.

It is worth your noting, that Iude sayth, hee gave all diligence to write. For Iude speaketh here of necessity of writing. For Hosius, Eckius, Pigheus, Andradius say, that Christ comman­ded the Apostles to preach, not to write; and that their writings are subesse, non praeesse fidei nostrae; that Scripturae sequuntur Ecclesiam, the Scriptures follow the Church, and not the Church the Scriptures. But Saint Peter saith, he wrote that the truth might remaine to posterity; his words are these; I thinke it meete so long as I am in 2 Pet. 1. 13, 14, 15. this tabernacle, to stirre you up, by putting you in remembrance, seeing I know the time is at hand, that I must lay downe my tabernacle, &c. I will endevour therefore alwayes, that yee also may bee able to have re­membrance of these things, after my departing. So Saint Iohn wrote to all, Little children I write unto you that your sinnes are forgiven you. And againe, I write unto you Fathers, because yee have known him 1 Iohn 2. 12, 13, 14. that is from the beginning. And againe, I write to you young men, because yee have overcome the world. I write unto you babes, &c. Chrysostome wri­ting upon these words, They that are in Iewry let them flie to the Math. 24. 16. mountaines: Id est, qui in fide sunt, conferant se ad Scripturas, that is, quoth Chrysost. Let them that are in the▪ Faith flie unto the Scrip­tures. [Page 73] I love not allegories, but it is true, that Chrysostome said, Traditions the meanes of propaga­ting errors. though not upon that occasion. S. Iohn saw three Gospells written; viz. Mathew, Marke, and Luke, and approved them. S. Peter allowed of Pauls Epistles, and commended them unto the Churches; yea, the Prophets nayled their prophecies in writing 2 Pet. 3. 15. Hebr. 2. 2. Hebr. 2. 1. 2 Tim. 3. 16. to the doores of the Temple, which the Priests reserved in the Sanctuarie, lest the things should runne out that they received by word of mouth. Paul at the end of his life saith of all the bookes of the New Testament, that they were able to make the man of God perfect.

Traditions, and unwritten verities, or vanities, have beene ever the Pandora-boxes, full of poyson; the Troiane horse, out of which all enemies have issued; that cursed water of Styx, that killeth them that taste it. These traditions the Holy Ghost sometime likeneth to sowre grapes, which cannot bee eaten; Sometime to broken cisternes, that can hold no water; Sometime to sand, wher­upon Esa. 5. Jer. 2. Mat. 7. Esa. 64. to build it is not lawfull; Sometime to a menstruous cloth; And sometime to things more base and vile than any of these.

On the Contrarie, the written Word is called a Fountaine, wa­ters of life, a Rocke whereupon the Church is built, the sword of the Esa. 55. Apoc. 21. Luk 6. Ephes. 8. Ephes. 2. 19. spirit; Basis Ecclesiae, the foundation of the Church. But what will not hungrie dogs eate, and Papists receive? all the spite of the Papists is against the written word, that they may give us poy­son for meate, sowre Leaven for sweet dough, thornes for grapes, thistles for figges, the Legend for the Gospell, mens traditions, Mat. 15. 9. Gen. 8. for Gods precepts; the cup of the whore of Babylon for the cup of the Lord.

But as Noahs dove found no rest, but in the Arke; so our consciences find no rest, but in the Word: Augustine calleth the scriptures, the Lords Scales, which shew Quid grave, quid leve, what August. contra Donat. is heavie, and what is light; Vbi non appendimus, quid volumus, sed omnia per trutinam Domini; whereby wee apprehend not what we would, but all things according to the ballance of the Sanctua­ry, of the Lord himselfe: And he saith unto them often, Aufe­rantur de medio chartae nostrae, procedat in medium codex Dei; take away from among us our owne writings, and let the booke of God be brought forth: Non audiamus, Haec dico, haec dicis; sed hoc dicit Dominus; Let us not heare these words, This say I, this saiest thou, but this saith the Lord. Christ entring into his glo­ry, could have said much of the traditions of the Prophets; yet notwithstanding he alledgeth only those things that are written; Luk 24. 44, 45. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, &c. Traditions and leaving the written word, is the originall of all mischiefe: Hence came the Iewish Cabal and Thalmud, the Turks Alcoran, the Russian tales of S. Nicholas, the Irish fables of S. Patricke, the Romish traditions of their new Saints: hence come the horrible opinions of Ebion and Cerinthus de regno Christi terreno, of the earth­ly [Page 74] Kingdome of Christ, and of the Leviticall observations, under Milde exhor­tations more powerfull than menaces. colour or pretext of Apostolicall traditions: And the Apostles being all dead, Sua dogma vocarunt [...] as though it contained the most deep knowledge of heavenly things, but was indeed drawne out of the dungeon of hell. Thus, as Midas had power to turne all he touched into gold, so these men have power to turne all they touch into lyes, and all under colour of traditions. The Apostles dehortation therefore is to bee embraced; Beware lest there be any man that spoile you through Philosophie, and vaine deceit, Col. 2. 8. through the traditions of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

The third reason, taken from the Person of the Apostle, is from the mildnesse & manner of his doctrine: For he exhorted them, he intreated them, as if a man should lay his hands under their feet; he came not in the Imperative, but in the Optative mood; hee came not like Tyrants, or great men, with Sic volo, sic jubeo: For mē will rather be drawne with lenitie, than driven by extremitie. He came not with a searing iron, not with vinegar to ulcerate, but with oyle to mollifie; he came not with a rod, as Paul to the Co­rinthians, sedspiritu lenitatis, with the spirit of gentlenesse. 1 Cor. 4.

Exhortation is Gods whetstone to [...]et an edge of our zeale, it is Gods spurre to make us runne faster in Religion; it is Gods milke to nourish us: What face of flint or heart of Adamant, but will be moved with exhortation? The three thousand Iewes, though vile men, were moved by it, it pricked their hearts, and made them crie out, Men and brethren, what shall we doe? It mo­ved Valentinian much when Ambrose said, Rogamus Augustum non Act. 2. 46. pugnamus, we pray Augustus, we fight not; Arma nostra sunt preces & lachrimae, our weapons are prayers and teares. And it moved Arcadius much, when Chrysostome wished that the Emperor might see his heart as he saw his face, that he might see his care to doe him good.

The Minister must learne here to be diligent in exhorting: So saith the Apostle; Preach the Word, be fervent in season and out of season, improve, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine; and 2 Tim. 4. 2. as Paul commanded it, so he practised it: You know (saith Paul) how we exhorted you, and comforted you, and besought every one of you, as 1 Thess. 2. 11. a father his Children. The shepheard hath his whistle and his dog, and the Minister hath exhortation and reprehension; witnesse the Apostle; These things speake and exhort, and rebuke with all au­thoritie.

And as the Minister must exhort, so you the people must suf­fer the word of exhortation. I beseech you brethren (saith the Au­thor to the Hebrewes) suffer the word of exhortation. The wounded man must suffer the Surgeon to lanche, to seare his wounds; The Hebr. 13. 22. sicke man must suffer the Physitian to prescribe sweet or bitter potions unto him; and the ignorant man of a dull spirit must [Page 75] suffer the Minister to exhort him. So God cried unto Ierusalem, As Ministers must exhort so the people must suffer the word of ex­hortation. Be you instructed ô Ierusalem, lest my soule depart from you, lest I make you desolate as a land not inhabited. So wee cry to you to bee instru­cted; O England, bee instructed; O Norfolke, bee instructed, O Northwalsham bee instructed, lest the soule of the Lord depart from you; and the rather, because we have cried long, like Cocks that crow at midnight, and againe, at three of the clocke, but Ier. 6. 8. longest and loudest towards day. The ministers are Gods Cocks, they crowed in King Edwards dayes and in Queene Elizabeths days, but longest and lowdest in King Iames his dayes. As Peter therefore wept at the crowing of the Cocke; so let us weep and wake at the crowing of these cocks: For now considering the season, it is high time for us to wake out of sleep, for our salvation is neerer than Rom. 13. 11. when wee beleeved: the night is past, the day is at hand; let us cast away the works of darknesse and put upon us the armour of light: Bee awake therefore and strengthen the things which remaine and are ready to dye; Even so awake England, thou hast slept fifty yeares, like Endimion, like the seven boyes of Ephesus mentiond by Nicephorus; like Abner, that would not be awaked. The cruellest Lion is ta­med 1 Sam. 28. 15. by long art; the stiffest yce is thawed with long heate: the hardest marble is pierced with continuall dropping; and let us be pierced with continuall exhorting. We teach and exhort you from yeare to yeare, from thursday to thursday; let us not rolle Sisyphus stone, nor reach for Tantalus apples; let us not cast pearles before swine, nor give holy things to dogs. Mat. 7. 2 Cor. 5. 20.

We intreate you, as Paul did the Corinthians, That yee will be re­conciled unto God; wee pray you to heare the word, not to sweare; we pray you to sanctifie the Sabboth, to be chast, liberall, merci­full, &c. The unrighteous Iudge, though a vile man, was over­come with importunity, and let our importunity overcome you, Suk. 18. and be you moved with continuall exhortation: Let not God say of us, as he did of the Iewes; I have spread only my hand all the day unto a rebellious people, which walked in a way that was not good, even after their owne imaginations, a people that provoked me ever to my face, Esa. 1. &c. But let us be warned by the admonition of the Prophets: for by these God exhorteth continually, and stretcheth out his hand to draw us.

THE SEVENTH SERMON.

THE second reason is taken from the person of God, that he gave Faith. Now every man must maintaine the ordinance of God: For we can doe nothing against the truth, but for the truth: So reasoned Ambrose with Valentinian, when hee commanded him to give up his 2 Cor. 13. 8. Church to the Arrians; Si Naboth vineam pa­trum tradere noluit, &c. If Naboth wold not deliver up the vineyard of his fathers, he must not deliver up the vineyard of the Lord. 1 Reg. 21. Here note three things:

• 1 That Faith is a gift.
• 2 That it is once given.
• 3 That it is given unto the Saints.

And first, that faith is a gift, it is evident by the Apostles owne words, where he calleth Christ, The author and finisher of our faith; as the Athenians were called, Inventrices & perfectrices omnium do­ctrinarum, the inventers and perfecters of all good learning: The Hebr. 12. 2. Romanes had their learning from the Grecians, & the Grecians from the Aegyptians, and the Aegyptians from the Chaldees, and they from Adam, Seth, Noah & the old Patriarchs: but the Church 1 Cor. 2. 22. Act. 7. 222. hath all her learning, religion & faith from God; he gave it at the first, and he confirmed it at the least: He gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, and some Evangelists, some Pastours and teachers, for gathe­ring [Page 77] together of the Saints, for the worke of the ministerie, and for the edi­fication Faith diversly taken. of the body of Christ, till wee meete together in the unitie of faith, and knowledge of the Sonne of God, &c. Luke, having spoken of Stephens faith, noteth the cause of it, that is, that Stephen was full of the Spi­rit; Ephes. 4. 11. Act. 7. 55. Gal. 5. 22. 1 Cor. 12. 9. Rom. 3. 3. For God worketh it by his Spirit: All good workes are the fruits of the Spirit, therefore faith; The fruits of the spirit are love, ioy, peace, long-suffering, gentlenesse, goodnesse, faith, &c. and it is reckoned up among the gifts of the spirit; To another is given faith (saith the Apostle) by the same spirit: But faith is in the Scrip­tures diversly taken; sometimes it is given to God, and it signi­fieth his faithfulnesse in his promises: In this sense the Apostle useth the word, saying, Shall their unbeleefe make the faith of God of none effect? when it is given to man, it is taken seven manner of wayes.

First, it is taken for Fidelity, as it is a vertue in the second Mat. 23. 23. table; So Christ useth the word; where speaking to the Pharisees, he saith, Yee tythe Mint, Anise and Commin, and leave the weightie matters of the Law, as iudgement, and mercie, and faith.

Secondly, It is taken for the doctrine of faith, and Christian Religion; so it is said, Many were added unto the faith; that is, to Act. 6. 7. Christian Religion. And againe▪ God opened the doore of faith unto the Gentiles; that is, of Religion. Act. 14. 27.

Thirdly, It is taken for profession of religion; thus Elimas is Act. 13. 8. charged, To turne the Deputie from the Faith; that is, to make no more profession of Religion.

Fourthly, It is taken for Christ himselfe, by a Metonymie, who is both the object and cause of faith: So the Apostle useth the word saying, But after that faith is come, wee are no longer under a Gal. 325. schoole-master.

Fifthly, It is taken for knowledge only; and thus the Divels are said to beleeve.

Sixthly, It is taken for the gift of working miracles; If I had 1 Cor. 13. 2. all faith so that I could move mountaines, &c.

Lastly, It is taken for that grace by which, felicity and the chiefe good is applied; and thus it is taken in my Text.

And this the Apostle Paul cals the faith of Gods elect; For none but the elect, have it, & al the elect have it, at one time or another; and once had it can never be finally and totally lost, but it conti­nueth with them, till they come to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the living & then they shall have no more need of it: It is therfore called Saving faith, because it brings us to salva­tion: Ephes. 2. 8. And Iustifying faith, because it is that meanes or instrument which Gods spirit worketh in us, whereby wee apply unto our selves Christ Iesus, in and by whom wee are iustified: And Sanctifying faith, because by it God purifieth our hearts. This saving, iustifying, sanctifying faith is Gods gift: for hee is the Authour of this faith; From whom every good gift, and [Page 78] every perfect gift commeth. And that which is said of Lydia, is true The meanes to beget faith. of all the faithfull, That the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, so that shee beleeved. And Christ saith, This is the worke of God, that yee beleeve; not the worke of the Father alone; or of the Sonne alone, Iam. 1. 17. Iohn 6. 29. or of the Holy Ghost alone, but of the whole Trinity: For this is one of the workes of God, which are said to bee Ad extra, and therefore attributed to all the three persons. To the first, where Christ saith, No man can come unto me, (that is, beleeve) except the Iohn 6. 44. Father draw him: to the second, where the Apostle calleth Iesus, The author and finisher of our faith: to the third, where the Apostle reckoneth faith, amongst the fruits of the spirit: And the onely Hebr. 12. 2. thing that moved God to worke this precious gift in us, is his meere good will: So saith our Saviour; It is so Father, because thy good pleasure was such. And the end at which he aymed in working Mat. 11. 26. this grace, is, first, the setting forth of his owne glory: second­ly, the salvation of mankinde; and therefore S. Peter calleth sal­vation, The end of our Faith. 1 Pet. 1. 9.

This doctrine serveth to humble us; to let us see, that it is not in our power, that faith is not hereditary: God beginneth it, and increaseth it, and finisheth it. The Apostles prayed, Lord, in­crease Luk. 17. our faith: The meanes to get this [...]aith is double; Outward; Inward. The outward meane is the word; hereupon saith the A­postle, How shall they beleeve in him of whom they have not heard? Rom. 10. 14. Rom. 10. 8. and thereupon thus concludeth, faith commeth by hearing, and hea­ring by the Word of God: and hereupon it is called, The Word of faith. And Paul saith of the Ephesians, that they beleeved, After they Ephes. 1. 13. heard the Gospell. And finely saith Chrysostome, Accenditur fidei lam­pas igne divini verbi; the lampe of our faith is lighted by the fire of the divine word. And this faith, is wrought in us, both by reading and preaching of the word, and both are commended and ordeined of God: and first for reading, God himselfe com­mandeth it; and by reading, S. Augustine was converted: for he confesseth Deut. 3. 1. 9. of himselfe, that being inclined to the heresie of the Manichees, he heard a voyce, saying, Tolle & lege, take up and read; meaning the booke of God; which he presently did, and so by reading was converted: for surely the reading of the word is a meanes appointed of God, to the begetting of faith and raising up the Kingdome of God in the hearts of men; And to say that bare reading is bare feeding, and a thing unable to worke faith in us, is to avouch a great untruth.

But the especiall ordinary meanes, and the most powerfull usu­all meanes, is the word preached. This is that which the scripture laieth downe: How shall they beleeve in him, of whom they have not heard? how shall they heare without a preacher? And againe, It pleaseth Rom. 10. 14. Gal. 3. 1 God by preaching to save. Reading is profitable, but preaching doth profit more than reading doeth: Spice, when it is whole smelleth sweetly, but when it is broken and bruised by the hand of the A­pothecarie, [Page 79] it smelleth a great deale more: So is the word read of The ministery of the word & motion of the spirit meanes of faith. us, or to us, sweet as they hony, and bringeth the light of life to many; but if the spirituall Apothecarie breake it and bruise it, cut it, and divide it, as the Lord hath appointed by preaching, then reacheth the savor of such heavenly sweet to many moe, in a fuller measure, by reason of the blessing, that God giveth unto it. The Eunuth read, but he understood not; but when Philip preached unto him, the sweet brake out to his lasting good. Act. 8.

The inward meanes wherby faith is wrought in us, is the bles­sed Spirit of God, which softeneth, and openeth our hearts, and maketh them as good ground, that when the seed of the Word is cast into them, it taketh deep rooting, and bringeth forth the blessed fruit of faith. The Apostle saith, that His preaching was 1 Cor. 2. 4, 5. in demonstration of the spirit, that their faith might be in the power of God. And the preaching of the Gospell is tearmed, A ministrati­on of the Spirit: yea, he useth this phrase, The Spirit of faith; be­cause 2 Cor. 3. 8. cap. 4. 15. that faith is wrought inwardly by the Spirit. Thus yee see, faith is wrought in us outwardly by the word of God, and in­wardly by the Spirit of God; he is [...] and [...].

Where are confuted Andradius, Latomus, Hosius, who say, that Philosophie iustified the Gentiles; that Socrates, Plato, beleeved aswell as Abraham, Isaak, and Iacob. Yet Howlet, a Papist saith, that faith is both begunne and increased by the word preached, 1 Pet. 1. 23. and that therefore it is called Incorruptible seed.

Here are confuted also the Atheists, that thinke, that faith is common: For all of them say, that they beleeve: but faith is a gift, yea a most rare gift of God; God sent his Patriarchs in the ancientest age of the world, and could find no faith: Hee sent his Prophets in a latter generation, and could find no faith: Last of all, he sent his owne Sonne, a man approved of God, and approved his doctrine with miracles and signes following, and could find no faith. And when the Sonne of man shall come, shall he find faith on the earth? We read but of two beleevers in all the host of Luk. 18. 8. Num. 14. 1 Pet. 3. 20. 2 Tim. 1. 26. Act. 1. 15. Apoc. 3. 4. Mat. 16. Iam. 2. 19. Israel; but of eight in all the old world; but of one family that beleeved in all Asia; but of a hundred and twentie in all Christs time; but of a few in all Sardis: Caro & sanguis non dant fidem, sed pater in coelis; Flesh and blood give not faith, but the Father in heaven. Many boast of faith, but if they have any, it is the Divels faith. Nay, many beleeve not so much as the Divell doth; but say with the foole, Non est Deus, non est daemon, non est infernus, non Psal. 14. 1. est coelum; There is no God, no divell, no hell, no heaven. All by nature are Infidells, we draw it from Adams loynes, and sucked Gen. 3. it from the breasts of Heva, who beleeved the divell before God. And in that some few beleeve, it is by grace, not by nature. Now grace is rare; therefore saith the Apostle, unto you it is given for Christ, that not onely yee should beleeve in him, but also, &c. If any aske me, when God gave this faith, I answere, that he did it in [Page 80] the beginning and it hath, doth, and shall continue for ever. This As God is im­mutable, so true faith and Religion. commendeth the Faith, the Religion of God, that it is before all religions; the ancientest Philosophers, and Poets, as Orpheus, Homer, Hesiod, exceeded not the dayes of Salomon, who yet lived five hundred yeeres after Moses the writer of the Law.

Againe, all the wonderfull things recounted in the Scripture are recorded by the Heathen; as Noahs flood by Berosus, the tower of Babel by the Sibyls, the storie of Abraham by Dupolimus, the acts of Salomon recorded by Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus.

But to proceed to the next point: This faith was once given, once for all, once for ever; which commendeth unto us the constancie of God, With whom is no variablenesse, nor shadow of change: Hee Iam. 1. 17. Psal. 33. 9. speaketh, and it is done; he commandeth, and it is made; he gi­veth and granteth without revocation. Therefore it was well said Balaam, God is not as man that he should lye, nor the Sonne of man, that he Num. 23. 19. should repent: Shall God say, and not doe? shall he speake, and not per­forme? With men there is unconstancy; as in Iael; who offered Sisera rest and milke, but there withall a nayle and a hammer. Saul granted peace to David, with a breath, and with a breath re­voked Iudg. 4. 1 Sam. 26. 2 Sam. 13. Iohn 6. it. Ammon loved Thamar once, but hated her by and by more than hee loved her. The Iewes gave Christ the title of a King, & anon after the title of a Rebell. The Antiocheans honored Paul as a God, but after changed their mind. There is such muta­bilitie in men, that they change like the Moone, they alter like the Cameleon; but God alters not; but giveth his gifts to his Church once for ever. The gifts and calling of God are without repen­tance. Rom. 11. 29.

Note this word (Once) so often repeated, once God gave the Law, once he gave the Gospell; Once more will I shake, not the earth only, but also Heaven: And againe, After he had offered one sacrifice Hebr. 12. 26, 27. for sinnes, sitteth for ever at the right hand of God. And againe, with one offering he hath consecrated for ever them that are sanctified. And againe, Heb. 10. 12. 14. Hebr. 9. 27, 28. Rom. 6. 10. It is appointed for men once to dye, &c. so Christ was once offered to take away the sinnes of many. And againe, In that he died, he died once to sinne. Note all these Texts; one Gospell, one Sacrifice, one death, one appearing of Christ, one death of Christ, one for all, and one for ever.

If any object, and prove a change in God, because God gave Circumcision, the Passeover, the Sabboth, the Sacrifice, and af­ter tooke them away againe; yee shall understand, that hee gave them as figures and shadowes, and therefore no mutability in the Lord: The shadow must give place to the body, the figure to the truth, the greene blossome to the ripe fruit, the seed time to the harvest. So reasoneth Paul, Let no man condemne you in meate and drinke, or in respect of an Holy day, or of the new Moone, or of the Sabboths, which are but a shadow of things to come; but the bodie is in Christ. The day-starre must give place to the Sunne-rising, [Page 81] and that to the Sunne at Noone-day. Chrysostome compareth Though types cease, yet truth and sub­stance remain ever the same. the Iewes to a candle; the Christians, to the brightnesse of the Sunne; The Iewes, to the first draught of an Image in bare lines; the Christians, to the same Image filled up with all due proportion and furniture of colours; the one to the seed-time, Hom. 10. in Mat. Gal. 4. the other to the harvest, and reaping of the Corne: So Paul com­pareth the Iewes to a Child, the Christians to a perfect man: the same light, though not in the same quantitie; the same I­mage, though not with like furniture; the same corne, though not growne to the like ripenesse; the same person, though not in the like perfection of age.

The Iewes note five things wanting in the Gospell, and in the latter Temple, that were in the first (to disprove this that I have said.)

First, the fire that came downe from heaven, to burne the Ho­locausts.

Secondly, the glory of the Angells appearing among the Cherubins.

Thirdly, the inspiration of Gods spirit speaking in the Pro­phets.

Fourthly, the prefence of the Arke.

Lastly, Vrim and Thummim. But all this is nothing: for there is now a fuller knowledge of God, and greater liberty to the con­science; yet the same faith still. For the Fathers and we have all Col. 2. Ier. 23. 5. but one faith; they beleeved that Christ should come, according to Ieremies prophecie, Behold, the dayes come, saith the Lord; that I will raise unto David a righteous branch and a King shall raigne and prosper, and shall execute iudgement and iustice in the earth. We be­leeve that he is come, and that Christ our Passeover is sacrified for us. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Esa. 7. They said, Virgo concipiet, a maid shall conceive, and bring forth a Sonne; we say, Virgo concepit, a maide hath brought forth her S [...]ne: For when the dayes were accomplished, that she should be delive­red, Luk. 2. 7. she brought forth her first begotten Sonne, and wrapped him in swad­ling clothes, and laid him in a Cratch. They had sacrifices that prefi­gured his comming, we have Sacraments that represent his com­ming Heb. 9. and being with us: they and wee had but one light; they had Lucem matutinam, the moning light; wee, Lucem meridianam, the light at noone-day. Wee differ but In plus & minus: there­fore saith Christ; Blessed are the eyes that see the things that yee see: Mat. 10. 24. For I tell you, that many Prophets and Kings have desired to see the things that yee see, and have not seene them, and to heare those things that yee heare, and have not heard them.

If any object, that God giveth us daily new Paith, new graces.

I answere, that God giveth not a new, a strange faith, but ad­deth to our old faith, to our old graces, God increaseth, faith and his graces in us, but not a new, a diverse faith, like the Arri­ans [Page 82] that had Fidem annuam & menstruam, a yeerely, and a month­ly The Gospell immutable: Traditions uncertain. Faith; For whom God loves, hee loves to the end.

This also commendeth unto us the Gospell: that whereas other Lawes and Doctrines are changed, altered, augmented, and diminished, Gods Law is not: The Law of the Lord is per­fect. Iohn 13. 1. Psal. 19. The Lawes of the Romanes written by Numa Pompilius, in Gold; The Lawes of the Athenians, written by Draco, in Bloud; the Lawes of the Persians, written in Brasse; The Lawes of the Lacedemonians, written in Milke, were altered; but Gods Lawes are not. Quoad substantiam, as concerning their substance; Sed quoad maledictionem, as concerning the curse. 2 Cor. 3.

All traditions therefore, all Gospels of Thomas, Nicodemus, Thaddeus, and the eternall Gospell invented in Saint Cyrils time, by abusing the place in the Revelation which runneth thus, I saw another Angel flying in the middest of Heaven, having an Apoc. 14. 6. everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth, &c. must fall to the ground, like the house built upon the sand; as also all those Revelations of the Paraclete, devised by Montanus, together with all those that came after the giving of the Gos­pell, which is perfect for ever, and so perfect, that If any man shall adde unto it, God shall adde to him the plagues that are written in Apoc. 22. 18, 19. the Booke; and if any man shall diminish from the words of the Prophecie of Gods Booke, God shall take away his part out of the Booke of Life, and out of the holy Citie, &c. Let us not then adde nor di­minish from the Gospell being so perfect; for there is but one God, one Faith, one Baptisme, one Christian Hope, once re­vealed Ephes. 4. for all.

But of the late Romish traditions, which have entred long since the Gospell entred, one may say to Rome as Esay said to Ierusalem, Thy Gold is turned into Drosse, thy Wine is mixed with Water, thy Seede with Cockle; thou wert sometime a faithfull Esay 1. City, but now become an Harlot, thou wert once the house of God, but now turned into a cave of theeves. Thou sayest that thou art rich, and increased in wealth, and standest in neede of nothing; Apoc. 3. 17. but thou art poore, and blind, and naked, (as God said to the Church of Laodice) poore, and blind, and naked indeed, God give them hearts to understand, and eyes to see their poverty and nakednesse.

But to passe with this heavenly Scripture, as Moses did with the people to the land of Canaan.

Thirdly, this Faith is given to the Saints: By Saints hee mea­neth the children of God, truely converted; not because they are perfectly holy and without sinne, but in these foure re­spects:

First, in respect of Separation: for they they are elected, and gathered out of this world, and joyned to Gods people, and de­dicated to holy services and uses.

[Page 83] Secondly, In respect of Vocation, and therefore the Apostle The Saints the subiects of Faith and all Graces. when hee said, they were sanctified, he said by explication, that they were Saints by calling.

Thirdly, In respect of Regeneration, because they are now new creatures. 1 Cor. 1. 2.

And lastly, In respect of Iustification or imputation, because the holinesse and sanctity of Christ is imputed unto them. For men may be Saints in this life; For there are Saints in Earth as well as in Heaven: Hereupon saith David, All my delight is upon Psal. 16. 3. Psal. 37, 28. Ephes. 3. 8. the Saints in Earth, and on such as excell in Vertue: And againe, Hee forsaketh not his Saints. And Saint Paul calleth himselfe, The least of all Saints. And Saint Iude here speaketh of Faith given unto the Saints. The Papists will acknowledge no Saints till three things come unto them: first, they must bee canonized, by the Pope; secondly, they must bee dead first; and thirdly, it must be an hundred yeeres after death: Risum teneatis amici?

But to leave all this. In that this Faith is given unto the Saints, wee learne, that holy things are not to be given to Dogs, Mat. 7. 6. a Gold ring becommeth not a Swines snout; Cardui benedicti are not for the mouthes of Mules, the songs of Nightingales are not for the eares of Asses.

