THE FIRST PART.

One of the greatest Questions that ever puzled the Philosophers before the knowledge of the Gospel, was; to finde, whether any thing could be born of God, by any sort of Generation; the greatest number, and the most subtil, believed that it was impossible; First, (said they) because God is a Spirit, and Spirits in­gender not, having no power proper, or appointed for that use: Secondly, because he is God, and in that quality he ought necessarily to be One; which he should no more be if he were capable of generati­on; because, a God can beget none but a God, for then he should introduce a multitude contrary to his Essence; from whence they concluded in the end, an impossibility that any thing should be born or begotten of God. But the Gospel having better enlightned us by the obscurities of faith, then the Philosophers had done by the light of Science; we know infallibly, that this birth or generation is not impossible; and this text of S. John is enough to teach it; since, by saying, All that is born of God overcometh the world, it supposeth, either divers persons or divers things to be born of him; but, the better to discern of what this Apostle speaks here, we ought to take notice that generally, the Scri­pture gives this illustrious praise to be born of God, to all that he hath produced with some resemblance of him­self: and, it is a doctrine conformable enough to Phi­losophy; [Page 4]which teaches, that all that is born of a principle, receives from it not only being, but re­semblance besides.

Now, as God doth diversly communicate the resem­blance of himself, to the things that he produceth; from thence it comes, that all possess not by the same title the honour to be born of him

A great man, and one of the most learned the world ever had in Philosophy or Divinity; observes subtilly and solidly five different manners, wherein the things that God hath produced have some resemblance with him: Similitu­do Natu­ra [...], Ves [...]i­g [...], Imagi­nis, G [...]a­ri [...], Glo­riae. for, this resemblance (saith he) may be, either of Nature, or of Trace, or of Image, or of Grace, or of Glory; whence he concludeth, that the advantage to be born of God, (that is, to have God for Fa­ther) belongeth

1. To the Word.

2. To Creatures meerly material.

3. To Creatures Intelligent and Reasonable.

4. To the Just.

5. To the Glorified.

To the Word by resemblance, or rather, by Identity of Nature.

To Creatures meerly material by some imperfect traces, or by some obscure marks of the Excellency of God.

To Creatures intelligent and reasonable (that is, to Men and Angels) by their understanding and reason, which are the illustrious Images of God himself.

To the Just, by communication of grace and holiness.

To the Glorified, by the imitation of his Glory.

These resemblances that all things have with God, be­ing (as you see) so different, make us easily conceive, that God is diversly the Father of them; and that the advantage to be born of him, is more or less noble, according as the resemblance is more or less persect.

That which is (without comparison) above all others, [Page 5]is the resemblance of Nature which belongs only to the Verbe; and which belongs not to him specifically, (as Philosophers and Divines speak) but individually: that is, The Word is not only like his Father as we are to ours; having the same nature with him; for, since it is impossible there should be more then one God, it can­not be possible that his Nature should multiply: so, when the Father produceth his Essential Word, he gives him not another Nature like his, but the same as his own: from whence it is that the Title of the Son of God (to speak strictly) can belong to none but him: and it is by a metaphor meerly, and a kinde of usurpa­tion, that it is attributed to others. The Scripture doth fully witness it when it says so often, that he is the only Son, or, only begotten of God, and when by Ex­cellence it saith in Rom. 5.32. That He is God's own Son; and when it says in Hebr. 1. That it is to him alone that God bare this witness, in Psal. 2. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee: And finally, that in the 110. Psal. it is of none but him that the Father speaks, when he says according to the Latin Version, I have begotten thee of my bosome.

Now, we find nothing, either in Divinity or in the Scripture it self; of this great Priviledge, and of this proper and particular Title of the Word, but the perfe­ction of resemblance that he hath with his Father, and which other things have not.

The holy Spirit it self which proceedeth from the Father (as the Gospel teacheth us) and who hath the same nature with him, yet is not called the Son, and it is not said that he is born, nor that he is begotten, because he doth not proceed formally (as Divines teach us) by way of resemblance, since (at the least) as they say very rationally, the holy Spirit is the production of Love and not of Knowledge: so that proceeding from the Will, and not from the Understanding of God▪ it cannot have a formal resemblance with its principle: [Page 6]Philosophie it self teaching us, that resemblance is not an effect of the Will, but of the Understanding, because it is proper to the Will to carry it self to its Object, whereas the Understanding attracts his Object by im­printing on it his resemblance. Whence it is, that A­ristotle says, that the Understanding becomes all things; not by changing it self into them, but, on the contrary, by changing them into it self. Moreover, it is from thence, that the Production or Term of the Will is called a Weight, a Propension, an Inclination — which does not at all signifie resemblance; but the pro­duction of the understanding is called Verb, Image, Re­presentation. Therefore, Scripture never gives these Names to the Holy Spirit, but to the Son only; whose Name, saith St. John, Rev. 19. is, The Word of God. Now, this word Verb signifies either the thought, or the word, and we know that the thought is the representation of the object that one thinks of, and the Word is the Image of the thought it self; so that, both in the one and in the other sense, the word Verb applied to the Son in the Gospel is a name of resemblance.

But St. Paul, willing more clearly to expound him­self, saith to the Corinthians, and to the Colossians, That he is the Image of God; and to the Hebrews, That he is the splendor of his Glory, and the figure of his Substance, according to the Latin Version; or of his Person, ac­cording to the Greek Original.