Faith is not given to the Reprobate: God hath made other Pro. 11. 22. things for them, & they for other things: He hath made them For Prov. 16. 4. Deut. 4. Jer. 6. the day of evill. God gave the Law, yet to the Israelites, not to the Hittites, Canaanites, Peresites: Hee gave the Arke, but not to the Philistines: He gave Incense to Sheba, Balme to Gilead, fine Spices to Arabia, Ezek. 37. Milke and Honey to Canaan, Sil­ver to Tharsis, Gold to Ophir: but Hee gave his word to Iacob, Ier. 9. Ezec. 37. Deut. 6. 1 Cbr. 29. Psal. 147. Mat. 13. 11. 13. 1 Cor. 10. 15. his Statutes and his Ordinances unto Israel; hee hath not dealt so with every nation, neither had the Heathen knowledge of his Lawe, Christ speakes mysteries, but hee explaned them only to his A­postles, Paul spake, but yet unto them that had knowledge; I spake to them (saith Paul) that have understanding, judge, yee what I saw. So wee speake, but not to them, that are wilfully ignorant, that shut their eyes, stoppe our eares, and harden their hearts against the Word, with such men we meddle not, but in the sin wherein we finde them, in that we leave them; we speake onely to beare witnesse of their sinne, against the day of the Lord, they have sinned, and their sinne will finde them out; as Moses said to the two tribes, Behold yee have sinned against the Lord Numb. 32. 25. and be sure your sinne will finde you out; and yee shall bee assuredly punished for your sinne; All things are given unto the Saints, and nothing is given to the Reprobate but in Gods wrath, and for the elects sake: for their sake God made the world; for their sakes hee redeemed it: For God so loved the World, that hee Gen. 1. gave his onely begotten Sonne, that who soever beleeveth in him might not perish but have life everlasting: For their sakes he preserveth it, and Iohn 3. 16. [Page 84] when the body of Christ is made perfect, the number of the The wicked u­surpers of Gods gifts. Saints accomplished, God will dissolve the frame of this evill World: and therefore when the soules of the Saints that were killed cryed out, How long Lord holy and true tariest thou, to iudge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth? Answere was made, that they should rest for a little season untill their fellow ser­vants Apoc. 6. 10, 11. and their brethren, that should bee killed, even as they were, were fulfilled.

That the wicked live, they may thanke the Saints, the Godly; how soever they hate them, yet they enjoy all for their sakes: the wicked are but usurpers and intruders, to gift of God is due unto them, but plagues onely; Vpon them hee shall raine snares, fire and brimstone, storme and tempests, this shall be their Psal. 11. portion to drinke: For judgements are prepared for the scornefull, and stripes for the fooles backe. For tribulation and anguish shall be upon the Soule of every man that doth evill. Rom. 2. 9.

As Elisha would not have spoken, but for Iehosaphats sake, so wee would not speake unto you, but for some good mens sake that are amongst you, otherwise you should dye in your sinne, and rot and dye in your sinne; you have neither part nor fel­lowship Act. 8. Apoc. 22. in Iesus Christ, as Philip said to Simon Magus; Let him therefore that is filthy be filthy still.

THE EIGHTH SERMON.

WEE are now come to the third reason, taken from the person of the Adversaries; and it lyeth thus; The adversaries impugne the Faith; therefore the Saints must stand for it.

The Church hath many adver­saries, like Bees in an hyve, like Moates in the Sunne, like Pis­mires on a molehill. Iohn saith, That Apoc. 12. 7. he saw a great battel in Heaven, that is, in the Church, Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon, and the Dragonfought and his Angels: And Paul said, There were many 1 Cor. 16. 9. adversaries: Wee may say of the Church, the Faith and Reli­gion of God, as David said of his owne person, Mine enemies Psal. 38. 19. live and are mightie, and they that hate mee wrongfully, are many in number.

As there is a contrary in all, day and night, cold and heate, sicknesse and health, life and death; so in Religion. Chryso­stome In ser. de nequi­tat depulsa. saith, Ferrum rubigo laedit, lanam tinea, ovem lupus, Polium segetes, grando vineam, &c. Rust hurteth Iron, the Moth Wooll, the Woolfe the Sheepe, the Leopard the Kidde, the Haile the Vine, the Cockle the Corne, the Caterpillar the Fruits; few but have their adversaries. So Faith and Religion, A­theists, Papists, Pagans, Heretickes, Schismatickes, Sectaries, all these barke against the Saints, as dogges against the Moone.

[Page 84] Religion divideth men in an house, I am come (saith Christ) Secret ene­mies most dangerous that pretend Love. to put fire on the Earth; and what is my desire, if it be already kind­led? Thinke yee that I am come to give peace in earth: I tell you nay, but rather debate: From henceforth there shall bee five in one house di­vided, three against two, and two against three. The Father shall be di­vided against the Sonne, and the Sonne against the Father; the Mother Luke 12. 49, 51, 52. 53. against the Daughter, and the Daughter against the Mother; the mo­ther in law against the daughter in law, and the daughter in law against the mother in law. The godly, the faithfull are as Lambes amongst wolves, as Lilies amongst Thornes, as Doves amongst Ravens; Mat. 10. 16. many oppugne the Faith, therefore wee must be ready to de­fend it, yea strive for it unto death, as Ioab fought for God: so let us speake for God, and write for God. If wee had as ma­ny tongues and pennes, as Argus had eyes, let them all speake and Eccles. 4. 2. Sam. 10. write for the Truth; yea, if wee had as many as haires on our heads, as Ierome said to Helvidius, Si veritas est causa discordiae, mo­ri possum, tacere non possum; If Truth bee the cause of our discord, I may dye, but I may not be silent: Wee cannot but speake the things Act. 4. 20. wee have seene and heard.

But to come to the description of these Adversaries; they are here described two wayes.

By their Life, End.

By their Life they are described foure wayes:

First, they creepe into the Church.

Secondly, they be [...], men without God.

Thirdly, they bee Libertines.

Fourthly, they are Blasphemers, Denying God and Christ.

By their End also they be described; they are ordained to Iudgement, written in the blacke Booke, not of Life, but of Death.

But first, they are described by their Life: and they are said first, to creepe into the Church. The Greeke word signifieth a craf­tie entrance into the Church; they come not in by the Doore Iohn 10. into the Sheepefold, but clime up some other way; they come not in the Day but in the night, like theeves; they are Woolves in Sheepes clothing, Caterpillers to devoure the vineyard of Christ; Mat. 24. they thrust in themselves, like Iudas amongst the Apostles; ther­fore the more to bee resisted; for no enemy is so dangerous as a secret enemy; It was not an open enemy (quoth David,) that did defame mee, for I could have borne it: neither did my Adversary exalt Psal. 55. 12, 13. himselfe against me, for I would have hidden mee from him: but it was thou ô man, even mine own companion and guide, and my familiar. They pray with us in one Church, and dip their hand with us in one dish; these creepers are the most dangerous hell-hounds above all others, they have Butter in their mouths, but Swords in their hearts: A Dogge that barketh may bee prevented before hee [Page 87] bite, and the serpent that hisseth, before hee sting, and the fire Satan assaults. sometime by cruelty; some­time by sub­tilty. that smoketh, before it burne; so may a knowne enemy, but a secret enemie, a creeper, is hard to prevent. Satan prevaileth ma­ny wayes, sometime as a Lion, sometime as a Serpent; sometime by force as a Lion, as in Nero, Domitian, Trajane, Vulerian; some­time by fraud, as a Serpent, as in Herod, in the Pharisees, in Iulian the Apostata, who corrupted by the faith more by lenitie and rewards, than all the bloody persecutors did by the sword; wher­upon one distinguisheth of Divels, and saith, that some are blacke, and some are white; to teach, that he hurteth not one way, but many wayes; he sheweth himselfe a blacke Divell, when He goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking to devoure; a white Divell, 1 Pet. 5. 8. Luk. 4. 41. Act. 16. 17. when hee cried, Thou art Christ the Sonne of God: and againe, hee shewed himselfe a white Divell, when as he cried, These men are the servants of the living God, which shew untous in the way of salvatio; mea­ning Paul and Silas. But whether Divells be white or blacke, yet they be Divells still; yea and so much the more vile, that they be Mat. 26. Mat. 7. 2 Cor. 11. 14. white: For there is no kisse to the kisse of Iudas; no woolfe, to him that is clad in a Lambes skinne; no teare to the teare of a Cro­codile; so no Divell to him that appeareth in the shape of an An­gell. Satan hath sore wounded the Church every by open & tra­gicall persecutions; as in the dayes of Christ, Even among the cheefe John 12. 42. rulers many beleeved in him; but because of the Pharisees, they did not confesse him, lest they should be excommunicate. And in the ten perse­cutions, Satan raged against the Church horribly; but never so much as by inward enemies in the bosome of the Church: For when the Officers that were sent to apprehend Christ, told the Pharisies, saying, Never man spake as this man; The Pharisees an­swered, Are yee also deceived? Doth any of the rulers or the Pharisees Iohn 7. 48. beleeve in him? Christ had no greater enemies than the Church, the Synagogue. For who resisted him? not Atheists, but the Church, the Scribes and Pharisees, the expounders of the Law, the friends of the Gospell: Paul had more adoe with false Apostles, than with the uncircumcised, the infidells, the Pa­gans; Some would destroy the purity of majesty & the Gospell by their eloquence; some would bring in Iudaisme: The subtle Gibeonites troubled Iosua more than the open Canaanites: The Ma­nichees did more hurt the Church, than all heretikes, and that un­der the colour of not marrying, not eating of flesh, not drinking of wine. None will weep faster than a Crocodyle; none will make a greater face of godlinesse than these hedge-creepers. Ismael will Ier. 41. weep to Gedaliah; Herod will bid the wise men seeke diligently for Christ, and when they have found him, to bring him word, Mat. 2. that he may come and worship him; The Herodians will salute Christ Mat. 22. with many goodly titles, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God truly; for thou carest for no man; thou con­siderest not the outward appearance of men, &c. Dalila will pretend all [Page 88] love to Sampson; O, I love thee Sampson. The adversaries of Iuda Popery pre­vailes more by fraud than by force. and Benjamin will say to Zorobabel, and to the rest, Wee will build with you, wee will sacrifice with you: but Ismael killed Godaliah; He­rod would have butchered Christ; the Herodians tempted him; Dalila betraied Sampson; and the adversaries of Iuda would have pulled downe the Church, and not built it up. Such trees with­out Iudg. 15. Esder. 4. fruit, such eares without corne, such nets without fish, such lampes without oyle, such clouds without raine shall perish: As they have lived without feare, so shall they did without hope; as they have a body without an heart, so have they a soule with­out God. They in felle nequitiae, even in the gall of bitternesse, & in the bond of iniquity; and therefore they have neither part nor fellowship in Gods Kingdome.

To apply this to the present state of the Church: Satan hath prevailed more in Popery, by fraud, than by force; by creeping, than by breaking in with a skaling ladder. The first Romane Monarchie stood of unjustice, maintained by armes; and this latter of impietie, maintained by fraud and hypocrisie: Whose comming is by the working of Satan with all power and signes, and lying 2 Thess. [...]. 9, 10. wonders, and in all deceiveablenesse of unrighteousnesse: The Popes Kingdome is not described by force and armes, but by sleights and wiles, by the names of women, enchantments, cups, Apoc. 17. &. 19. fornications. The beast representing the Romane Empire, had the hornes of a Lambe, and the mouth of a dragon. In all the Kingdome of Popery, in Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, Monks, Friers, Nunnes, what was there but hypocrisie? How deceived they the world with their Prayers, Almes, Fastings, Crossings, Greasings, Purgatory, Auricular confessions, Trentas, Dirges, Masses, Prayer for the dead, going on Pilgrimage, &c. The Friers under a colour of wilfull povertie, begged and robbed the world: The Nunnes, under a shew of single life, filled the world full of bastardie: Sexcenta millia capita infantum in Gregorii piscina reperta sunt; there were six hundred thousand Childrens heads found in Gregories fishpoole. The Priests by a colour of Masses, made merchandise of soules, and filled Iudas satchells; The Abbeies, under a colour of almes and hospitalitie, robbed most parishes of their Ecclesiasticall livings; they stole a goose, and gave a feather; greater theeves than ever was Barabbas; they gave a meales meate, and robbed a parish of their Church main­tenance. The Confessors, under pretence of auricular confession, knew the secrets of all Kingdomes: It was the Popes fishing net, it hath deposed more than two hundred lawfull Princes; it made Fredericke Barbarossa the Popes Footstoole at Venice; it exiled the King Desiderius into Lions. The Pope under shew of Bulls or par­dons, hath robbed God of his glorie, men of their money and, soules of salvation: he hath gotten thereby in America foure mil­lions yearly: they are like their fathers the Pharisies, They devoure [Page 89] widowes houses, even under a colour of long prayers; wherefore they shall All Atheists before rege­neration and conversion. receive the greater damnation. The whore of Babylon giveth poyson in a golden cup; Beda, Venerable Beda, saith, that the serpent in paradise had vultum virgineum, a virgins face, that hee might deceive Heva, a virgin: for he is a deceiver; Yea from the beginning, Math. 23. 14. Apoc. 18. Iohn 8. 44. Apoc. 20. 2. and abode not in the truth, [...]. The Dominicans, under the pretence of preaching; the Franciscans, under pretence of cha­stitie, (Nam virilia amputarunt;) the Carmelites under shew of virginitie; and the Augustines, under pretext of povertie, have erected the Papall Kingdome by hypocrisie, under colour of re­ligion. But Babylon is fallen, even Rome, the Queene of pride, the nurse of idolatries, the mother of whordomes, the sinke of ini­quitie, Sentina malorum, lacuna scelerum; yea, the Romish Iezabel is throwne downe, and if the palmes of her hands and her skull, or any thing of her remaine with us, let us pray, that it may bee buried also. This Dagon is fallen downe twise, once in King Ed­wards daies, and againe in our dayes, & let it never rise againe. Let this golden Diana be beaten downe for ever; Let this whore of Apoc. [...]8. Babylon perish, and let her smoke rise up for evermore, and let all that love the Lord Iesus say, Amen.

But to proceed in the description of the wicked. Secondly, they are here described by their impietie, hee saith that they were [...], without God, without Faith, without religion; they denie God the only Lord, and our Lord Iesus Christ; so Paul said Ephes. 2. 12. Phil. 3. 17, 18. of the Ephesians before their conversion, They were without Christ; alienes from the Commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the Covenant and promise, and had no hope, and were without God in the World. And such were the Philippians; They were enemies of the Crosse of Christ, whose Ephes. 4. 17, 18. end is damnation, whose God is their bellie, and whose glorie is their shame; which mind earthly things. Such were all the Gentiles, spiced with impietie: For they walked in the vanitie of their minde, having their cogitations darkened, and being strangers from the life of God, through the ignorance that was in them. The world is full of such Atheists, they swarme like bees in Hibla, they abound like lice in Aegypt, all the dust was turned into lice; and in England all or most mens profession is turned into Atheisme, Machivelisme; saying, that Religion is but policie, to keep men in awe. Many are of the Luk. 12. fooles religion, to eate, drinke, play; but to remember no God, to pluckedown, to build up, to gather in, but not to serve God in holinesse and righteousnesse. Heu vivunt homines, tanquam mors nulla sequatur, Et velut infernus fabula vanaforet: Alas, men live as if no death should follow, and as if Hell were but a fable. There be many now like that Captaine, that warred under Adrian the Em­peror, called Similus, who at his death caused this Epitaph to be written upon his tombe, Hic jacet Similus, &c. Here lieth Similus, a man that was of many yeares, and lived only but Seven; many yeares without God, but seven yeares in God; many yeares [Page 90] wickedly, but seven yeares religiously; many yeares like an A­theist, Atheists con­suted by rea­son and sense. but seven yeares like a Christian: So a number of us may say, that we have lived many yeares, and yet but few yeares for God; many yeares in sinne and wickednesse, but few yeares in vertue and godlinesse.

There is a double life, of Nature. Grace.

In the one all live, but in the other, the elect only. In all ages A­theists have abounded: in Davids dayes, The foole said in his heart, there is no God: In Salomons dayes; they cryed, A quicke dog is better Psal. 14. Prov. 9. than a dead Lion. We know what we have here, but we know not what we shall have in another world. In Esayes dayes; For there were that said: We have made a covenant with death, and with Hell are Esa. 28. 15. we at agreement: In Christs time; For there were Sadduces that denyed the Resurrection, and affirmed that there was neither An­gell nor spirit: In Peters dayes; For there were that said, Where is the promise of his comming? and so denyed the last Iudgement: In 2 Pet. 3. Chrysostomes time they cried, [...], &c. give us that which is present; let God alone with that, which is for to come. In Calvins time; for then there were such, that tooke away all difference betweene good and evill, vertue and vice, sinne and righteousnesse: And in our dayes, wee have, that deny God and Christ, and heaven and hell, Angells, Spirits, and all. David calleth them fooles; Salomon calleth them Epicures; Esay noteth them as blasphemers; Christ calleth them Sadduces; Chrysostome, Nullifidians; Calvin, Libertines; wee call them, Machiavels, un­godly men.

Such are worse than the Divell: For hee confesseth God, but these perhaps deny that there bee Divells, so did the Sdaduces: these men therfore shal feele Divels, before they beleeve Divels. I would not be in their coate for the Kingdome of England; no, not to be Monarch of the world for ten thousand yeares: Divels are seene, they are felt, they are heard, yet these men deny them: but I will remit them to Philosophie to bee counselled, that Sensus non fallitur circa proprium objectum; sense cannot be deceived about his proper object.

The very Heathen will condemne us: Tullie saith, Non temerè nec fortuitò sati aut creati sumus, sed profectò fuit divina quaedam vis, quae generi consuleret humano, nec id gigneret quod cum exantlavisset la­bores omnes, tum incideret in mortis malum sempiternum; portum potius nobis paratum putemus; We are not borne or created rashly or by chance, but verily there was a certaine divine power, which did provide for mankind, neither would it suffer them so to be borne, as that when they had undergone all manner labour, they should be utterly lost in the everlasting evill of Death; but rather let us thinke some haven of rest is prepared for us. A divine speech of a prophane man. The Epicures said, that God was idle in heaven, [Page 91] quodque Deus ambulat circa cardines Coeli: and that he was walking a­bout Gods power & providence governe [...] all things. the poles of heaven; that nature ruleth all, by chance, and at adventure: On the contrary, the Stoickes held that God is no­thing but nature, and that all things are wrought by necessity and destinie, that God can worke no miracle, nor contrarie to the course of nature, But the Platonists held, that nature is, Quicquid Deus vult; that it is subject to God, that there is neither chance nor destinie, but all things are done by God. Some therefore compare Nature to an horse, and God to the rider, that bridleth her and ruleth her as he list. Anima mundi est virtus Dei, the power of God is the soule of the world; Mundus est schola animarum, the Origen. Basil. world is the schoole of soules, to lead us to the knowledge of God: God therfore (quoth he) was able by his power to change the course of nature as thus:

To divide the Sea in two parts. Exod. 14. Ios. 10. Num. 16. Ios. 3. Psal. 114. Dan. 3. Dan. 6. Luk. 7.

To stay the Sunne.

To open the Earth.

To drie up the Waters of Iordan.

To make the Mountaines skippe like Rammes.

To quench the Flame.

To mussell the Lions.

To raise the Dead.

In this sense Simonides the philosopher said, that Solus Deus est metaphysicus, that God alone was supernaturall. Pindarus called God [...], the best artificer. Diogenes seeing Harpalus that great theefe to be fortunate a long time, said, that he gave a lively testimony against the Gods: So Dionysius said, that God favou­red pirats, for that he had a good winde after the robbing of the Temple: So Hermogenes reasoned, seeing so much evill in the world, Aut voluit Deus tollere mala, & non potest, & tunc infirmus est; aut potuit & noluit, & tunc invidus est: God either would take away evill and cannot, and then he is impotent; or could and would not, and then he is envious: But Tertullian retorted it thus on him, Deum velle & posse omnia mala tollere quatenus expedit: God is Rom. 8. 28. both willing and able to take away all evill, so farre as it is expe­dient; For all things worke for the best unto them that love God. Quae­dam tollit in hac vita, alia reservat in extremum judicium; some hee takes away in this life, some hee reserves to the last iudgement. Facessant ergo illi monoculi Cyclopes, qui Deum negant; istud quatenus expedit relinquamus Deo; herewith therefore let those one-eyed Cy­clopes, which deny God, be content; let us leave to God that same, so far forth as it is expedient. So reasoneth the Manichaeans a­gainst Moses, when he said, In the beginning God made heaven & Gen. 1. 1. Aug. lib. 1. de Genes. Iohn 1. 2. earth; quaerentes in quo principio Deus fecit Coelum? Quibus respondit Augustinus, Deum non fecisse in principio temporis, sed in Christo per quem omnia facta sunt; nam antequàm fecit Deus tempora, non erant tempora; nam tempus est creatura, & dicit Paulus veritatem fuisse an­te [Page 92] tempora aeterna: Asking, in what beginning God made heaven? All men by the light of nature have acknowled­ged a divine power. To whom Augustine makes answer; God made it not in the begin­ning of time, but in Christ by whom all things were made; for before God made time, time was not: for time was a creature, & S. Paul saith, The truth was before time eternall. These men say much, but to little purpose; Loquacior est enim vanitas, quàm ve­ritas, & altiùs clamat: for vanity prattles more than verity, and Ephes. 3. 9. makes a greater noise. I alleage not all these prophane writers for need; I know that the darts that are taken out of the Lords armorie pierce deepest, that the arrowes that are drawne out of the Lords quiver are the sharpest, that the sword of the spirit cut­teth deepest, that proofes taken from the Scripture are stron­gest. But it is not amisse to confute a naturall man by naturall men, as here by Philosophers.

But to follow this point a little further: Naturally a kind of religion is found in all men, in genere, though they erre in specie. Caine and Abel did first sacrifice to God; Enoch was the first that Gen. 4. instituted prayer; After Noahs flood were many Lawes of reli­gion given to many nations; Mercurie, and Mena gave lawes to the Aegyptians; Melissus to them of Candie; Faunus and Ianus to the Latines; Orpheus to the Greekes; Numa pompilius to the Ro­manes; Draco to the Athenians; Lycurgus to the Lacedemonians; Deuter. 4. but Moses and Aaron gave lawes to the Hebrewes, that passed them all. Naturally we know that there is a God; For the invisible Rom. 1. 20. things of God, that is, his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the crea­tion of the world. The very Poets spake of Iupiter, Castor and Pollux, Venus, Saturne, Vulcan, Mars, Mercurie; yet Iupiter was an adulte­rer; Gastor and Pollux, two incestuous twinnes; Venus an harlot in Cyprus; Saturne a Runnagate in Italie; Vulcan a theese; Mars a bastard; yet this sheweth, that there is Divinum numen, a divine power, that the Heathen thinke so, therefore they adore some­thing as God: they invented Gods in hell, as Pluto & Proserpina; the Aegyptians worshipped Calves; the Ophytes, serpents; the Per­sians, fire; they of Canopus, water; the Coloridians, Heva; the Phi­listines, Dagon, halfe-fish and halfe-flesh; the Turkes at this day worship Mahomet; the Tartarians, grand Cam; the Calecuts, the Divell.

But there be many reasons to prove, that there is a God; all the creatures of God doe it, from the Eágle, to the Flie; from the Elephant, to the Pismire; from the great Whale, to the little Lamprey; from the Camell, to the Gnat; from the Cedar, to the Brake-bush; from the Starres of Heaven, to the Dust of the Earth; from Angels, to Wormes. And therefore men that deny God, may be sent to the creatures, to learne that there is a God. Esay reasoneth thus: Who hath measured the wa­ters Esa. 40. 17. 21, 22. in his fist, and counted Heaven with the spanne, and comprehended the Dust of the Earth in a measure, and weigheth the Mountaines in a [Page 93] weight, and the hils in a ballance? And againe, Know yee nothing? Conscience in man a testi­monie of the divine power. have yee not heard it? hath it not beene told you from the beginning? have yee not understood it by the foundation of the Earth? Hee sitteth upon the circle of the Earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as Grasse­hoppers; he stretcheth out the Heavens as a curtaine, and spreadeth them out as a Tent to dwell in. And Salomon reasoneth thus: Who hath as­cended up to Heaven and descended? who hath gathered the Wind in his Prov. 30. 4. fist? who hath bound the Waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the World? what is his name, or his Sonnes name, if thou canst tell? And God reasoning with Iob saith, Where wast thou when Job 38. 4, 5, 6. 8. I layd the foundations of the Earth? declare if thou hast understanding: who hath layd the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stret­ched the line over it? whereupon are the foundations thereof set? or who hath layd the corner-stone thereof? or who hath shut up the Sea with doores. When it issued, and come forth out of the Wombe? &c.

The world is, Schola Dei, the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy worke. And the Apostle affirmeth, Psal. 19. 1. that God left not himselfe without witnesse, in that hee did good, and gave us raine from Heaven, and fruitfull seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladnesse. O every showre of raine is a Preacher, and tels us there is a God.

Note this, that nothing was made of it selfe, nor for it selfe, but for another. The Heavens (we see) doe serve the Ayre, the Ayre serveth the Earth, the Earth the Beasts, the Beasts serve Man; Man therefore not made of himselfe, was made to serve another, which can bee no other but God; The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake: If all things, therefore Man; which Pro. 16. 4. confuteth Atheisme.

Againe, it is an arrow, yea a hammer against Atheisme, that all men have a conscience of sinne, and are affraid of it: Con­science is a witnesse either with us, or against us; either to excuse us, or accuse us. It beareth witnesse, of what? of secret particu­lar actions. Against whom? against thy selfe. To whom? to God; (seeing neither men nor Angels know the secrets of thy heart.) Let all Atheists barke against the God-head: as long as they will; Intùs est vermis qui illos mordet; within there is a worme that gnaweth them. In that men are afraid and ashamed of sinne, it argueth that there is a God: we see, that all creatures purge themselves of their corruption; The Sea her froth, the water her skumme, the earth her vapours, the birds their feathers, the wine his lees, the fire his smoke, the oile his some; Man ther­fore that would avoid his sinne, and be rid of it, hath a conscience of God, and proveth there is a God.

But alas, Religion beggeth in these dayes; Probitas laudatur & alget; our religion is in imagination, not in faith; in opinion, not in judgement; in the braine, not in the heart; in word, not in deed and effect: They professe they know God, but inwardly in their [Page 94] works they doe denie him, being abominable, disobedient and unto every Few truly re­ligious but many Epi­cures and A­theists. good worke reprobate; they have a shew of godlinesse, but have denyed the power thereof. O vile times; the worst that have beene ever since the creation of the world; and if these dayes should not be shortned, no flesh should be saved; but for the Elects sake God hath shortned them. We Tit. 1. 16. 2 Tim. 3. 5. Mat. 24. 22. Esa. 58. 1. 1 Reg. 19. Mar. 3. had need crie aloud and not spare, lift up our voices like trumpets; For ordinary speaking hath no proportion with extraordinary sin­ning. We cannot come to you, as God came to Elias, in a still wind, in a soft voice; we must have Stentors voice, be like Iames and Iohn, the sonnes of thunder.

The Heathen said of their infidels, Plus amant bovem quā Iovem, they love the oxe more than Iupiter: we may say of many Christi­ans, Plus amant coenam quam coelum, cibum quam Christum; they love more their supper than heaven, more their meat than Christ: they be [...], like lapwings, that delight in dung; like Vespatian, who took a tribute of urine. Many nations have lived without cloaths, without King, without armour, but never any without God, as Tullie said, Nulla gens tamfera, tamimmanis, &c. never nation was so wilde, so cruell, so barbarous, but have acknowledged and confessed that there was a God. Neere the river Ganges in India be men [...], without mouthes, that live by the sent of flowers; a­mong us [...], men without hearts, that beleeve nothing. Socrates said, Hoc scio, quod nihil scio; I know this that I know nothing; and they, hoc credo, quod nihil credo, I beleeve this that I beleeve nothing: they have set downe their rest, Non esse Deum, non esse daemonem, non esse coelum, non esse infernum; there is no God, there is no divell, there is no heaven, there is no hell; and therefore they say, Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no recovery, neither was any knowne that have re­turned Wisd. 2. 1, 2, 3. 4, 5. from the grave; wee are borne at all adventure, and wee shall be hereafter, as though we had never beene: for the breath is as smoake in our nosthrills, and the words as a sparke raised out of the heart, which being extinguished, the body is turned to ashes, and the spirit vanisheth, as in the soft ayre, &c. Come therefore, let us enjoy the pleasures that are present, &c. These wilde Bores roote up the Lords vineyard, these Foxes destroy the grapes, these Ionas's trouble the ship of England. For Christs Psal. 80. 13, 14. Church is Christs ship, tossed with waves: but let us runne with the Apostles, and awake our Saviour, that hee may hurle out Mat. 14. these Ionas's.

Thirdly, the wicked are here described by their carnalitie and libertie, they turne grace into wantonnesse: for ungodlinesse hath two branches, iniquitie in life and manners, and impuritie in religion: of the first, he saith, They turne grace into wantonnesse: of the second it is said, that they denied God and Christ Iesus. Of the Act. 6. Rom. 8. first sort were the Libertines that disputed with Steven: Paul had to doe with such hereticks, vile men, that said, faciamus mala ut inde [Page 95] veniat bonum; Let us doe evill, that good may good come there­of. Gods grace ought to lead to repentance. Or let us be evill, that God may be good: let us commit ini­quitie, that Gods glorie may bee revealed; let sinne abound, that grace may superabound. But their judgement is just, and their damnation sleepeth not; such are all presumptuous sinners, Rom. 6. 1. that will sinne of purpose, with an high hand, an hard heart, and a whorish forehead: such are idolaters, blasphemers, drunkards, usurers, adulterers, robbers, which say, yet once more will I doe this or that sinne, once more will I dallie; one cup more will I have; for God (say they) is patient and long suffering: thus sin toucheth sinne; but God will whet his sword and bend his bow, and Psal. 7. 11, 12. then yee know what followes, the blacke arrowes and instru­ments of death.

Paul sheweth a better end of grace, than wantonnesse; hee saith, The grace of God, that bringeth salvation to all men, hath appea­red, Tit. 2. 11, 12. and teacheth us to deny impietie, and wicked worldly desires, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. The goodnesse of God leadeth us to repentance, honor, health, wealth; long Rom. 2. 4. life taketh thee by the hand, and leadeth thee to repentance; as the Angell led Ezechiel into the Sanctuarie: Noli peccare spe, nam Bern. paenam dabis re; sinne not in hope, for thou shalt smart for it in­deed. It is as great a sinne to presume of grace and mercy, as to despaire of grace and mercie: for they that despaire may be rai­sed up, but such as presume are seldome saved: He that heareth Deut. 29. 19. 20, 21. the Words of this curse, and blesseth himselfe in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, although I walke in the stubbornesse of my heart, thus adding drunkennesse to thirst: The Lord will not be mercifull unto him, but then the wrath of the Lord, and his iealousie shall smoake against that man, and every curse that is written in this booke shall light upon him, and the Lord shall put out his name from under Heaven: Therefore Paul in all his writings, when he handleth the doctrine of grace and mercie he handleth it very warily, as a man handleth gunpowder or quicke-silver, lest they should turne it into wantonnesse; As 1 Tim. 4. 10. We trust in the living God, which is the Saviour of all men, 1 Tim. 4. 10. Rom. 8. 1. especially of those that beleeve. And Rom. 8. 1. Now there is no condem­nation to them that are in Cerist Iesus, which walke not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. And 1 Pet. 2. 9. Yee are a chosen ge­neration, Gal. 5. 24. a royall priesthood, an holy nation, that yee should shew forth the vertues of him, that hath called you out of darkenesse into his marveilous light. God is a Saviour of all, that is, of all beleevers; there is no condemnation, so that we walke in the spirit; we are Christs, if we crucifie the flesh; a royall priesthood, if we shew forth the vertues of him, that hath made us Kings and Priests. Other wis­dome hath no portion of the Spirit of God; we have neither part nor fellowship in Iesus Christ, Sumus in felle nequitiae, wee are in gall of bitternesse.

[Page 96] Let us not then turne the grace of God into wantonnesse, as Gods benefits and bounty oft make li­centious and impious. many do; for the better God dealeth with them, the worse they deale with him, turning grace into wantonnesse, and Christian libertie into carnall licentiousnesse; not regarding the Apostles Counsell, Brethren, yee have beene called into libertie, only use not your libertie, as an occasion unto the flesh, but by Love serve yee one another. Gal. 5. 13. If God give us an inch, wee take an ell, and abuse his goodnesse; God dealeth with us, as a nurse doth with her Child, he nouri­sheth and bringeth us up; but wee deale with him, as the Asses foale with her damme, when she hath sucked her damme, shee kicketh with her heele; as the swallow doth with men, she har­boureth with us all summer, and in winter departeth, and leaveth nothing but dirt behind her. Thus Moses complained of Israel; Doe yee so reward the Lord, O yee folish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee, he hath made thee and proportioned thee: So Deut. 32. 6. Esau complaineth of Iuda; I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against me: The oxe knoweth his owner, and the Esa. 1. 3. Asse his masters cribbe; but Israel hath not knowne; my people hath no understanding. Ieremie reneweth the same complaint a little before the captivity; They said not, where is the Lord that brought us out of the land of Aegpyt? that ledus thorough the wildernesse, thorough a desart, Ier. 2. 6. a wast land, thorough a dry land, and by the shadow of death, by a land that no man passed thorough, and where no man dwelt: and againe, O generation, take heed to the word of the Lord; have I beene as a wilder­nesse unto Israel, or a land of darkenesse? wherefore saith my people then, wee are Lords, we will come no more unto thee? Can a maid forget her or­naments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me dayes without number. The matter is more fully handled by Ezechiel, Ie­remie his mate and companion, both before and in the captivity, saying; Thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. Thus all the Prophets Ezech. 16. 22. with open mouth crie out against iniquitie: The richer wee are, the vainer wee are; the higher wee are, the prouder wee are; the stronger wee are, the crueller, and the more quarrellous wee are; the yonger, the lascivier; the more healthfull, the more sinnefull and carelesse: wee wound God with his owne weapon; For hee that should have beene upright, when hee waxed fat spurned with the Deut. 32. 15. heele; thou are fat, thou are grosse, thou art laden with fat; therefore hee forsooke God that made him, and regarded not the strong God of his salva­tion. We abuse every blessing of God; wee are like Aesops snake, that lay still in the frost, but stung him that warmed her in his bo­some; so long as God keepeth us sicke, and lame, and poore, we are in some order, our eares are full of Sermons, our lips full of prayers, our hands full of almes, our hearts full of holy medita­tions; For when the outward man perisheth the inward man is renewed daily: but if we come to health, and wealth, and strength, we rage 2 Cor. 4. 16. like Giants, we are like bad ground, which the more sweet dewes [Page 97] it receiveth, the more weeds it bringeth out; And therefore wee Gods pati­ence makes us presumptuous. are neere unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. If God give some li­bertie and remission, wee stretch it too farre; if hee permit haw­king and hunting, we spend most of our dayes in it, wee make an Hebr. 6. 8. occupation of play: Because God permitteth us to eate and drinke, and weare apparell, wee eate till wee surfet, and drinke till wee be drunken, and attire our selves like peacocks; like Geta the Emperor, that was served in dishes, after the manner of an Alphabet: like Bonosus who (as one saith) was borne, not to live, but to drinke: like Tiberius Nero, called Biberius Mero; like Ieza­bel, that painted her face: wee powre out our selves in all excesse of riot, and so turne all grace to wantonnesse: But let us thinke it sufficient for us, that we have spent the time past of this life, after the lusts of the Gentiles, walking in wantonnesse, lusts, drunkennesse, in gluttonie, 1 Pet. 4. 3. 4. drinkings, and in abominable Idolatrie: Wherein it seemeth to them strange, that yee runne not with them unto the same excesse of riot, &c. They be vile creatures that are unkinde to their Sires: as the Hippotamos of Nilus, that eateth his damme; as the Pelicane, that sucketh the heart-blood of the old one; as the wilde Asse, that kicketh her damme; as the Viper, that eateth out the belly of the old one; and such be we; God may say of us, as Ieremie of the Ier. 5. 7. Iewes, I have fed them to the full, yet they committed adulterie, and assembled themselves by companies in harlots houses: They rose up in the morning like fed horses, every man neyed after his neighbours wife.

Here I have to deale with two sortes of men; the first are they that refuse the grace, & gifts & goodnes of the Lord in the land of the living. Such were the Stoickes, that would enjoy no more than they could carry with them; they said, with Bias, Omnia mea mecum porto; All that is mine I carry with me; that with Crates, hurled their silver into the Sea: Such were the Essenes in Christs time, that had a bed but a span-broad, that strawed thornes under them, lest they should sleep too long: Such were the Her­mites in the primitive Church, as Antonie, Macarius, Paulus, The­baeus, Hilarion: Such were the Monks in Ieromes dayes, of whom he maketh three kindes, Anchorites, Caenobites, and the Enobites,, which fled all company; Oppidum illis erat carcer, the towne was their prison; solitudo autem erat Paradisus, the wildernesse was their paradise; their bread was acornes, their drinke water, their meate rootes, their bed cold ground: Biberunt non è calice, sed è concha, they dranke not out of a cup, but out of a shell; Amicti erant non pannis, sed pellibus; they were clad not with cloth, but with skinnes: such were our Fryers that professed wilfull poverty: such were women the Anchoresses, that had no more ground, than they scraped with their nayles: but God hath given the earth, and the fruits thereof to the Sonnes of men: So saith the Psalmist, The Heavens, even the Heavens are the Lords, but he hath given the earth to Psal. 115. 16. the Sonnes of men: It is as lawfull to enjoy the creatures of God, [Page 98] as to live. The wicked eate the bread of wickednesse, and drinke the Pleasure oft ends with sud­den destructiō. drinke of violence, which is unlawfull; but to eate the bread of righteousnesse, and to drinke the wine well got is lawfull.

Many are theeves both to their backs and bellies, and unthank­full Prou. 4. 17. unto God; but so must not wee: Christ was present at the Iewes feasts, he came Edens & bibens, eating and drinking; there­fore they said that he was Edax & bibax, [...], as if Luk. 7. 34. he had surfeited: wee are the heires of heaven and coheires with Christ, and have right in all the creatures of God, all is ours; heaven is ours, heaven and earth is ours, if thy garments be silke, 1 Cor. 3. thou maiest put them on; if thy table be furnished with meate, thou maiest eate what thy stomacke craveth; if thy Hounds will take the beasts of the land, or thy Hawk, the fowles of the aire, thou maiest doe it.

I speake not to justifie the abuse of the world, that have turned all into riot, and usurped upon al the creatures of God; with such men, or monsters rather, I meddle not; but in the sinne wherein I found them, in that I leave them: I speake only of the recrea­tion that God hath given unto his Saints in this wearie life; From the heavens, in the Sunne, Moone, and Starres; from the ayre, in fowles and birds, some made for meate, some for mirth; from the earth, in trees, fruits and flowers, and hearbs, some made for necessitie, some for pleasure, as seeing and smelling; from the Sea, in variety of fishes: Whereupon the Prophet ex­claimeth, saying; O Lord, how manifold are thy workes, in wisdome hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches; so is the great and Psal. 104. 24. wide Sea also, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small beasts and great: If by faith thou art made a member of Christ, his right is thine in all the creatures of the world, and in his name, and to his glory thou maiest use them.

But we are not troubled with Stoikes, Essenes, Hermites, Monkes, Fryers, Anchoresses, &c. but with Epicures, qui ducunt dies in bonis, & subitò descendunt ad infernum; which a learned man englisheth thus: They sleepe soundly, and drinke profoundly, and goe to the Divell roundly, and that is no lye: For they live, waxe fat, and grow in wealth, their seede is established in their sight Iob 21. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. with them; and their generation before their eyes: their houses are pea­ceable, without feare, and the rod of God is not upon them: their bullcoke gendreth and faileth not: their Cow calveth and casteth not her calfe: They send forth their children like sheep, and their sonnes dance: they take the tabret and the harpe, and rejoyce in the sound of the organes, they spend their dayes in wealth, and sodenly they goe downe to the grave. Their throates are sepulchers, their stomacks sponges, their bellies graves, their hands talons, their fingers loadstones: they eate with Ceres, and drinke with Bacchus, and sport with Venus: Apollo must tickle their eares with the Lute, the Muses must sound in that service, the Graces must waite on their trencher; Ganimede [Page 99] must fill them the cup, they are sorry that their patrimonies are Voluptuous mens practi­ses described. no larger, their bellies no wider, their throats no deeper, their lives no longer, that they might live still in all pleasure: So that the saying of S. Iames may be verified in them, Yee have lived in Iam. 5. 5. pleasure on the earth, and in wantonnesse, yee have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter. They wish, with Philopenus, a necke as long as a Cranes necke, that they may feele the sweetnesse of their meate a long time; in their companie is the tabret, harpe, lute, and a paire of cards sooner than the New Testament: and as the Prophet speaketh, The harpe, the viall, the timbrell, and pipe, and wine Esa. 5. 12. are in their feasts, they regard not the workes of the Lord, neither consider the worke of his hands. God calleth them to prayer, fasting, mour­ning, Et ecce mactant boves & oves: They fall to killing of sheepe, and Esa. 22. 12, 13. slaying of oxen, eating flesh, and drinking wine; eating and drinking, for to morrow we shall dye. They turne praying into playing, fasting in­to feasting, mourning into mumming, almesdeeds into misdeeds: As Xerxes, being weary of all pleasures, promised rewards to the inventers of new pleasures, which being invented, Ipse tamen non fuit contentus, he himselfe was not satisfied, was not content.

The word here is [...], which is derived from a towne in Pi­sidia, called Selge, built by the Lacedaemonians, where all were temperate and not one drunkard; the contrary whereof is named [...], lasciousnesse; such men sinne with an high hand. All sin, but these men sinne presumptuously: they never pray with David, Keepe thy servant from presumptuous sinnes. Sinne in them raigneth, Psal. 19. not dwelleth; contrary to the rule of the Apostle, Let not sinne Rom. 6. 12. 2 Cor. 10. Ephes. 4. 19. Esa. 5. raigne in your mortall bodie, that yee should obey it in the lusts thereof: they walke not after the spirit, but after the flesh; they commit sinne with greedinesse; they draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sinne as it were with cartropes. But man with man will not reason so, the sonne with his Fathers, the servant with his master, the subject with his Prince; will the servant be vile and unfaithfull, because his master is courteous unto him? Absit; God forbid.

Here I must answer one slander or challenge of the Papists; they call us Libertines, as Howlet, and others; but they take upon them to iudge betwixt us, and the Libertines, as the Asse tooke upon him to judge between the Cuckow & the Nightingale: of all others, the Asse might worst doe it; and of all others, they may worst do it, seeing most of their doctrines tend to libertie, proving all men to sinne by their pardons and indulgences, say­ing, that holy water doth take away sinne, that the signe of the Crosse driveth away the Divell, calling with Alexander, whordome, adulterie, incest, Peccadilla, little sinnes▪ excusing the Popes theft as the theft of Israel, his drunkennesse as that of Exod. 11. Gen. 9. Iudg. 15. Noah, his murders as those of Samsons. All their doctrines tend to libertie, as their doctrine of ignorance to be the mother of devotion, the doctrine of auricular confession, which some lear­ned [Page 100] call the Popes fishing net, the doctrine of Purgatorie, which Popish Do­ctrine tend to liberty. others call the Popes milch Cow, or the soule or panche of the Masse: their doctrine of satisfactions, that a man may be de­livered out of hell by the satisfaction of others, as was Traian the Pagane Emperor by the prayer and almes of Gregory. What naturall man under heaven would not sinne, if hee knew that the Pope could give him pardon, that hee could free him from hell and purgatory? So that truly, if I were not a Protestant, I would be a Papist, if I respected the pleasure of the flesh.

THE NINTH SERMON.

SAint Iude having described the wic­ked by their hypocrisie, that They creepe into the Church, and by their Atheisme: For hee saith, they were Vngodly men, and by their Li­cenciousnesse, saying, They turne the grace of God into wantonnesse; hee commeth now fourthly, to describe them by their Blasphemy, That they deny God, the onely Lord, and our Lord Iesus Christ. Now there bee many wayes to deny God, as to deny his Attributes, his Power, Provi­dence, Iustice, Mercy, Truth, Strength, Eternity, for these be the names of God, and of the essence of God, and these are de­nyed in the lives of most men. Some deny his Power, as the Proud do: some his Providence, as the Infidels: some his Iustice, as the Impenitent: some his Mercy, as the Desperate: some his Truth, as Lyars and perjured men: some his Strength, as the Fearefull doe. Of the first sort was Pharaoh; of the second sort were the Israelites; of the third sort were the Libertines; of the fourth was Caine; the fifth were Zedeohia and the house of Saul, of the last were the Iewes. Pharaoh asked, Who is God, that Exod. 5. 2. Psal. 78. 19, 20, 21. I should let Israel goe? The Israelites distrusted God for bread, Can God (quoth they) prepare a Table in the Wildernesse? behold, hee smote the Rock, that the water gushed out, & the streames overflowed: Can [Page 102] hee give bread also, and prepare flesh for his people? Of the third sort Outward pro­fessiō nothing without in­ward integri­tie. were the Libertines, Which turne the grace of God into wantonnesse: Of the fourth sort was Cain, my sin is greater than can bee forgiven? Vpon whom Augustine replyeth finely: Mentiris Cain, mentiris in gutture, major est Dei misericordia, Cain, thou lyest, thou lyest in thy Iude 4. Gen. 4. Aug. throat, greater is Gods Mercy than any mans Iniquity? of the fifth, was Zedechias who forswore himselfe, and had therfore first, his children slaine before his Face; then his own eyes put out, and lastly, he was carryed away prisoner into Babylon: of the last sort were the Iews, who relyed upon the Egyptians. Now who offen­deth 2 Reg. 25. Esa. 31. not in one of these, or most of these?

But especially wee deny God in our lives, in our deeds, thus the Cretians deny him, They professed they knew God, but by workes they did deny him, and were abominable, disobedient, and unto every Tit. 1. 16. Tit. 2. 3. 5. good worke reprobate: and so are we, wee have a shew of Godlinesse, but wee have denyed the Power thereof. I say of Professors, as Paul said of the Iewes, He is not a Iew, that is one outward, neither is that Circumcision, which is outward in the Flesh, but hee is a Iew, that is Rom. 2. 28. 29. one within, and the Circumcision of the heart is the true Circumcision: So hee is not a Christian, that is one outward, but hee is a Chri­stian, that is one within; that serveth God in Spirit and in Truth. And if wee will serve God truly, these Divels must be cast out of us, that are in us, and wee must say unto them, as Christ said to Peter, Come behinde me Sathan, videl. the Divels of Avarice, Pride, Envie, Malice, &c. Which have filled our hearts, Mat. 16. 23▪ as they filled the heart of Andnias. The profession of God is knowne by the fruits of it, as fire is discerned by the smoke that commeth out of the Chimney, as life is discerned by the motion of Man. On the contrary, if a man would perswade us, Act. 5. 3. that there is fire where as there is no heat, or that there were life in a carcasse that never moved, wee would not beleeve him: so beleeve not him, that speaketh of God, and liveth not in God. This is an Axiom in Divinitie, that all Adulterers, Swea­rers, Theeves, Vsurers deny God, whatsoever they pretend in words, Quid dicta audiam, cum facta videam, what doe I heare thee talke, when I see thy deeds? Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdome of Heaven (saith Christ) but he that Mat. 7. 23. doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Those men are come to the height of sin; For there be sixe degrees of sin, first Neg­lectus Ephes. 4. 2 Thes. 2. Rom. 1. Esa. 40. notitiae Dei, the neglect of the knowledge of God; the se­cond is, Execatio, execation, blindnesse; the third is Idolatry, a fruit of execation, of blindnesse; the fourth, outragious wic­kednesse, the effect of idolatry; the fifth, a reprobate mind; the sixth, the fruits of a reprobate mind, that is, an universall injustice in all their workes: for they deny God in every worke. The wicked deny God, and yet all his creatues declare him; and Psal. 19. 1. that foure wayes, saith Hemingius in his Enchiridion.

[Page 103] First, In the Varietie of them. They that here feele not Gods graces shall feele his power.

Secondly, In the Vtility of them.

Thirdly, In the Order of Creation.

And fourthly, In the End of their Creation.

The first declareth his Power.

The second, his Iustice.

The third, his Wisedome.

The last, his Glory.

Seeing all things are made for man, it cannot bee but man is made for another, and that is God onely, but the wicked shall find God and feele God, when it is too late, though here they doe deny him. Therefore Hemingius distinguisheth of Gods presence, that it is fourefold: A presence of Power in all men, even in the Reprobate; a presence of Grace, even in the Elect on­ly, a presence of glory in the Angels & Saints departed, and an hypostaticall presence of the Father, with the Sonne, Quoad essentiam, as touching his essence. The wicked that deny God here, shall feele his power one day, and say, Wee have erred from the way of Truth, the light of Righteousnesse hath not shined unto us, Wis. 5, 6. 7. and the Sunne of Vnderstanding rose not upon us: We have wearied our selves in the wayes of wickednesse and destruction, and wee have gone through dangerous wayes, but wee have not knowne the wayes of the Lord, &c. Thus God complained of Israel and Iuda, saying, They have grievosly trespassed against me saith the Lord, they have denyed the Lord, and said, It is not hee, &c. Thus may wee complaine. Therefore Ier. 5. 11. 12. I say to England, as hee said to Iuda: O daughter of my people, gird thee with Sackcloth and wallow thy selfe in the ashes, make lamen­tation and bitter mourning, as for thine onely sonne, for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

They deny the onely God, &c. God here is called [...] the one­ly God to note the Trinity in Vnity; there is one God, one Es­sence of the three persons, Deus unus & trinus; unus Essentia, trinus Hierom. personis, God is one and three, one in Essence, and three in per­sons. Thus Moses taught Israel; The Lord our God is Lord onely. Deut. 6. 4. Malachi asketh the Iewes, if one God hath not created them? As if hee should say, yee know well enough; for the question Mal. 2. 10. is more Emphaticall, than a simple proposition. In this point Paul noteth a great difference betwixt the Christians and the Heathen, saying, Though there be many, that are called gods, in Hea­ven or in Earth (as there bee many gods, and many Lords:) yet unto us 1 Cor. 8. 6, 7. there is but one God, which is the Father, of whom are all things, and wee in him; and one Lord Iesus Christ, by whom are all things, and wee by him. Againe, hee speaketh of the Deitie, as of the Mediator­ship, Vnus Deus & unus Mediator, &c. There is one God and one Medi­ator 1 Tim. 6. betweene God and Man, even the Man Christ Iesus. And a num­ber of vnities he commendeth to the Ephesians: There is one Body andone Spirit, one hope of your Vocation; there is one Lord, one Faith, Ephes. 4. 4, 5, 6. [Page 104] one Baptisme, one God and Father over all, &c. We must neither con­found Many resem­blances to illustrate the Vnity and Trinitie. the persons, nor divide the Essence, but hold the plurality of persons, and the unity of the Essence.

The Heathen thought it impossible for one God to governe this great world; therefore they made one God for Heaven, as Iupiter, another for Hell, as Pluto; one for Bread, as Ceres; another for Wine, as Bacchus; one for the Sea, as Neptune; a­nother for the Winde, as Aeolus; one for Learning, as Minerva; another for Merchandize, as Mercury. Thus the Heathen vowed Tenths to Hercules, that they might be rich; they killed a Cock to Aesculapius, that they might recover their health; they sa­crificed a Bull to Neptune, that they might saile prospe­rously.

But what doe I name the Heathen, when the Papists multi­plied to themselves many gods? they prayed to Sebastian for helpe from the Plague; to Anthony, for the Gangrene; to Patro­nilla, for Agues; to Apolonia, for the Touth ache; to Bene­dict, for the Stone; to Hubert, for the biting of a madde Dog; yea they have made a severall God for every Countrey, as Saint George for England, Saint Iaques for Spaine, Saint Dennis for France, Saint Patricke for Ireland, Saint Palladius for Scotland. Yea, for every beast a severall God; as Loye for Horses, Anthony for Pigges, Wendeline for Sheepe: But their madnesse is evident to all 2 Tim. 3. 9. men. If they say, they make not these Gods: I aske, why pray they unto them? How shall they call on him in whom they have not belee­ved? But wee beleeve in God alone, therefore must we pray to Rom. 10. 14. him alone. There is but one Sunne in the Heavens, one Phaenix in Arabia, one master-Bee in an Hyve, one Pilot in a Ship, one God in the World. The Trinity of Persons the Fathers have shadowed forth unto us by divers similitudes, as in the Raine­bow, in which is one substance, namely the cloud, and yet three differences, which thou art not able to discerne: In the Fountain, where there is Scaturigo, the boyling or rising up of the water out of the Spring; Rivus, the River; & Stagnum, and the Poole: In the Minde, where there is Intellectus, Vnderstanding; Vo­luntas, the Will; & Memoria, and the Memory: In the Soule, where there is [...], the Soule; [...], the Minde, and [...], the Spirit; and yet there bee not three Mindes, nor three Soules, but one Minde and one Soule, but three powers in the Minde and Soule: In the Sun, where there is, Corpus, the Bo­dy; Calor, Heate; & Splendor, Light or Brightnesse; and yet not three Sunnes, but three distinct things in the Sunne. The Or­thodoxe Fathers said truely and wisely, [...], One Godhead, and one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Vnity. And God is three, not by composition of parts, but by coexistence of persons. The Iewes also note in the verbe [...] Bara, the mysterie of the Trinity, by [...] Beth, [Page 105] the Sonne, by [...] Resh, Ruah, the Spirit, by [...] Aleph, Ab, the Fa­ther. Christ is ma­ny wayes divi­ded. But this holy mystery is more clearely taught by Moses, Gen. 3. 22.

Againe, They deny Christ; of which sort there bee many. The Iewes deny, that he is come; the Pagans deny, that ever he will come; the Turkes confesse that hee is come, but yet as a man, not as a God, inferiour to their Mahomet; the Papists confesse in words that hee is come, but in truth denying the person of Christ, making his body every where, that is, no where: yea ma­ny have denyed Christ, and robbed the Creator, to give to the Creature; the Italians ascribe all to the Pope; the Irish to Saint Patrick; the Scots to Palladius; the Russians to Saint Nicholas; Munster in Cosmog. and the Calicutes to the Divell.

But to speake orderly; men deny Christ many wayes. Some deny his Divinity, as the Arrians; some his Humanitie, as the Vbiquetaries; some his Natures, by renting them a sunder as the Nestorians, who make two Christs, one the sonne of God, an­other the sonne of Mary; some deny them by confounding them, as Eutiches, Qui dixit humanitatem a divinitate absorptam esse, which said, that his Humanity was swallowed up of his Di­vinity; some deny him, by concealing him in time of persecuti­on, as the Nichodemites doe: A Sect against which we are to lift up our voyces like Trumpets, for He that denyeth Christ in Earth Mat. 10. 33. before men, shall be denyed in Heaven, before Angels. For this cause, they of Ephesus are said not to have denyed Christ, but to have suffered for his sake, and to have laboured without fainting. And Apoc. 2. 3. they of Pergamos are said, not to have denyed Christ: For though their habitation was where Sathans throne is, yet they professed his name, and not denyed the faith. Remember that the fearefull are placed with Vriah in the forefront, in the vaunt­guard Apoc. 2. 13. of the damned; so saith Saint Iohn, The fearefull and un­beleeving, and the abominable, and murtherers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and Idolaters, and all lyars, shall have their part Apoc. 21. 8. in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Death.

On the contrary, Righteous men are compared to Lions, which feare no colours? so saith Salomon, The wicked flee, when Prov. 28. 1. Luke 8. 1 Pet. 1. none pursueth him, but the Righteous are as bold as a Lion: on the o­ther side, its naughty ground, that will be scorched with heat; it is drosse, not gold, that will bee melted in the fire, it is coun­terfeit, not right Balme, that will not abide the water: it is a bastard Eagle, that soareth not to the Sunne: Hee is a Co­ward, Exod. 19. not a Souldier, that shrinketh in the battell, Hee is an Infidell, and not a Christian that denyeth Christ in persecution. For one Faith is named, one Profession: Hold fast (saith the A­postle) the Profession of your hope without wavering. And againe, Heb. 10. 23. Heb. 3. 1. Consider the Apostle, and high Priest of your Profession, Christ Iesus: [Page 106] Much Profession, much Faith; no profession, no Faith. Christ is deni­ed, when the efficacie of his death is de­nied.

But chiefely we deny the Lord Iesus two wayes: First, by de­nying the sufficiencie of his death, as the Galathians did, and as the Iews did, and as our Papists now, who will not let Christ be a Saviour alone, but they joyne workes with him; but all workes are accursed (so saith the Apostle) As many as are of the workes Gal. 2. Rom. 10. Gal. 3. 10. of the Law (that is, thinke to bee justified by them) are under the Curse.

Secondly, wee deny the Lord Iesus, by denying the efficacie or vertue of his Death, not dying unto sinne: Therefore Awake thou that sleepest, and stand up from Death, that Christ may give thee Ephes. 5. 14. Light. For as the Sunne doth not warme all whom it ligh­teneth, as the people under the North Pole, who have the Sun sixe moneths together, and yet freeze; so the Spirit of God doth not cause all to feele the vertue of his Death, whom hee illuminateth with the knowledge of his death. Such are our A­theists, the former are Papists, the later are Atheists, and both deny Christ.