Thus, by all these reasons, and so many authorities it is properly the second Divine Person that is born of God. Yet, it is not of that our Text speaks, when St. John saith, That all which is born of God overcometh the World by Faith; for, though Jesus Christ, who is this Adorable Person, hath overcome the World, as himself doth witness by the same Evangelist, in the 16th. chapter of his History, verse 33. and, though it be also in some manner by means of faith that he hath triumphed; yet it is not of him that the Text speaks, because it is easie [Page 7]to comprehend by that which goeth before, and that which cometh after; that, it is of them that have faith, that these words should be understood: and that they cannot belong to Jesus Christ, who, though he be the Au­thor and Finisher of our Faith, (as St. Paul calls him, in the XIII. Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews) yet he hath it not formally, since he cannot have faith of that which he hath the knowledge, the experience of the sight.

So when St. John speaks here of that which is born of God, he speaks but of those which have onely an im­perfect resemblance of him, differing from that of Na­ture▪ and yet he speaks not of all sorts: for,

First, it is clear that by that which is born of God, he means not things meerly material, which have only a Trace or Footstep of likeness to him; it is true, that God having produced them, and they representing to us, (as they do all) some of his perfections, God may justly be called their Father: Job in this sense calleth him the Father of the rain, and saith, It is be that hath begotten the dew: he might say as much of all other creatures; though destitute of intelligence and reason, since, be­sides that God made them, they have moreover this ad­vantage, to represent him in some sort, 6 in the judgment of St. Paul who saith in the first Chapter of the E­pistle to the Romans, the 20. verse, that, the invisible things of him are clearly seen from the Creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made. But the end of our Text shews evidently, that he speaks not of that sort of creatures, although in some respects, it may be said they are born of God.

Secondly, neither is it of Angels or Men in the quality of intelligent and reasonable creatures; for though the Angels are the least imperfect images of God, (which gave occasion to a learned man to call them, The bright Looking Glasses of the Godhead) and though by the right of this resemblance there is nothing in Nature that [Page 8]more justly deserves the title of the children of God then they do; and though himself by the mouth of Job calls them so often by this glorious Name: yet it is manifest that it is not of them that St. John here makes mention, when he speaks of those who are born of God, since he speaks of such as are in the world, and have sought with it, and have triumphed over it by faith, which (you see) cannot be applied to Angels: Nor doth he speak of men, considered only as reasonable; for though rea­son hath made them fair Copies, and illustrious Images of the Divinity, to answer (what St. Paul highly in their praise saith) that they are the Image of the Glory of God: and to deserve that the Prophet Malachy should call God their Father by the general right of their Cre­ation: yet, it is not of them (at least in the quality of reasonable creatures only) that the text we expound, speaks, who overcome the world by their faith, and not by all the strength of their reason and understanding.

Then, they must needs be either the Just, or the Glo­rified that are here spoken of. Doubtless, they are not the Glorified; for, though they have this noble re­semblance of Glory with God, who doth almost trans­form them into himself, as St. John expounds it, in the third of his first Epistle: and that they are called in the Scripture Children of God more properly then all other created things, as it appeareth in Luke 20. where they are expresly called The Children of God, because they are children of the Resurrection, heirs and actual possessors of Glory; yet, our Text speaks not of them, they being no more at strife with the world, the clear sight of God having happily taken away their sai h.

It remaineth then, that it must needs be of the Just on earth that our Text speaks, that is, of those that God hath regenerated, who resemble him in grace and holiness, since there is nothing in this Text, which may not, and ought not rightly, to be applied to them. For,

First, they are born of God. I prove it by three con­vincing Reasons. The first is, that it is impossible they should be born of any other: The second, that he deals with them as a Father: And the third, that they re­semble him.

That they cannot be born of any other but God, the Scripture and the Fathers, especially S. Paul and S. Au­gustine are altogether for it, when they say so often, that Justification is the work of God. In effect, Christians! assemble all the forces of Men and Angels; assemble all Prelates and all Kings; assemble all Priests and all Popes [...] they cannot make one just with all the Power of the [...] they boast so much of. I say no more then what every good Philosopher and every sound Divine ought to agree to; since in the very Schools it is a com­mon Doctrine, that Creation is a work so proper to God, that it is impossible for all other Powers of Heaven and Earth to create so much as one grain of Sand onely; and that neither Man nor Angel can obtain of God that Au­thority. Judge, my Brethren, from the more to the less; what we should think of the work of Justification, which is a greater benefit then the Creation of a thou­sand Worlds: since the Creation is but a Passage from the nothing of Nature to the being of Nature: and Ju­stification is a Passage from the nothing of Grace to the being of Grace. Now there is without compare a great­er distance between Grace and its privation, then be­tween Nature and hers: the passage then is much more difficult, and the one requires more force then the o­ther. Why? the whole World cost God but one word to make it; but there was need of all his bloud onely to justifie men, nay, there was need of all his blood to justifie one Man onely; for which there is no other rea­son, but that the dignity of Grace was infinitely higher [...] that of Nature, because it is a participation of the [...] o [...] God, as S. Peter teacheth us whereas Nature is [...] an effect of his Power: from whence we must needs [...] if Creation can belong to none but God, [Page 10]it is impossible that Justification should belong to any other. In effect, who can give a participation of the Being of God, but God himself? and what but an infinite Agent can be capable of an infinite production? It is known that none but God is so; then the just are born of God, because it is impossible they should be born of any other.