The profession of Christ standeth not in words, but in deeds, not in tongue, but in heart, not in opinion, but in life. The A­postle nameth a true Knowledge; for many know not God true­ly. Saint Peter calleth it an Idle knowledge, distinguishing of knowledge, that it is Operans, & otiosa, a working and an idle 2 Pet. 2. 8. knowledge: for some carrie Christ in their mouth and braine, as perfume in a Pomander, without smell; as a sword in a scab­bard, without cutting; as fire in a flint, without heat. But this I will say to thee in the sight of God and his Angels; that if thou doest not dye to sinne and rise againe by a new life; if thou doest not kill sinne in thee, as Murder, Whoredome, Malice, covetousnesse, Vsury, Pride, Drunkennesse, &c. thou doest neither beleeve the Death nor the Resurrection of Iesus Christ. So saith Paul, Know yee not that all wee which have beene baptized in­to Iesus Christ, have beene baptized into his Death? And againe, If wee Rom. 6. 3, 5, 6. be grafted with him to the similitude of his Death, even so shall wee be to the similitude of his Resurrection; Knowing this, that our old man is cru­cified with him, that the body of sinne might be destroyed, that henceforth, we should not serve sinne. And Saint Iohn the disciple whom Iesus loved, and which leaned on his breast at supper, saith, Hereby are wee sure that wee know him, if wee keepe his Commandements; hee that saith, hee knoweth him, and keepeth not his Commandements, is a 1 Iohn 2. 4, 5. Lyar, and the Truth is not in him. This Death unto sinne, and Re­surrection to newnesse of life, Paul calleth it the vertue of his Death, The vertue of his Resurrection? The stone Dioscorides is no­thing Phil. 3. 10. in the mouth of a dead man. And all knowledge of Christ is nothing in a carnall man. The death of Christ truely beleeved, will cause thee to dye unto sinne; and the Resurrecti­on of Christ will cause the dead body to rise unto eternall life, [Page 107] and the dead minde to an holy life. So saith the Apostle, If yee The Papists deny the offi­ces of Christ by conse­quence. bee risen with Christ, seeke the things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, set your affections upon Heavenly things, and not upon Earthly, for yee are dead, and your life is hid in God, &c. The Iewes know Christ, but not truly, that they know him it is evi­dent Col. 3. 1, 2, 3. by the testimony of the Apostle, Behold thou art called a Iew, and restest in the Law, and gloriest in God, but that they did not know him truly, the same Apostle also testifieth, saying, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you: yea, the Rom. 2. 17. 24. Divels knew him, and his death, but yet idly, historically onely, not unto Salvation. And many so beleeve historically, & no fur­ther than the very Divels themselves doe. For sinne still raigneth Iam. 2. 19. in them, notwithstanding the commandement of the Apostle, Let not sinne raigne in your mortall bodies, that yee should obey it in the lusts thereof. Rom. 6. 12.

But to returne to our Papists, who have opened their mouth a­gainst Heaven, whose tongue walketh through the world; for pride is to them as a chaine, they are found to be notable here­ticks, denying, not in words, but in truth, the Lord Iesus: First, they make him no Iesus, by ascribing purging of sin to the bloud of Martyrs, which they call, Thesaurum Ecclesiae, the treasure of the Church; out of which they grant their Indulgences.

They make him no Christ, by denying his Offices; first, they make no Priest, by erecting a daily unbloudy sacrifice, they rob him of his intercession, by praying to Saints.

They make him no Prophet, by ascribing so much to their tra­ditions, by giving the Pope authority over the Gospell, to coyne Lawes as they list, by bringing in with Cyrill the Monke, Evangelium aeternum, an everlasting Gospel, which (say they) abolisheth the Gospell, of the Father in the time of the Law, and the Gospell of Christ, in the time of Grace.

They make him no King, by giving all power to the Pope, to save & to destroy, to pull out of Heaven, to pluck down to Hell: Such a Cerberus is this of Rome, not with three heads, but with three crownes, boasting De plenitudine potestatis, of the fulnesse of power, whose comming is by the working of Sathan with all power and signes and lying wonders, and in all deceivablenesse of unrighte­ousnesse among them that perish.

This hath Sathan parted his Kingdome, that the Turke in the 2 Thess. 2. 9. East should deny Christs Natures, and the Pope in the West his Offices and Merits. For the former Romane Empire stood on Injustice, the latter of Impiety, the first injuring Men, the other God, yet not so much [...], against God, as [...], against Christ. The Papists alleage the words of the Apostle, Hereby shall yee know the spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God: but by the Spirit there is meant the doctrine, not of men; the doctrine is of God, though [Page 108] not the man. They quote also another place of Iohn, Whosoever Christ alone paid the whole ran­some of our Redemption. beleeveth that Iesus is Christ, is borne of God; but Saint Iohn speaketh not of a bare confession, but of a right beleefe, for the Divels confessed Christ.

To conclude, they hold not the foundation with us, For other 1 Iohn 5. 1. Luke 4. 1 Cor. 3. 11. Gal. 5. 2. foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, which is Christ Iesus: For if the Galathians, joyning Circumcision with Christ, over­threw all; for so saith the Apostle, If yee circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. The Papists joyning workes with faith, nature with Grace, the Law with the Gospell, the Sacrifice with the Sacrament, Moses with Christ, must needs overthrow all: for whole Christ or no Christ, Totus Christus, aut nullus Christus, Hee payd [...], the Ransome, and either hee paid all, or not a 1 Tit. 2. Act. 4. penny: Non est aliud nomen, there is no other name given unto men, whereby they shall bee saved, save onely by the name of Iesus. One compareth Christ to a man that purchaseth a Lease with his owne money, and lets it to his successors, to hold it by a Pepper kernell, or a Rose leafe: Christ hath paid for our Salvation, For we are redeemed not with corruptible things, as Silver and Gold, &c. But with the precious bloud of Christ, as of a Lambe undefiled; all our 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19. workes are but as a pepper kernell; yea as nothing, For when we have done all those things that are commanded us, wee may say, that wee are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duties to do. Luke 17. 10. If the fathers of these men had never sinned, yet could they not doe greater injury to the Church of God than to beget such sonnes, or monsters rather, as Tully said of Catiline, Ecce eccle­siam apostaticam & [...], non Catholicam, utinam Deus Nestorem excitaret, qui lites inter nos & illos componeret, Behold a Church Apostolicall, and strife-stirring, not Catholike: I would God were pleased to raise some Nestor up to compose these jarres, be­tweene us and them.

But to leave this, note that Christ here is called our Lord; which he is two wayes:

Iure creationis.

Iure redemptionis.

First, By right of Creation: for by him God made the World. Hebr. 1. 2.

Secondly, By the right of Redemption: for God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Sonne to save the World: Hereupon Iohn 3. 16. 1 Cor. 6. 20. saith Paul, Yee are bought with a price. Now redeeming is either by price and paying, or by power and force. Christ hath done both; hee gave a price to God, And gave himselfe a ransome for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. men, Hee came by water and bloud, not by water onely, but by wa­ter 1 Iohn 5. and bloud. In water, is signified washing; by bloud, Re­demption.

Secondly, by his Power he redeemeth, and hath taken us from the Divell. So saith the Author to the Hebrewes, Hee hath delive­red Hebr. 2. us from death, and him that hath the Lordship of death. And Saint [Page 109] Iohn saith, that Hee saw a great battell in Heaven, Micbael and his Divers effusi­ons of Christs bloud. Angels fought against the Dragon, and the Dragon fought and his An­gels, but prevailed not, neither was their place any more found in Hea­ven. It was a greater matter to Christ to redeeme the World, Apoc. 12. 7. than to make the World. Hee made it in six dayes, but he was thirtie and three yeeres in redeeming it; hee made all with a word, yea, with a breath, By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and the hoast of them by the breath of his mouth. For the letter Psal. 33. 6. ( [...] He) in the Hebrew is but a breath: But hee redeemed it with a great price, not with silver and gold, but with bloud, not with bloud of Buls & Goats, but with his own precious Bloud: 1 Pet. 1. 18. Gold and silver are but red earth, and white earth, which the error of man hath made to be esteemed; but the bloud of Christ was so precious, that as a Father saith, Tanti quid valet? what is Aug. of equall price with it? The least drop of Christs bloud was of such value, in regard of the person, that it was able to redeeme tenne thousand worlds; but lesse than Christs bloud could not redeeme one Soule.

And there were divers and sundry effusions of his bloud. The first bloud he shed was at his Circumcision, when hee was but De passione Dom. cap. 36. eight dayes old; which S. Bernard cals Maturum martyrium, a timely martyrdome: to which end hee further addeth, Vix na­tus est Coeli gloria, Coeli divitiae, deliciae, dulcis Iesus, & ecce recenti ortui crucis dolor copulatur; Scarce was sweet Iesus come into the world; who was the Glory, the Riches, the Delight of Heaven, but he underwent the painefulnesse of the Crosse.

The second effusion of bloud was in his Agony, whereof Saint Bernard speaketh thus, Ecce quam rubicundus, & quam totus rubicundus, Behold, how red, and how wholly red hee is? For Saint Luke affirmeth, that his sweat was like Drops of bloud trick­ling downe to the ground.

The third effusion, was at his whipping; O cum quanta quantitate put as illum sanctissimum sanguinem, è conscisso corpore & fla­gellato distillassein terram? Oh in what abundance thinke yee, did the most sacred bloud of his, powre downe from his torne and scourged body, even to the ground?

The fourth effusion of bloud was when the crowne of thornes was despightfully clapt upon his head, Nec hicputo defuisse rivos sanguinis, saith Bernard, nor can I thinke, that at this time there wanted rivers of bloud.

The fifth and last effusion of bloud was upon the Crosse, where his Hands, and Feete, and Side were pierced. Quis unquā tam gravia tam pudenda passus fuit? who was ever thus cruelly, Bern. and shamefully handled? Contendunt passio & charitas, illa ut plus ardeat; ista ut plus rubeat, his passion and love did strive together that, that it may be hotter; this, that it may bee the redder: O suavissime universorum Domine, &c. O blessed Iesus, the most gra­cious [Page 110] Lord and Saviour of all thy chosen, how can I render thee As Christ gave himselfe for us, so should we give our selves to him. sufficient thankes? For thy garment is dipt in bloud, and the chastisement of my peace hath beene upon thee, from the beginning of thy dayes unto thy death; yea, and after thy death. Thus Christs bloud was often shed to redeeme us: Heare this, you that Apoc. 19. 13. make so small account of your soules, and learne to esteeme them at a greater price: Heare this, you that are so carelesse of your sinnes, and learne to shunne them as Hell; heare wee this all of us, and learne to be more thankefull to Christ for his benefits. Persius wept when he saw a Toade; and being asked why he wept? hee answered, that hee bewailed his ingratitude, who served not the Lord, that had made him a Man, and not a Toade: Christs face was buffeted, his eyes were blinded, his hands nayled, his feet pierced, his side launched, that wee may give our eyes, hands, feet, heart to Christ in his service, that as wee have given our members weapons of unrighteousnesse unto sin, so Rom. 6. 13. we should give our selves unto God, as they that are alive from the dead, and give our members as weapons of righteousnesse unto God. Finely saith one; O stulti! cur Satanae in membris vestris servitis? O yee fooles! Why serve ye Satan in your members? Ille non creavit, non redemit, non sanctificat nos, non pascit nos, hee hath not created us, not redeemed, not sanctified us, nor feedeth us: Quae haec in­sania Christum relinquere, à quo omnia bona, Diabolo servire, qui est homicida? what madnesse is this, to leave Christ from whom we receive all good, and to serve the Divell, who is a murtherer? Iohn 8. 44. Stultum est servire Diabolo, qui nullo placatur obsequio; It is a foolish thing to serve the Divell, whom no obedience, no service will content. But the wicked shall one day curse these members, that have served the Divell, Vae vobis (inquient) pedes maledicti, qui per gressus & saltus illicitos me ad infernum traxistis; woe to you (shall Greg. they say) cursed feet, which by unlawfull leaping and dancing have drawne me to Hell: Vae vobis manus rapaces, woe to you ra­venous hands: Vae tibi cor maledictum, woe to thee cursed heart, which seldome or never thoughtest of God: O cursed tongue which hath uttered so many obscene and filthy words; O cursed eye, which never sheddest teare for thy sinne, and therefore many thousand yeares shalt thou weepe, and no man shall pitty thee. God challengeth both heart and body; My sonne give mee thy heart. Whereupon one descanteth very finely; fili mi Mat. 22. 13. per creationem, fili mi per redemptionem, da mihi cor tuum per dilectio­nem Pro. 23. Holcot. & devotionem, My Sonne by Creation, my Sonne by Re­demption, give mee thy heart by Love and devotion. And the same Author compareth Christ to a Falcon, and hee saith thus Falconi volanticor datur pro mercede; to the flying Falcon, the heart, of the Fowle shee taketh is given her for her reward; this Fal­con is Christ, Ipse volavit de Coelo in uterum, hee flew from Hea­ven into the Wombe of the Virgin; out of the Wombe into [Page 111] the Manger, out of the Manger into the World, from the Christs passi­ons ought to move us to dutifulnesse and thanke­fulnesse. World unto the Crosse, from the Crosse into the Grave, from the Grave, to Heaven againe, Ergo cor vendicat pro praeda, there­fore hee challengeth [...]hy heart for his prey. And Saint Chryso­stome, that golden-mouthed Doctor, bringeth in Christ thus speaking, Ego propter vos factus sum homo, propter vos ligatus, propter Chrysost. vos in patibulo mortuus; ecce precium sanguinis, quod pro vobis dedi, ubi est ergo servitus vestra pro tanto pretio? for your sakes I became man, for your sakes was I bound, for your sakes dyed I upon the Crosse; Behold, the price of bloud that I payed for you, where is therefore your service and dutie, for such a price? your ser­vice to him that gave himselfe for you, that hee might redeeme you. Vide quid pro te patior, vide dolorem, cum Angelus venit de coelis ad consolandum, vide clavos, quibus confodior, ad te clamo qui pro te morior; See what I suffer for thy sake, see my sorrow, which was so great, that an Angel from heaven was made to come to comfort mee: See the nailes wherewith I was pierced and thrust through: I crie to thee, which died for thee, &c. A most elegant Prosopo­peia: What heart of flint will not be moved with it? O Iesu! take away these stony hearts, and give us fleshly hearts. O duri & indurati & obdurati filii Adae! O durate, indurate and obdurate sonnes of Adam! quos non movet tanta benignitas, whom such great gentlenesse and courtesie cannot move. Let us sorrow with Corinth, wash Christs feet with Mary, let us weepe bitterly 2 Cor. 7. with Peter, that wee serve God no better. The Sunne knew Christ, and therefore against kind was eclipsed, the wind knew Luke 7. Mar. 15. Mar. 2. Mat. 14. Mat. 28. Iohn 1. 10. him, and therefore left blustring at his word, the Sea knew him and therefore bare him up that hee walked drie foote upon the waters, the Earth knew him and therefore opened when hee rose, the Divels knew him, onely vile man knoweth him not. Hee came among his owne, and his owne received him not, but let us receive him, and serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse, let us obey his commandements, feare his judgements, and submit our selves 1 Sam. 3. 18. to his blessed will and pleasure; saying with Eli, It is the Lord, let him doe what seemeth him good.

THE TENTH SERMON.

HAving thus described the wicked, Which were before of old ordained to con­demnation, by their life; hee com­meth now to describe them by their end: and here hee preventeth an objection, by a figure called Praeoccupatio, lest they should take offence, and say, why doth God suffer these wicked men, Hypo­crites, Atheists, Wantons, Li­bertines, Blasphemers; why doe they prosper? why is pride unto them as a chaine? why doe the wic­ked live Psal. 73. 6. Iob 21. 7, 8. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. and waxe old, and grow in wealth; their seede is established in their sight with them, and their generation before their eyes; their hou­ses are peaceable and without feare? and the rod of God is not upon them; their Bullocke gendreth and faileth not, their Cow calveth, and casteth not her calfe, they send forth their Children like Sheepe, and their sonnes dance, they take the Tabret and Harpe, and reioyce in the sound of the Organs, they spend their dayes in wealth, and suddenly they goe downe to the grave. Iude answereth them, That God hath ordained them to Iudgement. Fret not thy selfe therefore because of the ungodly, neither Psal. 37. 1. bee envious for evill doers: For they shall soone be cut downe, as the grasse, and withered like the greene hearbe: Here they fare well, here they have cappe and knee, and all the honour that may bee; but Respice finem, they walke upon ice, in the end they fall. For evill doers shall bee cut off; yea, the armes of the wicked shall be broken, the Psal. 37. 9, 10. 20. wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall bee consumed as the fat of Lambs, even with the smoke shall they consume away. Looke [Page 113] not therefore to their lives, but to their end; their end is dam­nation; The enemies of Gods Church and Children shall not long flou­rish. For tribulation and anguish shall be upon every soule that doth evill. In the end, God will raine upon them fire & brimstone, storme and tempest, this shall be their portion to drinke. Wheat and Chaffe goe together, till they come to the flaile, but then the wheat is re­served, and the chaffe burned: Sheepe and Goats goe toge­ther, Rom. 2. 9. Psal. 11. 6, 7. Mat. 3. 12. Mal. 3. 17. 1 Pet. 1. Deut. 32. 19. till they come to the fold, but then they are separated; Gold and Drosse goe together, till they come to the Fornace, but then the Gold is the purer, and the Drosse is moulten. Respice ergo finem, looke not unto their lives, but unto their end, O that they were wise, then they would understand this, they would consider their latter end. For surely the prosperity of the wicked, shall not con­tinue, it shall have an end, and their hope shall be cut off. God Prov. 24. 19. hath appointed them to Iudgement, they shall have no inheri­tance in the Kingdome of God. Thou seest Pharaoh in his Cha­riot, Exod. 14. pursuing Israel; but looke againe, and thou shalt see him in the Sea, feeding Haddockes. Thou seest Nebuchadnezzar in his Palace of Babel, vaunting and bragging, Is not this great Babel that I have built for the use of my Kingdome, by the might of Dan. 4. 27. my power, and for the honour of my Majestie? but looke againe, and thou shalt see him in the wildernesse amongst brute beasts. Thou seest Herod in his Throne, honoured as an Angell; but looke againe, and thou shalt see him on the ground amongst Act. 12. wormes: Thou seest Dionysius in his Chaire of Gold in Siracusa; but looke againe, and thou shalt see him in Corinth teaching Boyes, tossing a Scepter inferulam. A Christian must not bee like Polipheme, the one-eyed Giant: If with one eye wee see Da­mocles in a bed of Gold, with the other eye wee shall see a Sword hang over him in a haire, to dash that pleasure: If thou lookest on the prosperity of the wicked, looke on his end also, which is Damnation: Antiochus shall not ever make havoke of the Church: the rich man shall not ever ruffle in Silke and purple; Senacherib 2 Mach. 9. Luke 16. shall not ever raile on the daughter Sion; Sapor of Persia shall not ever bee drawne in a Chariot by foure Kings; there will be an Prov. 23. 18. end, there will bee an end, and their hope shall bee cut off.

They here used more the Greeke word, signifieth noted or written in a booke, [...], a phrase often used. The Pro­phet Mal. 3. 16. Malachi useth it saying, Then spake they that feared God, and the Lord harkened and heard it, and a booke of remembrance was written before him for them that feared God, and thought upon his name. And Christ our Savior useth the very phrase, saying, Rejoyce not that the Luke 10. 20. spirits are subdued unto you, but rather rejoyce, because your names are written in Heaven. And Saint Iohn useth also the same phrase; I saw the dead, both small and great stand before the throne, and the bookes Apoc. 20. 12. were opened, and another booke was opened, which is the booke of Life. And againe, the same phrase is used in the description of the heavenly Ierusalem, And there shall enter into it no uncleane thing, [Page 114] neither whatsoever worketh abomination or Iyes; but they which are Gods decree hath two parts Election, Re­probation not to be enqui­red into. written in the Lambes booke of Life. Not that God needeth any Booke; for this is spoken [...], for our capacitie; For hee is God onely wise, in him are hid all the treasures of Wisedome, Knowledge and Vnderstanding; hee knoweth all from everla­sting, and is the cause of all the Knowledge, that is in all, both Cap. 21. 27. 1 Tim. 1. 17. Col. 1. 9. Iob. 14. Iob. 38. 36. Men and Angels. Hee calleth all the starres by their names, he hath put Wisedome in the reines, and hath given to the heart under­standing, his Wisedome is infinite. But let us see the certain­ty of his Iudgements; for, as the voice vanisheth, but litera scripta manet; So the damnation of the wicked is certaine, his heart cannot endure, nor his hands be strong; that is, hee shall never bee able to defend himselfe, he shall be as drosse, as brasse, Ezech. 22. 14. 18 as tinne, and iron, and lead in the middest of the fornace, as God shall melt them, that is, destroy them.

But to proceede orderly: the decree of God hath two parts: Election, and Reprobation.

That some are elected, appeareth by many testimonies of the Scripture: Paul saith, Whom hee hath predestinate, them hath hee also called, &c. Moses willeth Israel to Remember the dayes of old, when Deut. 32. 8. the most high God divided their inheritance, when he separated the sonnes of Adam, &c. And Paul saith, That God hath chosen us in him (that is, Christ) before the foundation of the World: Wherefore some are Ephes. 1. 4. Rom. 9. 17. elected, some not; For he hath Mercie on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. God hath made all things for his glory; yea even the wicked for the day evill. If any will goe further, and say, why will God be thus glorified? The Apostle answereth him, that hee will have mercy on him to whom hee will shew Mercy, and he will have Rom. 9. 15. 18. compassion on him on whom he will have compassion. And againe, he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will hee hardeneth: hee doth as pleaseth him; even as the Psalmist saith, Our God is in Heaven, he doth whatsoever hee will. Christ giveth no other reason; It is so, O Psal. 115. 3. Mat. 11. 26. Psal. 39. 9. Father, because thy good pleasure was such. Obmutui (quoth David) quia tu Domine fecisti, I became dumbe and opened not my mouth, because thou diddest it. But if any proud man go yet fur­ther, and say, Why will God have it so? It is a proud question for either man or Angell, and the Apostle answereth him, O man! who art thou that pleadest with God? Shall the thing formed say Rom. 9. 20, 21. to him that formed it, why hast thou made mee thus? hath not the Potter power of the clay, to make of the same lumpe one vessell to honour, and another to dishonour. Inscrutabilia sunt Dei judicia; and therefore the Apostle breaketh out, saying, O the deepenesse of the riches? both of the Wisedome and Knowledge of God? how unsearchable are his Iudge­ments, Rom. 11. 33. 34. and his wayes past finding out; for who hath knowne the minde of the Lord, or who was his Counsellor? I say with Augustine; Cave [Page 115] praecipitium; Take heed of a breake-neck; With Iob, lay thy hand Gods will most perfect, his proceedings most iust. o [...] [...]y mouth; With David, meddle not with matters above thy reach, Quae supra nos, nihil ad nos; What are above us, pertaine not to us; With Paul, Sape adsobrietatem; Presume not to understand above that which is meete to understand but that yee understand according to sobrie­tie. Iob 39. 37. Psal. 131. 1. Rom. 12. 3. Gods glory is above the Heavens; wee may barke at it, as Dogges doe against the Moone, but we cannot pull it downe.

To speake more fully: Gods will is a reason of all reasons, it is the rule of all equitie, Ideo vult, quia vult, Hee will, because he will, E [...] ideo justum est quia vult, and it is therefore just because hee will. Tangere vis coelestes ignes? liquesces, wilt thou touch these Lipsius. Heavenly fires? thou shalt melt. Scandere vis in providentiae montem? wilt thou climbe up into the high mount of Gods Provi­dence? Cades, thou shalt fall, Natabis in abysso Dei? wilt thou swimme in Gods bottomelesse waters? Mergeris, thou shalt be drowned: Thou seest a little living creature the Flye, buz­zing about the Candle till shee bee burned: So our minde wax­eth wanton about Gods secrets, till wee be overwhelmed. The will of God is Causa causarum, the cause of causes; Cui licet quod libet, & nil libet, nisi quid licet: The Iudgements of God are August. oftentimes secret, hid, but never unjust. Let us learne Heavenly things by Earthly: A man hath in his house vessels of Gold, and of Clay for his use and pleasure; That a Prince pardoneth one malefactor, and punisheth another, and yet justly; That a Creditor exacteth tenne pounds of one Debtor, and re­mitteth twenty pounds to another, and yet in the one is but just, in the other is mercifull: So God damning some is just and saving other, is mercifull, and in neither cruell or unjust. David compareth the judgements of God to a great Deepe, saying, Thy Iudgements are like a great Deepe, wee cannot Psal. 36. 6. wade in them. Finely saith Augustine, Tu homo expectas a me respon­sum, & ego sum homo, ita (que) ambo dicentem audiamus: O homo, tu quis August. ser. 10. de verbis Apost. es? melior est fidelis ignorantia, quam temeraria sententia. Petrus ne­gat; Latro credit: O altitudo! quaeris turationem, ego expavescam; tu rationare, ego mirabor; tu disputas, ego credam; altitudinem video & profundum non pervenio: O altitudo! Thou O man expectest an answere from me, and I am a man as well as thou, let us there­fore both heare another speaking. O man, who art thou? Faithfull Ignorance is better than a rash unadvised Sentence. Peter denyeth; the Theefe beleeveth: O height! thou deman­dest a reason of this, I will feare and tremble; thou reasonest, I will wonder; thou disputest I will beleeve: I see a depth, but I cannot come to the bottome; O depth!

But we, as though God had made us his fellowes, as though wee were of privie Councell, will rush into his Chaire, and determine rashly of his Iudgements. Some grant election, but then they adde, that it standeth upon our workes: that godly are [Page 116] elected because they will bee holy: but wee are elected, that we God elects us of his free Grace. may be holy, not because we will be holy. Holines is the [...] or effect, not the cause of election. So saith Paul, He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the World, that wee should bee holy, and without blame before him in love, who hath predestinate us to bee adop­ted, Ephes. 1. 4, 5. through Iesus Christ unto himselfe, according to the good pleasure of his Will. As if Paul had said, that he considered nothing without himselfe, but therefore chose us, because hee loved us; no cause can bee rendred of our election, but the Will of God. Voca­vit 2 Tim. 1. 9. nos Deus, non secundum opera, &c. he hath called us unto an ho­ly calling; Not according to our workes, but according to his owne pur­pose and grace, which was given us through Christ Iesus, before the World was. It is true of all men, that Christ said of his disciples, non vos me elegistis, yee have not chosen mee, but I have chosen you; yea, God so preventeth us with his grace, that hee findeth nothing past or to come, whereby God chose us, and bee recon­ciled unto us; For who hath given unto him first? that is, provoked him, by his good workes? A lively example wee have in these two brethren Esau and Iacob, both twinnes, both inclosed in one wombe, yet hee rejected the one, and chose the other; Non ex operibus, not by workes, but by him that calleth: Deus coronat opera Rom. 9. 11. sua, non merita nostra; God crowneth his gifts, not our me­rits: Cui daret justus judex coron [...], nisi cui dedisset pater misericors indebitam gratiam? To whom should the just Iudge give the crowne, but unto whom the Father of Mercy giveth undeserved Grace? And he addeth, Ne dicas ideo electus sum, quia credebam, Aug. tract. 86. in Iob. si enim credebas, jam cum elegeras, non ipse te, & sic judicium esset pe­nos lutum, non penes figulum: Doe not say I am elected, because I did beleeve; for if thou diddest beleeve, thou haddest now cho­sen him, and not hee thee, and so the Iudgement had beene in the power of the clay, and not of the potter. But heare what Christ saith, Yee have not chosen mee, but I have chosen you. I say therefore with Saint Ambrose, Iustitia nostra magis constat remissione peccatorum, quam perfectione virtutum, our righteousnesse consi­steth more in the remission of our sinnes, than in the perfection of our vertues. Even as David declareth the blessednesse of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose Psal. 32. 1, 2. sin is covered; blessed is the man, to whom the Lord imputeth no sinne.

One Father saith thus, when wee were not, God made us; when wee were sinners, hee Iustified us; when we were in prison, hee freed us; when wee were mortall, hee glorified us. Another Rom. 5. 1. Luke 4. 18. Rom. 8. 30. Father saith, God by his Wisedome hath foreknowne us, by his Gospell hee calleth us, by his Faith hee justifieth us, by his Iustice hee damneth us, by his Grace he saveth us: So that all is of his meere goodnesse, and no cause to expostulate with God: His Iudgements are just, but yet secret. Secret things (saith Deut. 29. 29. [Page 117] Moses) belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong unto Five signes of Election, two internall. us. But if the Heavens declare the glory of God, let us speake to his glory: Secreta Dei sunt adoranda, non scrutanda; Secret things are to bee adored, not searched: It is not good to eate too Prov. 25. 27. much Hony; so to search their owne glory, is not glory. It is reported of Augustine, that being about to write his bookes of the Trinity, hee was taught by a childe, who laded the Sea into a little spoone; to whom Augustine said, that hee laboured in vaine, for his little spoone could not containe the Sea. To whom the child replied, that his little Wisedome, his shallow braine could not containe the depth of the Trinity.

But you will say, how shall wee know our election, that wee may bee comforted against all the assaults of Satan, that wee may say with the sweet singer of Israel; Though I should walke through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feare no evill; for thou art Psal. 23. with mee, thy rod and thy staffe shall comfort mee? And with Paul, I 2 Tim. 4. 6, 7. 8 have fought a good fight, I have kept the Faith, I have finished my course, from hence forward there is laid up for mee a crowne of glory, which the Lord will give mee at that day, and not to mee onely, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

I answere, that no man can bee deceived in the state of his e­lection, but hee that deceiveth himselfe; for wee may know whether wee stand in the state of Grace, or no. Danaeus maketh Danaeus in Isa­gog. five signes of election; As the comming of the Swallow is a signe of the Spring; as the putting forth of the figge-tree is a signe of Summer; as the whitenesse of the region is a signe of Harvest: So there bee many undoubted signes of our e­lection.