The second reason to persuade you to this (Brethren) is, that God takes a Fatherly care of them: for where did we ever see a Father take so much care for his Children, as God takes of the just? He brings them up, he feeds them, he protects them, he advanceh them: the whole Scriptuto speaks unto us of no other thing almost in both Testaments. You read at all times his tenderness and goodness in their education▪ so that there is nothing wanting in order to bring them up well; neither Instru­ctions, nor Promises, nor Threatnings, nor Recompen­ces, nor Chastisements; and all for their good: for he intends nothing by such different Dispensations but to make them better. If they want any thing for their spi­ritual nourishment, my Brethren! he not onely imploys his graces and his Vertues, but he imploys himself to nourish them with his Holy Spirit, and with all that he is, as well as with all that he hath in the Mysteries of our Sacrament. You doubt not of his Protection, since he tells us in the Scripture, that he preserves them as the Apple of his eye, that he covers them under the shadow of his wings, that he doth compass them with a wall of fire, that he watches day and night to defend them, that he comforts them in their afflictions, that he upholds them in their pros­perities, to the end they may not be cast down by the one, nor puff't up by the other: briefly, he assists them in all their needs, and declares himself an enemy to all their enemies. What will he not do to advance them? He makes them go up (as the Psalmist speaks from vertue to vertue, from knowledge to knowledge, from holiness to holiness, from Glo­ry to Glory: we have an admirable expression of it in [Page 11]one of St. Paul's Epistles, where he shews, that God from Eternity began the advancement of the Just, and sets it forward more and more to the end of the World; Whom he did foreknow (saith he) he also did predestinate; more­over, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified; because of their calling he hath sanctified them, and after their sanctification he hath glorified them.

Christians! in earnest, are not these the cares of a Father, and of the best of all Fathers? Tampius nemo, tam pater ne­mo. Tert. This was it which made Tertullian say, There was no Father so good, nor so much a Father as God: it is then an evident de­monstration that the Just are born of him, since none take most care of strangers.

But the greatest and most sensible argument to con­vince, that they are in effect born of God, is, That they resemble him. For it is the doctrine of Jesus Christ in the 8th. of St. John; and of St. John himself in the third of his first Epistle; and of St. Paul in the 9th. of his Epistle to the Romans, That a man is Son to him whom he resembleth, and of those whose works he does: if the works of Abraham, he is the Son of Abraham: if the works of God he is the son of God: if the works of the Devil, he is the son of the Devil. Here you see the great characters of the filiation of the Just, this is it which doth chiefly establish their right, even that their conduct, their life, their works, and all the rest, is but a continual imitation of God; they will nothing but what he wills; they love nothing but what he loves, they hate nothing but what he hates; so that all the truly Just may say with St. Paul, That it is God that lives in them, and not they themselves: that their life is hid in him: and that they have no other spirit then his. So high doth St. Paul raise the conformity of the Just with God, when he saith in the eighth chap. to the Romans, That they are become one spirit with him, which is an evident [Page 12]mark of the highest perfection of resemblance.

Well then, Brethren! from so many reasons must we not in the end conclude, That the Just are born of God, and ought not only to be called his children, but are so in effect? as saith Saint John in our Epistle, yet it is but one of the conditions for the which the Text that we have taken may be applied fitly to them.

We must see, Secondly, whether the other necessary conditions are found in them; that is, if they triumph over the world; and if they triumph by faith. This we shall see in the two parts that remain of this Dis­course. But before we begin, I crave one moment of re­flection upon the first. For it is not enough to know who are those whom Saint John saith, to be born of God; but we must observe, whether we our selves be of that number; it is not enough that adoption, or even re­generation doth assure us of it but we must seek into the centre of our hearts, and into the most secret passa­ges of our lives, whether we bare the Image of God; and if we have that resemblance of holiness and grace, which doth properly establish our right of Filiation: for, whosoever is unlike his Father is unjustly called his son▪ and they are not only the Philosophers that will have this resemblance, and this rapport between the production and its principle, indispenseably neces­sary to the essence of their relation; neither are they the modern Divines that introduce this necessity. Have not the most ancient Fathers been of this opinion? Judge ye of it by this fine learned expression of Gre­gory Nazianzen, who says, the Son is the definition of the Father, that is, the Son is but the expounding of what his Father is: so, the resemblance between the Father and the Son is no less indispenseable, then between the definition of a thing, and the thing defined it self: which another Gregory hath more clearly expressed, when he called the Son the Image of the Father. But what need is there of reasons and Authorities, to prove to you the [Page 13]necessity of this resemblance, since Jesus Christ him­self, Saint John, and Saint Paul assure us of it; when they tell us, that a man is the childe only of him, whose works he does?

It is then, a truth out of question, That we are not the children of God, but so far as we resemble him; by imitation of his vertue, and by this conformity of our life and innocence with his.

By this principle, it is easie to discern whether we are born of God, and it is impossible to be deceived upon so certain a rule; It is the same that our Apostle gives us in the second chapter of his first Epistle, If you know, (saith he) that God is just, know that whosoever doth righ­teousness is born of him. But, because this rule may possibly be too vast, and some despair is to be feared, if, to be the children of God we must be like him in all the excellencies of his holiness; and in the great number of vertues comprehended in his Justice, the same A­postle in the same Epistle, reduceth the necessity of this resemblance to the love of our Neighbour; Be­loved (saith he) let us love one another, for love is of God, and whosoever loveth is born of God.

O how few would be found born of him, though there needed but this one resemblance to be born of him, since, so few love their brethren? do you love your brethren, you that tear them by your calumnies? do you love them, you that take pleasure in their disgraces? and are tormented with their prosperities? in good earnest, do you think you love them, who seek so many occasions to hurt them, and shun all occasions to help them? no, no! let us not flatter our selves, but con­fess ingenuously, that we do not love our brethren, while we harbour grudges against them▪ coldness, sharpness, envy, suspition, contempt, with infinite other dispositions and thoughts that are more cri­minal.