1 The first is the inward testimony of Gods Spirit, the seale and earnest-penny of our Salvation. For it is God that hath Sealed us, and hath given us the Earnest of his Spirit in our 2 Cor. 1. 22. hearts. The Apostle compareth the Word to a writing, the Spirit to a seale, that ratifieth all. Clamat in nobis Abba, the same Rom. 8. 16. Gal. 4. 6. Luke 11. 11. Spirit beareth witnesse to our Spirit, that wee are the children of God. And because wee are Sonnes, God hath sent the Spirit of his Sonne into your hearts, which cryeth Abba, Father. And if God be our Father, how can wee doubt of our inheritance? If wee aske Fish, he will not give us a Serpent, If Heaven, he will not give us Hell.

2 The second signe is our faith, which is knowne by the ef­fects, as the Eagle by her feathers, as the tree of Life by the fruits of it. Thus Paul bade the Corinths, try their faith, Prove your selves whether yee are in the Faith, examine your selves, &c. Qui 2 Cor. 13. 5. credit, salvabitur, he that beleeveth shall bee saved: and this faith may be knowne to us, if wee will search our selves. Christ asked Mar. 16. 16. Iohn 8. the woman taken in Adultery, where her accusers were? So aske thy heart where thy sinnes are? and if thou doest beleeve, it will [Page 118] say with the woman that they are all gone: Qui enim credit tran­sit Three exter­nall signes of Election. a morte ad vitam, Hee that beleeveth in him is passed from death to life: for all that are borne of God overcommeth the World. And this is the victory that overcommeth the World, even our Faith. Iohn 3. 1 Iohn 5. 4. Hereupon Paul triumpheth over Death, Hell, Hunger, Cold, Nakednesse, Perill, Sword, and concludeth; That neither Death, nor Life nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Power, nor Things pre­sent, nor Things to come, nor Height, nor Depth, nor any other Creature, Rom. 8. 38, 39. shall bee able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Ie­sus our Lord.

3 The third signe is the conformity of our will to Gods will, to love that which God loveth, and to hate that which God hateth: therefore wee pray, that Gods will may bee done on Earth as it is in Heaven. He that doth the will of God shall abide Mat. 6. for ever: For not everie one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdome of Heaven, but he that doth the will of the Father which is in Heaven.

4 The fourth signe is a strife against sin: For as the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, so doth the Spirit against the Flesh. And they that are Christs, Have crucified the Flesh, with the affections and lusts. Gal. 5. 17. 24. And hee that is elected, will cry out with the Apostle, O wret­ched man that I am, who shall deliver mee from the body of this death? Rom. 7. 24. Meaning the corruption which yet remained. The Law in our members which rebelleth, they will tame, and give no way to the motions of the flesh.

5 The fifth and last signe is, the reformation of our whole life, a generall walking in the paths of righteousnesse & holinesse, as our election is knowne unto God from all eternity; For the foundation of God remaineth sure, and hath his seale: The Lord knoweth 2 Tim. 2. 19. who are his, so is it knowne to us by our workes: and therfore wee are willed, To give all diligence to make our election and calling sure, by good workes, if wee can so live, that at the last; when we 2 Pet. 1. 10. shall leave this World? wee can say with Simeon, Lord now lettest Luke 2. thou thy servant depart in peace. It is an undoubted signe of our e­lection.

Our election is perfected by many degrees, Paul na­meth three degrees of it: Vocation, Iustification, and Glo­rification: for so runne his words, Those whom hee knew before, hee predestinate; and whom hee predestinate, them also hee called; and whom Rom. 8. 29, 30. hee called, them also hee Iustified; and whom hee Iustified, them also hee Glorified. But others make other degrees:

The first, to be Christs, with his gifts.

1 Cor. 3. Rom. 8. 2 Tim. 1. 9. Rom. 4. 25. Ephes. 2. 10. 2 Tim. 4. 8. The second degree is our Adoption.

The third, is our Vocation by the Gospell.

The fourth is Iustification.

The fifth, is our Sanctification.

The sixth, is our Glorification.

[Page 119] These are the signes of our election, and this election is every God reproba­teth in Iustice, as well as elo­cteth in Mer­cy. way free: Never man layd hand on this worke, never man brought stone to this building, but all is from God, and his Mercy. Let us therefore throw downe our crownes with the Elders, and let us say with David, Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the praise: And if our reason cannot comprehend this our election, Psal. 115. 1. let our Faith comprehend it: Vbi ratio definit, sides incipit: where Ambr. reason faileth, faith beginneth. Let our reason bee as Hagar, our faith as Sara; if reason will presume, let Sara, let faith take her downe a pegge.

The other part of Gods decree is Reprobation, here named of Iude, Of old ordained to condemnation. Now whereas many grant election, but not Reprobation, Reprobation is proved by many places of Scripture. Christ saith, Every plant which my Heavenly Mat. 15. 13. Father hath not planted, shall bee rooted up. And Paul speaketh of Vessels of wrath, ordained to destruction: And Esay telleth us that Rom. 9. 22. Tophet is prepared of old, it is prepared even for the King, hee hath made Esa. 30. 33. it deepe and large, &c. yet many are squeamish of Reprobation, utterly denying it: And Ierome was once of the minde; hee said, that God elected some, but reprobated none. Now if he deny all reprobation, this must bee wrapped up amongst the rest of his er­rors: Haec patrum pudenda tegi patior: I love to hide these imper­fections 1 Cor. 3. of the Fathers; for they did not ever build gold upon the foundation, but sometime hay and stubble, &c. Indeed God re­probates none but for sinne: but for sinne he reprobates. And thus God is righteous, and his judgements just: thus Christ divideth the whole world into two parts, Corne and Tares, Goats and Sheepe; the Tares shall bee bound up in bundels, and cast into the fire, the Goats Mat. 13. & 25. shall stand at Christs left hand, and shall heare, Goe yee cursed into everlasting Hell fire, prepared for the Divell and his angels: and marke that he saith, prepared for the Divell and his angels. If of five senses, we want foure, we cannot deny this Reprobation.

But what should I light a candle at noone-day, or powre water into the Sea, or bring the breath of a man to helpe the blast or gale of wind? Magna est veritas & praevalet: great is truth and prevai­leth: for wee cannot doe any thing against the truth, but for the truth. 2 Cor. 13. 8. Reprobation standeth with the glory of God: for as his Mercy appeareth in Election, so his Iustice in Reprobation, and his Iu­stice in punishing sinne, is as lawfull, as holy, as glorious, as his Mercy in Christ Iesus. For in God they are equall, and not qua­lities, but of the essence of God. For hee is Iustice and Mercy it selfe: God is not made of mercy only, as a loafe is of Corne, or wood of Trees, but of Iustice also: And Gods glory shi­neth as much in his Iustice as in his Mercy, God hath made all things for his glory, and the wicked for the day of vengeance. Shall wee then reason against God, and say, Why doth he thus? Absit, God forbid.

[Page 120] Againe, all the works of God have their contraries, wherein God not the author of evil, but the dispo­ser. the infinite Wisedome of God appeareth. In Physicke one thing bindeth, and another looseth; one thing comforteth na­ture, and another thing destroyeth it: In the state of the World, there is light and darkenesse, hony and gall, sweet and sowre, prickes and roses, faire and foule, hearbes and weeds. In the creation of the creatures, every thing hath his contrary; the Woolfe to the Sheepe, the Weesell to the Cony, the Mouse to the Elephant, the Dragon to the Vnicorne, the Spider to the Flie, the Lion to the Beasts, the Eagle to the Birds. Againe, in the Church there are contraries; the Elect to the Reject, Cain against Abel, Ismael against Isaac, Hagar against Sara, Esau a­gainst Iacob, Pharaoh against Moses, Saul against David, the Pha­rises against Christ, the false god against the true God. A­gaine, all vertues have their contrary vices, Falshood against Truth, Hatred against Love, Faith against Infidelity, Tempe­rancie against Riot, Prudence against Folly, Liberality against Covetousnesse, Chastity against Incontinency, Fortitude a­gainst Pusillanimity. So God hath them that are elected to life, and fore-written to judgement: for in the whole state of the world God hath shewed himselfe the Authour of Iustice and Mercy. If there were no Darkenesse, wee should not know the benefit of Light; If no sicknesse, wee should not know the benefit of health; If no death, wee should not know the good­nesse of life. So Hell makes the blisse of Heaven seeme the grea­ter; and this destruction of the wicked, the salvation of the god­ly, more happy and glorious.

But perhaps this seemeth hard, that God should reprobate some, ordaine some to condemnation; but I answere, No, sith hee reprobates none but such as voluntarily sinne, and so are the Authours of their owne destruction. Obj. But sinners cannot but sinne. Answer. 1. But by grace they might bee saved. Secondly, though being left to themselves they sinne necessarily, yet they sinne willingly: for necessity is to bee distinguished from coa­ction. To cleare this point and the Lord, Deus est necessariô bonus, non coactè: God is necessarily good, not coactedly: Diabolus & mali necessariò peccant, non coactè: the Divell and the wicked sinne, necessarily, not coactedly. But they say, God will have all men to bee saved: Audio Paulum loqui de 2 Tim. 2. 4. generibus singulorum, non de singulis generum: I heare Paul speake of some of all estates and degrees of men, not of all in gene­rall. Noble therefore and Base, Learned and Vnlearned, Rich and Poore, God will have to bee saved; For there is neither Iew, nor Grecian, there is neither Bond, nor Free, there Gal. 3. 28. is neither Male, nor Female: For yee are all one in CHRIST IESVS.

If any man say that our sinne is extenuated by predestination: [Page 121] I answere with Augustine, Deus non est vitiorum nostrorum author, Mans sinne & destruction from himselfe. sed ordinator: God is not the Authour of our sinnes and vices, but the ordinatour, the disposer. Hereupon saith Salomon, The Lord hath made all things for his owne sake, yea even the wicked for August. lib. de Genesi ad cap. 5. Prov. 16. 4. Hos. 13. 9. Iob 34. 10, 11, 12. the day of evill. Blame not God, as Hosea said to Israel, One hath destroyed thee, but in mee is thine helpe. Finely said Elihu, God forbid that wickednesse should bee in God, and iniquity in the Al­mighty: For hee will render unto man according to his worke, and cause every one to finde according to his way, and certainely God will not doe wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert Iudgement. Our sinne is our owne; if wee perish, it is our owne fault: many lay 2 Pet. 2. 12. the fault in Adam, but the Wise-man saith it is our owne sinne, therefore hee counselleth us, Say not thou, It is through Eccles. 15. 11. the Lord, that I turne backe, for thou oughtest not to doe the thing that hee hateth. But Saint Iames answereth all these cavils, say­ing, Let no man say, when hee is tempted, that hee is tempted of God, for God cannot bee tempted with evill, neither tempteth hee any man, but every man is tempted, when hee is drawne away by his owne concupis­cence, Iam. 1. 13. and is entised.

In this question wee have to doe with foure kinds of Hogges, or Dogges rather: Pelagians, Manichaeans, Anabaptists, Epicures.

All these barke as the Dogges of Corybant, who tore in sun­der Neanthes the sonne of Pittacus. To all which I answere, that the perdition of the wicked so dependeth on predestination, as that the cause and matter of predestination is found in them­selves. Adam fell (God so ordaining it) yet hee fell by his owne fault: For God made all things good, therefore Adams sinne was not Gen. 1. 31. by creation, but it was the malice and corruption of his will: it being as a wheele flexible to either side, but the hand of the tur­ner comming unto it, it turned it to the left hand, not to the right: God made man right.

But say some, This doctrine destroyeth all care of well doing: Eccles. 7. 29. for what need wee doe well, if God hath elected us; or shunne vice, if God hath reprobated us? But this presupposeth things impossible: for God elects none to salvation, but whom hee first chuseth in Christ unto an holy and blamelesse life, Ephes. 1. 4. Nei­ther doth hee reprobate any but for sinne, but upon their refusall of Christ Iesus offered to them in the preaching of the Gospell: for men are not vessels of wrath, till considered as sinners, Eph. 2. 3. nor ordained to destruction, but upon refusall of the means of Grace, Ezek. 24. 13. 2 Chron. 36. 15, 16. Wherfore if one man one­ly were to bee damned in all the whole world, every man should Lament. 3. 22. feare, lest it should be he, & walke carefully, For blessed is the man Prov. 28. 14. [Page 122] that feareth alway. And if one man onely were to bee saved in the whole world, every man should hope that it is he, and so rest on The action in sinne is from God, the pra­rity from mans cor­ruption. Gods mercie, walke carefully: Dum spiro, spero, quoth a Father, whilest I breathe, I hope; and above all to take the shield of Faith, wherewith we may quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

To proceede orderly in this point: there bee three opinions, the first, of the Libertines: the second, of them that deny Gods Aug. Providence, by granting a bare permission, as that he suffereth all things, but not that hee willeth all things: the third opinion is of them that grant God to doe all, but so, that all actions, as they proceed from God, are just, but as they are done of us, to be un­just.

For the first; the Libertines make God the author of sin, & say of all thefts, murders, whoredomes, that not man, but God did them, they call all these sinnes, mens vocations, and that doing them, we do but walke in our vocations; they say, Omnia licent: all things are lawfull: Ergo licet scortari, furari, occidere, therefore law­full 1 Cor. 10. to whore, steale, kill; so reasoned Quintinus the Libertine with Calvin, saying, Omnia munda mundis: all things are cleane to the Tit. [...]. 15. cleane: Stuprum ergo, furtum, homicidium esse munda: therfore whore­dome, theft, murder to be cleane. But we make not God the Au­thor of sin; For his soule hateth & abhorreth sin, his Law curseth and condemneth sin. And whereas it is said, There is no evill in the City, but the Lord doth it himselfe, the words are to be understood, Non quatenus sunt mala, sed quatenus sunt malorum poenae: not as they are evill, but as they are the punishment of evill. Againe, every action, so far forth as it is an action, is good, & of God: For in him we live, and move, and have our being. As for example, one man Act. 17. 28. killeth another; the very moving of the body in doing this vil­lany, is of God, but the evill of the action is from Man and the Divell: as one saith finely, Actio est à Deo, nequitia vero actionis ab Bez [...]. homine: the action is from God, the lewdnes of the action from man. Another useth this cōparison, That as the Sun in Summer draweth stench from a Carrion which smelt not before, and yet Calvin. the beames of the Sunne pure, and no cause of the stench of the Carrion: so Gods Providence draweth evill out of men, and yet no cause of that evill. Another useth this Simile, That as in cut­ting with a bad knife, the cutting is of my selfe, but the evill cut­ting is of the knife; So the action is of God, but the evill of the action is of our selves. Augustine affirmeth, Deum per malos agere: Lipsius. August. in En­chiridion ad Laurentium. that God worketh by evill men: Deus enim, inquit ille, jussit Shemei Davidimaledicere: for God (saith he) commanded Shemei to curse David. Againe, he saith, In peccato peccatoris nihil esse po­sitivum, sed privativum: In the sin of a sinner, nothing is positive, but privative. So God is said to make blind whom he inlightneth not, to harden whom he softeneth not, and to reprobate whom he calleth not effectually. But I will conclude this point with the [Page 123] saying of two worthy men, Augustine, and Fulgentius. Augustine The causes of Reprobation are hidden, but iust. saith thus, Deus operatur in cordibus hominum, ad inclinandas volun­tates eorum quocun (que) vult, sive ad bona pro sua misericordia, sive ad mala pro ipsorum meritis; God worketh in the hearts of men, to incline their wils to whatsoever hee will, either to good things by his mercy, or to evill by their deserts. And Fulgentius saith thus, Deus licet author non sit malarum cogitationum, ordinator est tamen malarum voluntatum, & de malo opere cujuslibet mali, non desi­nit ipse bonum operari: Although God be not the Author of evill cogitations, yet is hee the orderer of evill wils, and of the evill worke of every evill man, hee ceaseth not to worke a good worke.

Beza hath three Aphorismes against Castellio; Primùm, causas reprobationis esse à nobis absconditas, sed tamen justas, alioquin judi­cium esset penes lutum, non penes figulum: First, the causes of repro­bation are hid from us, yet they bee just, otherwise the judge­ment were in the power of Clay, not of the Potter.

Secondly, Deum non simpliciter creare quenquam ad exitium, that God not simply hath created any to destruction, but the causes 1 Hosca 13. 2 Pet. 2. of destruction are of himselfe: Perditio tua ex te, O Israel, thy destruction is of thy selfe, O Israel; and the Apostle saith, that the wicked perish through their owne corruption.

Thirdly, Deum non spectare reproborum exitium, ut ultimum fi­nem, sed gloriam suam, quae in eorum justa condemnatione lucet, that God beholdeth not the destruction of the wicked, as the last end: but his glory, which shineth most brightly in their con­demnation. As Salomon saith, The Lord hath made all things for his glory, even the wicked for the day of evill. So that the justice of God shall appeare to his glory, even in the destruction of the wicked.

The second opinion is of them. Qui dicunt Deum omnia per­mittere, sed non velle; which say, that God permits and suffers all things, but hee willeth not all things: but God saith that it is his will, and that nothing is done without his will. Our God (saith Psal. 115. 3. Psal. 135. 6. David) is in heaven, hee doth whatsoever hee will. No impediment can let his worke, but hee useth even the impediments to serve his will. And whatsoever hee willeth, that doth hee in Heaven, and in Earth, in the Sea, and in all deepe places. That appeareth in the af­fliction of Iob, Satan envied Iob; and the Chaldees robbed him; Iob 1. 1 Reg. 22. yet Iob said, Dominus dedit, dominus abstulit, the Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away. In the deceiving of Achab, the Divell is sent of God to bee a lying spirit in the mouthes of the foure hundred Prophets, Si ista execatio est Dei, nudum permis­sionis figmentum evanescit; If this execation bee the judgement of God, this bare and naked figment of permission must vanish as smoke, and as the untimely fruit of a woman. An earthen pit­cher shall drive away the Madianites; Trumpets of Rammes [Page 124] hornes shall blow downe the wals of Iericho; a peble stone shall God worketh by evill men, and not in them. overthrow the great Goliah; that is, the scripture shall overthrow the conceit, the imagination and fiction of bare permission. As Iael with one nayle stroke Sisera to the ground, so will I with one example beate downe the paper-wals of this opinion.

Absalom defiled his fathers bed, and committed a notable villany, yet God calleth it his worke, Verba enim Dei sunt, they are Gods owne words; Tufecisti occultè, ego vero palam, & coram 2 Sam. 16. hoc Sole, thou hast done it secretly, but I openly, & before this Sun. To strengthen this (for Vis unita fortior) The Iewes, Pilate, He­rod crucified Christ; yet the Apostle said, that they did nothing but that which the hand and counsell of God had decreed. And yet a­gaine, Act. 4. that a threefold cable may not easily bee broken, the Ier. 5 cruelty of the Chaldees in Iudaea, Ieremy calleth the worke of God. In which since Nebuchadnezzar is called Servus Dei, the servant of God; and God calleth the King of Assyria, the rod of his wrath. Esa. 10. I doe but crop some few examples of millions and infinite, that might bee alleaged. Nothing is clearer than these speeches, that God blindeth men, that he giveth them the spirit of slum­ber, Esa. 29. Exod. 9. Rom. 1. 28. that hee hardeneth their hearts, and so is hee said to have hardned Pharoahs heart, and to give men up into a reprobate sense. And of the inhabiters of Canaan, Moses said, that God hardneth their hearts, to fight against the Church. And Paul calleth the wisedome of God [...]. These bee not mat­ters of reason, but of faith; Et ubi fides incipit, ratio desinit, where Ios. 11. Ephes. 3. 10. Ambr. faith beginneth, reason endeth? But I answere with Calvin, that though God willeth all things, yet hee neither commandeth nor compelleth the wicked; Though God would revenge the Adultery of David, by the Incest of Absalom, yet God neither commanded nor compelled him, which freeth God.

The third opinion is of them, that say, all things come to passe by Gods providence, that our actions as they proceed from God, are just, and as they come of our selves unjust. Hereupon Beza distinguisheth thus, Deum agere in bonis & per bonos, that God worketh in good men, and by good men; Per malos vero 1 parte quaes [...]io­num. agere, at non in malis; and that hee worketh by evill men, but not in evill men: In his enim duntaxat agit quos spiritu suoregit, Hee worketh in them onely whom he ruleth by his spirit, In malis igitur non agit aliquid, hee worketh not therefore in evill men: Ephes. 2. 2. for Satan not God worketh in them. And Master Calvin against the Libertines produceth two exceptions, Primò, sic Deum agere periniquos & Satanam, ut ipsi etiam suas agunt partes, non per illos a­git, ut per truncos, & lapides, sed ut per creaturas rationales, qui sponte ruunt; First, God so worketh by the wicked, and by Satan, as that they also play their owne parts, hee worketh not by them, as by blockes, or stones, but as by reasonable creatures, which runne headlong of their owne accord. Secundò, magnam esse dif­ferentiam [Page 125] inter opus Dei & impiorum: there is great difference be­tweene God, Satan, & Men, concurre in the same a­ction, but have different ends. the worke of God, and the worke of the wicked, in respect of the end of their worke: The Sunne draweth stench out of a dead carkase, Non immittit, he doth not send it in: So God wor­keth by the wicked, and yet so, that his justice doth not justifie them, nor their wickednesse contaminate him, as it appeareth in Iobs example; God, Satan, and the Chaldees concurre, move, Iob 1. worke, yet is God cleare, and they guilty; Inspecto fine agendi, considering the end of their worke: God did it to trie Iob, Satan to destroy Iob, and the Chaldees, to inrich themselves. So saith S. Augustine of Christ; Pater tradidit filium, filius corpus, Iudas ma­gistrum: In hac traditione cur Deus justus & homo injustus? nisi quod in re una quam fecerunt, non est causa una ob quam fecerunt? The Father delivered the Sonne, the Son his body, Iudas his master; in this tradition or delivering, why is God just, and man unjust? because that in that one thing, which they did, there was not one cause for the which they did it; Deus, in dilectione, Christus, in obedientia, Iudas ab avaritia, Iudaei ob invidiam: God delivered him in love, Christ delivered himselfe in obedience, Iudas of covetousnesse, the Iewes of envy. Thus they all did one action, but not to one end.

And yet true is the saying of Fulgentius, Malos ad poenam, non culpam praedestinari: the wicked to be predestinate to punishment, not to sinne, non ad hoc, quod malè operantur, sed ad hoc, quod justè pa­tiuntur: not to this, that they worke evilly, but to this end, that they suffer justly: For God ordaines no man to be evil, though he hath ordained the evill unto punishmēt; for should God ordaine men unto sin, then should God be the Author of sin: he ordaines indeed the incitements and occasions of sin, to try men withall; he also orders sins committed, and does limit them; and in these regards is said as before to worke in them, and to will them: in which regards also they are in Scripture attributed unto him sometimes, as 2 Sam. 12. 11, 12. and 15. 16. But yet wee must not say (as some do) that God is the Author of sinne, or predesti­nates men unto it. Sed quia Dei mysteria non capimus, corripimus: be­cause wee cannot conceive Gods mysteries, wee will cavell and carpe at them. Nunquid negandum quod verum est, quia comprehendi non potest, quod occultum est? Is that to be damned which is true, because it cannot be comprehended, for that it is secret? Eate hony, but not too much hony: so search Gods mysteries, but not too far. I say of the proud men of this age, as Chrysostome said of the Hereticks called Anomei; Hanc arborem Anomaeorum Paulus nec plantavit, Apollo non rigavit; this tree of the Anomaei neither hath Paul planted, nor Apollo watered, nor God increased: but curiosi­ty planted it, pride watered it, and ambition increased it. Lipsius Lipsius de con­stantia, pag. 36. useth all these similitudes; A man rideth upon a lame horse, and stirs him, the rider is the cause of the motion, but the horse [Page 126] himselfe of the halting motion; so God is the Author of every action, but not of the evill of the action. The like is in the stri­king All sinne from Saten or evill men, none from God. of a jarring and untuned Harpe, the fingering is thine, the jarring or discord is in the Harpe or instrument. The earth giveth fatnesse and juyce to all kind of plants, some of these plants yeeld pestilent and noysome fruits; where is the fault, in the nourish­ment of the ground, or in the nature of the hearbe, which by the native corruption decocteth the goodnes of the ground into ve­nime and poyson? the goodnes & moisture is from the earth, the venime from the hearbe; the sounding from the hand, the jarring from the instrument; So the action is from God, the evill in the action from the impure fountaine of thy owne heart. I will con­clude this point with the saying of the Learned, Impossibile est De­um, Confessie. qui est lux, justitia, veritas, sapientia, bonitas, vita, causam esse te­nebrarum, peccati & mendacii, ignorantiae, maliciae & mortis, sed ho­rum omnium causa Satanas & homines sunt; It is impossible that God, who is Light, Iustice, Truth, Wisedome, Goodnesse, Life, to bee the cause of Darkenesse, Sinne, Dissembling, Ignorance, Malice, and Death, but the Divell and Men are the cause of all these.

THE ELEVENTH SERMON.

WEE are now come unto the third part of this Epistle, which contai­neth a confirmation of Iudes pur­pose, by divers examples.

The first, of the Israelites.

The second, of the Angels.

The third, of the Sodomites.

In the first, he noteth their Infide­litie.

In the second, their Apostasie.

In the third, their Adultery, and Buggery.

The first were destroyed of God in the wildernesse.

The second fell from Heaven.

The third were burned: and thus much for their sinnes and their punishments.

Now for the first, he saith that they Knew it, howbeit he will put them in remembrance, saying they had forgotten it. We may not thinke much to heare that which we have heard and known, were our knowledge never so great, like Salomons, who had A large heart, hee was filled with understanding as a floud, his minde com­passed the Earth, hee filled it full of darke and grave sentences, yet wee 1 Reg. 4. Ecclus. 47. 14, 15 [Page 128] may be remembred of it againe. Paul was not ashamed to write The memorie must be often admonished. one thing often: For so hee saith to the Philippians, It grieveth me not to write, the same thing unto you viz. that which yee have of­ten heard of me; for unto you it is a sure thing: and we are not asha­med to preach one thing often, it leaveth a surer print, and a dee­per Phil. 3. 1. stampe in our minds; doctrine delivered, is as a nayle driven; but doctrine repeated, is as a nayle rivetted, then it sticketh sure. Such a Simile Salomon useth, saying; The words of the wise are like goods, and like nayles fastened by the masters of the assemblies, (that is, Eccles. 12. 11. Ezech. 36. Ier. 23. Iohn 6. 27. Iohn 6. the Ministers) which are given by our Pastour (that is, God:) the word of God is the water of life, the more it is waved, the fre­sher it runneth; it is the fire of Gods glory, the more it is blowen, the clearer it burneth; it is the bread of heaven, the more it is broken, the more remaineth; as it did in the five loaves and two fishes, wherewith Christ fed five thousand men in the wilder­nes; the more it is repeated, the more knowledge it breedeth, the more faith it begetteth, the more consolation it affordeth. Ther­fore Paul rubbeth the memories of the Corinths in the things 1 Cor. 6. 2, 3. 9. 19. that they knew; doe yee not know that the Saints shall iudge the world? know yee not that we shall iudge the Angells? know yee not that the un­righteous shall not inherit the Kingdome of God? know yee not that your bodies are the temples of the holy Ghost? As if he should say, yee know these things, yet I helpe your memories, otherwise yee may for­get even that yee know. This order Paul, as a carefull master, prescribeth to Timothie, a painefull Scholler, saying; If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister 1 Tim. 4. 6. of Iesus Christ, &c. The Ephesians, where Paul had preached three yeares, day and night, knew much, yet Paul would have them put in remembrance; and thereupon he chargeth them to Watch, and Act. 20. 31. to remember that by the space of three yeares he ceased not to warne eve­ry one of them: So said S. Peter of the Iewes, seeing his race was at an end, his life short, and his tabernacle ready to be laid downe: I will not (saith he) be negligent to put you alwayes in remembrance of 2 Pet. 1. 12, 13. these things; though that yee have knowledge, and be established in the pre­sent truth: For I thinke it meete so long as I am in this tabernacle, to stirre you up, by putting you in remembrance. Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepè cadendo; Sic homo fit fidelis, non vi, sed saepè audiendo; As the drops of water make a hole in the stone, not by force, but by often falling; so man becommeth faithfull, not by force, but by often hearing; Et idem audiendo, in hearing the same: we are like flint or marble, that is not easily pierced; like sieves, which in the water are full, but out of it are empty: So in the Church our eares are full of doctrine, but it is scattered in the Church-yard, by and by wee are emptie, Ne apicem tenemus, we carry not a tittle home. But as to eate meate, and not to keep it in the stomacke, is a signe of the death of the body; so to heare, and not to re­member, that argueth the death of the soule; For whosoever trans­gresseth, [Page 129] and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God; but hee Variety de­lighteth, but the same thing repeated pro­fiteth. that continueth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Remember then how thou hast received, and heard, and hold fast, and repent.

Let no man say, I wil not come to the Sermon, I know the man, I know his gifts, I know what hee will say: though wee doe, 2 Iohn. 9. Apoc 3. 3. yet may we be remembred. The incarnation of Christ was revea­led to Marie by an Angell, and yet afterwards it was revealed by the shepheards; If Marie had beene curious, shee would have said, Dic quod nescio, tell me that I know not, I have heard this Luk. 1. Luk. 2. already, why tell you me it againe? here is Cooleworts twice sodden; Crambe bis posita mors est; tis as bad as death, to heare a thing twice repeated: Wee cannot abide to heare one do­ctrine twice; wee surfet of preaching, as Israel did of Manna; Numb. 11. 2 Tim. 4. 3. we have itching eares: many cannot abide wholesome doctrine, but after their owne lusts, get them an heape of teachers. Wee come to the Church as the Athenians did ad forum Iulium, to heare newes; like Perillus, that would not heare one sound of mu­sicke Act. 17. twice; like Heliogabalus, that fed of nightingales tongues, provided that he might not eat twice of one meate; like Xerxes, which propounded great rewards to them that could devise new pleasures: and therefore wee crie out unjustly of vaine repetiti­ons, idle Anaphoraes and Tautologie. We come to the preacher as men come to a minstrell, to have our eares tickled; So saith God to his Prophet, They come unto thee, as people use to come; and my people sit before thee, and heare thy Words, but they will not doe them: Ezech. 33. 31. For with their mouthes they make jests, and their heart goeth after their covetousnesse. It is no Sermon, except there bee some new and strange thing in it, that wee never heard before, that may bring us into a wonderment of that we understand not: Then the prea­cher hath with Esay a learned tongue; with Peter, a fiery cloven tongue, and with Apollo, a fine eloquent tongue; or else hee is Esa. 50. Act. 2. Act. 18. but a plaine man, an English Doctor, a Dunce, &c. But wee say with Paul, That we have cast from us the cloakes of shame, and walke not in craftinesse, neither handle we the word of God decetfully. The oft preaching of the word serveth to put us in remembrance of all things that concerne God, and our dutie to him, otherwise wee soone forget all: as the Israelites did, Who made a Calfe in Horeb, Psal. 106. 19, 20, 21. and worshipped the molten Image; thus they turned their glorie into the si­militude of a bullocke, that eateth grasse, and forgat God their Savi­our. The Israelites in forty dayes forgat God; so bee you forty dayes absent from a Sermon, and you will forget God: Come therefore, to be put in remembrance.

A number say, Sermons are too oft, wee heare too many, Communia sordent, Common things waxe vile; they must come as strawberries once a yeare; Rara praeclara, seldome things are ex­cellent things. But I wonder that any blasphemous mouth dare [Page 130] say that there is too much preaching! once a quarter, or once a The prea­ching of the Word alwayes necessary. moneth is enough: but this is not [...], to preach in season, and out of season: Paul did not so; Hee, night and day, for the space of three yeares, ceased not to warne every one: Moses was but forty dayes absent, and the people that had tasted 2 Tim. 4. 2. Act. 20. 31. Exod. 32. so lately and miraculously of Gods goodnesse, fell to Idola­trie.

To prosecute this point: If men could indent with the Di­vell, to tempt but once in a moneth, or once in a quarter; prea­ching once in a Moneth were sufficient; but if hee tempt conti­nually, wee must preach continually, and you must heare conti­nually, and wee all must be sober and watch, so long as our adver­sary the Divell goeth about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom to devoure. 1 Pet. 5. 8. The dragon with his tayle drew the third part of the starres out of heaven, and cast them to the ground; and the dragon is ready to devoure us, as soone as wee bee brought forth: but wee must resist him▪ Resist the Divell, and he will flie from you. So long as Ioas 1 Pet. 4. had Iehojada at his elbow, he did well, he walked uprightly in the sight of the Lord. So long as Vzziah had Zechariah to teach him, he sought God, and he understood the visions of God, and God 2 Chron. 24. 2. 2 Chron. 26. 5. made him prosper; but they being taken away, Satan prevailed both with the one, and with the other.

Therefore the Word is compared to showres; so saith Moses, My doctrine shall drop as the raine, and my speech shall still as doth the dew, as the showre upon the hearbs, and as the great raine upon the grasse. Deut. 32. 2. The Word is compared to an hammer: Is not my Word like a fire (saith the Lord) and like an hammer that breaketh a stone. And it is compared to Wind; I saw (saith S. Iohn) an Angell standing on the Ier. 23. 29. Apoc. 7. 1. Iohn 6. 27. foure corners of the earth holding the foure windes of the earth, that the windes should not blow on the earth. And the word is compared to Food; hereupon saith our Saviour, Labour not for the meate that perisheth, but for that which will indure to eternall life: Grasse groweth not greene with one showre of raigne; knottie wood is not riven with one stroke; a ship saileth not with one blast; a Child groweth not to a man with one meale; and wee goe not to heaven with one sermon; but with precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Esa. 28. 10. line unto line; line unto line; that is, with doctrine upon doctrine, and wee must have one thing oft told. This meeteth with those preachers and auditors, that make strawberries of the Word, to have it once in a yeare, or once in a quarter; but it is Food, and every one must have his portion of meate in due season, it is not strawberries. It is also food, for that we must heare it often, it must be familiar unto us. There is a waste in the body by reason of the heate in the stomacke and the liver, and therefore must be repaired with a fresh supply of meate; So there is a waste in the soule, which must bee repaired with a supply of intellectuall meate, that is, the word. Sometime there is a waste in the under­standing, [Page 131] which is darkened; sometime in the will and affections' Meditation & recordation meanes to en­rich the soule. which are unruly; sometime in the memory, which is brittle sometime in our faith, which is weake; or in our love which is small; or in our zeale, which may be cold; or in the minde which is earthly; or in the whole man which is lumpish, heavy, unfit for Coll. 1. Coll. 3. Hebr. 12. Luk. 17. Phil. 3. 19. any good thing.

Come therefore still unto the Word, heare it still, heare it to learne, and learne to remember it, and remember to follow it, and follow, to continue it; that I may say to this towne of Wall­sham, as Christ said to Zacheus house; This day is salvation come unto your towne. But as Lords and Barons never put on their Luk. 19. 9. Parliament robes, till they goe to the Parliament house: So wee put not on Religion till we goe to the Church, and there wee leave it till the next Sunday. We remember little and pra­ctise lesse, like Cambridge Schollers, that leave their Logicke in Sophisters hills till they returne againe. But wee must heare to bee put in remembrance; and though many bee soone wearie, yet must not wee. Be not weary of well doing (saith the Apostle) be not Gal. 6. wearie of hearing. I see many, that if they have a preacher in their towne on the Sunday, refuse to heare any other on the weeke day, as though they could heare too much: Let the Word of God dwell in you plenteously; not as a guest for an houre, but as Col. 3. 16. an owner continually, which cannot be except we be put oft in remembrance, and heare often.

But in saying, I will put you in remembrance, he insinuateth that they had forgotten these following examples: for wee are like the Ostrich, that forgetteth her eggs in the dust, like Partriches, Iob 29. Jer. 17. which gather the yong that be not theirs; like the bird Fulica, that forgetteth her nest, and hatcheth strange birds; like the Philosopher that forgat his owne name: we had need therefore be put in remembrance, and often thinke, and meditate of the doctrines we have heard. Christians must be like the cleane-beasts that parted the hoofe and chewed the cud; so we must ruminate, and chaw that at home, and concoct that which we have heard in the Church. Marie laid up the words of the Shepheard, In her heart; we must learne of her: For the heart is Thesaurus, the Luk. 2. 17. treasure-house to store up all doctrines of life, and of salvation; the memorie is as a chest or coffer, if wee had never so great Iewells, yet if they be not safely kept, as well as truely gotten, all is lost: not they that eate, but they that digest most, are the most healthfull; not they that get most, but they that keep most, are richest: So, not they that heare most, but they that remember most, are most edified. Our memories are like Bankrouts purses, and like Danaides tunne, the one can hold no money, the other no liquor, and our memories can hold no doctrine. But let us strive to remember, and as the Apostle speaketh, Whatsoever things are Phil. 4. 8. true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are iust, whatsoever [Page 132] things are pure, whatsoever things pertaine to love, whatsoever things God offereth mercy before hee inflicts iudgement. are of good report, if there be any vertue, if there be any praise, thinke on these things, which yee have both received and heard, &c.

But what are the things that Iude would remember them of? Three notable examples of Gods wrath he calleth to their re­membrance: The first, of the Israelites: and therein observe with me three things.

Gods mercy in delivering them, the first.

His iustice in destroying them, the second.

Their sinne, the Cause of Gods iustice, the whetstone unto it, the third and last.

But first, let us looke upon Gods mercy in their deliverance: for God beginneth with mercy, that is the first act, mercy is Alpha, Iustice is Omega, so David placeth it; For speaking of Gods at­tribute, he placeth mercy in the foreward, Iustice in the rereward, saying, My song shall be of mercy and judgement. God is patient and Psal. 110. 1. Rom. 2. 4. full of mercy. Paul calleth it [...], the riches of Gods mercy; God never useth Iustice, but when his mercy is des­pised; like a Prince, that sendeth not his army against rebells, before he hath sent his pardon, and proclaimed it by an Herauld of armes: like Tamberlaine, who the first day set up his white tents, and received all that came; the next day, blacke, betokening the death of the rulers; the third day, red, betokening the blood­shed of all; So the Lord hath his white tents of mercy, his blacke and red of iustice and iudgement, if the one bee despised, the o­ther shal be felt: hereupon saith Paul, But thou after thy hardnesse, Rom. 2. 5. and heart which cannot repent, treasurest up unto thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath, and declaration of the iust iudgement of God; who will reward every man according to his works. More particularly, God de­livered this people mercifully, yea miraculously, their shoulders from burdens, and their fingers from making of bricke, hee drew them out of a fiery oven, like the three children, he put off their sacke-cloth, and girded them with gladnesse, and compassed them about with songs of deliverance; hee carried them on the Wings of Eagles: He brought a vine out of Aegypt, hee cast out the Hea­then, and planted them in. Thou madest roome for it, and diddest Dan. 2. Exod. 19. Psal. 80. 9, 10, 11. cause it to take roote, and it filled the land: She stretched out her branches unto the sea, and her boughs unto the river. God separated them from all the Sonnes of Adam: For the most high God, who divided to the nations their inheritance, kept them as the apple of his eye, And as an Eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her birds, stret­cheth out her wings, taketh them, and beareth them on her wings; So the Deut. 32. 8. 11, 12. Lord alone led Israel. But for orders sake, I will divide the mercies of God into three severall sections or times:

Their deliverance in Aegypt, the first.

Their comming out of Aegypt, the second.

Their deliverāce after they were come out, the third & the last. For [Page 133] First, for their deliverance in Aegypt: first, it was much, that Gods judge­ments upon the Aegyptians God should love them, being come of the Amorites and Hitites, wallowing in their blood, that he should love them, and choose them for his people; as Moses said, The Lord your God did not set his love upon you, nor chose you, because yee were moe in number than Ezech. 16. 3. 6. Deut. 7, 8, 9. any people, for yee were the fewest of all people, but because the Lord loved you. There was nothing in them, why God should choose them, for they were no more righteous than others; and therefore saith Moses againe unto them; Speake not thou in thy heart, saying, For my Cap. 9. 4, 5. Cap. 32. 9, 10, 11, 12. Exod. 1. righteousnesse hath the Lord brought me in to possesse this Land, &c. For thou shalt inherit this land, not for thy righteousnesse, or for thy upright heart, but for the wickednesse of those nations, &c. Israel was Gods por­tion, Iacob the lot of his inheritance, hee found him in the land of the wil­dernesse, in a wast and roring wildernesse, he led him about, he taught him, and kept him, as the apple of his eye. As an Eagle stirreth up her nest, flutte­reth over her birds, stretcheth out her wings, taketh them, and beareth them on her wings; So the Lord alone led him, and there was no strange God with him. God multiplied them, not by meanes, but by mi­racle: For from seventy soules, they grew in few yeares to 600000. and which is more, the more that they were kept down, the more they prospered, like to Camomill, the more it is troden, the more it groweth; or to a Palme-tree, the more it is pressed, the further it spreadeth, or to fire, the more it is raked, the more it burneth. God gave them Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam, Mich. 6. Psal. 78. 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50. and God plagued the Aegyptians for their sake, and did marvelous things in the land of Aegypt, even in the field of Zoan. He turned their rivers in­to blood, and their flouds, that they could not drinke; hee sent a swarme of flies among them, which devoured them, and frogges which destroyed them; hee gave also their fruits unto the Caterpiller, and their labour un­to the grashopper, he destroyed their vines with haile, and their wild figge­trees with the hailestone, he gave their cattell also to the haile, and their flockes unto the thunderbolts; hee cast upon them the furiousnesse of his anger, indignation, and wrath, and vexation, by the sending of evill An­gels; he made a way to his anger, hee spared not their soule from death, hee Act. 12. Exod. 8. 17. gave their life to the pestilence. If it were much to eate up one man with lice, what is it to eate up a whole land? If it was much to Iohn 2. Exod. 7. 19. Gen. 19. 2 Reg. 6. turne water-pots into wine, what was it to turne all the waters of Aegypt into blood? If it was a great thing to smite a few So­domites & Aramites with blindnesse, what was it to smite a whole land with darkenesse? that no man could rise for three dayes. So much for the benefits bestowed upon them in Aegypt.

Now let us see, what he did for them in their deliverance out Exod. 10. Exod. 12. Gen. 50. 3. Ier. 31. 17. of Aegypt: In their deliverance he smote al the first borne in Aegypt, the chiefe of their strength & passed by Israel; And wheras there was a great cry in Aegypt, like that for Iacob, for whom was made a great and an exceeding sore lamentation; and like that of Rachel, who weeping for her children, would not be comforted, because they were not; [Page 134] there was joy in the land of Goshen; hee inclined the hearts of the Gods mercy to Israel after their delive­rance out of Aegypt. Aegyptians to doe them good, and they received of them Iewels of silver, and Iewels of gold; hee strengthened them so, that there was not one feeble person among them; Aegypt was glad at their departing, for the feare of them had fallen upon them. All the Idolls of Aegypt fell downe at their departure: even as all the o­racles Psal. 105. 38. of the world ceased at the comming of Christ, even that at Delphos, Dodo, Delos. God brought them as a vine out of Aegypt, God did cast out the Heathen, and planted them, hee made Psal. 80. 8, 9. a roome for them, and caused them to take roote, and they filled the land.

3. After their deliverance; when the red sea was before them, the Aegyptians behind them, the mountaines on each side of them; God made a ready passage for them, And caused the sea to runne Exod. 14 21, 22. backe by a strong East winde all the night, and made the Sea dry land; for the waters were divided, and the children of Israel went thorough the mid­dest of the Sea, upon the dry ground: but the Aegyptians pursuing them, Psal 105. 39. Exod. 15. Cap. 16. Num. 20. Deut. 8. Num. 21. were drowned. He spread a cloud to be a covering, and fire to give light in the night; for God went before them in a cloudy pillar by day, and a fiery by night: he made the bitter waters sweet, for their sakes, and fed them with Angels food. Hee turned the rocke into a river, and the flint stone into a springing well: their foote swelled not, and their cloathes wa­xed not old in forty yeares travell, and when they were bitten with fiery serpents, he cured them with a brasen serpent, a figure of Psal. 136. 19, 20, 21. Christ. Hee slew great Kings for their sakes; as Sehon King of the Amo­rites, and Og the King of Bashan, and gave their land for an heritage, even an heritage to Israel his servant; hee dried up Iordan, that they might passe thorough it. Whereupon the Psalmist useth a most elegant Proso­popopeia, Psal. 114. 5, 6. saying, What ayleth thee, ô thou Sea, that thou fieddest, and thou Iordan that thou wert driven backe? Yee mountaines, why leaped yee like rammes, and yee hils as Lambes? God gave them Canaan, a land that flowed with milke and hony, as Iacob prophecied of Gen. 49. 11, 12, 13. Iuda, saying, Hee shall bind his Asse foale to the vine, and his Asses colt unto the best vine; Hee shall wash his garment in wine, and his cloake in the blood of grapes; his eyes shal be red with wine, and his teeth white with milke. For the land of Iudah, of all lands it was the fruitfullest. Moses calleth it, A good land; and the goodnesse of it, afterwards hee describeth at large, and saith? A land in which are rivers of Deut. 8. 7, 8, 9, 10. waters, and fountaines, and depths, that spring out of vallies and moun­taines; a land of wheat, and barly, of vineyards, and figge-trees, and pome­granats; a land of oyle olive and honie; a land wherein thou shlat eate bread without scarcenesse, neither shalt thou lacke any thing therein: A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountaines thou shalt digge brasse. But especially God gave them his Law, to convert their soules, and his testimonies, which gave wisdome unto the simple; Psal. 19. 7, 8, 9. his statutes that rejoyce the heart, and his Commandments that give light to the eyes, his feare which indureth for ever, & his iudgments [Page 135] which be righteous altogether; great in one word was their pre­ferment; Gods bounty to England. For to them were committed the Oracles of God. To them al­so appertained, The adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, of whom are Rom. 3. 20. Cap. 9. 4, 5, 6. the fathers, and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came, who is God over all blessed for ever. What should I speake of Iosuahs trumpets, Ios. 6. Iudg. 7. Iudg. 3. Cap. 15. 2 Sam. 1. which blew downe Iericho? of Gedeons pitchards that discomfited the Madianites? Of Shamgars oxe-goad, which slew heapes upon heapes? Of Sampsons iaw-bone, that killed a whole army of Phi­listines? Of Ionathans bow, and Sauls sword, that never returned emptie?

Let us apply all this to our selves, whom God hath laded with blessings, so that we have cause to say with the Israelites, Praysed be the Lord, even the God of our salvation, which ladeth us daily with be­nefits: For God hath turned the captivity of our English Sion as Psal. 68. 19. Psal. 126. 1. the rivers of the South. As after a Nero, God gave a Vespasian, af­ter Commodus a Severus, after a Sisera a Debora, after a Saul a David, after an Ahaz an Ezechias, and after a Domitian a Trajane, and a Nerva; So after a Marie, an Elizabeth, a princely Iames, under whose governments we have sate safely these many yeares, under our figge-trees and vine-trees from Dan to Beersheba, from the one end of the land unto the other, his eyes have beene over us, as over the land of Chanaan, from the beginning of the yeare to the end of it. Hee hath troden downe the Northerne rebells, with Parrie, Somervile, Ardington, Lopas, Hacket, Madder, Burney, hee hath put their life downe to the ground, and laid their honour in the dust; he hath made them a portion for the Foxes, they are passed, as water, molten, &c. Psal. 58.

Of late Balak of Spaine had devised our destruction, Balaam of Rome had cursed us; at his commandement subtle Achitophel had conspired abroad, unnaturall Absalom rose up at home, and aspi­ring Adonia would have the Shunamite to wife; but from all these God hath delivered us. We have seene France massacred, Flanders with civill warres distressed; Germanie grieved; Scotland divided; onely we stand still as an oake of Bashan. Pray, that God stretch not over us the line of Samaria, as 2 Reg. 21. 13. God hath bles­sed us above many others; his wise mercy is in our Parliaments Reg. 21. 13. and governments, as in Israel, Deut. 4. His learned mercie in our Schooles and Vniversities, as in Naioth, 2 Reg. 2. His strong mer­cies in our Castles and bulwarks, as in Iuda, Soph. 1. His pea­ceable mercies in our Townes and Cities, as was said of Ierusa­lem; Mich. 4. 3, 4. Zaeb. 8. 4. 5. They shall breake their swords into mattockes, and their speares in­to scithes, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learne to fight any more: But old men and old Women shall dwell in the streets of Ierusalem, and every man his staffe in his hand for very age, and the streetes of the Citie shalbe full of boyes and girles playing in the mid­dest thereof. His rich mercies in our fields and granaries; for he [Page 136] maketh our vallies so thicke with corne, that men doe laugh and Contemners of Gods mer­cy grievously punished. sing; he crowneth the yeare with his goodnesse, and the clouds drop fat­nesse; they drop upon the pastures of the wildernesse, and the hills shall be compassed with gladnesse. Would God, wee were halfe thankefull for so great blessings, that every one of us could say with David, Psal. 65. 11. Praise the Lord, ô my soule, and all that is within me praise his holy name: Praise the Lord, ô my soule, and forget not all his benefits. Psal. 103. 1, 2.

Yee heard before of Gods mercy in delivering the people, now are we come to Gods iustice in destroying them (yee once know this, that after the Lord had delivered the people out of Aegypt, he destroyed them.) First, God shooteth paper, secondly bullet, if men yeeld not, primùm ubera, deinde, verbera ostendit; first, he openeth his brests, after shewes us his rods: first, by his Ministers, as by heraulds, he proclaimeth pardon, after he sendeth an army to destroy. The Lord (saith the Prophet) is slow to anger, but he is great in power, and will not surely cleere the wicked; the Lord hath his way in the whirlewind, Nahum 1. 3, 4, 5, 6. and in the storme, and the clouds are the dust of his feet: Hee rebuketh the Sea & drieth it, & he drieth up all the rivers. The mountaines tremble for him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his sight; yea the world, and all that dwell therein: who can stand before his wrath? if his wrath be kindled, yea, but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him. God telleth the Idumaeans, Though thou exalt thy selfe like an Eagle, and make thy nest among the starres, thence will I bring thee downe, saith Obadiah vers. 4. the Lord. Paul applieth the example of Gods justice on Israel to the Church of Corinth, and all Churches; I would not have you ig­norant (quoth he) that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all pas­sed thorough the Sea, &c. but with many of them God was not pleased; for 1 Cor. 10. 1. 5. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. they were overthrowne in the wildernesse. Now these are examples to us, to the intent that wee should not lust after evill things as they lusted; nei­ther be yee idolaters, as were some of them; As it is written, the people sate downe to eate and drinke, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit for­nication, as some of them committed fornication, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand, neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted him, and were destroyed of serpents; neither murmure yee, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things came unto them for examples; and were written to admonish us, upon whom the ends of the world are come. The continuance of Gods mercy for a long time, doth not assure us of perpetuall safety, but of greater destruction if we beleeve not: Quantò gradus altior, tantò casus gravior, the higher we are in dignity the more grievous our fall and misery; as was said of the whore of Babylon, Inas­much as shee glorified herselfe, and lived in pleasure, so much give yee to Apoc. 18. 7. Mat. 11. 23. Ier. 18, 18. 21. her torment and sorrow. And so Capernaum that was lift up to hea­ven, was threatned to bee throwne downe to hell. The Iewes thought that the dignity of their Priesthood should have conti­nued for ever, and therefore they said, The law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsell from the wise, nor the word from the Prophet. Ther­fore [Page 137] saith God, deliver up their children to famine, and let them drop away The higher exalted the lower dejected if impious. by force of the sword, and let their wives be robbed of their children, and be widdowes, and let their husbands be put to death, and let the yong men be slaine with the sword in the battell. They bragged of Moses, that he was their teacher, they boasted of Abraham and a succession from Abraham; but Iohn answereth them, saying, Say not to your selves, wee have Abraham to our father: For God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham, of them came the Fathers, of them came Luk. 3. 8. Christ, yet were they not all Israel that came of Israel, neither are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham.

This augmented the punishment of Israel, that God had beene so good unto them; for every blessing is as good, as a bill of en­ditement preferred against us, at the great Assise-day: for listen what God himselfe saith, O my people, what have I done unto thee, Michea 6. 3. 14, 15. or wherin have I grieved thee? testify against me; surely I brought thee up out of the land of Aegypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; I have sent before thee, Moses, Aaron, Miriam. And thus the Lord go­eth on, intimating unto them, that hee never hurt them, but be­stowed infinite blessings and benefits upon them; but because they misused them, God threatneth them, That they shall eate and not be satisfied, and thy casting downe shall be in the middest of thee; mea­ning, that they shall be consumed with inward griefe and evill; and further he threatneth them, saying, Thou shalt sow, but not reape; thou shalt tread the Olives, but thou shalt not annoint thee with oyle; and make sweet wine, but shalt not drinke wine. This also augmented the punishment of Eli's house, that whereas God did chuse him out of all the tribes of Israel to bee his Priest, and to offer upon Gods Altar, and to burne Incense, and to weare an Ephod before God, yet because he honoured his children more than God, God 1 Sam. 2. 28. 31. threatned to cut off his arme, and the arme of his Fathers house, and that there should not be an old man in his house for ever. Esay and Michah prophesied unto Iuda sixty yeares; Hosea and Amos in Israel seventy yeares, yet God sealed neither the one nor the other an obligation of perpetuall mercy; The one was carried into Assy­ria, a captivity irreturnable; the other into Babylon, where they 2 Reg. 17. 6. Psal. 137. Amos. 8. 10. could not sing the Lords songs in a strange land; God turned their songs into mournings, and their feasts into lamentations. The Papists speake of our overthrowes in Ireland, as the Syrians said that God was the God of Israel in the mountaines, but not in the vallies: So they say, he is our God in England but not in Ireland; they say, that hee was a God in the beginning of the Queenes raigne, but not now, Zidkia of Rome (the Iesuites) have made them hornes of iron, as 1 Reg. 22. 11. saying, that they will push England; Herod of Rome hath sent us word of our destruction; but if wee repent, we may answere him, as Christ did Herod, Goe yee Luk. 13. 32. Mat. 9. 15. and tell the Foxe, &c. Wee are the children of the wedding, and therefore cannot mourne yet. The arrow of our deliverance is as [Page 138] yet in the Kings hands against the Aramites, the Papists: If wee Where God spareth long he punisheth more if impe­nitent. repent, all our enemies shall be but the Thistles of Lebanon; but if we bring not forth the fruits of the Gospell, wee may rather weepe with Elisha, to thinke what evill Hazael (the Papists) will doe to the Church of God. Surely God will do to us as to Israel; God bare long with them, but afterwards he destroyed them. 2 Reg. 14. 9. 2 Reg. 8. 11, 12. God hath hands of iron, and feere of lead, hee commeth slowly but when he commeth, he payeth surely: Deus tardus est ad iram, sed tarditatem gravitate poenae compensat; God is slow to an­ger, but he recompenseth his slownesse, with grievousnesse of punishment. Hereupon saith Paul, But thou after thy hardnesse, and heart that cannot repent, heape unto thy selfe wrath against the day of Rom. 2. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. wrath, and declaration of the iust iudgement of God, who will reward eve­ry man according to his works: To them which by continuance in wel-doing, seeke glory and honour and immortality, eternall life; but unto them that are contentious, and disobey the truth, and obey unrighteousnesse, shall be indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish shal be upon the soule of every man that doth evill. Looke not to the beginning of sinne, but the end of it, the roote of it is a carelesse hard heart: and there­fore we are commanded to exhort one another daily, while it is called Hebr. 3. 13. to day, lest we be hardened with the deceitfulnesse of sinne: the flower of it is sweet for a time, and therefore called by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes, The pleasures of sinne: the sight of it is like Heva her apple, which was faire and pleasant to the eye; the taste of Hebr. 11. 25. Gen. 3. 6. 1 Sam. 14. 17. Luk. 3. 7. it is like Ionathans hony combe, which cleered his eyes, which be­fore were dimme for wearinesse and hunger; the committing of it, is like the birth of a viper, which eateth out the belly of her damme; the sting of it as the sting of an Aspe, pleasant at the Rom. 3. Cap. 6. 21. 23. first, and brings a man asleepe, but the fruit of it, is shame in this life. And therefore (saith the Apostle) what fruit had yee of those things, whereof yee are now ashamed? meaning their sinnes: and the end of it in the life to come is hell fire, For the wages of sinne is death. For sinne is as a Tyrant which raigneth by force, and at last re­wardeth his servants with death and damnation. Thus the root, the flower, the sight, the tast, the sting, the fruit, the end of sinne, all is damnable.

Behold this monster, this Aesops snake, the uglinesse of sinne, in Nabuchadenezzar, transformed from a man to a beast; The terror Dan. 4. 1 Sam. 15. of it, in Agag the Amalekite; The folly of it, in Salomons young man; whom Salomon derideth notably, saying, Rejoyce thou yong man, in thy youth, and walke in the wayes of thine heart, and in the sight of thine Eccles. 11. 9. eyes, but know, that for all these things God will will bring thee to iudge­ment; The bitternesse of it, in the rich men named by Iames; Goe to, yee rich men, weepe and howle for your miseries that shall come upon Iam. 5. 1, 2, 3. you, your riches are corrupt, your garments moat-heaten, your gold and sil­ver is canckred, and the rust of it shal be a witnesse against you, and it shall eate your flesh, as it were fire; The unstablenesse of it, in the Amale­kites, [Page 139] now dauncing, now dead; The reward of it, in the fooles na­med God puni­sheth not the reprobate till sinne be at the fall. by Salomon; The end of it, in the rich glutton, who for his sinne lieth frying in hell in torments. The life of the godly is as a Comedie, dolefull at the first, but joyfull at the last. So saith David, They that sow in teares shall reape in ioy; they went weeping, and carried precious seed, but they shall returne with 1 Sam. 30. VVisd. 5. Luk. 16. Psal. 126. 5. 6. ioy, and bring their sheaves. But the life of the wicked is cleane contrary; that is as a Tragedie, dolefull at the last: so saith our Saviour; Woe be to you, that laugh, for yee shall wayle and weepe: and Luk. 6. 25. Pro. 22. 8. Salomon affirmeth, That hee that soweth iniquity, shall reape affli­ction: and the rod of his anger shall faile: that is, his authority where­by hee did oppresse others, shall bee taken from him: and Paul saith, That they which sow in the flesh, shall of the flesh reape corruption (afterwards:) this afterwards marres all; after all pleasure com­meth paine and destruction. So said Abraham, to Dives; Sonne, re­member Luk. 16. 25. that thou in thy life time receivedst thy pleasure, contrarily, La­zarus paine; now is he comforted, and thou art punished. The pride of Adam was turned into labour and sorrow; The stoutnesse of Nimrod into confusion; The beauty of Absalom into hanging; The strength of Goliah into shame; The envie of Caine into desolati­tion, Gen. 3. Cap. 10. 2 Sam. 16. 1 Sam. 17. hee wandred like a Rogue; Nec in caeteris est contrarium vide­re; and we may behold the same in the rest, when they have ad­ded drunkennesse to thirst, afterwards commeth God and de­stroyeth them, he wayteth for the ripenesse of our sinnes, before he plucke us off the tree, or cut us off the earth, he tarieth till we be dry, before hee burneth us: till wee be fat, before hee slay us; till wee bee withered, before hee hew us downe. Therefore is it said, that the earth was full of cruelty, that the sinne of Sodome was Gen. 6. Gen. 18. Amos 8. great, that the sinnes of Israel were as ripe apples: and when our sinnes be once ripe, God will cut us downe, with the scithe of his wrath, and hacke us downe with the axe of his vengeance.