It is not then of us that St. Iohn speaks in our. Text, because, not loving our▪ brethren, it is im­possible we should be born of him: the hatred we have for them destroying all the resemblance that (otherwise) we should have of him, for what re­semblance can we have of any person, if we hate what he loves? since love and hate are the two great Movers which carry on the rest of our Passi­ons, there is necessarily a hatred between two wills, when one hateth what the other loves.

Will you, then be the children of God? St. John hath told you in two words what is necessary for that; Love one another: for whosoever loveth is born of God. What! do you refuse to purchase so great an honour at so cheap a rate? Consider the glo­ry of being children of such a Father, and see how easily you may obtain it. And that you may have a greater desire to it, I will shew you the illustrious victory that they get over the World, who are born of God: it is the second part of my Text, and of my Discourse.

THE SECOND PART.

Amongst infinite circumstances that compose an illustrious victory, Clarior laus est quo clarior▪ est quem vice [...]is. Curt. l. 6. Non est gloriosa victoria nisi ubi su­ [...]int glo [...]i sa sa certamina. Amoros. lib. [...]. Offic. the most con­siderable is the force of the Ene­mie which is overcome, whence a great Historian took occasion to say, That a Triumph was so much the more illustrious, as be was whom we triumph ever: and St. Ambrose with the same spirit saith, That no Victory is glorious, but after a difficult combate, and a pertinacious Resistance; therefore the Scripture de­scribes with so much care the powerful Armies of Pharaoh, Holophernes, Sennacherib, and all the other [Page 15]great enemies of Israel: for thereby a greater ground is afforded for admiring the Conqueror; and to a­dore the greatness of God, the chief cause of the victory: even of the Giant whom David overcame, the sacred History marks exactly all that might render him terrible; that the triumph of the gene­rous Shepherd might be so much the more com­mended, as there was more difficulty to overcome so powerful an enemy.

I must follow the Example the Scripture gives me, and let you see what is the strength of this world which is overcome in the Text by the chil­dren of God, that you may judge of the glory of the Triumph, and that so, I may make you the more desire it. But first, we must know what world is here spoken of, it being a word very equivocal in Scripture: All the different significations that it makes use of may be reduced to two principal, since it never speaks of the world but in a physical or moral sense, that is, the world is still put in a natural or mystical signification in Scripture.

Again, the natural world is taken in divers ways: I observe three; the first is very large, the second less, the third less then either: for the first, by the world the Scripture means sometimes all the Uni­verse, both Heaven and Earth; and all that they contain: you have Examples for it in many places, where it speaks of the world as of the work of Creation. Thus Acts 17. verse 24. Saint Paul preach­ing to the Athenians, makes it evident that he speaks of the created world.

Secondly, in many Texts it meaneth the Earth only, as in Saint Matthew chap. 4. where it is said, That the Tempter shewed Jesus Christ all the Kingdoms of the World.

Thirdly, sometimes in the New Testament it signifies [Page 16]only men, so it is expounded in many places of the Gospel, and in the Epistles of Saint Paul and Saint John: as, when it is said in the second of the Co­rinthians chap. 5. verse 19. That God was in Christ, re­conciling the World to himself. You see that there the World signifies only men.

To take it then physically, that is, in a natural sense. The world in Scripture means always one of these three things, either the whole Universe, or the Earth, or Mankind.

But, to take it spiritually, in a moral or mystical sense, it sometimes signifies, according to the style of Scripture, those who seek only earthly things, with­out caring to obtain the heavenly, as John 16.20. where Jesus Christ said to his Apostles, You shall weep, but the world shall rejoyce again in this spiritual way; it signifies all the corrupt principles that men com­monly follow in their conversation; in which sense St. Paul said to the Galatians, chap. 6. that the World was crucified unto him, and he unto the World. I doubt not but it is in this sense, that we must take the world in our Text, because in Saint Johns Language, throughout this Epistle; we must ima­gine by the world a certain spirit of pleasure, in­terest and ambition that reigns amongst men; he explains it enough in the second Chap. verse 16. All that is in the World, is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the Eyes, and the pride of life. And in our Text he makes it appear that this is his meaning, when having said in the verse before, The Commandments of God are not grievous. He gives this reason for it, that those who are born of God overcome the World, that is, they overcome the things which make the Com­mandments of God grievous; and what are those things, Christians, but the corrupt Maxims we have spoken of, Pleasure, Interest, and Ambition.

You see then what the World is, judge ye by that how illustrious is the victory of those that triumph over it; how great a glory is it to vanquish an Enemy so strong and for­midable: the Caesars and the Alexanders that heretofore triumph'd over the material World, knew not how to van­quish this mystical World, because, as St. Austin saith, be­ing Masters of the Universe, they were Slaves to their guilty Passions, and to the corrupt Maxims of sin.

In effect, these Maxims, and these domineering Passions, have got so much Authority, and so absolute an Empire over men, that, like a Torrent, it hurries them away, in spight of their reason, making all resistance vain without the victorious help of Grace. Alas! how many people are there who are very witty, whom Nature has made very sensible of Vertue and Honour, who yet suffer themselves to be corrupted by these Maxims, and unlucky Pas­sions.