And yet we see God to punish some speedily, to crop them in their beginning: True, sometime God killeth the Cockatrice in the egge, before it bee a serpent; sometime hee plucketh the fruit from the tree, before it bee ripe; hee rooteth out the pricke, before it be a thorne; what then? differt tamen non aufert; God doth deferre, but yet hee doth not auferre the punishment of the wicked: like Polypheme, that would eate Vlysses last, but yet eate him, though it were long. Vt creditor qui debitum ab uno statim exi­git, alium in diem reponit, sed cum foenore solvendum; As a Creditor, that requireth his debt of one man presently, to another hee gi­veth day and respite; yet to be paid with usury. God tooke away Caligula in the beginning of his tyrannie, but hee suffered Nero to tyrannize longer; but Tiberius raged, and made havocke of the Church longer than they; yet in the end God met with him, and freed the earth of so vile a burden. God killed Omri in two yeares, he suffred Manasses to wallow in blood fifty yeares. Tempora mu­tantur, 1 Reg. 16. 2 Reg. 21. [Page 140] & nos mutamur in illis; the times are changed, and we are Infidelity the cause of Isra­els destructi­on. changed in them. Dionysius having a prosperous wind, said, that God favoured Pirats: The Athenians said, that Harpalus gave a lively testimony against the Gods, for that hee escaped so long unpunished: But so long goeth the pot to the water, that at last it cometh broken home. God met with these two afterwards: Looke not on men as they are here in this world, here they pros­per and flourish like a greene Bay-tree; but looke to their end, & then they wither like trees that cast their leaves in winter; then they wish, they had never beene borne: what good hath our pride done us? what profit hath the pompe of riches brought us? Thou seest Dionysius spoiling Syracusa many yeares; looke againe, Wisd. 5. 8. and thou shalt see him a poore Schoolemaster in Corinth, Asceptro adferulam devolutum; devolved, fallen from the scepter to the fe­rula: Thou seest Caesar triumphing in fifty two set battells; looke againe, and thou shalt see him to receive fifty two wounds in the Senate, and every one of them mortall: Thou seest Sennache­rib glorying at the gates of Ierusalem, that hee would dry up the rivers with his horses feet, that men should eate their ordure, and 2 Reg. 19. drinke their owne pisse; but looke againe, and thou shalt see him slaine in the temple by his owne Sonnes, Adramelech, and Share­zar: Looke on Manasses, and thou shalt see him triumphing in 2 Chro. 33. 11. blood; looke againe, and thou shalt see him a poore distressed prisoner: Looke on Herod, and thou shalt see him in his royall Act. 12. apparell, assuming to himselfe the title of a God; looke againe, and thou shalt see him stroken of Gods Angell, and eaten up of wormes. Thou seest Cardinall Woolsie, with his silver pillars, and pollaxes writing, Ego & Rex meus, I and my King; but looke a­gaine, and thou shalt see him dead at Leicester with stench and in­famie. The wicked are like the coggs of a wheele, now up, now downe; like a Player, that now playeth the King, and when the play is ended, he is but a begger; like a counter, now a pound, now a penny, now nothing: Deus, ut apis, habet mel & aculeum; God, as a Bee, hath hony and a sting; As he is unmeasurable in mercy, so is he exceeding great in justice, very ready in pardo­ning, and very ready in punishing: vengeance is his, and he will re­ward. Rom. 12.

THE TWELFTH SERMON.

BVT to come unto the sinne it selfe that was their destruction; & that was their infidelity; They beleeved not. Of this the Prophet spake, saying, They spake against God, saying, Can God prepare a table in the Psal. 78. 19, 20, 21, 22. Wildernesse? behold, he smote the rocke, that the water gushed out, and the streames over­flowed. Can hee give bread also? or prepare flesh for the people? Therefore the Lord heard and was angry, and the fire was kindled in Iacob, and also wrath came upon Israel, because they beleeved not in God, nor trusted in his helpe. Moses reckoneth up their infidelity in order, and he saith, Remem­ber Deut. 9. 7, 8. 22, 23, 24. and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord to anger in the Wilder­nesse, since the day that thou diddest depart out of the land of Aegypt, untill yee came to this place; yee have rebelled against the Lord. Also in Horeb yee provoked the Lord to anger, so that the Lord was wroth with you to destroy you. Also in Taberah, and in Massah, and in Kibroth-hattaavah yee provoked the Lord to anger; likewise when the Lord sent you from Ka­deshbarnea, saying, Goe up and possesse the Land, that I have given you, then yee rebelled against the Commandement of the Lord your God, and beleeved him not, nor harkened to his voyce: yee have beene rebellious ever since I knew you: you were never good, egge nor bird, first nor last. The Apostle urgeth this sinne in Israel, and insisteth in it above Hebr. 3 19. Cap. 4. 2. all others, saying, They could not enter in because of unbeleefe. And a­gaine, The word that they heard did not profit them, because it was not [Page 142] mixed with faith in those that heard it: For hee that will heare and Infidelity re­prooved as the roote of all other sinnes. understand with profit, must temper and mixe the word with faith; that is, he must beleeve it. No doubt this people had ma­ny sinnes: For they were a rebellious people; but the capitall arch-sinne was unbeleefe, the roote and well-spring of all other their sinnes. Paul nameth five sinnes to have beene in Israel: 1. Lu­sting, 2. Idolatry, 3. Fornication, 4. Tempting of God, 5. murmuring: 1 Cor. 10. 6. but yet the originall of them all was unbeleefe; and all these were the fruits of this corrupt tree, unbeleefe. So Paul ascribed all his evills to this sinne of unbeleefe: I was (saith he) a blasphemer, and 1 Tim. 1. 13. a persecutour, and an oppressour; but I was received into mercy; for I did it ignorantly through unbeleefe. Christ reproved his disciples bit­terly for this sinne, his words were as thunderbolts; Be not (saith he) carefull for your lives, what yee shall eate or drinke, or for your bo­dies, Mat. 6. 25. 30. what rayment yee shall put on: Is not the life more worth than meate? and the body more of value than rayment? If God cloath the grasse of the field, which is to day, and to morrow is cast into the fornace, shall hee not doe much more to you, ô yee of little faith? and againe, ô fooles, and slow of heart, to beleeve all that the Prophets have spoken. And after his re­surrection, appearing unto the eleven, he reproved them of their Luk. 24. 25. unbeleefe and hardnesse of heart: and for this sinne he did chide Peter; Wherefore doest thou doubt, ô thou of little faith? And for this sinne hee made Thomas ashamed, saying thus unto him; Put thy Mar. 16. 14. Mat. 14. 31. Iohn 20. 27. finger here, and see my hands, and put forth thy hand, and put it into my side, and be not faithlesse, but faithfull.

And here by the way, let me answer a slaunder of the Papists, who raile of the Gospell, and aske where bee the fruits of it; as Osorius, Allen, Bristow. As Christ said, shew me the tribute mony; Mat. 22. 19. Mar. 11. 1. Reg. 3. so say they, shew us the fruits of their profession: they call us the cursed figge-tree, that had leaves, but no fruit; and barren Rachel, which had no child; and Salomons harlot with the dead child.

But wee answere, that if there be any fault, it is in our lives, not in the Gospell. For it worketh in them that beleeve; but all be­leeve 1 Thes. 2. 13. not, therefore all worke not: whom doth the Gospell save? only them that beleeve; For seeing the world by wisdome knew not Ged, 1 Cor. 1. 20. it pleased God by the foolishnesse of preaching to save them that beleeve. To whom is it the power of God? surely to them that beleeve. The Gospell is the power of God to salvation, to every one that beleeveth. Rom. 1. 16.

Now this faith is Gods gift, and cannot be commanded. For though Christ had done many miracles, and preached many heavenly Sermons unto the Iewes: yet they beleeved not, That the saying of Esayas the Prophet might be fulfilled, that hee said, Lord, Iohn 12. 37, 38, 39, 40. who beleeved our report? and to whom is the arme of the Lord re­vealed? Therefore could they not beleeve, because Esayas saith againe, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, and should bee converted, and I should heale them. Therefore is it said, that so many [Page 143] received the word As beleeved. Faith is an anchor, but God must Faith the gift of God. fasten it, otherwise it will not be sure and stedfast. It is a sheild, but God must frame it, and strengthen it. So that the slaunder of the Papists redoundeth to God not to us. But I may say to Act. 13. 48. Hebr. 6. 19. Ephes, 6. 17. 2 Thess. 2. 11, 12. you, as Paul said to the Thessalonians; God shall send them strong delu­sion, that they should beleeve lyes, that all they might be damned, which beleeved not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousnesse. God hath fed them with lyes, because they received not the truth, they beleeve not. But to leave this, and to returne againe to these Is­raelites.

These Israelites wanted faith, and so all the parts of a Christi­an: as the root giveth sappe to all the branches, the Sunne light to all the Planets, the earth nourishment to all plants, the water life to all fishes; So faith giveth life and allowance to all our actions: For without it, splendida opera sunt splendida peccata, our glistering works are but glistering sinnes: therefore is it said, that by faith Abel offered unto God a greater sacrifice than Caine, &c. by faith Hebr. 11. 4, 5. 7, 8. Enoch was taken away, that he should not see death: By faith Noah being warned of God, and moved with reverence, prepared the Arke: By faith Abraham, when he was called obeyed God, &c. Faith is the eye, where­with we see God, it is the mouth, wherby we speake to God, the hand whereby wee touch him, the foote whereby wee goe unto him, saith Ambrose. Thus Stephen, the ring leader of Martyrs, saw Ambros. Act. 6. Luk. 18. Luk, 2. Iohn 1. him with the eyes of faith; The Publicane spake to him with the mouth of faith; Simeon embraced him with the armes of faith: Thus Andrew walked to Christ with the foote of a lively faith; Thus all must come to Christ, not with the legges of their body, but of faith; We must draw neere with a true heart in assurance of faith, Hebr. 10. 22. being sprinkled in our hearts from an evill conscience, and washed in our bodies with pure water.

But the Infidells, like Polypheme the Giant, want eyes; like the [...], at the river Ganges, they want mouthes; like the Cripple in the third of the Acts, they want legges: For by faith Christ dwelleth in us, by faith we eate him, by faith we put him on, by Ephes. 3. Iohn 6. Gal. 3. Gal. 2. 20. faith we live in him: therefore wanting faith, we want all. Many therefore want all the parts of Christianity; for few beleeve, but are Cyphers in the Church of God, and shall be Cyphers in the Kingdome of God. But to cut up the veines and arteries of this vice, and make an Anatomie of it, we can all say, I beleeve in God the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghost; yet few beleeve and are per­swaded of the love and power of God, but rest in the creature, not in the Creator, if they see not meanes. If God give us friends, wee make Idols of them, and trust in them, as the Iewes did in Esay. 31. Psal. 52. 7. Ier. 5. 2 Chro. 16. the Aegyptians; if money, we thinke never to want, as it is said of Doeg, hee trusted in the multitude of his riches, and strengthened himselfe in his malice; if armour, we trust in them, as the Iewes did; if Physitians, wee trust in them as Asa did; if wisdome, wee [Page 144] thinke to smooth all causes, and to wade thorough all bad mat­ters, Want of faith the cause of al sinne and mi­sery. as the false Prophets. These are our treasures, and our hearts are upon them, as Mat. 6. We make flesh our arme. Thus what for friends, money, munition, physicke, cunning, God is not regar­ded; the helpelesse trust in friends, the poore in money, the soul­dier Ier. 18. Jer. 17. in armour, the sicke in Physitians, the cunning in their wis­dome, like Achitophel. But of all others, our infidelity appea­reth in our running to witches; wherein I say with Elisha, Is it not because there is no King in England? as 2 Reg. 1. Here I could wish my voice as a trumpet, or as the voice of Stentor, who had the voice of fifty men: Satan is a deceiver, and shall we trust in him? A lyer, and shall we beleeve him? an enemy, and shall wee crave ayde of him? Absit; God forbid.

Most men beleeve not; For our faith hath a triple foundati­on: First, that Christ is true God, and therefore can help; 1 Tim. 2. Secondly, true Man, and therefore will helpe; Hebr. 4. Third­ly, that he is one Person, not by confusion of substance, but by the union of natures: for God and man make but one Christ, and Mat. 11. 11. Psal. 30. will help us: for if a Father will helpe his Sonne in his wants, how much more will hee helpe us? Let us therefore put off our sackecloath, and girde us with gladnesse, let us rejoice for ever; For now is salvation in Heaven and strength, and the Kingdome of our Apoc. 12. 10. God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is throwne downe, &c.

Hence commeth all mischiefe, that wee beleeve not God, which appeareth in our life. If a sicke man should have two Phy­sitians, the one prescribing a present remedy, the other a present poison, if he should follow the latter, would wee not conclude, that either he would not be healed, or else that hee beleeved not the other: so standeth the case betwixt God and us, either wee would not bee saved, or else wee doe not beleeve God.

This is manifest in two men, Adam and Abraham; the one the father of all men, the other of the faithfull: Now Adam eate of Gen. 3. the tree which God forbad, and why? because he beleeved not Act. 7. God but Satan; and so doe most men: But Abraham, when God commanded him to leave his Countrey and kindred, he did so; Gen. 22. when God commanded him to offer his Sonne, he did it. For he Esa. 1. beleeved God, and so doe few men. But let us not listen to Satan and our owne flesh, but to God, promising happinesse, if we obey him.

Thou hast here two counsellors, the flesh, and the spirit. The flesh bids thee follow thy lustes, but the spirit saith, if thou doest so, thou shalt perish: For he that soweth in the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption, but hee that soweth in the spirit shall of the spirit Gal. 6. 8. reape life everlasting: now whether of these wilt thou beleeve?

Yet in all this, I doe not speake of the justifying faith, but that the wicked have not, no not so much as the Histo­ricall [Page 145] faith to beleeve the Scriptures: Nam Faith a chiefe instrumentall cause of salva­tion.

Fidestriplex; Iustificans. Miraculosa. Historica.

For faith is threefold, There is a lively justifying Faith, a mi­raculous, and an historicall faith; but the former is most rare, like a blacke swanne, or Phoenix in Arabia. In all the old world there were but eight beleevers; but two Iosua and Caleb; and in Christs time, we read but of an hundred and twenty beleevers. As Aegypt was full of lice, Nilus full of Crocodyles, Golgotha full of dead mens skulls; so is the world full of Infidells.

He destroyed them that beleeved not; And hence commeth it to passe that so many are damned, even because they want faith; Perditio tua ex te, ô Israel; thy destruction commeth of thy selfe, ô Israel. Ex nobis quod damnamur; It is of our selves that wee bee damned, blame not God, but thine owne infidelity; For all things Hos. 13. Man. 5. are possible to them that doe beleeve. And therefore Hemingius in his Enchiridion distinguisheth of the word, that There is:

Duplex verbum,—Damnans & Salvans.

That there is a double word, a Damning, and a Saving word: The damning word is the Law, the saving word is the Gospell. The Law offereth grace to them that doe it; Yee shall keepe therefore Deut. 2. 27. Gen. 3. 5. Levit. 18. 5. Rom. 10. 4. 9. my statutes and my iudgements, which if a man doe, he shall live in them. But the Gospell offereth grace to the beleevers; For Christ is the end of the Law unto every one that beleeve. For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus, and beleeve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Faith is ever a chiefe doer in matters of salvation: and therefore said He­mingius in his Enchiridion, that Causa imperans salutis est pater, the Iohn 3. 16. commanding cause of our salvation is God. For God so loved the world, that hee gave his only begotten Sonne to save the world: Causa obsequens est filius, the obedient pliant cause is the Psal. 40. 7. Sonne; In the volume of thy booke it is written of me, that I should doe thy will, I am content to doe it, thy Law is written in my heart. Causa con­summans est Spiritus Sanctus; the consummating cause is the holy Ghost: so saith the Apostle, But yee are washed, but yee are sancti­fied, 1 Cor. 6. 11. but yee are iustified by the grace of the Lord Iesus, and by the spirit of God.

The instrumentall cause is double Exhibens. Recipiens. Rom. 1. 18.

The exhibiting Cause is the word; the receiving cause, Faith; as therefore a Smith worketh not in cold iron, so a preacher wor­keth not on an Infidell. There is no life of God in us, till we be­leeve: Ephes. 4. 18. till then our cogitation is darkened, and we are strangers from the life of God. He that beleeveth in him, shall not be condemned, but hee that Iohn 3. 18. [Page 146] beleeveth not is condemned already, because he beleeveth not in the name of the only begotten Sonne of God. A tree liveth not without moisture, Without faith no accesse to God. nor a bird without aire, nor a fish without water, nor a Salamander without fire: So the soule liveth not without faith, The just doth live by his faith: this is the spirit and soule of the inward man; we Hab. 2. have a name to live, yet are we dead if we want faith. I live by faith in the Sonne of God (saith Paul) who loved me, and gave himselfe for Gal. 2. 20. me. Infidels therefore are dead men.

What is the cause, that wee profit no more by the word? wee beleeve not the preacher: that may bee verified of our people, which God said to Ezechiel concerning the Iewes; They come unto Ezech. 33. 31, 32. thee (saith God) as people useth to come, and my people sit before thee, and he are thy words, but they will not doe them: For with their mouthes they make jests, and their heart goeth after their covetousnesse, and loe thou art unto them as a jesting song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can sing well: for they heare thy words, but doe them not: So we come to the Sermon, heare the preacher, but we doe not heare him with such zeale and affection as we should; wee beleeve not, but abuse the word to our owne condemnation; why care wee no more for heaven, but are so worldly? truely we beleeve not God: what is the cause that wee live in sinne, seeing it is damnable; For the wayes of it is death? wee beleeve not the Scriptures: what is the Rom. 6. 23. 2 Cor. 4. 4. cause of all disorder? even infidelity; The God of this world hath blinded their eyes: our eares are open to heare, but not our hearts to beleeve, Satan stealeth away the word, lest we should beleeve, and so be saved. But let us make much of the word, that wee may Mat. 13. 19. have faith to beleeve. For faith, nay one dramme of faith is of more worth than all the treasure in the world. This that good merchant well knew, that sold all to buy it. For hee that beleeveth shall not be condemned: for every beleevers cause is removed Mat. 13. 24. from the Court of Gods justice, into the Court of Gods mercy, where hee that beleeveth, is not condemned: Therefore our care must be with S. Paul, that we may be found, having the righteousnesse of Christ by faith: For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 1. Iesus, as all beleevers are; and untill thou beest a beleever, thou belongest not to God: For as the Eagle refuseth her birds till they can mount, and soare to the Sunne; and as the Raven ac­knowledgeth not her young ones, till they be blacke; So God rejecteth the infidels, and receiveth none till they beleeve. None are the Sonnes of God, but the faithfull, the rest are bastards: I confesse there be degrees in faith: The first is a rudiment or en­trance, Gal. 3. Mat. 12. 20. Rom. 14. 1. Hebr. 10. 22. Rom. 4. 18. which Christ calleth Smoking flaxe: The second is a weake faith; Him that is weake in faith (saith Paul) receive unto you. The third is [...], assurance of Faith: Such a faith was in A­braham, who above hope beleeved, under hope. But no faith is abomi­nable, and may easily be discerned from a weake faith. As a sicke man is knowne from a dead man: So a weake faith from no faith.

[Page 147] Even a desire of Faith is a token of faith: For Gods spirit wor­keth God giues grace accor­ding to the measure of Faith. that; but no faith is accursed: For he that beleeveth not is còn­demned already. There be degrees in faith, three examples we have: The first of the Ruler of the Synagogue, who beleeved that his daughter should revive, if Christ would but touch her. But the Iohn 3. 18. Iohn 4. woman with the bloody issue beleeved, that she should be whole if she touched but the hemme of his vesture: But the Centurion beleeved, that his servant should doe well, if Christ spake but the Luk. 8. Mat. 8. word; here is Gradus positivus, the positive degree, the compara­tive, and the superlative, and all good: Accedens ad flumen, tantum haurit, quantum urna capere potest; A man comming unto the river, or fountaine, he draweth as much as his vessell will hold, the de­fect or want is not in the flood or fountaine, but in the vessell: so draw from Christ, from his word and Sacraments, as Rebecca out of the well of Iacob; there is no defect in Christ, or in the word and Sacraments, but in the vessell, the heart that doth not beleeve. Accede aegrotus & sanaberis, debilis & confortaberis, fameli­cus & satiaberis: Come thou sicke man and thou shalt bee hea­led, Esa. 55. thou weake one and thou shalt be strengthened, thou hun­gry one, and thou shalt be satisfyed. But come, Non pedibus corpo­ris, sed cordis, not with the feet of thy body, but of thy heart: Non ambulando, sed credendo, not in walking, but in beleeving.

Faith is Illuminatio mentis, the light of the minde: Infidells are blind, and shall not see heaven; they are filii irae, children of Luk 15. Act. 15. wrath, and they that beleeve not cannot be saved. Faith is Gods gate, whereby God enters into our soule; the light that found the lost groate; the purifier of our heart; the conqueror in the race; the pole-starre for the sayler; the life of the soule▪ and by Faith Christ dwells in our hearts. O help us Lord, wee beleeve, ô help our unbeleefe; he must beleeve that comes to God: and as is our faith, so is our blessing; faith is the victory that over­cometh the world. O Lord increase our faith.

The second example used for Confirmation of his for­mer proposition; That we must strive for faith: is taken from Gods vengeance upon the Angels, who because they kept not their estate, but left their habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chaines of darkenesse, to the Iudgement of the great day. So that here in these Angels, Observe;

First, Their sinne.

Secondly, Their punishment.

Thy sinne of these Angels I will not precisely discusse; their sinne, (like Adams sinne) was not alone, but many.

First, there was pride in them, as it appeareth by Pauls words to Timothie; where handling the office of a Minister, among other 2 Tim. 3. 6. things, he would not have him to bee a young scholler, Lest hee being puffed up, fall into the condemnation of the Divell; that is, lest being proud of his degree, hee bee likewise condemned as the [Page 148] Divell was, for lifting up himselfe by pride: so that it is mani­fest, What was the Angels sinne. that pride was the sinne of the Angels.

But besides pride, there were many other sinnes in them, as Infidelity, Ingratitude, Envy, and Rebellion; Denique, quid non? to conclude, what not? not one vice, but many, even a troope, an ar­mie of sinnes: For sinnes are like Pismires in a moll-hill, like Bees in an hive, like Motes in the Sunne, there are many ever to­gether, not one sinne alone, they grow like clusters of grapes: sinne is like the linke of a chaine, take hold of one linke, and draw the whole chaine: so take hold of one sinne, and draw a number.

Other things concerning Angels, as their names, their number, their orders, I dare not define: [...], Let us bee Rom. 12. 3. Iob 4. 18. 1 Tim. 3. 6. 2 Pet. 2. 4. Psal. 78. 49. Iohn 8. 44. Wisd. 2. 24. wise unto sobriety: Iob nameth folly or pravity in the Angels, as if that were their sinne: Paul nameth pride: Peter onely calleth it their sinne: Asaph calleth them evill, but noteth not the kindes of of their evill, what the evill or sinne was which they committed: Christ nameth murther to be their sinne, and saith, That the Divell was a murtherer from the beginning: The Wise man nameth envie; Iude here nameth Apostasie: but the time, the manner, and the circumstance of their fall is not plainely expressed in the Scrip­ture: and in that they are not, it teacheth us Sapere ad sabrietatem, not to presume to understand above that which is meete to understand, but Rom. 12. 3. Pro. 25. 27. Ro. 11. 33. Col. 1. 18. that we understand according to sobriety. Too much honie is not good: who hath knowne the minde of the Lord? Many are puffed up with a flesh­ly minde, as though with Moses, God had revealed to them the Creation of the world: as though with Stephen, they had seene Gen. 1. Act. 6. 2 Cor. 12. Apoc. 1. Ezra. 4. the heavens open: as though with Paul, they had beene lifted up to the third Paradise: as if the Angell had talked with them, as he did with Iohn in Pathmos; and with Ezras in Ierusalem: Such are Holcot, Briccot, Dionysius Areopagita, whom they call, Aquilam, seu volucrem Coeli, the Eagle, or bird of heaven; and make nine orders of Angels: but no man hath so tasted Ionathans honie combe, but he may see, and oversee many things in this, and in all other questions.

If any man aske, what Angels be? I say, that they be spirits of essence, but having neither body, nor soule: For they differ from bodies, in that they have no flesh, & from soules, in perspicuity; understanding what the soule cannot: Indeed they sometimes take bodies unto them as the Angell that appeared to Abraham, Mat. 22. 30. Gen. 18. Iudg. 13. Mat. 26. & to Manoahs wife, & to Marie. So that in respect of their essence, they are called spirits: and as the Apostle speaketh, Ministring spirits: but in respect of their office, they are called Angels. Wher­upon David, He shall give his Angels charge over thee, to keepe thee in all thy wayes. Angell is a name of office, not of nature. Some make them of a fiery nature, as Hemingius in his Enchiridion. I see no soundnesse in it: For sometime they have their denomination [Page 149] from heat, as the Seraphins; sometime for knowledge and bright­nesse, The Apostacy of the Angels irrecoverable. as the Cherubins; sometime they have appeared in a firy nature, so they appeared to Elisha and his servant; for the moun­taine was full of Chariots and horses of fire, that is, Angels to defend them from the Syrians. And so againe, while Elias and Elisha Esay 6. 2 Reg. 6. 17. 2 Reg. 2. 11. Psal. 114. went walking and talking together, Behold, there appeared a Chari­ot of fire, and horses of fire, and did separate them twaine. And David saith, He maketh his spirits his Messengers, and a flaming fire his Mi­nisters. And as they have appeared in these formes, so have they appeared in other formes also, as pleaseth the Creator: but to leave this.

The sinne of Angels is notorious, and their punishment is as famous; they are falne from light to darkenesse, from Heaven to hell, from felicity to misery; Valerian fell from a golden chaire to a cage of iron; Dionysius fell from a King to a Schoolemaster; Alexander the third fell from being Pope to be a Gardener in Ve­nice; Nabuchadnezzar fell from a man to a beast: but the celesti­all Dan. 4. spirits fell from Angels to Divels. For their sinne of Apo­stacy was great, it cryed to God for vengeance. The Lord Ie­sus noteth this Apostacy in them, to shew, that their sinne was not by creation, but by wilfull corruption. Hereupon saith our Saviour to the Iewes, You are of your father the divell, and the lusts of your father doe yee; he abode not in the truth. It followeth then, that Iohn 8 44. he was once in the truth, and that he was not created evill. This Apostacy, in some case, joyned with wilfulnesse and malice, is not to be prayed for. So saith Saint Iohn, the Disciple whom Ie­sus loved; If any man see his brother sin a sinne, that is not unto death; let him aske, and he shall give life for them that sinne not to death: There 1 Iohn 5. 16. is a sinne unto death, I say not that thou shouldst pray for it. Some A­postacies cannot be renewed: For it is impossible, that they which have been once lightned, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were Heb. 6. 4, 5, 6. made partakers of the holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good Word of God, and of the powers of the world to come; If they fall away, should be renew­ed by repentance, seeing they crucifie againe to themselves, the Sonne of God, and make a mocke of him. For certainely, they that are Apo­stataes, and sinne against the Holy Ghost, hate Christ, crucifie and mocke him, but to their owne destruction; and therefore fall into desperation, and cannot repent. Indeed there is no sin but by repentance may be forgiven, but they that sinne against the Holy Ghost, which some affirme to be Apostasia aut negatio Christi, Apostacy, or the denying of Christ, it shall not be for­given; [...]lla in Luc. 12. 10. Quia directè obviant principio, per quod fit remissio peccatorum, because they are directly and plainely opposite and contrary to that whereby remission of sinnes is obtained; that is, unto repen­tance. And this is the cause, saith Augustine, why God hath re­deemed men, and not Angels; for that they sinned [...] from within and of themselves, maliciously and rebelliously: man [Page 150] sinned [...], from without and by provocation. And this is Christs death saves only men not Angels. the cause (saith Augustine) why Moses wrote nothing of the fall of Angels; he named not their wound, because he would not name their medicine; Sed hominis vulnus & medicinam narravit, but he hath shewed man his wound and medicine also, for that Aug. lib. de mi­rab. Script. cap. 2. God would restore him againe. Humanam ergo naturam, non Ange­licam, sumpsit Christus (quoth Athanasius) therefore he tooke the nature of man, not the nature of Angels; according to that of Athanasius. the Apostle, He in no sort tooke the Angels, but hee tooke the seed of A­braham; Quia Angeli per se defecerunt à Deo, because the Angels of themselves fell from God. Therefore the promise of the Messiah was made onely to man, not to Angels. The grace of GOD, that Tit. 2. 11. bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared: Grace saveth men, not Angels. For these Angels that fell, have no benefit by Christs death, he came not to save them, for their sinnes are not pardo­nable. But the cause of mercy I leave to God onely, the father of mercies: These are but conjectures of Augustine and Athana­sius. In the meane time Dorbels reasons are too weake to prove, that men shall bee punished in hell more deeply than these An­gels that fell. His first reason is, Quia Deus nunquam pro illis passus est, ut pro nobis; that God never suffered so much for them, as for us: His second reason is, Quia Angeli pro uno tantum pecca­to puniuntur, nos saepe deliquimus; the Angels fell by one sinne on­ly, man by many sinnes hee offendeth oft. His third reason is, Quia daemones sunt spiritus tantum, nos autem corpore & anima pecca­mus; that the bad Angels, the Divels, be spirits onely, but men have both bodies and spirits. But these reasons are vanishing, as the untimely dew, unsavoury as the white of an egge, brittle as the webbe of a spider. Hee spake as Phormio spake before Hannibal, Rem magis delirantem nunquam legi, I never read a more doating thing.

But to proceed; my meaning is not, that all Apostacy is sinne against the Holy Ghost: for every Apostacy is not uncurable, every fall of man is not damnable, as the fall of Angels; yet it is dangerous: for he that settetb his hand to the plough, and looketh back, Luke 9. 62. is not fit for the Kingdome of God. And Christ said to the sicke man, Behold, thou art made whole, sinne no more, lest a worse thing happen unto Iohn 5. 14. thee. Thus all Apostacy is dangerous, though not damnable: for if damnable, what shall become of the godly themselves? for they often fall from the Lord, slide backe, and decrease in the graces of God: They keepe not their first estate; which was the sinne of the Angels. Ephesus lost her first love, but I would our Church were like it; for Ephesus hated the evil, wee hate the good; Apoc. 2. 4. they examined the false Apostles, wee examine none; they suffered Luke 12. 45. persecution, we persecute others; we smite our fellow servants. Iulian the Christian is become Iulian the Apostata, and Simon Peter is become Simon Magus, Ioseph is become Pharoah, grapes are turned [Page 151] into thornes, figs into thistles, Lambes into Lions, and Doves There must be a perpetuall growth in grace and goodnesse. into Serpents. We are fallen from our first love, every day lesse and lesse zealous, lesse and lesse loving, lesse and lesse religious, than heretofore we have been. Memento Anglia, memento Norfolcia unde excideris; Remember England, remember Norfolke whence thou art fallen. Revertere, revertere, Returne, returne, saith the Lord, Ier. 3. 14. for I am your Lord and will bring you to Sion. Let us follow the coun­sell of the Wise man, In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening Eccles. 11. 6. let not thine hand rest: that is, increase in goodnesse, doe good in Gal. 6. 6. thy youth, doe good in thine age, yea doe good at all times; be not weary of sowing, be not weary of working, the seed-time is nothing, the harvest is all in all. To doe good in youth is no­thing, to doe well in middle age is nothing, but to continue in old age, to the last gaspe, is piety indeed. When a righteous man (saith the Prophet) turneth away from his righteousnesse, and commit­teth Ezech. 18. 26. iniquity, he shall even dye for the same, hee shall even die for his ini­quity that he hath committed: aswell may we drowne in the Havens mouth, as in the middest of the boisterous Sea; aswell may wee fall through the▪ peevishnesse of age, as through the lusts and concupiscence of youth. Of many it may be said, as Bernard said, Caput canum, & cor vanum, a gray head, and a greene wit; gray haires and greene lusts; but we must goe forward, and not fall from the state of grace: Take heed that no man fall away from the Heb. 12. 15. state of grace, saith the Apostle. Christianity, and progresse in religion is compared to a building; in a building men must goe forward, and to the foundation adde the roofe: And it is com­pared to a race; in a race men run on till they come to the goale: Iude 20. and it is compared to the growth of trees; Trees grow bigger and 1 Cor. 9. 24. 2 Pet. 3. 28. Ephes. 4. 14. taller: And it is compared to the ages of men; the ages of men grow still, and they bee elder to day than they were yesterday: And it is compared to the morning light, and to the Sunne; which Prov. 4. 18. commeth forth as a Bridegroome out of his Chamber, and rejoyceth as a Giant to run his course. The morning light waxeth brighter and Psal. 19. brighter, the Sun shineth more and more unto the noone day: E­ven so good men must wax better & better. The Church is Gods vineyard, his people are his plants, the plants must grow, and the Christians increase: Terra Domini est ecclesia ejus, ipse rigat, ipsam co­lit ipse agricola pater; Gods ground is his Church, he tills, dungs, Aug. in Psa. 36. waters, himselfe is the Husbandman; and we must bring forth fruit, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Iesus. Paul prayeth for the Philippians, that they may abound in grace more and Phil. 1. 9. more. And for the Colossians, To increase in knowledge: Let vs grow up (therefore) into full holinesse in the feare of God; in grace 1 Cor. 7. 1. there is no stand, but either a progresse, or a regresse; non opor­tet Chrysost. Homil. 14. exordia sola habere clara, sed clariorem finem; A good beginning must have a better end. The runner must continue to the goale, and the Champion to the victory: The Orator will shine most in [Page 152] the end. Vt cum plausibus discedat, that hee may depart with cre­dit: The wicked grow worse and worse. He that puts his hand to the plough, must not looke backe: hee shall have the crowne of victory, that continueth unto death, and hee be sa­ved, that growes better to the end. Non progredi, est regredi, not Luke 9. Mat. 12. Bern. to goe forward, is to goe backeward: We must not be like Ioshua his Sunne, which stood still, nor like Ezekiahs Sunne, which went backeward; but like Davids Sunne, which alway goeth forward; As well was hee punished, that hid his talent, as he that spent his Mat. 25. Luke 16. masters goods riotously.

The Divines hold two principles in divinity: That good men goe forward; their ditch becommeth a flood, and their flood a Sea, they looke forth as the morning, as faire as the Moone, Eccles. 24. 35. Cant. 6. 9. Iohn 15. 2. pure as the Sunne, terrible as an army with Banners: they beare fruit, and Christ purgeth them, That they may bring forth more fruit; they flourish like a Palme tree, and grow as a Cedar of Le­banon; they are planted in the house of the Lord, and will flourish in the Courts of our God; they shall still bring forth fruit in their age, they Psal. 92. 13. 14. shall be fat and flourishing.

Another principle in Divinity is, that bad men decrease; they grow from Lovers, to Lechers; from Liars, to Swearers; from Quarrellers, to Killers. They are ever learning (as Paul said of the 2 Tim. 3. 7. Hypocrites) and never come to the knowledge of the truth: they are plants not planted by Christ, therefore to be rooted up, for they be Ier. 9. 2. 3. Adulterers, and an assembly of rebels: They bend their tongues like their bowes, for lies, but they haue no courage for the truth upon the earth, for they proceede from evill to worse, and they have not knowne mee, saith the Lord. They have seven sinnes more, and seven De­vils moe enter, and their plague shall bee seven times greater. Mat. 12. But let us Crescere de virtute in virtutem, grow from vertue to ver­tue: and let our workes bee more at the last, than at the first; and let us try our selves every day, whether wee goe forward, or Apoc. backward in Religion. A wise occupier will at the yeeres end, see whether he hath gained or lost, and a wise Christian will exa­mine himselfe, whether hee bee increased or decreasing in Re­ligion, in Faith, in Zeale, in Knowledge, and Godlinesse: For there bee more Bankrupts in Religion, than in any Trade besides in the whole World. Salomon lost his ships, Laban his sheepe, Esau his lands, and birth-right, the Prodigall sonne his patrimo­nie, 1 Reg. 10. Gen. 30. Heb. 12. Luke 15. Iob 1 1▪ Tim. 1. 19. Iob his cattell; but most men lose faith, love, piety, and a good conscience, they are poorer to God this yeere, than the last: For as touching Faith, Religion, Love, Zeale, &c. they have made shipwracke. The Wicked are like Nebuchadnezzars Image, whose head was all of gold, whose shoulders were all of silver, whose belly was all of brasse, whose legges, were all of iron, and feete of clay, they are worst at last, they live not to amend, but to fulfill the measure of their iniquity. The first yeere wee are Angels, the se­cond Mat. 23. 32. yeere Men, the third yeere devills; like the Taxus of In­dia, [Page 153] which the first yeelded fruit, the second yeere leaves, the Perseverance brings the Crowne. third yeere poyson. But hast thou left Sodome? Looke not back againe with Lots wife, lest thou bee turned into a pillar of Salt: Hast thou marched toward the heavenly Canaan? turne not Gen. 19. Act. 7. 1 Cor. 9. backe againe in thine heart, like the Israelites: Hast thou be­gun to runne in the wayes of God like the Corinths? Sic curre ut comprehendas, so runne that thou mayst obtaine: hast thou be­gunne in the spirit? make not an end in the flesh like the Gala­thians: Gal. 3. 2 Cor. 12. pray thrice, as Paul did; yea pray seven times, as Elias did; yea, pray without ceasing, that thou mayst goe forward in Religion. Non minor est virtus, quàm quaerere, parta tueri. Adam 1 Reg. 18. fell from Paradise, Iudas from the schoole of our Saviour, the Angels from Heaven; yea, the whole world falleth: Scarce one of a hundred, of a thousand, hold fast the profession of their hope Heb. 10 32. without wavering.

But to proceed: Iude saith of these Angels, That they left their habitation: Where Gods justice is discharged of all blot and staine; for willingly, wilfully they fell from God, that God might be just when he speaketh, and pure when hee judgeth. The Scrip­ture therefore distinguisheth the times of their state: The first time is their creation, in which they were made all alike, in all fulnesse of light and glory, immortall spirits, glorious crea­tures: The Angels being chiefe of all creatures, as the Sunne a­mong Planets; as the Eagle among Fowles, and the Lion among Beasts, & the Whale among Fishes. Angels are the first, and Men Psal. 8. 5. Mat. 22. 30. are next in glory; Hee made Man a little lower than the Angels; and Christ saith, that wee shall bee like them in the last day; like them, being exempted from the infirmities of this present life.

The second time is the constancy of the good, and the fall of the bad Angels: from this time there hath beene diversitie a­mong them: The good abide in their first estate of Innocency, serving God day and night, according to that of Daniel, A thou­sand Dan. 7. 10. Heb. 1. 14. Mat. 18. Psa. 34. 1 Pet. 1. 12. 2 Pet. 2. 4. thousand minister unto him. And the Apostle calleth them, ministring spirits: They see the face of their heavenly Father. They keepe good men, as David saith, The Angels of the Lord pitch their tents round about them that feare him; they rejoyce in the Church meetings. On the contrary, the evill Angels suffer paines, they are cast downe from their state, and are thrust downe into Hell, and are tyed in chaines of darkenesse, to be kept unto damnation; they are de­prived of the sight of God, and of Christ, and if at any time, they Iob 1. 2 Cor. 18. stand & appeare before God, they stand & appeare before an an­gry Iudge, not a milde & merciful Father. And thirdly, they are sent about sordid & foule workes, as to hurt & destroy the Vessels of wrath. Whereupon saith David, He cast upon them the furiousnesse Psal. 78. 49. of his wrath, and vexation, by sending out of evill Angels; and his captives hee detaineth in their malice so that they cannot come [Page 154] out of the snare of the Devil, but are holden of him at his wil; & Divers appel­lations of Angels. they hinder the good what they can, as they hindred Pauls journy to Rome. Fourthly, they are obdurate, so hardned as they have no hope of instauration or repairing; & those gifts which they had 2 Tim. 2. 26. Rom. 1. 13. by nature they doe abuse, to the dishonour of God; and hurt of man, seeking continually to devour him.

The third time is of the last Iudgement: For then the joy of 1 Pet. 3. 8. the good shall bee more full, for the glorie of Christ unto whom all things shall be subject; and the judgement of the evill Hos. 13. Luke 4. 34. more grievous, and therefore the devils cried out in the Gospel, Art thou come to torment us before our time?

These times doe agree and accord to us: The first time of the Angels agreeth to Mans nativity: the second time to Mans Iusti­fication: the third to his Glorification.

And note here, that Angels were not evill by creation, but by transgression, & therefore there are many names given them in the Scripture, to shew and declare their depravation, their corrup­tion: they are called [...], accusers, for their calumnies and Ephes. 6. Mat. 6. 1 Thes. 3. 1 Pet. 5. Apoc. 12. slanders; and [...], evill ones, for their malice; Tempters, for their suggestion; Lions for their ferity in devouring; Dra­gons, for their cruelty. Some say they were called Devils, A sci­entia, from their knowledge and understanding: Others say, they were so called, ob naturae excellentiam, for the excellency of their nature. The Maniches, and Priscillianists, An. Dom. 200. and Anno 209. did very strongly maintaine, that the Devils were created of an evill God: but Christ confuteth them, when hee said unto the Iewes, You are of your father the Devill; and the Iohn 8. 44. Workes of your father will ye doe; he hath been a murtherer from the be­ginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Fuit in veritate, sed non fletit in ea, hee was in the truth, but hee a­bode not in it. As for their names, Iude calleth them Angels: The countrey men call them Satyres: The women call them fai­ries: The Poets call them Dryades, and Hamadryades: The nobles call them familiars: The Phylosophers call them [...]: but all these names note but one thing. By their fall they are Devils, full of malice.

This state, that Iude here nameth, is the state of Grace: by grace they stood, from grace they fell. They kept not their first estate. By the way observe with mee, that the good Angels are not said to bee justified or reconciled unto God, because they sinne not: but they are called Elect Angels; I charge thee before God, 1 Tim. 5. 21. and the Lord Iesus Christ, and the elect Angels, saith Paul to Timothy. Now election is by grace, because that by the grace of God they are, which they are. The place therefore in the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, where hee saith, For it pleased the father that in him, (that is, Christ) all fulnesse should dwell; and by him to re­concile Col. 1. 19, 20. all things unto himselfe; and to set at peace through the blood [Page 155] of his Crosse both the things on earth, and the things in heaven. Bona cum Christ is not the Redeemer of Angels, but their head. Calvini pace; by master Calvins good leave, is not referred to the Angels, but to the soules of the Saints, which then were in hea­ven: Christ is said to be the head of the Angels, but not the Redeemer of them, nor the husband of them. To speake properly; The marriage in the Revelation is betwixt Christ and man, not Apoc. 19. betweene CHRIST and Angels, for hee tooke not their na­ture; neither can it be said of Christ and Angels, that they are two in one flesh: Yet are they one with Christ in another respect: for hee is the head of Angels; and Christ giveth unto them life, Heb. 2. 16. Ephes. 1. 22. grace, and wisdome, as to all the faithful; and so are Membra Chri­sti & ecclesiae nobiscum. Yet Calvin thinketh otherwise of the a­forenamed place to the Colossians, using these two reasons: Ange­li (inquit) non erant extra periculum lapsus; The Angels (saith he) Col. 1. 20. were not without danger of falling. And furthermore he saith, that the justice of Angels was not answerable to the justice of God to satisfie it fully. Behold (saith Iob) he found no stedfastnesse in Iob 4. 18. his servants, and laid folly upon his angels. But to expound this place of the divell (saith he) frigidum est; it hath so cold a sent, that it cannot be perceived.

As for the time of the fall of these Angels, as I will not bee curious, so it is like, that they fell betwixt the creation of the second day, and the seventh day; (quoth Fenner) their fall could not be long after the creation, because Heva espied not the ser­pents Fenner method. in methodum Theolog. lib. 3. cap. 73. tongue to have a further skill than of himselfe: howsoe­ver it must needs be, that their fall was before the fall of man; for otherwise, this Homicida, this murtherer could not have been so ready in the Angell to bring man to confusion. Hereupon Gen. 3. Christ said, Est homicida, hee is a murtherer. The Scripture spea­keth Iohn 8. 44. of his fall; Christ saith, I saw Satan like lightning fall downe Luke 10. 18. from heaven. It is enough, that he fell, though we know not the day, the yeere, the houre of his fall.

But this is ridiculous, that of the Angels that fell, some make some to be better and truer than others: as those that fell in the ayre and fire, to be purer than those that fell in the earth and water: for they make them to have falne at the first into all the foure elements; but these bee toyes, for they bee all Ly­ers. Iohn 8. 44.

Againe, they fell not by weight, as a solid substance to sticke in a place; but their fall consisteth in quality, that they fell from the grace, wherein they were created, their fall was not locall be­ing Spirits.

Againe, Paul speaketh as hardly of them in the ayre, as Christ doth of them in the earth: For the Apostle saith of them in the Ephes. 2. 2. ayre, That they worke in the children of disobedience: As Christ saith of them in the earth, He walketh (saith Christ) through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. And then he saith, I will returne to my Mat. 11. [Page 156] house, whence I came out, and when he commeth, hee findeth it swept and Divels many in number, yet one head a­mong them. garnished, then taketh hee seven other spirits worse than himselfe, and en­treth in and dwelleth there, and the end of that man is worse than the be­ginning.

Againe, note here, that Iude nameth Angels plurally, where ob­serve with me, that the Scripture speaketh sometime plurally, as here, The Angels also which kept not their first estate. And so Paul speaketh plurally, We wrastle not against flesh & blood, but against prin­cipalities, Ephes. 6. 12. against powers, against worldly governours, princes of the darkenesse of this world: And sometime singularly, for Paul spea­king of these evill Angels, he calleth him, The prince that ruleth in the ayre, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience: As if Ephes. 2. 2. there were but one spirit in the ayre. And this it doth, partly be­cause there is a chiefty among the evill Angels, one is principall, and the rest are called his angels. The Scripture therefore spea­keth singularly, as if there were but one divell. So doth Saint Peter, Your adversary the divell goeth about like a roaring Lion. The Scripture nameth Beelzebub, the prince of divels, and Abaddon, 1 Pet. 5. 8. king of locusts, the Angel of the bottomelesse pit, and the great red Dragon that fought with Michael, and Asmodaeus who slew seven men in seven nights. The Apostle nameth him the God of the world, and the prince that ruleth in the ayre: and in respect of this chiefty he is said to have a kingdome: as God hath his Kingdome, so the divell hath his: witnesse our Saviour, If Satan be divided a­gainst Satan, how can his Kingdome endure. I speake not of it, as if Mar. 2. there were but one divell; for there are infinite; one man had both a deafe and dumbe divell; Mary had seven divels; the man Luke 7. Mat. 8. in the Gospell had a Legion.

That which is said of Lucifer, How art thou falne from heaven, ô Lucifer, sonne of the morning, &c? is utterly mistaken. For surely Esa. 14. 12. there are infinite divels, as many as men on the earth; infinite Angels fell, as infinite now stand. Hence commeth the world Dan. 7. to be so full of mischiefe: Art thou prone to any sin? thou shalt not want a divell to helpe thee forward: If David bee proud of his people, Satan will provoke him to number them, that hee 2 Sam. 24. may be prouder: If Ahabs Prophets be given to flatter, the divel straightway will become a lying spirit in the mouths of foure 1 Reg. 22. hundred of them: If Mary Magdalen be whorish, and unchast, seven divels of lechery will enter into her, and make her become at last a mecenary drab: If Iudas will bee a Traytor, Satan will Luke 7. quickly enter into his heart, and make him sell his Master: If Ananias will be covetous, and lye for advantage, Satan will fill Iohn 13. 2. his heart, and he will bend his tongue like a bow to speake lies. Acts 5. Doth Absalom want a counsellor to advise him in mischiefe? 2 Reg. 15. why here is Achitophel to supply his wants: Doth Ahab want a comforter to rid him of his griefe, for the not possessing of Na­boths 1 Reg. 21. vineyard? here is Iezabel to comfort him, and advise him, [Page 157] which way to effect his purpose: will Achitophel hang himselfe? Though the divels bee malitious spi­rits yet they agree in evill. Go thy way (saith the Divell) here is an halter. Is Iudas despe­rate, will hee needs be his owne hangman, and hang till he burst too? here is a rope (saith the Divell.) The Divell waiteth as a Spaniell to raise the game, to increase sinne in all men: hee hath an oare in every boat, a hand in everie sinne in the World.

If yee aske, how the Divell is in the wicked, seeing that hee hath no Locall dimensions?

I answer; that hee is in us, as the soule is in us; Intellectuall Mar. 9. Mar. 2. not sensible. And hee is in us two wayes: by his essence, as in the Child, and in the deafe man: or by his Working and operation, not bodily, but spiritually in the minde; by suggesting evill things to us; so he was in Ananias, he spake not vocally, but by Act. 5. inspiration. For so are the words of Saint Iohn to be expounded, when as hee saith, There was given unto him a mouth that spake great things and blasphemies, &c. Hee spake by the mouth of a greater beast than himselfe (quoth Iohn) yet hee speaketh not vocally, for he wanteth the nine instruments of nature, Duo labia, the two lips, quatuor dentes, foure teeth, & guttur, the throat, &c. Seven Luke 7. Divels were in Magdalen by their essence, so seven and seven are in us, though not by essence, yet by operation and working. For as the spirit of God is not in us by his essence, (for then we were Gods) but by his graces; So the evil spirit is not in all the wic­ked by his essence, but by operation. Hee worketh in the Children of disobedience.

Once againe I say, that sometime Divels are named in the plu­rall number, sometime but one to note a Chiefety, & to note that they all joyne together to uphold one kingdome: For though they cannot love one another in deed, yet the hatred they beare against God is as a fagot-bond, that doth tie them together, that these all agree in one to worke mischiefe. They have Se­ven heads and tenne hornes: Here in the wicked his members, are Apoc. 12. like to their Head; for howsoever they hate one another in pri­vate quarrels, yet agree they in the maine point against God, and good men. Ephraim against Manasses; Manasses against Ephraim, Esa. 9. yet both against Iuda: The Pharises against the Saduces, the Sa­duces against the Pharises, & yet both against Christ: The Iewes Mat. 22. against the Gentiles, the Gentiles against the Iews, and yet both against Paul: The Canonists against the Schoolemen, and the Acts 19 9. Schoolemen against the Canonists for auricular Confession, yet both against the Gospell: Parish against Parish, one against an­other, yet all against the Minister.

This may be a good lesson to us, that wee may learne all to joyne together against the common enemy. If wee will not learne of God and good men to love one another, and to cling and cleave together as one man, for shame let us learne of Di­vels, for they cleave together like burres: Howsoever wee differ [Page 158] in private matters, yet let us all agree together against the ad­versarie Division the cause of Con­fusion. the Papists, and other Hell-hounds of division, that re­maine within and without the Land. Division in Christendome opened a way to the Turke to get Constantinople, Buda, Belgrade, Strigonium, and all Hungaria almost: The division in Italy Inter Guelfos & Gibelinos, brought all into the hands of that man of Rome. The division in England brought in the Spanish Navy hi­ther, Anno 1588. Sub spe vincendi, In hope to have conque­red us, and that the Papists would have revolted to them. But let not the Papists thinke, that the Spaniards would have spa­red them; all had beene fish that had come to net: All had bin Huguenotes. So was it in the massacre of Paris by the Guise. So was it in the conquest of Antwerpe, by Parma. Therefore, that Pa­pist that hath an English heart left in his breast to knocke upon, let him pray for our Soveraigne and State now, and God blesse both the one and the other, and make Gods and our foes, his and our foot-stoole.

THE THIRTEENTH SERMON.

HAving already spoken of the sinne of the Angels, wee are now come to handle their punishment; their fall was great, so was their punishment: Quanto gradus altior, tanto casus gra­vior, the higher their state and con­dition, the grievouser their fall. Sin and punishment goe together like Ionathan and his harnesse-bearer; Sin goeth before, and punishment fol­lows after. If it was much for Caine Gen. 4. Gen. 3. to be a vagabond, and Adam to be driven out of Paradise, and Isma­el out of his Father Abraham his house? how much more for the Angels to bee driven out of heaven: and not to returne like Noahs Dove to the Arke: but to live in darkenesse for ever? Let the earth tremble, let the Sea make a noyse, let the Ayre bee darke, let all hearts melt, and all faces gather blackenesse at the hearing of this Iudgement. The Lords face is burning, his lips are full of indignation, Esa. 30. 27, 28. and his tongue is as a devouring fire, his spirit is as a river that over-floweth up to the necke, &c. And when hee is kindled, The rivers shall bee turned to pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the Cap. 34. 9, 19. 11. land thereof shall be burning pitch, it shall not be quenched, night nor day, the smoke thereof shall goe up ever, it shall be desolate from generation to generation: none shall passe through it for ever: but the Pelicane and the Hedgehog shall possesse it: the great Owle and the Raven shall dwell in it, and hee shall stretch out upon it, the line of vanity, and the stones [Page 160] of emptinesse. The Angels now are Divels, reserved in chaines. If The Divels malice infi­nite, but his power iimited. you aske mee where? I say in the earth, as it appeareth by the words of our Saviour, When the uncleane spirit is driven out of a man, hee walketh through drie places, seeking rest and findeth none. &c. And not in the earth onely, but in the ayre; For hee is a Prince that ru­leth Mat. 12. 43. Apoc. 20. 1, 2, 3. in the ayre: and not in the earth and ayre onely, but in the deepe also: For saith Saint Iohn, I saw an Angel come downe from Heaven, having the key of the bottomelesse pit and a great chaine in his hand, and hee tooke the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the Divel and Satan, and hee bound him a thousand yeeres, and cast him into the bottomelesse pit, and shut him up, and sealed the doore upon him, that hee should deceive the people no more.

But in that God hath reserved them in chaines, it is a thing of singular comfort, as was Davids harpe to Saul in his melancholly, and the Dove to Noah in the deluge. Like the news brought unto the shepheards, whiles they were watching their flockes in the Gen. 8. Luk. 2. night.

Here therefore wee learne, that they cannot passe their linckes and bounds, they are under God, Pendent exillius nutu; they de­pend on his becke. For God useth Satan to serve his justice (yet Satan knoweth it not) hee is Gods ban-dogge let slip at wandering sheepe, and lawlesse swine; he is Gods hangman, or executioner to punish the reprobate; yet can he goe no further, than God will; For he hath him in chaines, as Clemens had Dandalus the Duke of Venice; as Sapor had Valerian the Emperour. Heereupon saith, Gregory, Diaboli semper iniqua voluntas, nunquā injusta est potestas, the Greg. will of the Divell is alwayes wicked, but his power never unjust; and he giveth the reason: Voluntatem habet a se, potestatem verò à domino, he hath his will of himselfe but his power from God. The spirit therefore that vexed Saul, is called the evill spirit of the 1 Sam. 18. Lord: evill in regard of his will; the spirit of God, in regard of the power given him of God. Isodore saith Adversaria potestas non habet Isodore. vim cogendi, sed perswadendi, the Divell hath no power to compell but to perswade: For then he would not leave one man alive. He is like the Libberd, who is so hatefull to man that if he see but his Luk. 8. picture, he will teare it in peeces. The Divell could not enter in­to the swine, but by licence. An euill spirit vexed Saul: but it is added, That God sent him. An evill spirit deceived Ahab: but it is added, that God put him into the mouths of the Prophets: Satan 1 Sam. 16. 1 Reg. 22. Iob. 1. Exod. 11. could not touch Iob but as God permitted him: Moses was a figure of Christ, Pharaoh of the Divell, now as Pharoah could not hold Israel in Aegypt; So Satan cannot hold us in bondage longer than God will. Satan is the strong man, but Christ is stronger than he. As the water-spaniell watcheth the shot, to fetch the fowle, that is striken; as the Iaylors watch at the judgement seats, and the hang­man for the dayes of execution: So Satan; and his Angels waite on Gods Majestie to bee set aworke, but of themselves can doe [Page 161] nothing, therefore are they said to be delivered into chaines, and re­served How Satan is said to be loo­sed yet ever bound. in everlasting chaines. As in my text: For the Lord dealeth with Divels, as men use to do with curst bandogs, which will flie at the throate of every one, whom they met; they tye & chain them up 2 Pet. 2. 4. for feare of doing hurt: For proofe whereof note what God said to the Divel under the serpent, Thou shalt bruise his heele. By which Gen. 3. 15. phrase is implied a restraint, namely that hee should not come so high as the Saints head, to crush it, he should onely snarle at the heele, and bite it: that is, he should not be able utterly to destroy their soules.