There are very few of whom Pleasure hath not made her self Mistress, because the chief Maxim of the World is, to love and seek Pleasure at any rate; this Passion hath such Charms, that the bravest men knew not how to de­fend themselves from it. We have seen too much of it in the falls of David and Solomon, who were both vanquish'd by it; and neither the holiness of the one, nor the wisdom of the other, could save them from it: The example of St. Austin, and his own confession, does yet more sensibly evidence unto us the power of this passion; he acknow­ledgeth, that after all his godly resolutions to live well, one only word that Pleasure suggested to him, plunged him more than ever, in his former disorderly course; Grace was two years continually and strongly labouring to con­vert him; he sayes himself there were continual Combats within him, and after Grace had sometimes made a good progress in the work of his conversion, Pleasure came and overthrew all; his heart was in the midst between these [Page 18]two Champions; Grace drew it to the one side, and Plea­sure to the other; and when he was ready to yield to Grace, Pleasure pull'd him by the Cloak, saying, What Austin! Wilt thou forsake this and that? Can'st thou re­solve to forsake me? Can'st thou live without my Diver­tisements? there needed no more to captivate the heart of Austin; all that Grace had said, made no more impression on him; and when Grace would yet speak of conversion, he put it off till another time; for Pleasure held him so much her Slave, that he could not, nor would not shake off his fetters. O how powerful is this pas­sion! what violent assaults it gives! what pertinacious resistances! since Grace it self hath so much ado to overcome it.

The Tyrants that persecuted the Church knew well the force and power that Pleasure had over the heart of man; for, after they had tryed to corrupt the faith of the Martyrs, by the violence of punishments; at last, they tempted them by the sweetness of pleasures; and it fell out oft-times, that such as had generously resisted all the rage and cruelty of the Executioner, sunk under the tem­ptation of Pleasure. Alas! there were few found generous enough to do that which we read but of one, who being importun'd on all sides by Pleasure to yield, bit out his Tongue with his Teeth, and spit it in the face of the fairest Lady of Rome, who did sollicit him; having nothing else free to defend himself from her, bound as he was, on a Bed strew'd with Roses: and there were as few of those who were so far from yielding to the sweet perswasions of Voluptuousness, that they dyed of sorrow for living among Pleasures; as Ecclesiastical History tells us of an­other.

Christians! we need not wonder that this Passion is so powerful and formidable an Enemy; flattering that flesh of ours so pleasingly: the thing we naturally love best in the world.

Interest and Ambition, which are the two other Enemies that the World presents us to fight with, have not much less force than Pleasure, to corrupt the innocency of our hearts; and where shall we find any almost which are not Slaves to the one, or the other of these great powers?

Even in the Times that seemed most innocent, did not Interest make an universal Corruption in the World? Was it not the offence of Saul, and all Israel, 1 Sam. 15. where Interest had more power than the Commands or Threat­nings of God, when his people—victorious over the Ama­lekites, let themselves be overcome by this shameful passi­on; reserving in despight of God's prohibition, all that was precious in the spoyles of the defeated Army? Was it not Interest that corrupted a Disciple in the very Family of Jesus Christ, and transported him to that Sacriledge to sell and betray his good Master? Hath not this passion daily, the same power? Is it not for Interest that so many in the World continually betray the Son of God? Do not all men almost prefer their Interest, before his Glory? as St. Paul complain'd in his time, They seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ.

My Brethren, examine what is done among Christians, ev'n of the best Reformed Churches; what fierce desires have we daily to become richer? and how much coldness to become holier and better men? let us consider what is done at Rome upon the Throne of splendid Holiness; you will quickly find, that the same passion that heretofore made Judas sell Jesus Christ, makes the Pope's Officers sell the Holy Ghost every hour; for they sell Archbisho­plicks. Pardons, and Forgiveness of Sins; with the entry into Paradise, and many other like Graces, whereof the Holy Ghost alone must be the Distributer, as he is the Principle of the same: It is not from the resentments of an altered man that I speak so; within these two years there [Page 20]have been Experiments enough to make the World ac­knowledge, that of all those that have been converted, per­haps I am one of the most moderate; but I speak that which is to the purpose, and which all the World knows. But, though Pleasure and Interest had not strength enough to corrupt our Innocence, Ambition alone would have more then needs for that; it is not impossible to find some Souls neither voluptuous, nor interessed; but I know not where to find any, whom Ambition hath not corrupted: it is that properly, which we may, and ought to call the weak fide of man. He was yet in his state of original In­nocence, above all the assaults of Interest and Pleasure; yet at the first onset of Ambition, he let himself be over­come without resistance; the Devil, who himself had proved the force of this temptation, made use of no other bait to seduce the fair innocent souls of Adam and his Wife. This Tempter was too crafty not to know, that it was the only part whereby he might take hold of them; and certainly, if there had been a stronger temptation, he would not have failed to have made use of it in such an oc­casion, whereon depended the salvation, or total fall of all Mankind.

Since that unlucky moment, it hath been too much justi­fied, that nothing is so powerful as Ambition, to make us undertake all things against the respect and obedience that we owe to God. All Histories, both holy and prophane, are full of examples of this. Was it not that enraged passion that made Absalom rebell against his father, the best father of the World? Was it not the same passion that made Athalia the Murderess of her own Children, after the death of Ochosias her Husband, the tenderness of a Mother being incapable to take away her ambition to be a Sovereign; was not the ambition of another woman cruel, when, going to take possession of the Throne, she made her Coach and Horses to go over the body of her father [Page 21]that was newly slain? here is too much, my Brethren, to manifest the power of this inhumane passion, since it choaks the tenderest and strongest sentiments of Nature it self: insomuch, as St. Basil calls it in one of his Letters, The most wicked of all Devils. Conclude then with me, That the World, which according to St. John, and according to our daily Experiments, is nothing but Pleasure, Interest and Ambition, is a very powerful and almost invincible Ene­my: and consequently, if ever we get the Victory over it, it is an infinitely glorious Victory; we must fight, before we can overcome such terrible Enemies as these; and, if it be true which a Philosopher sayes, and Tertullian after him, That a man, fighting with the same fortune that Job had to wrestle with on his Dunghil, was a spectacle, worthy the eyes and attention of God: Is it a less worthy sight, when one man alone fights all the Forces of the World? when he is assaulted on all sides by the most tender and charming delights, and yet, the sweetness of those plea­sures doth not corrupt the integrity of his heart, nor the innocence of his life?

Christians! what a wonderful sight is this, to see a man sollicited by the strongest temptations of Interest, by all the splendor of gold and silver, and, all the delight of be­ing rich, and his soul not cast down by the violence of this assault? In Conclusion, what a Miracle is it, what a Pro­digie, to see a man, whom Ambition tempts with the hopes of greatness; yet, remaining firm in his humility and mo­desty, not dazled with the glistering of Thrones, Scepters and Crowns, triumphing thus over the World, and all its glory! O how well may the Apostles, and all the just, who have thus triumphed, say with St. Paul, We are the specta­cles of God, of Angels, and of men. Spectacles of com­plaisance in respect of God, of admiration in respect of Angels, and of astonishment in respect of men.

O what a glorious Triumph is obtained by them that are born of God, since they are Conquerors of a World so difficult to be overcome! we must not doubt, but that those who are born of God, have, in effect, got this Victo­ry, since the World we speak of, that is, Pleasure, Interest and Ambition, can get no advantage, with all his Forces, over those that have the honour to resemble God, as chil­dren resemble their father: and, this Adoption that he hath made of them, being a spiritual generation, we must not doubt, but that he doth impart his Spirit unto them: because, it is according to the Spirit that they are his chil­dren; and that, being filled with his divine Spirit, it is ea­sie for them to triumph over all that is contrary to its Max­ims, and the purity of its Sentiments.

This is it which made our Apostle say immediately be­fore the Text, That the Commandments of God were not grievous, to them that were born of him, as he explains himself soon after; for in truth what Commandment did God ever make, whereunto the obedience is not easie to any that is become holy in some sort, like him, by this my­stical Regeneration, and by this communication of his Spi­rit? what difficulty will they find to obey him, when they are Masters, and victorious of all that hinders their obedi­ence to him? our Pleasure, our Interest, and our Ambition being (as they are) the greatest obstacles of our fidelity to his commands, no doubt; but when we have overcome these three powerful Enemies of the Law of God, all the obedience that lieth upon us proves easie to us; for com­monly, all the pains we find in doing Gods Will, is, that Pleasure, Interest, or Ambition perswades us to the contra­ry: but, when we have triumphed over these three passions, which are properly that which St Paul (1 Cor. 2.12.) calleth, The Spirit of the World; and St. John in our Text, the World it self; then, whatever God commands is so far from painful, that we find pleasure in it: and the reason [Page 23]of this relish, and this easiness, is no other, but what we say, as our Apostle doth so evidently justifie, when, after he had said, The Commandments of God are easie; he pre­sently brings the proof, For (saith he) all that is born of God, overcometh the World; letting us see manifestly, that there is nothing but the World, that is, its Spirit, and its Maxims, that makes our obedience uneasie; and, the in­fallible mark of overcoming the World, is, the easiness we find in obeying the Commandments of God.

But alas! how few then are there that have overcome the World, since there are so few that do not find the Commandments of God grievous? it seems to them an insupportable yoke, even so much, that sometimes they will say, that Gods Commandments are of an impossible performance.

You have not then overcome the World, you, who yet complain of their difficulty; who groan under the weight of the yoke, and express so much grief to submit your selves to the orders and commands that he gives you. No, no, you have not yet triumphed over the World, you that are yet Slaves to your Pleasures, to your Interest, and your Pride; since, it is that which is properly call'd the World; this illustrious Victory belongs to none but the children of God, whom he hath, as it were, transformed into himself, by a resemblance of holiness, of spirit and life; hope not then for the glory of this triumph, without being first en­tred into this noble Alliance with God: but, as soon as you are become his children, by a mending of your courses, and by a new birth of piety and grace, be you assured, that you shall triumph over the World, because, the Oracle of Di­vine Truth hath said it, that, all which is born of God, over­cometh the World: And since it is by Faith that we get this Victory, as the Text tells us, let us examine in the last Part of this Discourse, what that Faith is?

The Third Part.

IT is with the spiritual Combats much as with the tem­poral; it doth not suffice, in ordinary Combats, to be strong, and to be valiant to overcome; all the World knows, that besides that, one must have Arms, and make use of them: Likewise, to overcome the World, it is not enough to be born of God, Lib. 22. cap. 25. Victoria de hoc mundo non no­stris viribus adscribetur. we must take Arms to oppose the violence of this formidable Enemy: for, as St. Austin saith in his Book of the City of God, The victory over the World is not attributed to our Forces, it is not by them we gain it; but, what Arms must we make use of? nothing can triumph over the World as a principal cause, or as an instrument of victory which is not born of God; since St. John doth not attribute this honour, but to those that are so born. Our Arms then ought to be some of those Ver­tues which they call Theological or Divine; not only, be­cause God is the chief object of them, but for that he is their immediate principle, to distinguish them from other Vertues which they call Moral, that may spring from else­where. Yanta est cha­ritas quae si adsit, habentur omnia; si de­sit, frustra ha­bentur caetera. Aug.

Then, of necessity, it must be either Faith, or Hope, or Charity, that must serve us for Arms in this Combat; but why rather Faith, than the other two? Is not Hope admi­rably well fitted for this great imployment, since it doth promise us eternal rewards? there are no temptations, nor assaults, that it enableth us not to overcome; or, at least, why should it not be Charity, which is the Queen, and the most noble of all vertues, as the Apostle assures us? and whereof St. Austin sayes, That having it alone, one hath all; and not having it, it is useless to have the rest; which [Page 25]he learned of St. Paul, who saith, That neither Martyrdom, nor the most holy things, nor even Faith it self, is any thing without Charity. Nevertheless we must believe our Text, which saith plainly, It is by Faith that we overcome the world: And St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews agrees well with this sentiment, when he saith, That it is by Faith that so ma­ny just persons have done such wonders; and that, They have vanquished Kingdoms (what Kingdoms, but those of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil?) and that, They have conquered Eternity: Is it not of Faith, that our Lord him­self hath said, That nothing shall be impossible to it; and, that there needs but little of it to work wonders, even to remove Mountains?

But, whereas there are Christians that have Faith, and in the mean time are rather Slaves of the World, than Ma­sters and Conquerors of it; what kind of Faith is that, which may be the instrument of so glorious a victory? It seems the Apostle, in the Verse that follows the Text, would spare us the pains of this search: Who is he (saith he) that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that JESUS is the Son of God? Yet, there being an infinite number of people that believe so much, who notwithstanding, are ra­ther overcome by the World, than Conquerors of it; we are still to seek, and have need to repair to Divinity, and to other Texts of Scripture, for the clearing of so great, and so important a difficulty.

Divinity distinguisheth two sorts of Faith, the one dead, the other living. The dead Faith, which is otherwise cal­led unperfect, or unformed, is no more than a conviction we have of a truth upon Divine testimony, without any bet­tering of our will by that conviction of our understanding; some call this Faith Speculative, or Historical, because it makes one believe only the fact of things, without leading him to other Acts, worthy of such a be­lief.

It was of this Faith that St. James spake, Chap. 2.14. when he said, What can it profit, my Brethren, though a man say I have Faith, and hath not Works; Can Faith save him?

In this sense St. Paul speaks of it, 1 Cor. 13.2. If I have Faith enough to remove Mountains (saith he) and have not Charity, I am nothing. There are some also which call this Faith the Faith of Devils; for an Apostle speaking to a man that had Faith without works — Thou believest (saith he) that there is a God, thou dost well to believe it; but the Devils believe it too, and therefore they tremble. The De­vils, for that kind of believing are no less Devils, and no less wicked.

This barren Faith is good for nothing, unless it be to make us more guilty; since, having believed as we ought to believe, we have no excuse why we have not lived as we ought to live; it is not then this kind of Faith that our Text so highly praiseth, as to say, It is the victory that over­cometh the World; it must be a generous and warlike Faith, and not a base, cowardly, dejected Faith; which hath no courage neither to undertake, nor to maintain any thing. Scripture and Divinity tell us of another kind of Faith, quite opposite; they call it a lively Faith, perfect or for­med; which, besides that it at first convinceth the under­standing, by the Authorities of revealed Truths; perswades the will to approve them, by Sentiments conformable to such holy motions; it is what JESUS CHRIST said of St. John Baptist, A burning and a shining Lamp: shining, because it brings light and knowledge to the mind; burning, because it brings fire and piety to the heart.

Of that the Prophet Habakkuk saith, The just shall live by Faith; that is, by reason of his Faith; as St. Paul ex­pounds it, Rom. 1.17. and the same Apostle speaks again of it in the Chapters following, and particularly in Chap 3. [Page 27] ver. 28. where he saith, It is the sense of all Christians, that man is justified by Faith, without the works of Moses his Law. He sayes as much of it, almost in the same words, in the beginning of the fifth Chapter, and in divers other places of the same Epistle, and in all his other Epistles. St. Peter sayes no less of it, when he assures the Gentiles (Acts 19.) that God had purified their hearts by Faith: And in his 1 Epist. 1.8. You are preserved (saith he) by the means of Faith, to be heirs of Salvation; which is the reward of Faith, as he sayes presently after, ver. 9. and certainly, it is that which the Apostle St. Jude, in his Catholique Epistle, (ver. 20.) calls most holy; not only, because it is the for­mal holiness of the Soul, but, because that (as Divines expound it) it fulfilleth all duties of holiness, by an entire obedience to the Ordinances and Commands of God; which gives occasion to Divines to call it sometimes, an obedient Faith; and certainly, it is of this Faith that our Text speaketh, when it saith, that the victory that overcometh the World, is Faith.

It is not therefore enough, Christians, to shew you that all that is born of God, overcometh the World, and that it is by Faith it overcometh; it is needful that I tell you moreover, by what Faith: for, we are not without enemies that accuse us of giving to Faith alone (without joining it with other vertues) this victorious power.

And indeed, there are too many souls among us, either libertine enough, or ill enough instructed, to perswade them­selves that there needs nothing but believing, to overcome all, and to be saved: if they had not such thoughts assured­ly, we should see them live better; for, it is impossible to lead so ill a life, if they did believe that they must lead a better if they will be saved.

Let our Enemies, and our Libertines, and our Ignorants learn then this day, what we think, and what we ought to think of Faith which justifies; or, as our Text speaks, which overcometh the World.

The true Sentiment of all Reformed Churches, is, that this Faith is not only a naked and barren belief, which ac­knowledgeth and confesseth only the truth of our myste­ries, without troubling ones self to practise that piety which these mysteries require: but they all teach us, that this Faith is accompanied with all the holiness which the Gospel enjoyns us; so that Faith, according to our Do­ctrine, is uncapable to justifie us, and to overcome the World, if Charity be not with it; and, it is in vain that I believe in JESUS CHRIST, if I love him not, and if I do not that which his Gospel ordaineth me to do.

Thus, when we say with the Scripture, That Faith justi­fies, that it cleanseth the hearts, that it overcometh the World; we speak not but of a Faith that is loving, patient, humble and holy in all respects; it is after this manner that all the Fathers speak of it, and St. John himself in the Text, as it is evident in the verses that go before, and that follow: For, though he saith absolutely, That those who believe that JESUS CHRIST is the Son of God, overcome the World; yet, he speaks before and after, of Charity, and of keeping Gods Commandments, as things inseparably link­ed with this victorious Faith. You see then, Christians, what that Faith is which overcometh the World, in the just; it is that impenetrable Buckler that St. Paul speaketh of, that beats back all the blows which the Enemy aims at us: A man armed with this Faith, may say with the Apo­stle, That what temptation soever he shall endure, no assaults shall separate him from the love of JESUS CHRIST: Nothing shall debauch him from his duty, nothing shall make him the slave of sin; let the World come with all its Forces, with all the sweets of Pleasure, with all the cor­ruptions of Interest, with all the pom [...]s of Ambition; it will make but vain Enterprises, unsuccessful Assaults upon a man, armed with this warlike and generous Faith: for, [Page 29]what can pleasure say to him able to corrupt him? if she promiseth to his body all she hath of tender and sweet, what will the Just do in this rough assault, where he hath all pleasures to fight against? He will oppose his Faith. I believe in that God, will he say, who would not live but in pennance, while he lived amongst us, alwayes severe to his flesh, alwayes mortified in his mind; never in pleasure, and almost continually in grief: who found in the bitterness of his death, nothing but Gall and Vinegar to sweeten it. What! shall I believe these things, and in the mean time, abandon my self to those guilty pleasures? No, I will not.

The assaults of Interest need no less resolution and re­sistance, they sollicit the faithful Soul with all the perswa­sions that Gold and Silver are able to make in this World; being pressed by this assault, what doth he? He takes his ordinary shield, he opposeth his Faith. O! (saith he) I believe, that God made himself poor, to make me rich; that he would not possess any thing on earth; that at his birth he had nothing but straw to lie upon; that during his life, he had nothing whereon to lay his head; that at his death, he was naked: And, shall I, to make my self rich, do this injustice? shall I, suffer my self to be corrupted by my Interest? No, I will not.

Neither shall Ambition have any more advantage over the faithful Soul, how violently soever it assaults him. Me­thinks I see Ambition with her glistering and her pomps, tempting the heart of the Just, flattering him with all her splendor and grandeur, which use to dazle others; what will he do in this assault? that, which he did in the former; He will take Faith, and oppose it against this Enemy that presseth him: What! (saith he) that God, in whom I believe, who abased himself so far, as to become man; did humble himself to the meanest things, ev'n to death; to the most shameful and infamous death: And, shall I ad­vance [Page 30]my self by the diminution of his glory? shall I drive on my fortune, as far as vanity will entice me? No, I will not; it shall never be said, that my life hath bely'd my Faith. I believe there are eternal Rewards to crown all my fidelity, if I sink not under these Temptations that the World leads me in o: I believe there are everlasting pains to punish my baseness, if I do sink under them: What then! should I be so far out of my wits, and besides my senses, as to resolve to do it? No, the World must stay, till I believe these things no more. Thus it is, Brethren, that Faith speaks, thus it is that she fights, thus it is that she triumphs, when she is right: when Faith is, as it ought to be, animated with the Spirit of all vertues; and, when we are satisfied by the effects, that we have this Faith. We have it not, Christians, when we yield so easily to the first sollicitations of Pleasure, of Interest, and of Ambition: Alas! how can your Faith be victorious over the World, while you are still Slaves to Passion, which is the World it self? and whil'st you observe the Laws and Maxims of the World, more religiously than those of God.

The Faith that is victorious over the World, confesseth JESUS CHRIST on all occasions, loves him at all times, and serves and follows him through all things; in good earnest, Christians, do you do so? Alas! how ea­sily may it be seen, with never so little reflection on our selves, that we have not this Faith? since within us, all is full of Revolts, Ingratitudes, and Infidelities towards CHRIST, whom we crucifie and defame daily, as St. Paul reproacheth in the sixth of the Epistle to the He­brews. Is that believing in JESUS Christ with a vi­ctorious Faith, when we believe in him to crucifie him, and disgrace him, by the disorders of our shameful lives? Take my Brethren, take other courses more worthy of him, and of your selves; live conformably to the belief of his Gospel, let his love and his will reign in your hearts, as well [Page 31]as his Truths in your minds: in a word, let your works and your life be sutable to the holiness of your Faith, and then you will have a victorious Faith, and you shall be in the number of the just ones, of whom St. John saith in our Text, That they are born of God, that they triumph over the World, and that they triumph by Faith. God give you that Grace in this life, that he may crown you in the next with GLORY.

Unto this Great GOD, Immortal, Invisible, Adorable FA­THER, SON, and HOLY GHOST, who gives us these glorious Hopes, be Honour, Blessing, and Eternal Magnificence. AMEN.